,.
 
 J) 
 
 PASSAGES FROM 
 
 THE AUTO-BIOGRAPHY OF A 
 
 "MAN OF KENT."
 
 " The trne every-day life of the most ordinary man is one of the 
 most instructive and interesting of all studies. Common-place lives 
 are more instructive than exceptional ones. The things which all 
 men do and experience are worthy of all men's study One life of 
 this kind may be a lesson of all lives."
 
 PASSAGES FROM 
 
 THE AUTO-BIOGRAPHY OF A 
 " MAN OF KENT." 
 
 TOGETHER WITH A FEW ROUGH PEN-AND-INK 
 
 SKETCHES, BY THE SAME HAND, 
 
 OF SOME OF THE PEOPLE HE HAS MET, THE 
 
 CHANGES HE HAS SEEN, AND THE 
 
 PLACES HE HAS VISITED. 
 
 18171865. 
 
 EDITED BY 
 
 REGINALD FITZ-ROY STANLEY, M.A. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 PRINTED BY WHITTINGHAM AND WILKINS. 
 
 -\ 
 
 1866.
 
 KESPECTFIJLLY AND AFFECTIONATELY 
 DEDICATED TO 
 
 MY MANY FRIENDS, 
 
 BIT A 
 
 f- 
 
 " MAN OF KENT." 
 
 1O48668
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 
 INTRODUCTION BY THE EDITOR ... ix 
 
 INTRODUCTORY 1 
 
 I. PARENTAGE, INFANCY, AND CHILDHOOD ... 3 
 
 II. Bmiooo: SCHOOL-DAYS, AND YOUTHFUL FOLLIES . 11 
 
 III. LRVING SCHOOL, CHOICE OF A PROFESSION, AND EVIL 
 
 INFLUENCES 25 
 
 IV. MAIIIOOD: ITS STRUGGLES, DUTIES, TRIALS, RECREATIONS, 
 
 A*D RESPONSIBILITIES 72 
 
 V BRIEF RECOLLECTIONS OF SOME VACATION RAMBLES, WITH 
 THOUGHTS AND GLEANINGS BY THE WAY : 
 
 Visit to Paris . . . ... . . 222 
 
 Edinburgh and the Highlands .."". . 231 
 Second Visit to the Highlands . . . .243 
 
 Upstreet and Chislett 291 
 
 Tunbridge Wells and its Surroundings . . 297 
 
 Dorking and Box Hill 305 
 
 Hereford and its Neighbourhood . . . 315 
 
 REMOVAL TO HAMPSTEAD 329 
 
 CONCLUSION . . . 382
 
 INTRODUCTION BY THE EDITOR. 
 
 HESE " Passages from the Auto-bio- 
 graphy of a * Man of Kent ' " were 
 written at the request of a large circle 
 of friends, and in the brief intervals of 
 leisure, extending over a period of seven years, 
 which the writer could snatch from an increas- 
 ingly active life. 
 
 The manuscript has been placed in my hands, 
 as an old friend, with a request that I should say 
 something by way of introduction. I have yielded 
 most willingly to the request, and in looking over 
 the pages have done little more than occasionally 
 draw my pen through a few passages, which, from 
 family allusions, or otherwise, would not be under- 
 stood by the general reader. 
 
 Some account of the writer, in addition to that 
 Avhich he has himself supplied, may not be out of 
 place here, and will moreover enable the reader 
 to form a better conception of the idiosyncrasies 
 of the " Man of Kent."
 
 x Introduction. 
 
 My friend has been known to me for more than 
 a quarter of a century, and scarcely a day has 
 passed during the greater part of that period with- 
 out my meeting him either in business, or at the 
 fire-side. 
 
 The " Man of Kent " is a Nonconformist ; not 
 by birth and education, but upon principle and 
 deliberate choice, as he has told us in the following 
 pages ; and although he is one of the noble few 
 who 
 
 " Reverence his conscience as his King," 
 
 he is nevertheless ready at all times, where com- 
 promise of principle is not expected, to co-operate 
 with all denominations of Christians in everything 
 calculated to benefit the commonweal. 
 
 In politics he was, in early life, what is termed 
 an out-and-out Kadical ; but thought and observa- 
 tion have in a great measure corrected and modi- 
 fied the theories of his younger days, and he has 
 become in what may be called the afternoon, if 
 not the evening, of life, a moderate and progressive 
 Reformer. I remember hearing him upon one 
 occasion at a Debating Society, stand out most 
 determinately for the " People's Charter ;" but 
 though he believes the leading principles laid down 
 in that able document to be the natural right of 
 every well-conducted citizen, he sees also that 
 education and moral training must prepare the
 
 Introduction. xi 
 
 millions of our still unenfranchised countrymen 
 for that which undoubtedly must shortly be con- 
 ceded to them. 
 
 The " Man of Kent " is distinguished by a love 
 of justice, and is a thorough hater of every- 
 thing mean and dishonourable. I have sometimes 
 thought that my friend must have been born under 
 the influence of the planet Mars, as he has a fiery 
 disposition, ready in an instant to meet an oppo- 
 nent. He is a bold, resolute, and fearless man, 
 and would have made a good soldier, had not a 
 hesitation in his speech have been the means of 
 turning his early career into another channel. He 
 is rather choleric and hasty, with a dash of sar- 
 castic humour, and a certain impetuousness of 
 temperament, that not unfrequently make him in 
 danger of being misunderstood. I fear he has 
 sometimes given offence to those who do not know 
 him well, by his vehement manner, and the strong 
 language he makes use of when excited. He is 
 an intense man, and possesses an unconquerable 
 will that sometimes appears to defy all opposing 
 forces. He is rather impatient of reproof; but 
 gentle remonstrances from a friend of whose in- 
 tention and kindness he is assured, and whose 
 judgment he approves, have often great weight 
 with him. He is always ready for the arena of 
 conflict, and when he is thoroughly convinced 
 of the injustice of any wrong, he will advance
 
 xii Introduction. 
 
 again, and again, and yet again, until he has con- 
 quered. 
 
 There is a marked individuality in the " Man 
 of Kent ;" he can, when the occasion requires it, 
 say the most bitter and withering things ; he has, 
 however, a good deal that is genial and tender in 
 his nature, and can comfort the sorrowful, as well 
 as encourage the timid. As a visitor of the sick, 
 in the later years of his life, he has always been 
 welcome, having himself suffered repeatedly from 
 illness. Before ill-health had told upon him he 
 was a man of great energy and quickness. 
 
 My friend would have been an orator, but for 
 the defect in his speech acquired in his youth ; 
 which, however, he so far corrected in his riper 
 years as to be able to address a public assembly, 
 when it would have been difficult to detect a 
 vestige of what he calls his " old enemy." The 
 " Man of Kent" never gets up to speak without 
 being thoroughly in earnest, and, as he feels his 
 subject intensely himself, is an effective speaker. 
 We recollect once hearing him deliver a lecture 
 " On Public Speaking and Heading Aloud, with 
 Illustrations from the Throne, the Senate, the 
 Pulpit, the Poets, and the Bar," before a large 
 gathering, when he succeeded beyond the expec- 
 tations of his friends. 
 
 The " Man of Kent" is endowed with consider- 
 able powers of persuasion ; is witty and piquant in
 
 Introduction. xiii 
 
 conversation; and possesses no small amount of 
 acuteness and discrimination : he has a keen ap- 
 preciation of the beautiful in nature and art, and 
 has a cultivated taste. He is quickly moved by 
 objects of sorrow and distress, and is always readily 
 induced to acts of kindness; many a bereaved 
 family circle has been soothed and comforted by 
 his brotherly sympathy, and cheered and en- 
 couraged by his kindly counsels. No man had 
 ever a kinder heart for sympathy, or a more open 
 hand for the relief of distress ; and no mind was 
 ever more formed for the enthusiastic admiration of 
 noble actions. 
 
 My friend delights in jovial society, has a good 
 ear for music, though no musician ; can sing a good 
 song, and is passionately fond of poetry, music, 
 and dancing, though this latter accomplishment 
 was more freely indulged in the dawn and exuber- 
 ance of his early life. He is active and enter- 
 prising in everything that he takes in hand ; the 
 things he most excels in are the labours which he 
 undertakes voluntarily. My friend is not alto- 
 gether indifferent to applause, and he is rather 
 ambitious of renown. 
 
 I scarcely like to touch upon the domestic cha- 
 racteristics of the " Man of Kent," though, from a 
 long and uninterrupted friendship, extending over 
 many years, I have had ample and frequent op- 
 portunities of knowing what he is in the home
 
 xiv Introduction. 
 
 circle. I may say, however, that he is a kind and 
 indulgent husband, and the father-love in his heart 
 is deep and unfailing. 
 
 As a friend he is faithful, frank, and true- 
 hearted, as many of those who read the following 
 pages will be reminded ; and I trust that the day 
 is very far distant when his genial company and 
 hearty laugh will be no more heard in our social 
 gatherings. I am sure I shall be borne out by the 
 willing testimony of those who know him, in saying 
 that he never grudges any amount of labour that 
 his numerous friends exact from him. His cor- 
 respondence is very voluminous ; and since the 
 introduction of the " penny postage " it must have 
 cost him a small fortune for " Queen's heads." 
 Few private men have a larger circle of corres- 
 pondents ; and this, combined with his every -day 
 work, leaves him but little leisure for recreation. 
 His kind and playful intercourse with children 
 has made him a special favourite with them, while 
 his natural gallantry always secures him a hearty 
 welcome from the mothers and maidens. His 
 manly qualities have endeared him to the fathers 
 and brothers, so that he is always greeted with a 
 hearty welcome by his many friends. 
 
 In personal appearance the " Man of Kent " is 
 rather above the average height, with brown hair, 
 moustache, and ample beard. These latter append- 
 ages he adopted some years before they became
 
 Introduction. xv 
 
 so generally worn. He is of open visage, quick, 
 penetrating dark eyes, and of highly nervous 
 temperament. 
 
 In conclusion, I may say that the " Man of 
 Kent" has no pretensions to literary talent be- 
 yond throwing off an occasional letter or article 
 for some of our London and provincial journals. 
 It is, however, believed that these rough-and-ready 
 reminiscences of what my friend has denominated 
 " an ordinary every-day life," told as they are with 
 freedom and faithfulness, will not be an unwelcome 
 contribution to the light literature of the day. 
 
 I must regret that the failing health of my friend 
 should have compelled him to retire from some of 
 the more active duties of his busy life ; and trust 
 that, as he is relieved from these exacting labours, 
 he may, in a well-earned and happy retirement, 
 be spared to his family and friends for many years. 
 
 REGINALD FITZ-EOY STANLEY. 
 
 Maitland Park, 
 London, N.W. 
 
 Christmas, 1865.
 
 AUTO-BIOGRAPHY OF A 
 "MAN OF KENT." 
 
 INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 N" sitting down to write some particulars of 
 what may be termed an ordinary and every- 
 day life and history, I have not the vanity 
 to believe that I can record anything new 
 or startling, much less that which is deep 
 and profound. Neither is it my intention to discuss the 
 question whether a man should, or should not, be his own 
 biographer, as that has already been done by far abler 
 pens, and among others by no less a writer than the late 
 John Foster, in his justly celebrated " Essays." 
 
 We all revert with an affectionate interest to our past 
 life, " the days that are no more," and I am not without 
 the hope that perhaps by committing to writing some of 
 the incidents in my own history, and the mental and moral 
 revolutions that have taken place in connection with them, 
 I may influence some who are just entering the great arena 
 of conflict. At all events it shall be my endeavour to 
 point out, to our young men especially, a few of the shoals 
 and quicksands that I have met with in my own career ; 
 and in recording these I may retrace 
 
 " Footprints, that perhaps another, 
 Sailing o'er life's solemn main, 
 A forlorn and shipwreck'd brother, 
 Seeing, shall take heart again." 
 B
 
 2 Introductory, 
 
 Biography has been aptly said to be " Philosophy 
 teaching by example." A distinguished American writer 
 tells us that " all things are engaged in writing their history. 
 The planet, the pebble, goes attended by its shadow. The 
 rolling rock leaves its scratches on the mountain ; the river, 
 its channel in the soil ; the animal, its bones in the stratum ; 
 the fern and leaf, their modest epitaph in the coal ; the 
 falling drop makes its sculpture in the sand or the stone. 
 Not a foot steps into the snow or along the ground, but 
 prints, in characters more or less lasting, a map of its 
 march. Every act of the man inscribes itself in the me- 
 mory of his fellows, and in his own manners and face. 
 The air is full of sounds, the sky of tokens, the ground is 
 all memoranda and signatures, and every object covered 
 over with hints which speak to the intelligent." Another 
 equally distinguished man of our own time, and our father- 
 land, tells us, in words that I am glad to transfer to my 
 humble page " Think of ' living !' Thy life, wert thou 
 the ' pitifulest of all the sons of earth,' is no idle dream, 
 but a solemn reality. It is thy own ; it is all thou hast to 
 front eternity with. Work then, like a star, unhasting, 
 yet unresting."
 
 PARENTAGE, INFANCY, AND CHILDHOOD. 
 
 " My boast is not that I derive my birth 
 
 From loins enthroned, or rulers of the earth : 
 But higher far my proud pretensions rise, 
 The child of ptirents pass'd into the skies." 
 
 MAN is rarely or seldom asked in the pre- 
 sent age about his parentage ; but if from 
 any cause he comes before the world, the 
 question is at once put to him " Who are 
 
 Nevertheless, it is interesting, to those more immedi- 
 ately concerned, to know something of the origin and 
 family of such as we are daily coming in contact with, 
 and therefore I shall, for their information, record that 
 my father was the son of a farmer, and was born at 
 Bought en -under-Blean, a small village on the old Lon- 
 don road, about six miles from Canterbury. 
 
 From a family register, most religiously chronicled, and 
 preserved in an old Bible, I find that my grandfather was 
 born in 1739, and was twice married. Two children were 
 the result of the first marriage ; and thirteen of the second, 
 nine sons and four daughters. My father was the third 
 son of the second marriage, and was born in 1782. 
 
 I have often heard him speak with admiration of my 
 grandfather as one of the best-looking men in that part of 
 the county, " standing six feet two in height." He ap-
 
 4 Ancestry. 
 
 pears to have been a man of kindly disposition, but rather 
 a severe disciplinarian in his family. 
 
 At meal times they mustered rather a large party, and 
 it was the custom at that time for the children to stand at 
 the table. My grandfather kept within convenient reach 
 a long osier stick to correct any juvenile indiscretions. 
 The offender was spoken to once, but the second offence 
 was sure to bring down upon him a rap from the long 
 stick. He was quite an oracle in the little village, and 
 was accustomed to frequent the parlour of " The Squirrel" 
 in the evening, to read the newspaper aloud, and to discuss 
 the political questions of the day. My grandfather's death 
 is duly recorded in the family registry, " aged 72 years, 
 
 5 months, and 20 days." 
 
 I have a vivid recollection of my grandmother, who, at 
 the death of her husband, came to reside at Canterbury, 
 and died there when I was nine years old. Well do I 
 remember her kind and benevolent countenance : she was 
 rather below the average height, a well-proportioned hand- 
 some old lady, and in her youthful days must have been 
 very pretty. I return, however, from this little digression, 
 to my father. After receiving a plain commercial educa- 
 tion, at the best school in the neighbourhood, he was ap- 
 prenticed to a bookseller at Canterbury, who combined with 
 that business an extensive printing establishment. Several 
 local publications were printed and published by his master, 
 and amongst others that might be named are " Hasted's 
 History of Canterbury," and the second edition in octavo 
 of that writer's famous " History of Kent."* Both these 
 valuable county histories have been long out of print. The 
 first edition of the latter work has now become so rare that 
 whenever it is found in the market, book collectors and 
 bibliographers will give a large sum for the handsome 
 
 * The author's beautiful copy of the first edition of this work is 
 in the Grenville Library at the British Museum, and contains 
 some additional plates, which are very scarce, with a list of them 
 in Hasted's handwriting, and his signature attached.
 
 Parentage. 5 
 
 volumes. This gentleman was also the printer and pub- 
 lisher, for many years, of the " Kentish Chronicle," and 
 was a member of the corporation. 
 
 The young apprentice applied himself so industriously 
 and sedulously to his duties that he soon gained the special 
 notice and esteem of his master, who kindly encourage;! his 
 persevering endeavours to become thoroughly acquainted 
 with every branch of the business, and who was much 
 pleased with his amiable and respectful demeanour. 
 
 At the expiration of his term of apprenticeship, my father 
 had become so valuable to his master that he took him at 
 once into partnership. Shortly after this, the young trades- 
 man was chosen a member of the Corporation, and so popu- 
 lar was he as a citizen that he was elected Mayor the same 
 year ; an incident, I believe, without precedent in the cor- 
 porate annals of that ancient city. 
 
 On the death of his partner he succeeded to the business, 
 and for many years conducted the editorial department of 
 the weekly journal printed and published at the establish- 
 ment, of which newspaper he was one of the proprietors. 
 He was subsequently a second time elevated to the office 
 of chief magistrate, and continued an active member of 
 the Corporation till his removal from Canterbury. 
 
 It is not too much to say of my father, with reference 
 to his official career as a magistrate, that he gained the 
 respect and esteem of all classes by his frankness and 
 amiable manners, nor less by his desire at all times to 
 temper justice with mercy. As a master, I may quote 
 from one who served his apprenticeship to him, and who 
 afterwards became editor of one of the most influential 
 and popular of our metropolitan weekly journals,* in his 
 obituary notice, says, " It might be truly affirmed that 
 to his numerous workmen he was indulgent to a fault, 
 and those who were reared by him to the business of a 
 printer, loved him as a parent and a friend." 
 
 * The Weekly Dispatch."
 
 6 A Mother's influence. 
 
 In my early years we saw very little of my father, 
 save on Sundays, when he gave himself entirely up to 
 his family. Business, and his official duties, absorbed 
 his time and attention during the week. My mother 
 always made it a rule that the children should be in bed 
 by the time he left business, as it was his custom every 
 day to go somewhat carefully through the London papers. 
 
 As we grew up he took a loving interest in all that con- 
 cerned his family, and was especially delighted on the fine 
 Sunday afternoons to take us boys for a long walk. Those 
 of my readers who are acquainted with Canterbury know 
 that the neighbourhood abounds in picturesque scenery ; 
 and well do I now remember many of the beautiful walks 
 with my father and brothers on those happy Sundays. 
 My youngest brother would generally contrive to call my 
 father's attention to what is now known as " a sweet-stuff 
 hop," and a packet of sweeties was always readily given 
 to add to the enjoyment of our walk. We all loved our 
 father very much, and while I pen these brief recollections 
 of him the beautiful words of the Poet Laureate come in- 
 stinctively to my mind : 
 
 " His memory long will live alone 
 
 In all our hearts, as mournful light 
 That broods above the fallen sun, 
 
 And dwells in heaven half the night." 
 
 How shall I speak of my mother ? It seems but yes- 
 terday that her gentle face was shining on me, and I 
 almost hear now her soft and loving voice. Oh ! there is 
 nothing like a mother's love. Years can never efface thy 
 memory from my heart. I loved my father, but as I 
 write my bowels are moved at the recollection of my 
 mother. How much do I owe to the thousand gentle in- 
 fluences that were showered upon me from thy self-for- 
 getting daily and hourly ministrations? Much, very 
 much, do I owe thee, thou sweet guardian of my early 
 days ; would that I had followed the advice of thy loving 
 voice in the morning of my life : how many sorrows I
 
 Unhappy marriage. 7 
 
 should have thereby escaped. I, alas ! could not boast 
 of being 
 
 " A son that never did amiss, 
 That never shamed his mother's kiss, 
 Nor cross'd her fondest prajer." 
 
 My mother was born at Ostend in 1785, and was an 
 only daughter. 
 
 My grandmother, on my mother's side, was, from all 
 accounts, a very beautiful woman ; and this is fully borne 
 out by a portrait in possession of one of the family, painted 
 by a distinguished Flemish artist of that day. She did 
 not however live happily with her husband, who appears 
 to have been a man of harsh and severe manners, wanting 
 all those gentle and tender qualities that make a good 
 husband and an endeared father. My grandmother died at 
 the early age of thirty-eight, and at her death, my mother, 
 then only eight years old, came to reside with some relatives 
 in London, and afterwards at Exeter ; but not being happy 
 with these relatives, she ultimately lived with a family at 
 Margate, and found there a comfortable and happy home. 
 During her residence at Margate my mother was an 
 occasional visitor at Canterbury, having a relative living 
 in that city ; and it was on one of these visits that she was 
 introduced to my father, then a handsome young bachelor 
 with a thriving business, a member of the Corporation, 
 and one who had already filled the important office of 
 chief magistrate of the city. A mutual attachment grew 
 out of these occasional visits to Canterbury, ending in that 
 " consummation most devoutly to be wished ; " and in 1811 
 they were married.
 
 Men of Kent: 
 
 INFANCY. 
 
 " Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting : 
 The soul that rises with us, our life's star, 
 Hath had elsewhere its setting, 
 And cometh from afar : 
 Not in entire forgetfulness, 
 And not in utter nakedness, 
 But trailing clouds of glory do we come 
 
 From God, who is our home : 
 Heaven lies about us in our infancy." 
 
 Having said thus much of my parentage and pedigree, 
 I come now to speak of myself. I was born at Canterbury 
 in 1817, and am a " Man of Kent." It is scarcely neces- 
 sary to remind my readers that in what are called " the 
 good old times," that city was the metropolis of the kings 
 of Kent. The learned tell us that Canterbury is derived 
 from Durwhern (Dur-Gwern, river of marshes, mead, or 
 alders), latinised Durovernum ; and it was also denomi- 
 nated in the ancient British language, Caer dent, or City 
 of Kent ; and in Anglo-Saxon, Cant-wara-byrig, City of 
 the Men of Kent. 
 
 The Civic Government of Canterbury is very ancient, 
 as the city archives testify : those documents, so carefully 
 preserved by our forefathers, offer a rich field for the anti- 
 quarian. Not long since some highly interesting particu- 
 lars relating to the manners and customs of the early 
 Canterburians were brought to light by a very competent 
 hand, Mr. Thomas Wright; and good service has also 
 been rendered in this respect by an accomplished citizen 
 of Canterbury, Mr. John Brent, the younger. 
 
 Much has been said, and not a little written, by those 
 interested in matters of this nature, as to the origin of, and 
 distinction between, " Men of Kent," and " Kentish Men." 
 Having taken some pains to examine the question, I sus- 
 pect the real origin of the terms to have been to distinguish 
 any man, whose family had long been settled in the 
 county, from time immemorial it may be, from new settlers ;
 
 Infancy. 9 
 
 the former being genuine " Men of Kent," the latter only 
 " Kentish Men." The West Kent men, according to 
 tradition, are styled " Kentish Men;" while those of East 
 Kent are more emphatically denominated " Men of Kent."* 
 
 Believing that nothing is trivial in the formation of cha- 
 racter, I may mention that my parents were members of 
 the Church of England, and that my mother was particu- 
 larly careful to bring me up in the religious observance of 
 all the ceremonials of that communion. While she was 
 ever mindful to instil into me from my earliest days, in 
 common with my brothers and sisters, the love of God and 
 of goodness, all this was done in connection with, what I 
 may call, the domestic requirements of the Established 
 Church. We were all in our infancy duly taken to the 
 baptismal font, and as soon as we could be taught anything 
 formally, the catechism of that Church was most assiduously 
 inculcated upon us. 
 
 As soon as we were able to walk we were taken to the 
 parish church ; and well do I now remember the high boxed- 
 up pews that hid from us altogether the surrounding con- 
 gregation, and only when we were lifted up to stand upon 
 the seats, could we get a glimpse of the parson. The 
 peculiar close and fusty smell of that old church I have 
 never thoroughly got rid of. The morning service of the 
 Church of England is very long and tedious even to an 
 adult, and how little children are kept at all quiet during 
 its performance is to me a wonder. Many a time, as the 
 communion service and the sermon came, have I begged 
 leave to sit down upon the reed hassock that I might lay 
 my head down upon the comfortably stuffed green-baise 
 seat and take a little nap. I was always sure to wake in 
 
 * Should the reader be desirous of pursuing this question any 
 further, he will find some particulars in "Notes and Queries," 
 Vol. v. p. 615 ; and also, in a work by the late Charles Sandys, 
 Esq., of Canterbury, entitled, " Consuetudines Kantise;" see also a 
 highly interesting little volume lately published, " Canterbury in 
 the Olden Time," by John Brent, junior
 
 10 Early training. 
 
 time, as I had a great horror of being left in the church. 
 When from any cause I could not get my accustomed nap, 
 I was much amused in looking up at the hatchments that 
 adorned the white-washed walls of the sacred building. I 
 recollect very often spelling out that rather long word 
 " BESURGAM," wondering what in the world it could 
 mean ; and when I whispered my wonderment to my 
 mother she would put her finger to her mouth, and with 
 a reverend shake of the head, place her hand gently 
 on my shoulder and bid me sit still, and be a good boy. 
 Altogether the service at church was a very slow affair ; 
 there was no " high embowed roof," no " storied windows 
 richly dight, casting a dim religious light," no " pealing 
 organ," no " anthems clear : " the service was tediously 
 long, bald, and cold ; and the attempts at psalmody were 
 such as did not endear good old Tate and Brady to my 
 juvenile recollections. Eight glad was I always when the 
 vicar wound up his dry and unimpassioned sermon of forty 
 minutes with the welcome words, " Now to God the Father," 
 &c, which was a signal for us to get ourselves into march- 
 ing order, and once more breathe the pure sweet air of 
 the bright and cheerful street. 
 
 The Sunday afternoons were generally spent in reading 
 aloud the Scriptures, learning the collect for the day, and 
 never omitting the catechism, every part of which is fresh 
 in my recollection to this day. Sometimes my dear mother 
 would read to us a chapter from " The Whole Duty of 
 Man," a well-bound volume, frequently found in those 
 days in close proximity to the Bible in most families con- 
 nected with the Church of England. I do most cheerfully 
 bear my willing testimony to the constant and unremitting 
 care of my father and mother to bring us up in the faith 
 and practice of the Church of our forefathers, and also to 
 illustrate their teaching by consistent example.
 
 II. 
 
 BOYHOOD : SCHOOL-DAYS, AND YOUTHFUL FOLLIES. 
 
 "Shades of the prison -house begin to close 
 
 Upon the growing boy, 
 But he beholds the light, and whence it flows 
 
 He sees it in his joy; 
 
 The youth who daily farther from the East 
 Must travel, still is nature's priest, 
 
 And by the vision splendid 
 
 Is on his way attended ; 
 At length the man perceives it die'away 
 And fade into the light of common day." 
 
 " looking back upon the home of my child- 
 hood and early school life, I cannot but be 
 struck with the inseparable connection ex- 
 isting between these two important periods 
 in the history of a child ; and yet they are 
 for the most part spoken of and treated separately. Home 
 itself must be a school ; and the school, if it is to be of 
 salutary use in forming the moral, as well as the mental 
 man, must be a home. 
 
 The education of a child begins on the mother's bosom, 
 or upon her knees, as it prattles around the household 
 hearth, and is daily and hourly influenced by all that it 
 hears and sees. It begins with the earliest dawning of the 
 intellectual powers, before we perceive the difference be- 
 tween looks, and words, and actions. How responsible
 
 1 2 Education. 
 
 then is the position of parents for the first impressions made 
 upon the young. Streams of influence flow in upon the 
 child, every one of which will work its own result in mould- 
 ing the future character. Happy is the child that is born 
 into a family where the parents are distinguished by culture 
 and intelligence ; and where tenderness, high moral feeling, 
 and good sense is the atmosphere breathed around. 
 
 Parents are very properly careful about the food that 
 their children partake of, but how much more careful 
 should they be of the example placed before them ; of the 
 books they read ; and also of the companions they asso- 
 ciate with. 
 
 I think also that children should from their earliest days 
 have " no place like home :" suitable amusements should 
 ever be combined with early teaching, as much of the rest- 
 lessness which characterizes children is attributable mainly 
 to their not being wisely instructed and entertained in the 
 home circle. 
 
 I was allowed to run about pretty much as I liked till I 
 was five or six years old, when I was sent to what was then 
 called a Dame's School. I have a most affectionate re- 
 membrance of the kind and patient treatment of the lady 
 to whose care I was entrusted for my early education. She 
 quite won my young heart by her gentle manners and 
 loving disposition, and was the first out of my own family 
 to call forth that desire to please, which I have cultivated 
 in after life, especially in reference to those whom Burns 
 denominates " the blood-royal of life." I feel it to be 
 strictly true in my own case, that 
 
 " The earliest wish I ever knew 
 
 Was woman's kind regard to win ; 
 I felt it long ere passion grew, 
 Ere such a wish could be a sin." 
 
 Parents are not careful enough in ascertaining the 
 character and disposition of those to whom they confide 
 their children. Some people have an idea that the child 
 must be treated harshly and rudely, to develope a rough
 
 Gentle influences. 13 
 
 manliness or hard womanliness, but observation will con- 
 vince us that this is a great mistake. There is in all of 
 us a yearning to be loved, and gentle influences tell most 
 effectively on the springs of action. The little child has 
 this longing to be loved ; it is that desire which prompts 
 the tiny infant to put out the little chubby rounded arms 
 to the mother, and purse up its rosy mouth for the sweet 
 and tender kiss. If " every flower enjoys the air it 
 breathes," so does the babe enjoy and rejoice in the love 
 that is poured out upon it ; and it is my belief that every 
 loving caress of the mother goes down deep into the heart 
 of the child, and sounds a latent depth of feeling there, 
 which will be developed in after years. The love that 
 the mother lavishes upon her babe is not lost ; it goes 
 flowing through that little form, touching the tender and 
 infantile spirit with sweetness, and we may hope waking 
 the most exquisite pleasure there. 
 
 It is my firm conviction that harsh and severe treat- 
 ment on the part of parents, or instructors of youth, will 
 never succeed in education ; and that >it is love and gen- 
 tleness that will call out the best qualities of the child. 
 
 I remember somewhere to have read that " if you want 
 your children to meet the world manfully and womanfully, 
 fill them with love till they overflow. Begin in the cradle ; 
 rock them into love : sing love into them. Let all things 
 pure and beautiful speak to them from the pictures on your 
 walls, if you can afford pictures ; let love play out upon 
 them in the music of harp and piano, if you can afford 
 harp and piano ; and every mother ought to know how to 
 sing, and the child's cradle should be rocked, and the little 
 one lulled to sleep, by snatches of melody wafted down 
 from the very gate of heaven." 
 
 But to return from this digression on early educational 
 influences to myself. On leaving my first school, and my 
 kind instructress, I was sent to a "Commercial Academy" 
 at Canterbury, presided over by a man of impulsive and 
 hasty temper, with very little aptitude for teaching. It
 
 14 School-days. 
 
 was a large school of about sixty boarders, and more than 
 that number of day-scholars. 
 
 The course of study at this school included all the branches 
 of a sound English and commercial education : the scholars 
 were mainly composed of tradesmen's sons in the city, and 
 the rough and ruddy scions of the surrounding farmers. 
 We attended at the Dancing Academy of a late celebrated 
 and well-known professor, one afternoon in the week, and 
 always looked forward with much pleasure to those cheerful 
 exercises, as the girls from several boarding schools in the 
 neighbourhood were accustomed to meet us on those occa- 
 sions for the practice of that healthful and exhilarating ac- 
 complishment. I look back upon those dancing meetings as 
 among the pleasantest and purest of my boyish days, and 
 regret much that there exists any prudential reasons why 
 parents should deny their children the great pleasure of 
 learning, in the morning of life, how to " trip it on the 
 light fantastic toe." 
 
 I was not so fortunate as my eldest brother in the 
 matter of education. He was sent to the " King's School " 
 at Canterbury, where some of the most distinguished men 
 of the county were educated. Among them may be 
 mentioned Lords Thurlow and Tenterden, who have re- 
 ceived their due from the ready pen of Lord Campbell, the 
 able biographer of the Chancellors and Chief Justices of 
 England. Sir Egerton Brydges, of Lee Priory, was also 
 educated at the King's School, and a host of others too 
 numerous to mention.* 
 
 The master was assisted by three ushers ; and there 
 was scarcely a day passed without my witnessing corporal 
 punishment, in the shape of a good caning, inflicted upon 
 some of my schoolfellows, and not unfrequently coming 
 in for a share of it myself. 
 
 * See " Memorials of the King's School, Canterbury, by Eev. 
 J. S. Sidebotham, M.A." A most interesting little volume that 
 every " man of Kent " should possess.
 
 Flogging. 15 
 
 The master of the school to which I was sent appeared 
 to love flogging for its own sake, rather than as an un- 
 pleasant, but in some instances necessary, auxiliary to 
 teaching. Never shall I forget the, intense feeling of 
 indignation with which I witnessed, what may be called, 
 in school parlance, the ultimatum of corporal punishment. 
 The poor culprit was a boy about thirteen years of age, and 
 had been guilty of some petty theft in the school, as well as 
 having been a constant trouble to the master and his 
 assistants by frequent misbehaviour. The poor trembling 
 fellow was led by the master to a double desk, upon which 
 he was placed. He commenced the flagellation with cruel 
 earnestness, and proceeded for some minutes to use a new 
 birch made for the occasion, in spite of the shrieks and 
 writhing agony of the helpless boy. The punishment did 
 not end till the strong arm of the master was tired with 
 his savage work, and the poor degraded lad was led out of 
 school to his bed-room, amid the half suppressed groans 
 of the boys ; not so much for the crime for which the poor 
 fellow had suffered this degrading punishment, but with a 
 feeling of horror and disgust at the malicious and brutal 
 manner in which this infliction had been conducted. The 
 boy ever after had a stricken look, and even in play hours, 
 as well as in the school, appeared always conscious of the 
 scene he had been the unhappy occasion of. I ceased 
 from that day to have any respect or regard for the master; 
 and this feeling was intensified not long after, when, for 
 some trivial offence, he struck my younger brother a violent 
 blow on the side of the face, which brought blood from his 
 ear, and obliged him to remain at home under medical 
 treatment for more than a fortnight. 
 
 This tyrant of a master lost so many of his pupils by 
 his harsh and severe treatment that he was obliged to give 
 up the school. He was succeeded by a man who, though 
 rather fond of using his cane, never proceeded to the more 
 degrading and disgusting exhibitions which I have felt it 
 to be my duty to record.
 
 1 fi Stammering. 
 
 The new master was in many respects a more estimable 
 man than his predecessor, but was deficient in firmness, 
 and wanted that controlling and administrative talent that 
 should characterize the head of a large school. He found 
 out in a short time his unsuitableness, and gave up the 
 scholastic profession for the more quiet and unobtrusive 
 pursuits of a country clergyman. 
 
 About this time I acquired a habit of stammering, which 
 was not only a great annoyance to me at school, and fre- 
 quently a subject of some merriment to the boys, but has 
 also been a source of bitter mortification and grief to me 
 all through life. 
 
 It was, however, as I shall hereafter relate, the cause 
 of altering very materially my subsequent history. 
 
 Physiologists and medical men have ascribed this dis- 
 tressing malady to various causes; but in my case the habit 
 arose from being occasionally in the company of a relative 
 who stammered badly, and being rather a quick and imi- 
 tative lad, I unhappily became a most inveterate stam- 
 merer. The subject has been one that I have necessarily 
 thought much about, and I have carefully read everything 
 that came within my reach relating to it, and hope in a 
 future part of the story of my life to say something further 
 of stammering and stammering-curers. 
 
 My new school-master took rather a liking to me ; and 
 as my impediment of speech prevented me at times from 
 taking my usual place in the classes, he kindly allowed me 
 to sit at a vacant desk by his side, on an elevated platform, 
 that I might have the benefit of hearing the lessons with- 
 out subjecting me to the pain of making an exhibition of 
 myself to the other boys. It is however rather singular 
 that my stammering never kept me from taking part in 
 the elocution classes. I could always read, or recite, any 
 composition that ran on flowingly and continuously ; I only 
 failed in dialogue. 
 
 I had always a great fondness for reading aloud and 
 reciting poetry, and gained several prizes during my school-
 
 Attempt at Public Speaking. 17 
 
 days for elocution. .1 remember upon one occasion so far 
 forgetting myself, as in the temporary absence of the master, 
 to rise from the raised desk, and with a grave look, and 
 loud voice, give out in true clerical style " Let us sing, 
 to the praise and glory of God, the one hundredth psalm." 
 I commenced the well-known words, 
 
 "All people that on earth do dwell." 
 
 The thing was so suddenly done, and the consternation 
 of the under-masters so great, that I got fairly through 
 the first verse before they had time to hush me into be- 
 coming silence. A severe but kindly reprimand from the 
 master, on returning to the school, rewarded me for this 
 my maiden attempt at public speaking. 
 
 My connection with this school was shortly interrupted 
 by an incident that induced the master to beg that my 
 father would remove me from his establishment. I was 
 one day leaning over the desk at which I was at work, 
 speaking to a boy on the opposite side', with my back to 
 the master, when he came softly and silently behind me 
 and gave me two sharp cuts with the cane below my jacket. 
 I was so stung by the cowardice of the thing, and indig- 
 nant at what I considered an unmerited punishment, that 
 I instantly snatched up a slate before me and hurled it with 
 all my might at the master's head. Fortunately it did not 
 hit him, but it gave him to understand most unmistakably 
 that I was not a boy to be trifled with, or that would 
 quietly submit to any punishment that mere caprice would 
 prompt him to inflict. He very properly felt that some 
 serious castigation must follow such an offence as that of 
 which I had been guilty, or that, for the sake of example, 
 I must leave the school ; and I cannot but think that he 
 acted wisely in preferring the latter alternative. 
 
 On my leaving this school my father sent me to a " select 
 academy" in Guildhall-street, Canterbury, presided over by 
 rather a superior man in point of education ; but from his
 
 18 Schoolmaster outwitted. 
 
 bad temper totally unfit to have the care and management 
 of boys. I took a dislike to him from the first, and an 
 event occurred, shortly after my being placed under his 
 care, that rendered my removal from his influence necessary. 
 
 He was a tall, thin, red-haired man, with a vinegar 
 aspect, and very passionate. He resided at some short 
 distance from the school, and one favourite mode of pun- 
 ishment with him was, on leaving in the afternoon, to give 
 a boy some hundred lines to learn, and lock him up in the 
 school for two or three hours. 
 
 Three of us one afternoon had misconducted ourselves 
 so as to come under his displeasure, and at five o'clock we 
 were duly locked in with " a hundred lines " from " Enfield's 
 Speaker " to commit to memory. It so happened on this 
 afternoon that a large party of us had determined to go for 
 a swim in the Stour at the close of the school, and we 
 three poor unfortunates felt the disappointment very much. 
 After thinking a little upon the hardness of our fate, I sug- 
 gested that we should give the old gentleman the slip, and 
 join our companions at the river. One of the fellows who 
 was locked up with me consented to go, providing I could 
 devise a way for our escape from the durance vile, and 
 would lead the van ; but the other fellow, a boy of phleg- 
 matic temperament, and who afterwards became a lawyer, 
 and practised for many years at Canterbury, thought very 
 naturally what we should catch in the morning, and there- 
 fore prudentially declined to join us 'in our flight. 
 
 I was determined not to be disappointed in our promised 
 bathe, and a glance at the fan-light over the school door 
 convinced me at once that we had only to remove one of 
 the squares of glass, and we could get out as comfortably 
 as possible. We collected the boxes and placed them 
 against the door, and having raised a platform of the re- 
 quisite height, I set to work to remove the putty with my 
 pocket-knife, and in a few minutes the glass was out, and I 
 was down on the other side. My plucky companion soon 
 followed, and in twenty minutes we had joined our school-
 
 Saved from a Flogging. 19 
 
 fellows at the bathing- place. We were received with three 
 hearty cheers, and as " stolen waters are sweet," I never 
 enjoyed a bath more in my life. 
 
 However, matters wore a very different aspect in the 
 morning. The master had come to the school at seven in 
 the evening to hear our tasks and to let us out ; and no 
 small stir was made when he found that two of the birds 
 had flown. The boy who had remained behind told the 
 infuriated master all about how it happened, and that I 
 had been the instigator of this unwarrantable breach of 
 school discipline. 
 
 As soon as the school was assembled on the following 
 morning, and the customary prayers had been duly gone 
 through, we were summoned to the desk ; and after the 
 case had been fully gone into, and the daring character of 
 our misconduct pointed out and dilated upon, I was ad- 
 judged as the principal delinquent to be flogged : and the 
 other fellow, who was my junior by a year, was let off with 
 a good caning and a severe lecturing. This being over, I 
 was led out of the school by the master with birch in hand 
 into the adjoining lobby, and ordered at once to prepare 
 for a flagellation ; I told him promptly, and with a most 
 defiant look, that I had never made an exhibition of my- 
 self yet, and that I should not do so then. A deadly 
 paleness came over the master's face, and he saw at once 
 that it would not do to lay violent hands upon me ; so I 
 was conducted back to the school, and the old gentleman 
 having announced that I had refused to undergo the pun- 
 ishment awarded, I was dismissed from the school. I very 
 soon bundled my books into my box and placed it on my 
 head, wished the master good morning, and made my ap- 
 pearance at home, much to the astonishment of my father 
 and the regret of my poor mother. However, when I 
 came to explain the nature of my offence, and had told 
 them of the penalty that was to have been inflicted, they 
 neither of them blamed me for refusing to submit to the 
 brutal and degrading punishment.
 
 20 Ashford. 
 
 My father was obliged once more to look about for 
 another school for me ; but finding none that were at all 
 suitable at Canterbury, I was sent to an old established 
 boarding school at Ashford, presided over by a clergy- 
 man. 
 
 As I had never been away from home before I found a 
 boarding school presented some new phases of life to me, 
 and I was not long before I sadly missed the constant and 
 tender care of my dear mother. The school was pleasantly 
 situated in the outskirts of the town, and at the bottom of 
 the playground stood one of the most noble windmills I 
 have ever seen. Many an hour have I spent in looking 
 out from the fantail of that mill upon the beautiful sur- 
 rounding country, and the mysteries of milling were always 
 interesting to me as a boy. 
 
 The master, as I have said, was a clergyman, and was a 
 tall well-proportioned man of about fifty-five, with a kindly 
 benevolent face and highly attractive manners. He was 
 assisted in the school by two ushers, one of whom was his 
 eldest son. The school consisted of about fifty boarders 
 and half-a-dozen day scholars. The mistress was a regu- 
 lar termagant, and when in a passion was a complete fury. 
 She was a short stout woman of about fifty, a large white 
 face, small nose, and very ugly red hair. She was an 
 object of fear and hatred to the whole establishment, and 
 I was often half inclined to believe that this feeling was 
 shared to a great extent even by the master himself. There 
 was an only daughter, who very much resembled her 
 mother, only that she had the redeeming quality of being 
 young. I used to admire the golden tresses that hung 
 around her white neck and fell upon her plump shoulders. 
 An usher from the adjoining grammar school was paying 
 his addresses to this young lady during the time of my 
 remaining at the school, and I only hope that if she ever 
 became his wife that she has turned out better than her 
 mamma. There was a younger son, a lad of about eight 
 years old, who took a great liking to me, which I was glad
 
 Short Commons. 21 
 
 at times to turn to good account. Boarding schools in those 
 days were all famous, or rather infamous, for keeping the 
 boys short of food, and I regret to say that that at Ashford 
 was not an exception. I soon found that the change of diet 
 and the limited allowance hegan to tell upon me. I was 
 a strong growing hoy of twelve, and at no one of the three 
 meals a day which were allowed did I get enough to eat. 
 Many a time have I played the monkey to amuse the 
 master's little son, who, as a reward for the fun I occa- 
 sioned, gave me some slices of thin bread-and-butter, or 
 an extra piece of bread-and-cheese, which he had got for 
 himself. 
 
 We were rung up in the morning at six, and expected 
 to be in our places in the school by half-past ; and studied 
 till eight. Breakfast consisted of a buttered roll, (not by 
 any means large,) and half-a-pint of mi]k and water, 
 which we denominated " sky blue." Some of the boys, 
 from a love of money, would sell half their roll ; and many 
 a time, when the funds would allow of it, have I given a 
 halfpenny a day for weeks together for the half of some 
 poor fellow's allowance. 
 
 School re-opened at nine and continued till twelve. An 
 hour was allowed to play, and dinner at one. This meal 
 generally consisted of joints and puddings, except on Satur- 
 day, when the fragments of meat were collected together, 
 and made into an immense pie, served up with a plentiful 
 supply of gravy. Saturday's dinner was a general favourite 
 with us, except you happened to light upon a bit of meat in 
 the pie a little too gamy. No boy was expected to send 
 up his plate for a second supply of either meat or pudding, 
 though the invitation to do so was always politely put by 
 the master and mistress at each end of the long table. 
 We used to get a good deal of boiled rice, rendered very 
 palatable by being served up with hot milk and sugar. 
 The bread puddings were always dreaded ; as they con- 
 sisted of all the stale pieces that had accumulated during 
 the week : it went by the name of " stick -jaw," from
 
 22 Amusing Incident. 
 
 the fact that it clung so tenaciously to the mouth. The 
 favourite puddings were currant, and baked plum ; the 
 former was denominated " cat's tail," from its being made 
 in long rolls ; and I must mention rather an amusing little 
 incident that occurred one day with reference to the latter, 
 which was a favourite dish with me. 
 
 These puddings were made in large round flat dairy 
 tins, and came to the table always hot from the oven. 
 The boys had been served all round, and an extra slice or 
 two remained in the dish. Being rather an unruly fellow, 
 I sat always at the top of the table (the post of honour !) 
 next the master ; his back was turned away for a moment, 
 and in an instant I dexterously seized upon one of the 
 tempting piece's of pudding, and slipped into my pocket. 
 The boys on the opposite side were not a little amused at 
 the movement. It was, however, so terribly hot in my 
 pocket, that I could not possibly endure it, and began to 
 be very uneasy in my seat, and to hold the bottom of my 
 stomach, as if I had been suddenly attacked with spasms 
 or cramp. I tried in vain to shift the stolen morsel from 
 place to place. The master, seeing my restlessness, in- 
 quired if I was unwell, and this remark produced a burst 
 of laughter from the boys, which led him to insist upon 
 knowing the cause, and I was obliged very reluctantly to 
 produce the precious morsel. Never shall I forget the 
 look of the mistress ; she did not speak, but her worthy 
 husband saw in a moment that it must not be passed over 
 as a joke, so I was desired to leave the table. I beat a 
 retreat, sadly mortified, not only at losing the pudding, 
 but I knew that I should get a regular roasting from the 
 boys, as well as being punished for the offence. 
 
 When school assembled in the afternoon I was called 
 up to the master's desk, and seriously talked to on this 
 breach of decorum ; the lecture ended in my being awarded 
 four strokes from the " flapper." 
 
 This instrument of juvenile correction consisted of a 
 piece of thickish leather, about six inches long, rounded
 
 Turning-point in School-life. 23 
 
 off at the top, and attached to an old ruler. It very much 
 resembled the flappers seen in butchers' shops for destroy- 
 ing blow-flies. When applied rather sharply to the palm 
 of the hand, it produced not an altogether unpleasant 
 tingling feeling, and would, I should imagine, be a good 
 thing to promote a sluggish circulation of the blood in 
 those who are troubled with chilblains. When I had duly 
 received the appointed number of strokes, I held out my 
 hand for another and another ; the master saw at once that 
 this mode of punishment would not succeed with me. It 
 was the first time since my arrival at the school that he 
 had administered corporal punishment upon me, and it was 
 the last. He led me into his study, took me by the hand 
 and spoke kindly, and reminded me in gentle words how 
 grieved my mother would be should he be obliged to 
 inform my father of my bad behaviour. Tears flowed 
 freely down my cheeks, and from that afternoon I was an 
 altered boy. The good man had found out what others 
 might have done before him, that gentleness and kindness 
 will generally succeed, where severity and harshness totally 
 fail. This was the turning-point in my school life ; the 
 kindness and confidence thus wisely manifested wrought so 
 powerfully upon my better nature, that I began to love the 
 master, who told my father at the end of the quarter that 
 I was the most manageable boy in the school, and that he 
 had not the smallest trouble with me. 
 
 I soon became a special favourite with the little son ; 
 but I was not so fortunate as to get into the good graces 
 of the mistress : she was a cruel and passionate woman ; 
 she had none of the qualities, either of mind or person, 
 that were at all likely to tell upon such a nature as mine. 
 I may just mention one instance, among many that come 
 to my recollection, of her cruelty and spitefulness. Our 
 heads were carefully inspected once a week with a small- 
 tooth comb ; and this not at all agreeable operation was 
 always performed by the mistress, assisted by the house-
 
 24 " Midnight-meetings" 
 
 keeper, a good, kind creature, by the name of Rachel, and 
 one who was beloved by every boy in the school. 
 
 The boys who had for any reason fallen under the dis- 
 pleasure of the old lady during the week were selected 
 and told off for a combing, and upon them she would scrape 
 away so unmercifully that many a time have I been ready 
 to scream out at the pain inflicted. 
 
 Numerous are the tales of fun and frolic that recur to 
 my memory while thinking of this period in my history, 
 and the time would fail me to tell of the usual gambols 
 which boys at school indulge in. We were always sent off 
 to bed early, and the apartment I slept in contained about 
 twenty boys. We used to hold concerts with an orchestra 
 constructed with our boxes piled up, and frequent were the 
 spouting meetings held in that room upon all sorts of sub- 
 jects, to say nothing of leap-frog, blind-man's-buff, and 
 other games. 
 
 I was often called upon to mount the rostrum, consist- 
 ing of boxes, and hold forth upon some given subject, and 
 it was not a little singular that at these oratorical displays 
 at our " midnight meetings," I never found my stammer- 
 ing an impediment. I used to hang fire most of all when 
 I stood up in class, and had not spent overmuch time upon 
 my lessons. 
 
 I must, however, now take leave of this period of my 
 history, and I do so with the feeling that the last two 
 years of my school -days spent at Ashford were among the 
 pleasantest of my early life.
 
 III. 
 
 LEAVING SCHOOL, CHOICE OF A PKOFESSION, 
 AND EVIL INFLUENCES. 
 
 " Look not mournfully into the Past; it comes not back again. 
 Wisely improve the Present; it is thine own. Go forth to meet 
 the shadowy Future, without fear and with a manly heart." 
 
 COME now to speak of one of the most 
 important periods in my life and history 
 that of leaving school, and before entering 
 upon any employment. , 
 
 It would, I think, be well if parents 
 thought more carefully of what they intended doing with 
 their sons on leaving school. I have often found, on con- 
 versing with fathers on the subject, that there has been no 
 decision arrived at as to the future destination of their boys ; 
 but in many cases they have imagined that something 
 would turn up when the time for their leaving school 
 arrived. Surely it is a subject of very great importance, 
 that a youth should have selected for him some trade or 
 profession that he may enter upon at once on leaving 
 school, and for which his previous education shall have 
 prepared him. Although the taste and predilections of a 
 youth should be considered in a matter so deeply affecting 
 his future welfare, and care should be taken not to make 
 a boy a tailor or a tinker, if he is better qualified for an 
 architect or a civil engineer; yet it is, I think, desirable 
 that a father should thoughtfully and wisely select that oc-
 
 26 Printing-office. 
 
 cupation for his son that he deems most in accordance with 
 the leading tendencies and characteristics of the boy, and in 
 the pursuit of which he would be most likely to succeed. 
 
 I fear in my own case that my father was so absorbed in 
 his large business, together with his public and official en- 
 gagements, as to have had little time for observation to study 
 the individual character and tendencies of my brothers and 
 myself, and to select the occupation most suitable for us. 
 
 I was accustomed to spend a good deal of my time in 
 my father's printing-office, and had rather a liking for 
 some branches of that business. My sympathies, how- 
 ever, were more with the pressman than with the more 
 quiet and sedentary work of the compositor. I have many 
 an hour when a boy stood and watched the snowy sheet 
 laid carefully upon the block of type, and envied the man 
 who, with the turn of a handle, and a hearty pull, could 
 produce the ample printed page. I greatly admired the 
 pressman, whose work in those days of printing was very 
 different to that which obtains in the present day, when 
 machinery has almost superseded manual labour. I re- 
 member that the person referred to was a tall, thin, wiry 
 man, with shirt sleeves turned up above the elbow, show- 
 ing an arm with unusual muscular development. He 
 sometimes would allow me to pull an occasional sheet ; but 
 these were generally cast aside as waste, for though I was 
 a strong and sturdy boy, there was needed the length of 
 arm, and the firm footing to produce the good impression. 
 
 My mother had a very strong objection to my becoming 
 a printer, as the language and habits of those employed in 
 that business were not such as to improve the moral status 
 of a boy who had a decided leaning to imitate whatever he 
 deemed manly in those around him. 
 
 I was very partial to the bookselling and stationery 
 branches of my father's business, and many an hour did 
 I spend in looking carefully through the new books, par- 
 ticularly the "Annuals" that were so numerous at that 
 period. My father dealt largely also in patent medicines,
 
 Juvenile Predilections. 27 
 
 and I was very fond of going through the long series of 
 drawers containing these certain and infallible cures and 
 remedies for all the ills that flesh is heir to. 
 
 My eldest brother was in the shop acting as an assist- 
 ant, together with a young man who had served his ap- 
 prenticeship to my father, so that my services were not 
 much needed in the business. I was, however, useful on 
 " Magazine days" in tying up and delivering the monthlies 
 and quarterlies which were distributed among my father's 
 numerous customers. 
 
 When not engaged in the shop I used to visit the estab- 
 lishments of our neighbours, and so got an insight into 
 " the art, trade, and mystery" of a good many businesses. 
 Among these was a pastrycook's, where there were three 
 very pretty daughters ; and I have stood by the hour to- 
 gether to watch them make up the tarts and puffs, and 
 " three-corners," &c, until I got quite to like, not only 
 the pastry, and the company of the young ladies, but could 
 also roll out the paste and manipulate some of the fancy 
 articles manufactured pretty well. 
 
 There was also a large drapery business directly oppo- 
 site to my father's, and I was allowed to have the full range 
 of that establishment, and used not unfrequently to assist 
 them in " taking stock." The haberdashery and the glove 
 departments were the favourite branches with me. 
 
 I was a frequent visitor also at the shop of a chemist 
 and druggist near us, who allowed me to gum the labels 
 on the perfumery bottles, and sometimes to roll up the pills 
 into swallowing order. 
 
 A butcher who lived within a few doors of us came in 
 for a share of my help, for I thought chopping sausage- 
 meat and filling the skins a very pleasant diversion, and I 
 soon became quite an adept at the work. The slaughter- 
 house adjoining was not an uninteresting place to me, and 
 I have for many an hour looked on at the operations tak- 
 ing place there. To see an ox led to the slaughter, and 
 the noble beast felled to the ground by a single blow of
 
 28 " Old Tom." 
 
 the pole-axe, has often inspired me with awe and fear. 
 These sanguinary exhibitions were, however, always re- 
 pulsive to me, and I could not help regarding the man 
 who killed the poor beasts, and dressed the carcases, with 
 a kind of instinctive feeling of horror. I have sometimes 
 gone into the pen where ten or a dozen sheep have been 
 awaiting the knife, and watched with tender interest the 
 affrighted look and beseeching eye of those gentle crea- 
 tures, who would " lick the hand just raised to shed their 
 blood." Some members of my family proposed that I 
 should become a butcher ; but though I was often a visitor 
 at this place of death, it was for the most part because I 
 had nothing else to do. 
 
 At the back of my father's house was a large gin dis- 
 tillery, and as I was well known to the proprietor I was 
 often there, and have witnessed many a time the process 
 of converting the juniper-berry into " Old Tom." The 
 fragrant smell of the pure and unadulterated liquor was to 
 me far more agreeable than the taste. 
 
 There was also a wholesale wine and porter establish- 
 ment hard by, and I have for days together helped to 
 bottle off many a pipe of sherry and hogshead of London 
 porter. The owner of the business, an old bachelor, 
 dealt largely also in ginger beer and lemonade. A nephew 
 lived with him as chief assistant, and for whom I formed a 
 strong attachment. He was a fine young fellow of about 
 two-and-twenty, and under his tuition I became quite 
 a first-rate hand at bottling off, corking, and tying down 
 the ginger beer and lemonade. Poor fellow, it would have 
 been well for him had he confined himself to these cooling^ 
 and refreshing beverages, but the temptation was too strong, 
 and he became at length an habitual drunkard. His end 
 was very painful and tragical. He had taken upou one 
 occasion more than his usual quantity and became up- 
 roariously intoxicated, he was seized with an attack of 
 delirium tremens, and died in the greatest possible agony. 
 
 The death of this young man made a great impression
 
 A sad Story. 29 
 
 upon me. His uncle, a most kind-hearted man, was very 
 fond of him, and was deeply grieved at the sad event. 
 Knowing the intimacy that subsisted between his nephew 
 and myself, he was desirous that I should take warning by 
 his dreadful death. The day before the funeral he took 
 me into the room in which the body was laid, and never 
 shall I forget the sight when he slowly removed the lid of 
 the coffin, and revealed to me the disfigured, almost un- 
 recognizable countenance of him who had been my friend. 
 When in health he was a noble fellow, with an open, frank, 
 and manly face ; but the fearful disease from which he died 
 had so disfigured that countenance that I could hardly 
 discern the well-known features. That sight, and the 
 look of his poor weeping uncle, I have never forgotten. 
 We stood silently gazing upon the now repulsive form 
 that lay before us for some minutes, not a word was spoken. 
 The broken-hearted uncle took my hand with a gentle 
 pressure, and I retired with a sorrowful and a heavy heart. 
 I was among those the next day who followed him to his 
 early grave, and I never now think of him without lifting 
 up my heart to God that I may be preserved from that 
 damning habit which destroys body and soul, and in the 
 present instance removed from a wide circle of friends one 
 of the noblest young men I have ever met with. 
 
 In leavingthis sadstory the words of the poet recurtome 
 
 " When cold in the earth lies the friend thou hast loved, 
 
 Be his faults and his follies forgot by thee then ; 
 Or if from their slumber the veil be removed, 
 Weep o'er them in silence, and close it again." 
 
 I must here digress a little from my personal history to 
 of my native city as it was at the time I refer to. 
 
 Canterbury in my youthful days was the principal city 
 in the high road from London to the Continent, and a 
 stream of private carriages and post-chaises, containing 
 the gentry and great celebrities of the day, were con- 
 tinually rolling through the narrow streets of the old city, 
 on their way to Dover and the Continent.
 
 30 " -Sam Wright" 
 
 The " Fountain Hotel," kept at that time by one that 
 was always spoken of as " Sam Wright " peace to his 
 memory was almost a little town in itself, and that worthy 
 gentleman made a large and well-earned fortune from his 
 business. He was well known and highly respected by 
 all the distinguished personages who visited his establish- 
 ment en route to the Continent, as well as by the gentry 
 of the surrounding neighbourhood. I was very intimate 
 with this gentleman and his family, so that I could run in 
 at any time. I was a special favourite with Mrs. Wright, 
 and her only daughter presented me with my first watch 
 and chain. I recollect watching with much admiration 
 the graceful manner in which this " fine old English gen- 
 tleman " would lift his hat, and bow to the inmates of the 
 carriages as they left his hotel. I don't think that Simp- 
 son, of Yauxhall notoriety, could have performed this salu- 
 tation with more ease and grace. 
 
 The stage coaches at this time running between London 
 and Dover were as well horsed as, or better than, any in the 
 kingdom ; and the coachmen were famed both for their 
 intelligence and gentlemanly bearing. It will occur to 
 many of my readers who were acquainted with Canterbury 
 some thirty-five years since, that the Tally Ho ! coaches, 
 corresponding in coaching to " express trains " on the rail, 
 wei'e among the finest sights of the kind to be seen in all 
 England. The vehicles themselves were smart and elegant, 
 built by a first-rate London coach-maker : the horses were 
 selected from a large and well-chosen stud, and caparisoned 
 in such a manner as to give the turn-out more the appear- 
 ance of private carriages than of public conveyances. 
 
 These two splendid four-horse coaches, alas ! now 
 among the things of the past, were driven by gentle- 
 men who are even now well known and most highly re- 
 spected all through from London to Dover, and therefore 
 I shall be guilty of no impropriety in mentioning their 
 names in my humble pages ; I shall do so in the terms 
 they were spoken of when I was a boy. " Ned Clements"
 
 Canterbury. 31 
 
 and " Tom Bolton," of the " Rose Inn," Canterbury, are 
 names that will not soon be forgotten, at least by the 
 generation in which they lived, though the iron horse and 
 the hissing rattling train have long since taken the place 
 of the Tally Ho ! coaches. 
 
 With both these gentlemen it was my happiness to be 
 well acquainted when a boy, and hundreds of times have 
 I stood opposite the " Eose Inn " to see the horses changed, 
 and have admired the masterly manner in which those 
 noble animals were led off and managed by these accom- 
 plished whips. 
 
 The father of Mr. Edward Clements kept the " Eose 
 Inn " for very many years ; and I do not forget, even at 
 this distant period, that Tom Bolton married one of the 
 daughters, who was moreover one of the prettiest of all the 
 pretty girls in Canterbury. 
 
 Canterbury, at this time, was anything but a place to 
 improve the moral and intellectual status of a youth of 
 ardent temperament just fresh from school. Of what was 
 going on in the upper classes I know but little, but the 
 state of society among those of my own rank at that period 
 was most deplorable. 
 
 The tradesmen, for the most part, spent their evenings 
 away from their families, at the parlour of some inn, where 
 the newspapers of the day were read aloud by the best 
 reader that could be selected ; and the scandal and talk of 
 the city formed the topics of conversation over their grog 
 and pipes. No provision whatever was made to find suit- 
 able evening amusement for the young men. 
 
 At the time referred to there were no " Young Men's 
 Associations," or " Societies for Mutual Improvement," at 
 least not of the character which obtains at the present day. 
 A young man has only himself to blame now if he gets 
 into bad society, and forms improper connections. Every- 
 thing is done now-a-days to benefit this deeply interesting 
 class, and to bring them under good influences. Associa- 
 tions are to be found in all our provincial towns, as well as
 
 32 Young Metis Associations. 
 
 in London, to provide entertainment, and furnish oppor- 
 tunities for mental culture, that were never thought of in 
 the days of my youth. 
 
 Let any one glance at the handsome series of volumes 
 of lectures issued under the auspices of the Christian 
 Young Men's Association in London for proof of what I 
 say. Among the lectures in that series are to be found 
 some of the foremost literary men in the country ; as well 
 as not a few of the most distinguished preachers of the 
 day ; and each successive session does but show the desire 
 on the part of the Committee, and the zealous and intelli- 
 gent Secretary of that most admirable association, to give 
 the young men of the metropolis ample opportunities of 
 improving their minds. 
 
 The Dublin Young Men's Christian Association is not 
 so well known on this side the Channel ; but the Commit- 
 tee of that Association have also issued an annual series of 
 volumes, not so handsome in point of typography and get- 
 ting-up, but numbering among its lecturers some of Ire- 
 land's noblest sons, and most accomplished scholars, with 
 the late revered Archbishop Whately at their head. 
 
 Leeds, Manchester, Birmingham, Liverpool, Norwich, 
 Sheffield, and many other of our large provincial towns, 
 have also noble institutions, where young men engaged in 
 business may find a home for their leisure hours, and 
 opportunities of improving their minds, which, alas ! in my 
 younger days, never existed. 
 
 We young fellows at Canterbury were allowed to find 
 any amusements that offered, and I was very soon drawn 
 into a circle of acquaintance and companionship, the boast 
 of which was that one should outstrip the other in ribaldry 
 and licentiousness. 
 
 At the period I am writing of harlotry and concubinage 
 obtained to a fearful extent at Canterbury. Few, indeed, 
 I fear, were the married men who did not indulge in 
 licentious habits ; and as for the young men of that day it 
 was a reproach not to have gone to " the same excess of riot."
 
 Evil Influences. 33 
 
 Just at this very critical time I formed an acquaintance 
 with a man of fascinating manners and good address, who 
 took a great liking to me. He was a man old enough to 
 be my father, and obtained great influence over me. His 
 conversation chiefly turned upon women, of which he pro- 
 fessed to be a great admirer. He put into my hands some 
 filthy and abominable books, profusely illustrated, and cal- 
 culated to excite within me, and prematurely to develope, 
 all that was bad in the nature of such a temperament as 
 mine. Oh ! the injury, the irreparable injury done by' 
 this man. I curse his memory down deep in my heart of 
 hearts even now. He was the means of inflicting upon 
 me one of the greatest curses that can be borne by a think- 
 ing being, that of an unhallowed imagination. Those 
 pictures of wickedness have never passed away. They 
 haunt me like ghosts wherever I may be, and beckon me 
 often into forbidden paths. The inflaming and damnable 
 letterpress accompanying those illustrations has been so 
 imprinted in letters of living fire upon my mental being 
 that the foul, filthy, and blasting characters will never be 
 erased from my mind. Would that I could put upon 
 these pages the bitter bitter grief these abominable books 
 have occasioned me in after years. Oh, my young bro- 
 thers, guard most jealously your moral purity, for if you 
 lose it once, it is gone for ever ! You may, by God's grace, 
 be rescued and delivered from the terrible abyss, and be- 
 come a husband and a father ; but you can never hope to 
 enjoy the pure and blissful pleasures which those have 
 who have kept their garments white. Believe me when 
 I tell you that the man who in his youth has indulged in 
 forbidden and licentious pleasures never can have the en- 
 joyment of him who is innocent of " the great transgres- 
 sion." 
 
 Should these pages meet the eye of some youth just 
 entering upon life, full of hope, and with " a heart as 
 merry as a marriage bell," and should he be tempted to 
 purchase for himself, or borrow from another, books of this
 
 34 Moral Purity. 
 
 character, oh ! I would say to him, I entreat you, I pray 
 you, as you value your immortal soul, and that body which 
 has been given you for far nobler ends, shun these books 
 as you would an accursed and damnable thing. Do not 
 look at them ; fly from them as you would from a deadly 
 serpent; turn away from them as you would from one 
 covered with a foul and loathsome disease. No defilement 
 is so bad ; no physical evil that can come upon our poor 
 fallen humanity is at ah 1 comparable to this leprosy of the 
 soul, this defilement of the inner-man, this that will follow 
 you like a horrid ghost wherever you may be, into the 
 family circle with all the domestic sanctities of life ; into 
 the fair and beautiful scenery of nature, which can never 
 be thoroughly enjoyed by a polluted mind. 
 
 An impure imagination I feel to be, even now that " my 
 days are in the yellow leaf," my greatest curse. I hope 
 and believe that I am a forgiven man, yet I cannot rid 
 myself from it. If it was intolerably loathsome to be 
 tied and bound to a putrid and stinking corpse ; oh ! my 
 young brothers, believe me, when I say that an impure 
 mind is a far greater curse. No words of mine can ever 
 adequately convey the intense grief that those books have 
 occasioned me ; and no greater and more terrible damna- 
 tion in a future world could, I think, be endured than that 
 of being compelled to carry such a mind through the end- 
 less ages of eternity. 
 
 I never see books of this character (though those that I 
 more particularly refer to are not allowed to be sold in 
 public) exposed in the shop windows of some well-known 
 localities, made justly infamous by this vile traffic, without 
 feeling a very strong inclination to smash the window, and 
 tear the accursed thing into a thousand fragments, and 
 crush it beneath my feet as I would an adder's egg. 
 
 Pardon me, my gentle reader, if I have spoken strongly 
 upon this unwelcome subject ; but if you are a father or a 
 mother, your son could not be warned against anything 
 that could do him so great an injury as that of which I
 
 " Mountain-Pecker Club." 35 
 
 have been speaking. If you are a sister, oh ! pray that 
 those noble brothers of yours, whom you love so much, 
 and are so proud . of, may be preserved from this great 
 evil ; and if you are a youth just opening into manhood's 
 prime, oh ! my young brother, turn away and flee from 
 this damnable and accursed thing as you would from the 
 gulf of hell. 
 
 I was introduced to many places by the man I have just 
 referred to, and among others to a house where were held 
 the meetings of what was called " The Mountain-Pecker 
 Club." 
 
 The members of this association, chiefly composed of 
 tradesmen and young men of the city, held their meetings 
 weekly at a well-known inn at Canterbury. The meetings 
 commenced at eight o'clock in the evening, and any mem- 
 ber had the privilege of introducing a friend. It was a 
 kind of free-and-easy debating society, interspersed with 
 a little singing, and concluded with a supper consisting of 
 sheep's heads (from whence its name) baked and boiled, 
 with sausages (for which Kent is famous), and mashed 
 potatoes. 
 
 The members of this club were a set of jolly fellows, 
 and I was the youngest among them, and as happy as a 
 king. The subjects discussed were chiefly political and 
 social ; but occasionally a religious question came before 
 us, and I remember on one occasion standing up, with all 
 the effrontery and boldness of a young precocious youth 
 of fifteen, and delivered an oration, which was much ap- 
 plauded, against Christianity as a thing not at all in har- 
 mony with a fellow enjoying life in any and every way he 
 pleases. The songs at these meetings were for the most 
 part of a questionable character, as songs almost always 
 are where women are excluded from the company. 
 
 I thought, even then as a youth, that there was some- 
 thing extremely disgusting and revolting in a number of 
 men, some of them hoary-headed, meeting together to 
 excite each other by loose conversation, double-entendres,
 
 36 A Kind-hearted Man. 
 
 and lewd and licentious songs, to all sorts of wicked- 
 ness. 
 
 It may readily be imagined what an effect such meet- 
 ings as these produced upon a youth of my age and tem- 
 perament full of life, and buoyancy, and health and 
 ready to indulge in anything and everything which would 
 minister pleasure and gratification. 
 
 It was proposed, after some little time, that I should be 
 admitted a regular member of this club ; but my eldest 
 brother, who was also a member, objected to my admission 
 on account of my extreme youth, and also because he did 
 not like my being a witness to scenes and society which I 
 might at any time enlighten the home circle about. 
 
 The landlord of this inn, a very kind-hearted and bene- 
 volent man, took a great fancy to me, as also did his wife ; 
 he invited me one evening to take a walk with him, and I 
 found it was for the purpose of having some conversation 
 with me upon the subject of my becoming a member of 
 the " Mountain-Pecker Club." He put the fact of my 
 being so young, and the grief that it would occasion to my 
 father and mother (he had lived with my father as a news- 
 man in his early life) at my associating with men so much 
 older than myself at an inn, together with the injurious in- 
 fluence it would have upon my morals. All this was laid 
 before me so kindly and wisely, that I was induced to give 
 up the desire I had so readily expressed of becoming a 
 member. I never think of this kind-hearted man but with 
 gratitude and thankfulness, and always make a point of 
 calling upon him whenever I visit my native city. He 
 has retired from public life for many years, and lives now 
 in one of the pretty little cottages in the beautiful neigh- 
 bourhood of Harbledown. 
 
 The annual return of the fair at Canterbury, held in the 
 Cattle Market, was an event always looked forward to with 
 much expectation. 
 
 I need not remind any of my Kentish readers, acquainted 
 with Canterbury at this "period, that there were at this fair
 
 Canterbury Fair. 37 
 
 many attractions for both old men and maidens, as well as 
 for young men and children; perhaps foremost among 
 them was Madame Tussaud's unrivalled collection of wax 
 figures, in which were depicted, with life-like faithfulness, 
 the great and illustrious men and women of ancient story. 
 
 With me the favourite gi-oup of the collection was that 
 of Cleopatra and Marc Antony. I remember to have 
 gazed admiringly at these figures as a boy, and to have 
 almost envied the great Roman warrior as he reclined by 
 the side of Egypt's beauteous queen. 
 
 Now my country-cousins may, on visiting the great 
 metropolis, gain the entree not only to the general collec- 
 tion, where will be found the ail-but breathing effigies of 
 the mighty and illustrious dead, but also obtain an in- 
 troduction to men and women that you have perhaps for 
 the most part only read and heard of, yet whose names 
 are as " familiar as household words." Men and women of 
 whom England may be justly proud. Then there is the 
 hall of kings, where you may study at your leisure the 
 countenances, and forms, and costumes bf all the monarchs 
 that have reigned over our beloved country. 
 
 Those who are interested about the great Napoleon 
 and where is the Englishman who is not ? may here see 
 an unrivalled collection relating to that name, at which 
 once " the world grew pale ; " and such as are fond of 
 studying humanity in some of its less attractive forms 
 may have their taste gratified to the full in the " Chamber 
 of Horrors." 
 
 But it was not my intention to have dwelt so long upon 
 Madame Tussaud ; and lest I should be open to the charge 
 of puffing, let me assure my readers that I have no con- 
 nection with that establishment further than occasionally 
 visiting the collection with my family, and paying my 
 shilling as other people do. 
 
 To return, however, from this digression to Canterbury 
 fair ; there was Wombwell's menagerie with " the famous 
 lion Wallace," and the " real Bengal tigers," leopards,
 
 38 Shows and Booths. 
 
 laughing h yaenas, monkeys, together with birds of gay and 
 gorgeous plumage ; the never-tiring elephant picking up 
 the sixpences dropped by the delighted spectators, and which 
 were carefully handed by the noble creature to the keeper, 
 to find him in tobacco and beer. 
 
 In addition to Madame Tussaud's and Wombwell's 
 menagerie, must be included " Richardson's theatre" and 
 " Middleton's puppets ;" the last-named has I believe of late 
 years passed off the scene, while Eichardson still flourishes 
 at our country fairs in all the bloom and freshness of his 
 early fame. To these must be added the " Pig-faced Lady," 
 and dwarfs before Tom Thumb and his sweet little wife 
 of Barnum reputation were even heard of ; the " Real 
 Mermaid " and the " Learned Pig " came in for a share 
 of the patronage ; and then lastly, but by no means the 
 least attractive, were the "peepshows," where for a penny 
 you might see the battles of Waterloo, the Nile, and 
 Trafalgar, with the " dreadful tragedy of Maria Martin and 
 the Red Barn." 
 
 Though in common with my young fellow-citizens I was 
 not a little delighted at the annual returns of the long- 
 looked-for fair, yet the thing of all others that charmed 
 me most was " Algar's Crown and Anchor dancing booth." 
 There, as soon as the shades of evening came down, was 
 a blaze of variegated lamps in every conceivable device 
 and form ; and about nine o'clock might be seen pouring 
 into this attractive place almost all the (I was going to say 
 respectable) well-to-do male population of my native city : 
 to the honour of the matrons and maidens of Canterbury, 
 no woman with any regard to propriety and decency would 
 be seen at such a gathering ; and so my readers may well 
 imagine the character of those of the other sex that fre- 
 quented this fascinating place. Here indeed 
 
 " was a sound of revelry by night, 
 and bright 
 
 The lamps shone o'er fair women and brave men; 
 A thousand hearts beat happily; and when
 
 " Crown and Anchor" 39 
 
 Music arose, with its voluptuous swell, 
 
 Soft eyes look'cl love to eyes which spoke again, 
 
 And all went merry as a marriage bell." 
 
 The moral atmosphere of such a gathering was not one 
 for the matrons and maidens of Kent, and would ill ac- 
 cord with the sanctities of domestic life. At the Crown 
 and Anchor dancing booth there was no restraint ; and 
 every one seemed for the time to be forgetful of all the 
 decencies and proprieties of life, and bent only upon plung- 
 ing into the whirlpool of pleasure. 
 
 It was at such a scene as this, which I have been at- 
 tempting to reproduce and to describe, that I first met with 
 a girl that afterwards exerted a great influence upon me. 
 I was introduced to her by one of my boon companions 
 far older than myself. She was a fair and frail young 
 creature of seventeen, with well-formed figure, a face not 
 remarkable for beauty, though what may be called good- 
 looking. 
 
 " She was not pretty, many said, 
 
 To me she was far more 
 One of those women women' dread, 
 Men fatally adore." 
 
 She danced like a Taglioni, and it was long after the 
 hour of midnight ere we gave over that fascinating and 
 dangerous amusement. 
 
 At the time referred to I had only just turned fourteen, 
 but was far older in appearance and manners : it was not 
 a little flattering to my vanity that a good-looking girl, 
 some years older than myself, should take a liking to me. 
 
 Oh ! it is a dangerous, and sometimes a damning thing 
 for a woman to look approvingly into your eyes. It needed a 
 strength of virtue, and a control of self that, alas, did not be- 
 long to me then, and even in late years such a temptation 
 must not be tampered with, there is safety only in flight. 
 This fair young creature had fallen into the hands of 
 an officer belonging to one of the infantry regiments at 
 that time stationed at Canterbury. He was a very hand- 
 some man of about forty, and he allured his victim from
 
 40 Man's Wickedness. 
 
 school to his base and lustful purposes. He kept her 
 away from her home with him in his quarters in the bar- 
 racks for more than a week before he could break down 
 her virtue, and effect his wicked and selfish ends. He only 
 succeeded then, as many other villains have done, and are 
 now doing, by promising to make her his wife. Is it to 
 be wondered at that young girls fall victims to such wiles ? 
 Here was a man in the meridian of life, handsome and 
 fascinating, a soldier, an officer, using all the artifices of a 
 pretended affection to allure this young maiden to yield 
 herself to his lustful embraces. Oh ! my readers let your 
 indignation and scorn rest upon the man who looked into 
 those eyes, and gazed upon that soft cheek, mantling in elo- 
 quent blushes, and as he breathed out what she, alas, believed 
 to be his heart's love, in tender and tremulous words, gained 
 the heart and the person of that innocent and unsuspecting 
 girl. Blame her not, ye matrons and sisters, she was 
 once as pure as any of yourselves, and but for this designing 
 man might have been a faithful loving wife and a happy 
 mother. My readers ! these are the men that help to fill our 
 streets with poor unfortunates, and then tax our pockets 
 to provide " homes " and " refuges " for such as we can 
 persuade to avail themselves of them. 
 
 Should any maiden read these pages, and I trust there is 
 nothing in them that shall really defile any pure mind, may 
 she take warning from the fall I have just adverted to; and if 
 any man assures her, either in burning words, or in elo- 
 quent letters, with protestations that he will love her for 
 ever, to obtain possession of that priceless thing which, in a 
 woman, when once lost can never be repaired, oh, believe 
 him not let her not say in her heart, he cannot betray me ! 
 Believe me, my dear young fair reader, that such tender 
 words, such burning words, such melting words, have been 
 uttered in every generation since the first bad man be- 
 trayed, and since the first unsuspecting victim fell. These 
 lines may reach the man who effected the ruin of the young 
 creature that has given occasion to these remarks, for he
 
 Womarfs Weakness. 41 
 
 yet lives, and is now honourably married, is the father of 
 children, and is a clergyman holding a dignified position 
 in a well-known and memorable parish in the west of Eng- 
 land. What must be that man's reflections when he thinks, 
 as he must do occasionally, of the pain and misery he has 
 inflicted not only upon those whom he drew away from the 
 home circle to gratify his base and grovelling appetite, but 
 also upon the families involved in their ruin. I know from 
 the best authority, himself, that this was by no means a 
 single instance of his seductive power. Let him think of 
 the broken-hearted fathers who through his infamy have 
 hung their heads for very shame, and upon the mother's 
 curse that rests upon the man who has ruthlessly torn from 
 her heart and home the child she so tenderly and lovingly 
 reared. What terrible revelations of this nature will the 
 world to come make known ! 
 
 But to return to the narrative. She lived with this 
 officer, as his mistress, for a few weeks only, when he em- 
 barked for India with his regiment, leaving this young 
 trusting creature to mourn his absence> a ruined and de- 
 graded girl. 
 
 The result of this cruel amour was the birth of a child 
 before the poor girl was sixteen years of age, and for 
 which no provision whatever had been made by the man 
 who had so basely allured her from the path of rectitude. 
 For anything he knew to the contrary, she might have 
 been turned out of doors, as many are, to find a home for 
 herself and his child in the wide wide world, shunned by 
 her own sex, who, in their desire to show their abhorrence 
 of such a fall from innocence, too often forget to denounce 
 the scoundrel who has brought about the ruin of their 
 fallen sister. 
 
 I became well acquainted with the father and mother 
 of this girl afterwards, and was a welcome and frequent 
 visitor at their fireside. The father was a horse-breaker, 
 and I was a special favourite with the mother, who looked 
 upon me almost as her own son.
 
 42 A Fall 
 
 It is not to be wondered at that this intimacy with the 
 daughter led to that which should have been avoided. To 
 the honour of her father and mother be it recorded that 
 no countenance was given by them to anything of an im- 
 proper nature ; they looked upon me as a young man fond 
 of their daughter, and were pleased with my genial com- 
 pany. 
 
 I fell, as thousands had done before me ; and who could 
 wonder that I did so ? Just imagine for a moment an 
 ardent youth, full of life and lusty vigour, with an imagi- 
 nation inflamed by those blasting and pernicious books and 
 prints to which I have before referred, and coming in 
 daily contact with one very attractive in person and in 
 address, older than myself, and you will, my gentle reader, 
 I think come to the conclusion that had I escaped it would 
 have been almost a miracle. 
 
 Oh ! that I could make this fall of mine a lesson of 
 warning to others : true indeed that " stolen waters are 
 sweet" and there are " pleasures of sin for a season :" 
 yes, the gratifications of illicit love snatched in this way are 
 intoxicating to a fearfully dangerous degree ; yet in after 
 life the recollections will be sad and the results irremedi- 
 able. Young man, keep yourself, or ask God to keep you, 
 pure, if you would be really happy and truly manly. 
 Yield not to the voice of the charmer, charm she never so 
 enchantingly. Hear, my young brother, the voice of 
 Wisdom, "Attend to my words incline thine ear unto my 
 sayings. Let them not depart from thine eyes ; keep them 
 in the midst of thine heart. For they are life unto those 
 
 that find them, and health unto all their flesh 
 
 For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and 
 her mouth is smoother than oil : but her end is bitter as 
 wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword. Her feet go down 
 to death ; her steps take hold on hell Re- 
 move thy way far from her, and come not nigh to the door
 
 A Warning. 43 
 
 of her house : . . . . and now mourn at the last, when 
 thy flesh and thy body are consumed, and say, How have 
 I hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof; and 
 have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor inclined mine 
 ear to them that instructed me." Prov. iv. 20, &c. 
 
 Let these weighty words be pondered by you, my dear 
 young brother and " Flee youthful lusts :" for there is 
 only safety in flight ; parley not with them, or you will be 
 overcome : to listen to solicitations from without, or to 
 yield your heart to the more subtle and dangerous prompt- 
 ings from within, is to be overcome is to fall. Unlawful 
 gratification of those instincts, which God has endowed us 
 with for nobler purposes, are and may be for the time most 
 intoxicating and pleasurable, but in after life they will 
 " sting like a viper and bite like a serpent." 
 
 One who had his fill of all this, and who died in the 
 flower of his manhood, said mournfully at its close 
 
 " My days are in the yellow leaf, 
 The flowers and fruit are gone ; 
 The worm, the canker, and the grief 
 Are mine alone." 
 
 Oh ! what would I have given to have been preserved 
 pure in the days of my youth. The moment you yield to 
 these unhallowed pleasures you lose your self-respect. 
 Self-respect is one of the noblest virtues that a man can 
 cultivate, and to cherish it heartily will inspire you with 
 the most elevated feelings. The man, or the youth, who 
 habitually keeps this in exercise will not defile his body by 
 sensuality, nor his mind by low and servile thoughts. This 
 noble sentiment carried into daily h'fe will foster all other 
 virtues. To think meanly of one's self is to sink in one's 
 own estimation, as well as in the estimation of those by 
 whom we are surrounded, for " as a man thinketh in his 
 heart, so is he." The feeblest among us may be sustained 
 by the proper indulgence of this feeling, and there is no 
 condition of life in which we may find ourselves that may 
 not be lighted up by self-respect. Oh ! my brothers, it
 
 44 A Conveyancer's Office. 
 
 is a truly noble sight to see a young man hold on in a 
 course of purity and integrity amidst all the allurements 
 around him of the world, the flesh, and the devil, and reso- 
 lutely refuse to demean himself hy low and unworthy 
 actions. 
 
 My father now began to see the immediate necessity of 
 my being employed, for 
 
 " Satan finds some mischief still 
 For idle hands to do." 
 
 As I wrote a tolerably good hand, he made an arrange- 
 ment with a conveyancer in the city, who was also well 
 known to him, and who wanted a clerk, to take me as his 
 scribe. 
 
 The gentleman with whom I was placed was a little 
 dark handsome man of about forty-five, and lived in one 
 of the quiet lanes in my native city, the like of which is to 
 be found in all our cathedral towns. Although he kept 
 but one clerk, he had a good business, for most of the en- 
 grossing was put out to a law-stationer to be copied. The 
 drafts of the leases and conveyances were drawn up by 
 himself, as were also the long abstracts of title. The fair 
 copying of these last-named documents was given to me ; 
 and I was much delighted with the work, as they had to 
 be written upon nice smooth rolled paper ; the pen used 
 to glide over the broad and ample page so quickly and 
 pleasantly, and the phraseology of these necessary ac- 
 companiments to a conveyance was so similar that I 
 soon learned it by heart, and had only to take a glance at 
 the leading word of a sentence to know all that was to 
 follow. I was glad when we had a conveyance in hand, as 
 it made the little master very good-tempered, and it was a 
 kind of work that one could do almost mechanically. 
 
 I was always particularly fond of writing, and furbished 
 up my German text that I had learned at school. I soon 
 did so well in my German text as to be entrusted to engross 
 a deed of conveyance with a heavy stamp affixed. I was
 
 Conveyancer's Daughter. 45 
 
 a little nervous at starting ; but I dashed into it, and gained 
 the commendation of my master for this my first attempt 
 at engrossing. I was allowed to attach the skins of parch- 
 ment together with the green ribbon, and append the seals 
 myself, and also to fold the skins and endorse the outside 
 title, and was not a little proud to lay it before my master 
 in its finished state as my own " act and deed." 
 
 The salary I was to receive was 10 a-year, and never 
 shall I forget the first quarterly payment. My master 
 gave me a cheque for the amount, and I ran home all the 
 way to present it to my father. I think I now see his 
 quiet smile as he congratulated me on the event. I duly 
 presented it at the Canterbury Bank for cash ; and as it 
 was the first money I had ever earned, I felt that I had a 
 stake in the country. 
 
 I was my master's only clerk, and he had an only 
 daughter, a fair-haired girl of nineteen. She had just 
 returned from Boulogne, where she had been sent for two 
 years to complete her studies. This young lady's return 
 was not only welcomed by her father and mother, but 
 helped very much to gladden some of the dull afternoons 
 when there was not much business in hand. She used to 
 look in at the office occasionally to see how I was going 
 on, and her presence always filled the room with gladness. 
 She was rather below the average height, but was well 
 proportioned, and had the prettiest little feet I ever saw ; 
 they remind me, even at this 'distant period, of Words- 
 worth's lines 
 
 " Her feet beneath her petticoat, 
 Like little mice stole in and out, 
 As if they fear'd the light." 
 
 Oh ! there is something very beautiful in a fair young 
 girl of nineteen, with 
 
 " Kosy cheeks and lips of coral, 
 Snowy neck and rounded arms." 
 
 And that man is not to be envied who, whatever else he
 
 46 Maidenly Beauty. 
 
 may possess, has no appreciation of maidenly beauty. 
 What is more beautiful in this world of ours than to look 
 upon a young and innocent girl in the early morning of 
 life, " a graceful maiden with a thoughtful brow?" There 
 is a distinctiveness of character which cannot be mis- 
 taken, arising from a natural ingenuousness, mental re- 
 pose, and the absence of everything which gives to more 
 advanced age the impress of influences unfavourable to 
 beauty of character, and also beauty of form. 
 
 Some one has said, I quote from memory, that " cha- 
 racter is more visibly impressed on the faces of women 
 than of men ; the former rarely wear a mask ; the latter, 
 from the struggles, and toils, and anxieties of life, are 
 often compelled to assume a countenance totally foreign to 
 their feelings and nature, till it becomes almost habitual. 
 Youth has this advantage over both ; time and care have 
 graven no furrows on the cheek nor lines on the brow ; 
 passion has not given a false lustre to the eye, nor grief a 
 rigid and angular expression to the play of the mouth." 
 
 Another writer upon this subject says truly, " It is not 
 the smile of her pretty face, nor the tint of her complexion, 
 nor the beauty and the symmetry of her person, nor the costly 
 dress and decorations, that compose woman's loveliness ; 
 nor is it in the enchanting glance of her eye, with which 
 she darts such lustre on the man she deems worthy of her 
 friendship, that constitute her beauty. It is her pleasing 
 deportment, her chaste conversation, the sensibility and 
 the purity of her thoughts, her affability and open disposi- 
 tion, her sympathy with those in adversity, her comforting 
 and relieving the poor in distress, and, above all, the hum- 
 bleness of her soul, that constitute true loveliness." 
 
 Jean Paul Bichter, a high authority on matters of this 
 nature (for I confess I love to linger over the theme), says, 
 " We do not discriminate sufficiently, when we imagine 
 that the source of woman's power arises principally from 
 the beauty of her countenance. For, although it may be- 
 gin there, yet the charm and fascination is also manifested
 
 Lessons in Singing. 47 
 
 in a whole kingdom of gentle influences, distinguishing her 
 from the other sex such as the soft and graceful move- 
 ments of her person, the tones of her voice, the loving 
 moderation evinced in every action and expression, her 
 yielding courtesy, her serene repose, the complete suppres- 
 sion and concealment of her own independent wishes and 
 will, where they would clash with those of others. All 
 these and such like qualities inspire us with that love and 
 admiration which we wrongly suppose to be excited alone 
 by the more tangible and unvarying charms of feature and 
 face." 
 
 But to return from this rather lengthened digression to 
 the conveyancer's pretty little daughter. Sometimes when 
 her father was out, and her mother engaged in her do- 
 mestic duties, and business did not particularly press in 
 the office, she would give me lessons in singing. She had 
 a soft and melodious voice and could play skilfully upon 
 the piano. I was always fond of music, and with such an 
 instructress it is not to be wondered at, that, in her esti- 
 mation at least, I made some progress in my singing. She 
 taught me, among other ballads and songs of that day, 
 " The beautiful maid of my soul," " Love's young dream," 
 " Meet me by moonlight alone," " I've been roaming," 
 " Bid me discourse," <fcc, &c, and many others of a kin- 
 dred character. We were accustomed not unfrequently to 
 sing the favourite duet, " My pretty page," and she was 
 particularly pleased with one <ff Braham's noble songs, 
 "The sea!" 
 
 My little instructress was a quick and sensitive girl, and 
 would sometimes give expression to her feelings in silent 
 tears as I tried " The last rose of summer," and " The 
 meeting of the waters." Those tears richly rewarded mo 
 for all my pleasing toil ; for the poet sings 
 
 " So bright the tear in beauty's eye, 
 Love half regrets to kiss it dry : 
 So sweet the blush of bashfulness, 
 Even pity scarce can wish it less."
 
 48 Virtuous Women. 
 
 Sometimes these pleasant diversions from " JSTow this 
 indenture witnesseth," <fcc, were suddenly interrupted by 
 the return of her father ; and as I well knew his rat-a-tat 
 at the street-door, I was always back in the office at my 
 work when he returned. 
 
 I spent eighteen very pleasant months at these duties 
 and pleasures, and, although I have long since forgotten 
 much that took place in the office, the recollections of this 
 fair girl and her lessons in singing have never been for- 
 gotten, and still linger lovingly in my memory as " a joy 
 for ever." 
 
 The disparity in our relative ages, and the purity of 
 heart of this gentle creature, were such as to restrain me, 
 in those days of lawless gratification, from yielding to any- 
 thing which would at this time embitter the recollection of 
 these truly halcyon days. 
 
 The society and companionship of virtuous women are 
 among the most ennobling influences that can be brought 
 to bear upon man, and these little episodes in my early 
 history tended to make me a better youth. I went back to 
 my work with more zest and pleasure. 
 
 Happy would it have been for me had these influences 
 been all that I was subjected to. On leaving the office at 
 night, I came at once into contact with other and less holy 
 influences : and all the poetry and music of the day past 
 only helped to make the maddening cup of intoxicating 
 pleasure, presented to me in the evening by the siren 
 hand of her of whom I have before spoken, the more dan- 
 gerous. 
 
 There was one advantage, however, in the attachment I 
 had unfortunately formed, inasmuch as I spent all the 
 time not occupied in the office either at her home, or in 
 the long walks we had together ; and this was the means 
 of taking me away from the companions of my own sex, 
 whose time was almost wholly given up to cards and gam- 
 bling, and less exceptional excesses. 
 
 At the time I am writing of, St. Augustine's monastery
 
 St. Augustine's Monastery. 49 
 
 at Canterbury was desecrated to the purposes of a brewery 
 such are the base uses to which some of the noblest 
 buildings which man can erect are subject to and the 
 gardens adjoining, once the resting-place of the nuns and 
 monks of the holy order instituted by their illustrious 
 founder, were used as a bowling-green and tea-drinking 
 place for the plebeians of Canterbury. A part of the 
 original building was used as a fives-court, or racket- 
 ground, and I have seen in my early days some good 
 matches played there between the citizens of Canterbury 
 and some crack players from London. 
 
 I am happy to be able to record, for the information of 
 such of my readers as may not be aware of the fact, that 
 this grand old monastery of ancient story, and its beautiful 
 ruins have been rescued from these base purposes by the 
 munificent liberality of Mr. Beresford Hope, a gentleman 
 well known and very highly respected by all lovers of art. 
 That which was used as a brewery has long since given 
 place to a missionary college, under the able presidency of 
 the Rev. Henry Bailey, B.D., the successor of the la- 
 mented Bishop Coleridge, the first warden of the college ; 
 and the chamber over the fine old gateway that was once 
 devoted to cock-fighting this is a veritable fact is, I 
 believe, restored as much as possible to its original appear- 
 ance, and is now used as a council-chamber by the heads 
 of the college. 
 
 The tea-gardens connected with the public-house ad- 
 joining the brewery, and part of the sacred building of St. 
 Augustine, on Lady Wootton's Green, presented, at the 
 time I am referring to, a kind of Cremorne on a small 
 scale. Fireworks, balloons, and the Blondin of those days, 
 attracted crowds of Canterbury lads and lasses, and the 
 old people as well for it is most observable that at all our 
 places of amusement devoted almost exclusively to young 
 persons, there will be found not a few venerable-looking 
 men and women, who appear to be quite as much delighted 
 with what is going on as the young people.
 
 50 Old Haunts. 
 
 St. Augustine's brewery ! (for so it was designated ; 
 what would the grand old saint have said to such a degra- 
 dation ?) was at this time rented by the father of a school- 
 fellow of mine of the name of Beer, a somewhat singular 
 coincidence, and will afford a hint to Mr. Lower, in a new 
 edition of his interesting work on " Surnames." 
 
 I can say with very much pleasure that having enjoyed 
 the entree to this establishment at all times, I can record 
 the many happy hours spent in the fine old building, often 
 climbing its lofty towers, which are even now in a fine 
 state of preservation, to look out upon the splendid view to 
 be obtained from the summit ; and many a draught have 
 I had of the good home-brewed, wholesome beverage ma- 
 nufactured under its sacred roof. 
 
 The brewery has been removed, and the building re- 
 claimed from its odour of malt and hops to some of its 
 primal sanctities. The brewer, who heartily welcomed me 
 within its sacred walls, is dead ; his son, my schoolfellow, 
 carries on the business at a short distance from the original 
 spot : he hardly recognized me a few years since, when I 
 called to renew the acquaintance of our early days, and 
 to remind me of some of my juvenile reminiscences. 
 
 What changes do a few short years make how strange 
 and altered Canterbury appears to me now ! There is a 
 mournful pleasure in revisiting old haunts when we can 
 
 " Review the scene. 
 And summon from the shadowy past 
 The forms that once have been." 
 
 A new generation has now sprung up in the place of 
 those who were seen in the shops and streets of the old 
 city ; and as I have loitered amid the scenes of my youth, 
 I have been reminded of the reflections of one on going 
 back to the scenes of his childhood : 
 
 " I remember, I remember, the house where I was born, 
 
 The little window where the sun came peeping in with morn : 
 He never came a wink to soon, nor brought too long a day, 
 But now I often wish the night had ta'en my breath away.
 
 "Days that are no more." 51 
 
 I remember, I remember, when I was used to swing, 
 
 And thought the air would rush as fresh to swallows on the wing ; 
 
 My spirit flew in feathers then, that is so heavy now, 
 
 And summer pools could hardly cool the fever on my brow. 
 
 I remember, I remember, the fir trees dark and high ; 
 
 I used to think their slender tops went close against the sky ; 
 
 It was a childish ignorance, but now 'tis little joy 
 
 To know I'm further off from Heaven than when I was a boy." 
 
 I have many a time of late years walked through the 
 streets of my native city, a stranger to those who are mov- 
 ing up and down its now quiet thoroughfares have looked 
 into the windows of shops where I once knew every one, 
 and now know no one have gone to the playground of 
 the " Dane John Academy," and heard the merry laugh of 
 happy boys, the sons of those who were once my school- 
 fellows have called upon the master of that school, who 
 was an assistant there when I was a boy, and had to intro- 
 duce myself to one whom I had known almost as intimately 
 as my own brother. These remind one of " the days that 
 are no more." One who has felt all this has said and 
 they have often been my own feelings 
 
 " I love to linger on my track, 
 Wherever I have dwelt 
 In after years to loiter back, 
 And feel as once I felt. 
 
 Old places have a charm for me 
 
 The new can ne'er attain : 
 
 - Old faces how I long to see 
 
 Their kindly looks again !" 
 
 I was much shocked not long since, on revisiting Canter- 
 bury, in company with a friend who had never seen our 
 magnificent Cathedral, to find, on inquiring at the old house 
 on the farade in which I was born the shop and reading- 
 room of which remain even to this day exactly as they were 
 when I was a boy that the gentleman for many years in 
 partnership with my father, and who carried on the book-
 
 52 Whitstable Railway. 
 
 selling business there as aforetime, died only a few days 
 before my visit. He was my sponsor at the baptismal 
 font, and was a quiet, kindly man one of the old school. 
 To the last he wore the blue dress-coat, buff waistcoat, 
 white cravat, and the frilled shirt of former days. 
 
 Peace to his memory ! The name of Eobcrt Colegate 
 will not soon be forgotten by those who have known 
 Canterbury for the last half century. Though a singu- 
 larly reserved and undemonstrative man, and a bachelor 
 withal, he always greeted me with a kindly smile in my 
 visits to my native city. 
 
 " World of sorrow, care, and change, 
 
 Even to myself I seem, 
 As adown thy vale I range, 
 Wandering in a dream : 
 All things are so strange. 
 
 .For the dead who died this day, 
 Fair and young, or great and good, 
 
 Though we mourn them, where are they ? 
 With those before the flood : 
 Equally pass'd away !" 
 
 To those who knew Canterbury in the bustling days of 
 posting and coaching it must now appear extremely dull ; 
 but should any of my readers have been acquainted with 
 the place thirty years ago, they will be glad to be 
 reminded of the state of things there at that time, and also 
 of some of the local events that transpired at the period. 
 
 I remember very well being present at the opening of 
 the Canterbury and Whitstable Railway, an event which 
 ought not to be forgotten, inasmuch as this was the first 
 commercial and passenger railway in England. That 
 undertaking was sneered at by the wiseacres of the day, 
 and not a few were the derisive jeers that greeted those 
 who saw further than their neighbours, and took their seats 
 in the uncovered square carriages of those early days of 
 railway travelling. This railway is now, I believe, the 
 property of the directors of the South-Eastern line ; and is,
 
 Herne Bay. 53 
 
 moreover, one of the best paying lines in the three king- 
 doms. 
 
 I was also present as a boy at the ceremony of driving 
 the first pile of the noble pier at Herne Bay, now a mag- 
 nificent structure, erected from a design furnished by the 
 great engineer Telford. 
 
 For the information of any of my readers who may not 
 be acquainted with this quiet and retired little watering- 
 place of summer resort, I may say that it is situated 
 between Whitstable and Reculver, and is about six or 
 seven miles from Canterbury. The salubrity of the air at 
 Herne Bay has become almost proverbial, and now forms 
 one of its chief sources of attraction. All the steamboats 
 that leave London during the summer for Ramsgate and 
 Margate call at Herne Bay, and a branch line now con- 
 nects it with London, from the London and Chatham 
 Railway ; so that this beautiful little watering-place will 
 become better known to those who are in quest of health 
 and quiet. 
 
 East Kent, about the time I am writing of (1830), was 
 the scene of some terrible incendiary fires. Scarcely a 
 night passed without the citizens of Canterbury being 
 startled by messengers riding into the place at full speed 
 to summon the assistance of the fire-engines, which were 
 kept in constant readiness, manned and horsed, for imme- 
 diately proceeding to the scene ofaction. I have gone up 
 after dark to the Mount of the Dane John, for several 
 nights in succession, and have seen three and four, and 
 sometimes five, farms blazing away at one time, in differ- 
 ent directions. 
 
 Machine-breaking was also very common at the time, 
 and detachments of dragoons were constantly being sent 
 to disperse large bodies of agricultural labourers, who 
 were bent upon mischief. 
 
 In 1832, the Reform Bill came into operation, and I 
 was present as a spectator at a grand banquet held to 
 commemorate that memorable event in a large tent
 
 54 Archbishop Howley. 
 
 erected iu a field near the Dane John. Party feeling had 
 at all times run very high in Canterbury, and the rejoic- 
 ings of the people on this occasion were very general and 
 enthusiastic. 
 
 I must be permitted here to digress a little from my 
 personal history, to mention an incident in the life of my 
 father, which will illustrate the state of political parties at 
 this time. 
 
 In 1832, the late Dr. Howley, a man of singular meek- 
 ness and gentleness, visited Canterbury in his official 
 capacity as archbishop, and preparations were made, as 
 usual, by the mayor and corporation to pay him all the 
 respect due to his high station and character. It was 
 customary to invite his Grace on these occasions to a ban- 
 quet prepared in the Guildhall by the corporation, at which 
 were present the clergy and their families, and the wives 
 and daughters of the several members of the corporation. 
 Popular feeling at the time was very strong at Canterbury 
 against those who had in any way opposed the passing of 
 the Reform Bill, and it was known that the venerable 
 archbishop was by no means favourable to that great 
 measure. The feeling of what may be termed, without 
 intending to be offensive, the lower orders, was decidedly 
 against the clergy, and the people were determined to 
 make this apparent in their reception of " the metropolitan 
 of all England" on his arrival among them. 
 
 Long before the amiable and venerable Prelate was ex- 
 pected on the day in question, the streets were crowded 
 by those who called themselves Reformers, though the 
 state of excitement and intoxication in which many of 
 them were found would seem to indicate, whatever their 
 zeal might be to extend the rights of citizenship, that they 
 were not the best specimens to recommend an extension 
 of the suffrage. Although a goodly number started for 
 Harbledown, a small village just out of Canterbury on the 
 London Road, to meet the good old man, and give him 
 some foretaste of what he might expect to receive on his
 
 Disgraceful Riot. 55 
 
 arrival, the great mass of the people had congregated in 
 the High Street in the immediate vicinity of the Guild- 
 hall. As soon as his Grace's carriage drew up in front 
 of that building he was greeted by a torrent of hissing and 
 howling and groans, and these were followed by mud, 
 rotten eggs, and stones, which fell around the carriage as 
 thick as blackberries. The few constables that were on 
 duty at the time were entirely unable to hold the mob in 
 check, or put down the disturbance, and matters began to 
 look very serious, inasmuch as there was a cry raised to 
 drag the venerable Prelate from his carriage. 
 
 My father was one of the magistrates present on the 
 occasion, and seeing the great danger of the Archbishop, 
 went at once from the steps of the Guildhall, with head 
 uncovered, to the door of his Grace's carriage. This pro- 
 ceeding on the part of my father rather increased the 
 tumult and incensed the mob, who were determined to inflict 
 summary vengeance on the person of the aged Prelate. 
 My fears were awakened for the safety of my father, but 
 he was cool and self-possessed. He grasped the handle 
 of the carriage-door, and called to many by name, who 
 were immediately around, to desist from such cowardly 
 and disgraceful conduct. The coolness and courage dis- 
 played by my father had the eifect of keeping back some 
 of the ring-leaders, and he persuaded his Grace not to 
 think of alighting, but to drive at once to the Deanery in 
 the Cathedral precincts, where he had arranged to spend 
 the night. The coachman was instructed to do so, and 
 the outriders, by the aid of their horses and long whips, 
 managed to cut a passage through the mob for the car- 
 riage. Unfortunately, both the outriders and coachman 
 were alike unacquainted with the locality of the Deanery, 
 and in the confusion turned up a street, St. Margaret's, 
 directly opposite to that which they should have made for, 
 namely Mercery Lane, which was the direct route for the 
 Deanery. The mob ran pell-mell after the carriage, but 
 one of his Grace's footmen, born near Canterbury, and
 
 56 " Amende honorable" 
 
 who knew something of the neighbourhood, directed the 
 coachman to make a detour, and his Grace reached the 
 Deanery in safety. 
 
 The Archbishop sent a messenger immediately to thank 
 my father for his conduct on the occasion, and on the fol- 
 lowing day the Dean was instructed to call upon him to 
 say that his Grace would have come in person to have 
 thanked him but for fear of exposing both himself and my 
 father to the insults and abuse of a low and brutalised 
 mob. 
 
 Some correspondence appeared in the Canterbury papers 
 at the time relating to this shameful outrage, and unkindly 
 reflections were made upon my father having taken upon 
 himself to interfere in his individual capacity as a magis- 
 trate. A correspondent of the " Globe" newspaper made 
 some remarks condemnatory of my father. This induced 
 him to vindicate his conduct, on the occasion, from the 
 aspersions cast upon him by the writer in that journal, and 
 those who are interested in the matter may see that letter 
 in the impression for August 11, 1832. 
 
 An address, signed by nearly all the respectable inha- 
 bitants of Canterbury, repudiating in very strong terms the 
 conduct of the mob upon this disgraceful occasion, was 
 presented to the Archbishop, in which his Grace was as- 
 sured that he held a high place in the estimation of the 
 citizens and gentry of the city, and the reply of his Grace 
 was all that could be desired, and so the matter ended. 
 
 No account of myself would be complete which did not 
 include the influence exerted upon my early days by the 
 Cathedral of my native city. Born almost beneath its 
 great shadow, I had been wont from my childhood's days 
 to look up to its noble towers, black with the age of many 
 centuries, as to the loved countenance of some near rela- 
 tive. I was taken within its sacred walls as a child, and 
 loved 
 
 " The high embowccl roof, 
 With antique pillars massy proof,
 
 Canterbury Cathedral. 57 
 
 And storied windows riclily flight, 
 Casting a dim religious light." 
 
 Even then the language of my soul was 
 
 " There let the pealing organ blow, 
 To the full-voiced choir below, 
 In service high, and anthems clear, 
 As may with sweetness, through mine ear, 
 Dissolve me into ecstasies, 
 And bring all heav'n before mine eyes." 
 
 As soon as I grew up to be a boy of nine or ten I regu- 
 larly attended the morning and afternoon service on the 
 Sunday, and used to slip in in the afternoons sometimes 
 during the week in time to hear the Anthem. I was well 
 known to most of the lay-clerks and choristers, and used 
 to get a seat as near them as I could, in order that I might 
 follow them in the performance of the service. I was 
 always an ardent admirer of the Cathedral service, and 
 think now in my later years that it is the nearest approxi- 
 mation to the service of heaven to be found in this sin- 
 stricken world. 
 
 The preaching, at the time I refer to, was for the most 
 part of a very ordinary and uninteresting character. Among 
 those who held prebcndal stalls there at that time, were 
 Drs. Welfit, Eussell, and Spry, the Hon. and Eev. Wm. 
 Boscawen, and Dean Pellew, Lord Nelson, and the Eev. 
 John Peel. The last-named, a Brother of the late Sir 
 Eobert Peel, was by far the best preacher. I remember 
 even now some of his earnest and solemn sermons. One 
 on the parable of the Prodigal Son made a deep impres- 
 sion upon me at the time, but passed away " as the morn- 
 ing cloud and the early dew." Lord Nelson, the brother 
 of the hero of the Nile and Trafalgar, was quite a character. 
 He was rather short and stout, wore a long black frock coat 
 nearly to his ankles, Hessian boots, and a large shovel 
 hat. 
 
 I was accustomed to see him daily at my father's library, 
 where he used regularly to attend to read the daily papers, 
 and have many a time held open the door for him, and
 
 58 Dean Alford. 
 
 made him one of my best bows. He was a kindly old 
 gentleman, and would often put his hand upon my head, 
 and pat me gently on the cheek with a pleasant smile. 
 He took the trouble once to go to the Bank to get me a 
 new shilling for a Christmas-box. He was very deaf, and 
 this unfortunate infirmity led him into some rather strange 
 practices. The prebendal stalls in the Cathedral were nice 
 comfortable places, where you might take a nap without 
 being seen. The venerable Prebendary referred to used 
 occasionally to take the provincial newspaper in his pocket 
 to church on the week-day afternoons, and sometimes in 
 turning it over he forgot that others could hear better than 
 himself, and I have often seen a significant look, and a 
 suppressed titter among those who sat near enough to hear 
 the rumpling of the paper. 
 
 Lord Nelson used to take his turn at preaching, but he 
 rarely exceeded a quarter of an hour, or twenty minutes 
 at the utmost. 
 
 The services at the time I am speaking of were not of 
 that popular character that they now are since the days of 
 Dean Alford, whose appointment there every right-minded 
 man in the kingdom must heartily approve ; and whose 
 influence will be felt for many years. I regret to learn 
 that he has met with much opposition on the part of those 
 who should have seconded his praiseworthy endeavours to 
 popularize the services of the Cathedral ; but this has ever 
 been the lot of those who have set themselves to remove 
 evils that have grown up for many generations. The in- 
 creased accommodation afforded to the general public, is, 
 I believe, mainly to be attributed to him, as well as the 
 sermon on Sunday afternoon. This last-named innovation 
 was most stoutly opposed by his brethren of the Chapter, 
 and it was only conceded upon the understanding that he 
 should preach the sermon himself. I have heard with 
 great pleasure some of these afternoon sermons of the 
 erudite and learned Dean, and trust that his example will 
 not be lost upon his clerical brethren.
 
 A Canterbury Belle. 59 
 
 But to return from this digression to the services as they 
 existed in my early days. All the families connected with 
 the Cathedral were present at the Sunday-morning service, 
 and consequently the attendance was more select than 
 numerous. The afternoon service was always looked for- 
 ward to as a treat ; there was no sermon, and the anthem 
 was the great attraction. The Cathedral on Sunday 
 afternoons was mostly crowded ; it was the fashionable 
 meeting-place for the Canterbury belles and their admirers. 
 At the time referred to the officers of the various regiments 
 stationed at Canterbury were accustomed to appear in full 
 dress, and their handsome uniforms added not a little to 
 the tout ensemble of the scene. 
 
 I have many a time at the close of the service stood at 
 the bottom of the steps 
 
 " To watch the moving scene, 
 And recognize the slow, retiring fair." 
 
 There was one family never absent from the service ; 
 the father, a very handsome man, who, was legal adviser 
 to the Dean and Chapter, and four daughters, all of them 
 pretty; but one, the youngest, whom they called Baby, 
 was " beautiful exceedingly." She was a charming graceful 
 creature, and even as a boy " her beauty made me glad," 
 and I have lingered about her and looked admiringly after 
 her as a something from which I oould not withdraw my 
 gaze. These visions of youth have passed away, and this 
 once beautiful maiden has long since grown into woman- 
 hood, and is now probably a portly matron in some happy 
 home ; but still the recollection of those days gone by are 
 pleasant even now. 
 
 Naught on earth abideth, " the fashion of the world 
 passeth away," and yet the grand old Cathedral remains 
 the same, a " dwelling-place for all generations," a sacred 
 home where the devout and thoughtful may find a hallowed 
 resting-place in the journey of life. 
 
 An eloquent writer of the present day, who now worthily
 
 60 " Canterbury in the Olden Time:' 
 
 fills one of its prebendal stalls, says of Canterbury Cathe- 
 dral, " There is no church, no place in the kingdom, 
 with the exception of Westminster Abbey, that is so closely 
 connected with the history of our country." 
 
 I have often thought, in my occasional visits to the 
 Cathedral in riper years, of the many royal and illustrious 
 personages that have entered its sacred portals, and of the 
 memorable events that have taken place within its walls. 
 
 The author of the interesting work before referred to, in 
 his " Canterbury in the Olden Time," reminds us of some 
 of the great and distinguished names in our national 
 history that have been connected with our ancient city and 
 its cathedral. He talks to us of" Caesar with his legions ; 
 the Jute, the Angle, and the Saxon ; the Danes in their 
 marauding excursions ; Augustine bringing Christ and 
 Christianity; the superstitious Ethelbert and the gentle 
 Bertha, his queen ; the noble Godwin proclaiming his 
 descent from the Norse Sea-kings ; Harold came oft to 
 Canterbury, and, but for that chance arrow at Hastings, 
 might have been the father of our kings to this day. 
 William the Conqueror and his sons frequently passed 
 through the city to and from their Norman provinces ; 
 hither came the four assassin knights to confront and slay 
 Archbishop Becket ; hither, not long after, came the very 
 king in whose name they committed the murder, pacing, 
 as a penitent, with bare feet the Cathedral pavement. 
 
 " Through Canterbury passed Richard, the lion-hearted 
 king, on his way to the Holy Land, and here came he on 
 his return to give thanks to ' God and to St. Thomas.' 
 The restless and profligate John was often at Canterbury. 
 In the Cathedral Edward I. celebrated his marriage with 
 Margaret of Anjou. To Canterbury came the gallant 
 Black Prince from the victories of Crecy and Poictiers, and 
 from his doubtful but not less dangerous encounters in 
 Castile and Arragon ; his brass gauntlets, the casque, 
 whose plume never bowed in submission to earthly foe, the 
 leathern covered shield of wood, the surcoat emblazoned
 
 Historical Associations. 6 1 
 
 with the arms of France and England, are still suspended 
 in the Cathedral over his tomb. Henry the Fourth's re- 
 mains rest within the walls of the Cathedral. Henry V. 
 came here on his return from Agincourt. Time would 
 fail me to tell of Margaret of Anjou, paying her devotions 
 there at the shrine of the Martyr ; of Kichard the Third's 
 visit ; and, some years later, Elizabeth the queen, his suc- 
 cessor, is presented with a piece of plate by the corporation . 
 In 1520, Henry VIII, Charles V, and Cardinal Wolsey 
 were entertained at Canterbury by the Archbishop. 
 Eighteen years later the shrine of Becket is despoiled. In 
 1573, Queen Mary visits the city, and the great Elizabeth 
 is entertained by Archbishop Parker at his palace. In 
 1628, Charles I. conducts hither from Dover his bride, and 
 not long afterwards the city is visited by Cromwell's 
 soldiers, if not by the Protector himself. And 1660 wit- 
 nessed the arrival there of Charles II. from the continent, 
 and a few years later the Prince of Orange, afterwards 
 "William III, passed through the city." Kings, Queens, 
 and Prelates have all gone to return no more, for 
 
 " Tlie boast of heraldrj', the pomp of power, 
 And all that beauty, all wealth e'er gave, 
 
 Await alike the inevitable hour; 
 
 The paths of glory lead but to the grave." 
 
 The chiefs of rival creeds are for* ever silent, and their 
 dust mingles side by side. The magnificent old Cathedral 
 in stately grandeur remains, " a poem in stone," while 
 those who raised it in all its spiritual beauty, and those who 
 successively worshipped beneath its glorious roof, have long 
 since passed away. Canterbury pilgrims, in search of the 
 beautiful, still linger within its sacred precincts, charmed 
 with its architectural beauties, connected as they are with 
 rich historical associations ; and I have often, when linger- 
 ing in its sacred precincts, found myself repeating the 
 poet's lines, 
 
 " Daily the tide of life goes ebbing and flowing beside them, 
 Thousands of throbbing hearts/where theirs are at rest for ever ;
 
 62 " Naught on earth abideth." 
 
 Thousands of aching brains, where theirs no longer are busy; 
 Thousands of toiling hands, where theirs have ceased from 
 
 labour ; 
 Thousands of weary feet, where theirs have completed their 
 
 journey." 
 
 While its daily service reminds one of that " Temple not 
 made with hands," where the Lord God Almighty and the 
 Lamb are the Light thereof, and where those who are once 
 admitted to its glories " go no more out for ever." But 
 here 
 
 " Naught on earth abideth ! Morn hastes away, 
 And all its orient pomp expires in day; 
 
 Day's glories fade, and beauty 
 Veils her head with evening's shade. 
 The shadows deepen, gloom on gloom descends, 
 
 And evening ends. 
 Calm night, that comest down in sable guise, 
 
 Broider'd with galaxy, and star, and orb, 
 And with thy fingers shuttest up the 
 Eyes of half the world fadeth away ! 
 
 The morning star comes forth, 
 Dims and dissolves, and day again hath birth. 
 Naught on earth abideth ! Youth and beauty fade, 
 
 The morn of joy yields to the night of sorrow; 
 And hopes to-day, on firmest pillars stay'd, 
 
 Are laid in ruin'd heaps before to-morrow. 
 All flesh is grass, and, like the flower 
 That withers on its sod, its comeliness doth pass ; 
 Death comes anon the silver cord to sever : 
 Naught is abiding save the Word of God, 
 God's Word abideth ever !" 
 
 Just ahout this time the celebrated Courtenay visit to 
 Canterbury took place, and I was an eyewitness to most 
 of that gentleman's public eccentricities. 
 
 It may be interesting to some of my readers, though 
 not the most creditable to the intelligence of my fellow- 
 citizens of Canterbury, if I briefly recall a few recollections 
 of that extraordinary individual, and of the still more ex- 
 traordinary manner in which he succeeded in imposing upon 
 my fellow-citizens and the people in the neighbourhood. 
 
 Towards the close of 1832, it was rumoured at Canter-
 
 Sir William Courtenay. 63 
 
 bury that a gentleman was staying at the Kose Inn who 
 passed under the name of Count Kothschild. His costume 
 and countenance denoted foreign extraction, while his lan- 
 guage and conversation showed that he was well acquainted 
 with almost every part of the kingdom. He was said to live 
 with singular frugality, notwithstanding abundant samples 
 of wealth, and professions of an almost unlimited command 
 of money. He appeared to study retirement, if not con- 
 cealment, although subsequent events demonstrated that 
 society of every grade beneath the middle class was the 
 element in which he most freely breathed. 
 
 Such was the eccentric individual who surprised the 
 city by proposing himself as a third candidate for its re- 
 presentation, and who created an entertaining contest for 
 the honour, long after the candidates had composed them- 
 selves to the delightful vision of an unexpensive and un- 
 opposed return. 
 
 In an address to the citizens, soliciting their support, he 
 condemned in turn all parties in the State, and all the 
 leading politics of modern governments. He spoke with 
 a high regard for the authority of the Christian faith, but 
 condemned the clergy most unmercifully for taking the 
 tithes, which he asserted were the property of the poor. 
 In that address the law of primogeniture, chartered and 
 corporate bodies, sinecure and placemen, the Episcopal 
 bench, and even the Throne itself, were treated with as 
 little ceremony as they would meet with from the veriest 
 radical scribe of the London Press. 
 
 This address, strange as it may appear, immediately 
 gave the man a place in the confidence and hearts of hun- 
 dreds, and some of these generally passing for men of sense 
 in the city. 
 
 It may well be asked, how did this mysterious person- 
 age acquire the astonishing popularity in the ancient and 
 enlightened city of Canterbury ? That venerable city, once 
 the capital of the kingdom, and always the capital of the 
 Church, has ever been eager in its boast of having left the
 
 G4 A Strange Infatuation. 
 
 towns of Kent and its kindred counties greatly in the rear 
 of civilization and science. The Canterburians, however, 
 on the present occasion were in some way or other out- 
 witted, for they thought they discovered in this impudent 
 pretender almost the attributes of Divinity: they verily 
 thought they discerned much of the moral, as well as the 
 personal image of the great Founder of Christianity in this 
 bold adventurer. 
 
 The citizens of Canterbury placed the aspiring chief- 
 tain among the city candidates for a seat in the first 
 Reformed Parliament of the nation, and assigned to him 
 nearly four hundred votes. 
 
 Not contented with having been rejected for the city, 
 he was put in nomination for the eastern division of the 
 county, but obtained only three votes. 
 
 Having failed in his electioneering projects, he tried to 
 ingratiate himself with the lower orders. He made it 
 known that his condescension was as great as his rank 
 and wealth, and that he would be willing to accept the 
 invitations to visit the humblest families, and to eat and 
 drink at the peasant's and the labourer's table. 
 
 This, as it might be easily imagined, charmed a thousand 
 hearts, and he became almost an object of worship among 
 the lower class. For a man who had announced himself 
 as Sir William Percy Honeywood Courtenay, knight of 
 Malta, king of Jerusalem, &c, &c, to be the guest of the 
 poor peasant was an act of condescension that won the 
 love and confidence of all hearts, and he knew how to turn 
 all this to further his ambitious ends. 
 
 It will be remembered that he closed his remarkable 
 career in an affray with the military at a place called Bosen- 
 den Wood, Boughton, near Canterbury. He had gathered 
 together several hundred peasants and labourers and armed 
 them with bludgeons and any weapons at hand ; nine of 
 these poor infatuated men were slain by the military : but 
 the officer commanding the detachment, a lieutenant Ben- 
 nett, was unhappily killed in the affray, and several of the 
 soldiers were severely wounded.
 
 East Kent Election. 65 
 
 The real name of this remarkable pretender was John 
 Xicholls Thorn, a spirit merchant and maltster, of Truro, 
 in Cornwall. 
 
 I must return , however, to my personal history. The little 
 conveyancer with whom I had been living for about eighteen 
 months was a very choleric and hot-tempered man, and 
 some error in copying one day so upset him that he poured 
 out such a torrent of abuse upon me that I determined to 
 leave his employ. I did so in a month from that day, 
 according to our agreement, and I scarcely believe that 
 Adam left the Garden of Eden with much more regret than 
 did I the conveyancer's office and its surroundings. I was 
 fond of the work, and the occasional interviews with the 
 pretty daughter, together with the music lessons, all made 
 me very much regret the separation ; but I was rather 
 a high-spirited young fellow, and would not intimate to 
 the father any desire to stay, and so we parted. 
 
 The elections for the city and county, which I have just 
 adverted to, were about to take place, and my father suc- 
 ceeded in obtaining for me a clerkship in 'the committee- 
 room of Sir Edward Knatchbull, the well-known Tory 
 candidate for the eastern division of the county. 
 
 The central committee of Sir Edward sat in a large 
 room over my father's shop. The work apportioned to 
 me mainly consisted in copying letters^ issuing summonses 
 for meetings, <fcc; and as the remuneration was good, my 
 regret was that it would be so soon over. 
 
 I was, however, a little uneasy at the thought of sailing 
 under false colours, for all my predilections were decidedly 
 in favour of liberalism, and I confess that I should have 
 felt far more comfortable had I acted in the same capacity 
 on the Radical side of the question. 
 
 Fortunately for public safety, as well as for private purses, 
 the election for the counties under the Reform Bill was 
 confined to two days only. The scenes at Canterbury, 
 and Barham Downs, the place of nomination, will not 
 soon be forgotten by those who were present on the occa-
 
 66 " Boar Shields." 
 
 sion. Party feeling at the time was at its height, and the 
 scenes which took place daily during the canvassing of the 
 candidates, and at the nomination and subsequent election, 
 were of the most exciting and alarming character. 
 
 A man well known at that time in Canterbury, and in- 
 deed, all through East Kent, by the name of Bill Elliott, 
 a post-boy at the Fountain Hotel, but better known as 
 Boar Shields, a name given to him on account of his 
 strength and toughness, played a somewhat conspicuous 
 part during this election. This man was a Tory to the 
 back-bone, and was a great favourite with all the county 
 gentlemen of that party. I knew this character well, and 
 received from him some lessons in the art of self-defence. 
 He was famed for fighting, and took a special delight in 
 me for my daring, and was wont to speak of me as a 
 pluckish fellow. An anecdote or two of this man will not 
 be uninteresting, and will exhibit the characteristics of the 
 individual better than any description of mine. 
 
 Just before the election, he was driving Mr. Deedes, the 
 chairman of Sir Edward Knatchbull, afterwards member 
 for the county, to Margate, for the purpose of canvassing 
 the electors on behalf of Sir Edward. It was known 
 at Margate that Mr. Deedes was expected, and a large 
 number of the Radicals had assembled at the entrance of 
 the town, who, as soon as he made his appearance, greeted 
 him with a tremendous volley of groans and hisses, and 
 shouted, "Bullock's liver and barley bread!" a saying 
 which had arisen in consequence of one of the Tory party 
 having said that such fare was good enough for poor 
 people. Bill Elliott, finding the crowd increased, and the 
 pressure upon the horses not at all agreeable, immediately 
 dismounted, turned up his sleeves, and laid into four or five 
 of the foremost in such a manner as to inspire the mob with 
 terror, and then, quietly mounting, drove Mr. Deedes into 
 the town, very much to the amusement of that gentleman. 
 
 On another occasion, he was driving Mr. Plumptre, the 
 M.P. for East Kent, to Mersham Hatch, the county-seat
 
 Barham Downs. 67 
 
 of Sir Edward Knatchbull. He had been told to use all 
 expedition, as the interview was an urgent one. On 
 arriving in front of Sir Edward's mansion, Boar Shields 
 saw some one on the lawn in his shirt sleeves. He shouted 
 out to him with his stentorian voice, " Holloa ! you chap 
 in the shirt sleeves, pull the fore-door bell ! " Mr. Plump- 
 tre saw at once that the party addressed was a son of Sir 
 Edward, who was fond of gardening, and tried to make the 
 post-boy understand this ; but it was all in vain, as Elliott 
 had enlisted him in his service, and he very good-naturedly 
 did as he was instructed. 
 
 On the day of nomination, at Barham Downs, there was 
 a terrific uproar, and Elliott, who was there in all his 
 glory, offered to fight any man on the Radical side that 
 might be brought against him; but no one had pluck 
 enough to confront this redoubtable combatant. 
 
 The procession of Sir Edward Knatchbull at that elec- 
 tion was preceded by a very handsome banner, which was 
 reported to have cost .500, presented by the ladies of the 
 county for the occasion. That procession was headed by 
 five hundred men, selected from the farm-servants of the 
 neighbourhood, who were paid 5s. a day, with an ample 
 supply of food, and an almost unlimited quantity of beer, 
 marched at the head of the processioruto protect this flag, 
 which had been threatened by the Radical party. These 
 men were all arrayed in clean white gaberdines, and armed 
 with a stout bludgeon. No attempt was made on the part 
 of the Radicals, however, to injure the flag. 
 
 I acted as one of the Poll Clerks during the two days 
 the election lasted, and in about ten days my duties ter- 
 minated. 
 
 All the officials connected with the election were not 
 only well paid, but there was a handsome dinner given them 
 at the close. I was present at that dinner, and am bound 
 in truthfulness to record that those around me put the port 
 wine so prominently forward, and I was induced to par- 
 take of it so freely, that, after singing one song, I have no
 
 68 Hint for Teatotallers. 
 
 further recollection of anything that transpired. I awoke 
 the next morning with a splitting headache, and was in- 
 formed by my mother that I was brought home in a state 
 of insensibility. Though humbled at this confession of my 
 folly, I am glad to be able to record that this was the only 
 instance in my life of my being " the worse for liquor." 
 
 My having no regular employment, and the excitement 
 occasioned by the late elections, had made me feel very 
 unsettled. There is nothing much more unfavourable for 
 a youth at sixteen, and especially with such a temperament 
 as mine, than to be casting about for something to do ; and 
 the few months of my life spent in this way are among the 
 worst of my history. Idleness and listlessness are dange- 
 rous for any one to indulge in, and therefore it cannot be 
 wondered at that I spent much of this time in the company 
 of those not calculated to improve my morals, or help me 
 on in a course of rectitude. 
 
 Some of my acquaintances induced me to keep late 
 hours at night, which led me into painful and annoying 
 altercations with my father and mother, and obliged me 
 to invent all sorts of excuses for not being home at suit- 
 able hours. My dear mother sat up for me many a weary 
 night, long after all the household were asleep, and I 
 dreaded her kind reproachful look on my return far more 
 than the angry words that fell from my father's lips in the 
 morning. However, I had fairly plunged into all the 
 gaieties and dissipations within my reach at Canterbury at 
 that period. 
 
 I was a favourite with the manager of the theatre, and 
 had the privilege of being admitted behind the scenes, 
 where I formed an acquaintance with some of the actors 
 and actresses. One of the latter, wife to the principal 
 tragedian, was a particularly handsome woman. I recol- 
 lect on one occasion, when her husband had been playing 
 Macbeth, he was so exhausted with the last scene, that 
 when the curtain fell it was with difficulty we could rouse 
 him, so great was his prostration from entering so heartily
 
 Canterbury Theatre. 69 
 
 into the combat that closes that grand play. His pretty 
 wife hung over him, chafing his hands, and fanning his 
 face, and looking most beautiful. I was not a little proud 
 of acting as a young knight to so distinguished a chieftain 
 and his lady fair. 
 
 The manager of the theatre at this time was a celebrated 
 comic singer, and he and I became quite cronies. It was 
 well for me that the dramatic season did not last very long, 
 or I should have become so enamoured of plays and play 
 actors as to be inclined to have tried my hand at histrionic 
 exhibitions. I have many times envied this famous comic 
 singer as he drew down upon him the applause of a crowded 
 house. My impediment of speech would have stood in the 
 way of my becoming an actor ; but I could always sing, 
 and few things are more gratifying than popular applause, 
 though so much has been affectedly said against it. 
 
 About this time a strong desire arose within me to go 
 into the army. I had become thoroughly weary of a life 
 of listlcssness and want of purpose and 
 
 " I had heard of battles, and I long'd 
 To follow to the field some warlike lord." 
 
 I expressed this military predilection at home, but never 
 met with any encouragement from my parents, and my 
 mother trembled at the thought of a fcoy of hers 
 
 " Seeking the bubble reputation at the cannon's mouth." 
 
 The desire, however, strengthened, and as I had ex- 
 pressed to my father a preference for the Royal Artillery, 
 he spoke to a gentleman living at Canterbury who attended 
 our Reading Room daily, and who was moreover officially 
 connected with that regiment. 
 
 This gentleman held the rank of Major-General in this 
 regiment, and promised to do everything in his power to 
 help me if I persisted in my determination, and get me 
 sent out to India or one of the other colonies. 
 
 My mother was opposed to my going into the army, and
 
 70 "A Boy in Buttons." 
 
 did all she could to dissuade me from the project ; hut the 
 more I thought of it the more I longed to he engaged in 
 some pursuit where my energies would he called forth, 
 and where I should he released from the dull monotony of 
 my unemployed life at Canterbury. 
 
 My mother, seeing my determination for soldiering, took 
 an early opportunity of calling upon the wife of the Major- 
 General, and urged all a mother's reasons for dissuading 
 me from my resolution. This kind-hearted lady, who had 
 known me from my infancy, desired me to call upon her. 
 She spoke to me with the gentleness of a true lady, and tried 
 all her persuasiveness to ind~uce me to give up my military 
 schemes. 
 
 After talking with me for some time, she rang the bell, 
 which was answered by a youth of my own age, in a green 
 suit and brass bell buttons : she gave him some instructions 
 as to calling on tradesmen for certain little commissions, 
 and when he left the room she turned to me with a smile, 
 and asked me whether I should not rather be a page to her 
 than to be a soldier : that it was a quiet occupation, with no- 
 thing of a menial or arduous kind to do, and that her page 
 was the son of very respectable parents. I verily thought 
 the old lady was joking with me, as the idea of being 
 rigged out as " a boy in buttons" had never for a moment 
 entered my mind. I thanked her very sincerely for all 
 her good intentions ; but this interview only tended to 
 strengthen my desire to become a soldier, and I determined 
 to carry out this resolution as soon as a favourable oppor- 
 tunity occurred. 
 
 Shortly after this I was induced by some of my boon 
 companions to join them in a carousal that lasted through 
 the night, and I was not home until long after 
 
 " The grey morn had dappled into day." 
 
 I found that my mother had been sitting up for me, and 
 I was ashamed to look at her tired and grief-worn coun- 
 tenance as she gently and tearfully upbraided me for my
 
 Leaving Canterbury. 71 
 
 unkind behaviour. My father was exceedingly angry with 
 me, and told me in plain terms that I should not remain 
 under his roof any longer than I conformed to the law of 
 the household. I found that matters were growing more 
 and more serious at home, and that the breach was widen- 
 ing every day. Under these circumstances, I gained my 
 father's reluctant consent to my leaving for the army, and 
 having obtained a letter of introduction and recommenda- 
 tion from the Major-General to the Adjutant of the Royal 
 Artillery at "Woolwich, my little wardrobe was packed up, 
 and I was started to London to see my eldest brother and 
 sister, who were residing there, before entering the army. 
 
 I remember how grieved my father and mother were at 
 my going out to breakfast, on the morning I left home, 
 with the family that I had been accustomed to spend the 
 greater part of my time with, when not engaged in other 
 pursuits with my juvenile companions. 
 
 I distributed the few knick-knacks I possessed among 
 my younger brothers and sisters, and gave my " Church- 
 Service," a scrap-book, and a favourite canary bird with a 
 nightingale note, to her who had obtained great influence 
 over me, and who, I verily believe, was not a little con- 
 cerned at my leaving Canterbury. I received in return 
 for these a small ring with a heart tied to it by a true- 
 lover's knot. 
 
 The parting on this occasion was such as might have 
 been expected ; mutual promises were given and responded 
 to, and fair visions of future happiness were indulged on 
 both sides that were never to be realized. 
 
 The leave-taking at home was afar more serious affair. 
 I kept up my courage as best I could, till I heard the door 
 closed behind me, and then my choked feelings found ex- 
 pression in a flood of tears, which were only interrupted by 
 my taking my seat on the top of the " Eagle" coach for 
 London.
 
 III. 
 
 MANHOOD: ITS STEUGGLES, DUTIES, TRIALS, 
 RECREATIONS, AND RESPONSIBILITIES. 
 
 " In carrying out any work of improvement, or of reformation 
 in your character, you must begin by acting in such a way as con- 
 science tells you is right. You must not wait till you are com- 
 pletely in a proper frame of mind ; and defer doing what a virtuous 
 man would do till you have the dispositions and inclinations of a 
 virtuous man. It is only by practising virtue that you can bring 
 yourself to delight in virtue." 
 
 ONDON had always been in my youthful 
 imaginings the place of all places in the 
 world which I had a strong desire to see ; 
 and to feel that I was actually on my way 
 there was almost more than I could believe. 
 The journey in those days was a very different thing to 
 what it is now, when a couple of hours by the rail puts you 
 down within a stone's throw of London Bridge. The 
 coaches, a continuous stream running to and from Dover 
 to London, were well horsed, and a ride on one of them, 
 as an outside passenger, was perhaps as pleasant a one as 
 any to be found in all England. 
 
 I remember that it was a bright cloudless autumn day, 
 " bathed in rich amber-glowing floods of light," with the 
 foliage of orange, and brown and red, more beautiful than 
 any painter, save Turner, who dared to be natural, could 
 put on canvass, lest he should be scouted as extravagant 
 and unnatural. The undulations of the country all through 
 the journey made the views at every turn of the road new 
 and interesting. The road from Canterbury to London
 
 Journey to London. 73 
 
 winds through an extremely beautiful variety of hill and 
 dale, rosy orchards, golden cornfields and hop gardens ; 
 and as I had never before been further on the London 
 road than Boughton, my father's native village, it had the 
 additional interest of being entirely new to me. 
 
 Chatham, Rochester, and Stroud were passed in succes- 
 sion ; the former place, teeming with soldiers, made my 
 young blood tingle as I thought fondly of what I might 
 one day do in defence of my country. As we neared 
 London my feeling of wondrous expectation scarcely al- 
 lowed of my remaining in my seat. I was at the back of 
 the coach, and ever and anon I rose from my seat to look 
 ahead for the first glimpse of St. Paul's, or some visible 
 indication of being in reality within reach of the great 
 metropolis. No young Israelite, on his first pilgrimage to 
 " the City of the Great King," felt more intensely anxious 
 than I did to stand within the City of London and walk 
 about its streets. All that I had ever read, and heard 
 from others, came welling up from my full heart, and my 
 excitement increased as Blackheath was crossed, and the 
 great city lay spread out beneath us dimly in the distance. 
 
 At last we entered the streets, and London Bridge, 
 which had been opened a few months before, was the first 
 object of attraction. I had never at Canterbury seen any 
 river wider than the Stour, on whos^e banks I had wandered 
 many a time as a boy, and in whose limpid waters I had 
 so often bathed and frolicked. The noble Thames was 
 therefore to me a magnificent sight, and as the coach 
 slowly made its way over the bridge, the shipping, with 
 its tall masts, and the steamers, with their variegated and 
 smoky funnels, all impressed me with the greatness and 
 importance of the city I was just entering. I caught a 
 glimpse of St. Paul's, with its golden cross glittering in the 
 afternoon sun, and on the opposite side the Tower of Lon- 
 don ; a few minutes more brought me abreast of the monu- 
 ment. 
 
 The " Spread Eagle " in Gracechurch-street was then
 
 74 London Relatives. 
 
 the terminus of the Canterbury " Eagle " coaches, and as 
 the coach slowly turned into the narrow gateway of the 
 hotel, I saw my eldest brother looking out for me, and it 
 was quite a relief to hear his well-known voice greeting 
 me in the midst of the noise and bustle of that great 
 thoroughfare. 
 
 My brother was an assistant in the establishment of a 
 wholesale stationery and account-book business in Grace- 
 church-street, and boarded and lodged with an uncle in 
 the neighbourhood, who had for many years been chief 
 superintendent of the city police, but had recently retired 
 from that very difficult and responsible office to a less ar- 
 duous post connected with London Bridge, and the parish 
 in which it stands. 
 
 I was to be the guest of my uncle, and I much enjoyed 
 the few weeks spent with him. The house was situate in 
 St. Benet's-place, rather a dingy-looking court, leading 
 out of Gracechurch-street to nowhere. There were but 
 few houses in the place, and I remember that a bookbinder 
 lived immediately opposite my uncle's, and as the space 
 between the two houses was rather narrow, we could look 
 from my uncle's rooms almost into those of our opposite 
 neighbours. The dull and monotonous prospect was often 
 gladdened by the bright eyes, and happy smiling faces, of 
 three daughters of the worthy bookbinder, who were seen 
 occasionally at the windows. 
 
 My uncle was a remarkably tall and well-proportioned 
 man, though he stooped a little from age, and long active 
 service. He told me that, as superintendent of the police, 
 he had for a great many years perambulated the City of 
 London twice every day, and entered his name, and time 
 of calling, at every police-station within the city bound- 
 aries. His duties, in his new position, required him to be 
 out pretty nearly all the day on London Bridge, and about 
 the Ward, to look after the police, and see that everybody 
 connected with the bridge was at his duty. I was his 
 constant companion in these rambles, and he used to point
 
 Sir Chapman Marshall. 75 
 
 out to me the pickpockets and thieves that infested that 
 great thoroughfare. It used to amuse me to see the mem- 
 bers of the swell-mob lift their hats as they passed my 
 uncle in the streets, and to observe how these light-fingered 
 gentry glided away out of his sight as he would sometimes 
 shake his head at them. 
 
 I was very fond of my uncle, and he was exceedingly 
 kind to me ; he would have done almost anything to have 
 dissuaded me from soldiering, but the desire for the army 
 still burned steadily within me. 
 
 An old copy in manuscript of the " Rules and Regula- 
 tions of the Bridge Ward," was suspended over the fire- 
 place in the watch-house, and my uncle proposed that I 
 should make a fair transcript of this document. He was 
 so pleased with this specimen of my penmanship, that he 
 submitted it to the Alderman of the Ward, Sir Chapman 
 Marshall, as the work of his nephew. Sir Chapman made 
 some kind inquiries about me, and gave my uncle a sove- 
 reign to reward the youth who could turn out such a piece 
 of ornamental penmanship, and remarked that I was fit for 
 something better than soldiering. 
 
 My visit to my uncle was unhappily interrupted by a 
 misunderstanding between my brother and himself as to 
 late hours at night. My uncle would insist upon every 
 one being in by ten o'clock, and tjiis early hour was not 
 at all agreeable to my brother. Angry words ensued, and 
 it ended in my brother leaving, and going to board and 
 lodge with a friend, who kept an inn in Smithfield Mar- 
 ket. My uncle was so hurt and annoyed at my brother 
 leaving him, and spoke out so strongly against him, that 
 the friends with whom he lived prevailed upon me to 
 transfer my quarters to them, for the few weeks that inter- 
 vened before leaving for the army. 
 
 It was with real regret that I left my uncle, whose 
 genial society I very much delighted in ; his narrations of 
 London life, and what he had seen, and taken part in, 
 quite charmed and captivated me.
 
 76 London Sights. 
 
 I heard, moreover, afterwards, from my aunt, that he 
 was quite hurt at my yielding to the persuasions of my 
 friends to go with my brother to Smithfield. 
 
 In my new quarters I found, however, that I had more 
 freedom, and liberty of action, and my peregrinations ex- 
 tended to the different parts of London. All through the 
 day I had nothing to do but to walk about, as every one 
 was too much engaged to give me their company ; and this 
 being the case, I visited the parks, the Bank, the Koyal 
 Exchange, the Tower, with all its wonders and strange 
 legends, the docks, the principal churches, the bridges, the 
 Thames-tunnel, the British Museum, the Horse Guards, 
 Westminster Hall, and the Courts of Law, the Houses 
 of Parliament, then very different structures to what 
 they are now. The old Abbey, which I often visited, 
 and re-visited, and was never weary of wandering about 
 its sacred pavement, and reading the many inscriptions 
 recorded there of men whose names had long been as 
 familiar to me as " household words," and whose dust 
 lay mouldering beneath my feet. I never lost an oppor- 
 tunity, when going west, of looking in at the old Minster, 
 and " Poets' Corner" had a charm for me beyond most 
 places in London. But the place that most of all attracted 
 me was St. Paul's, that king among the architectural 
 structures of London. I have stood for the hour beneath 
 its dome, looking up in dreamy wonderment at the dim 
 and glorious summit, and then leisurely let the eye wander 
 around at its growingly beautiful proportions. As a build- 
 ing, Westminster Abbey fell very short of my expecta- 
 tions, as I contrasted it with the Cathedral under whose 
 shadow I had spent my early days ; but St. Paul's more 
 than realized all my most sanguine expectations. I used 
 to walk around its exterior, and from different stand-points 
 look up with silent admiration as I gazed at its magnifi- 
 cent dome, and golden cross, with the blue heavens as a 
 back-ground. It is indeed a noble and enduring monu- 
 ment to the great architect who conceived its vast and
 
 The Theatres. 77 
 
 beautiful design, and mapped out all its wondrous details ; 
 and. is a sanctuary worthy in all respects of the great and 
 illustrious saint whose name it bears. Oh ! it is some- 
 thing that speaks well for England to have erected such an 
 edifice in the heart of its great metropolis, and to have 
 dedicated it to a man who towers as far above his fellows as 
 the vast dome does the buildings with which it is surrounded. 
 My attention was not, however, confined to these build- 
 ings, but I was naturally enough attracted to the theatres. 
 Drury Lane, Covent Garden, the Adelphi, Astley's, and 
 the Italian Opera, were names that awoke within me the 
 most stirring thoughts and extravagant expectations. I 
 gained frequent and free admission to all these theatres 
 from a gentleman who was editor of one of the most popu- 
 lar weekly journals, and had served his apprenticeship to 
 my father, and who had, moreover, known me from my 
 infancy. I had seen at Canterbury some of the chief 
 actors, who occasionally visited the provincial towns ; but a 
 London theatre, with its superior accompaniments, in the 
 minor characters, and also in the scenery, fully realized my 
 highest expectations. 
 
 The chief actors on the London stage, at the time I am 
 writing of, were Charles Kemble, (his brother John and 
 the elder Kean had passed away), Macready, Doughton, 
 Charles Kean, Harley, Buckstone,' Keeley, Farran, and 
 Jack Reeve ; and the actresses were, Madame Vestris, 
 the Misses Tree, (afterwards Mrs. Charles Kean and Mrs. 
 Bradshaw), Mrs. Yates, Mrs. Keeley, Madame Celeste, 
 Mrs. Nisbett, Mrs. Honey, Mrs. Humby, Mrs. Waylett, 
 Miss Paton, and Miss Grattan, with a host of minor names 
 long since forgotten. 
 
 The theatres at which these then distinguished actors 
 and actresses were to be seen and heard were visited by 
 me not unfrequently, but the place that had the foremost 
 attractions was the Italian opera. The tall grenadiers at 
 the entrance, the vast dimensions of the interior, with its 
 gorgeous embellishments, the stage and its splendid scenery
 
 78 The Italian Opera. 
 
 and decorations, the first-rate instrumental and vocal music, 
 the audience composed chiefly of England's fairest women, 
 and some of her noblest sons, had a wondrous effect upon 
 me. All 'this was crowned by the ballet, with its inflam- 
 mable attractiveness. 
 
 It is not to be wondered that this fascinating theatre 
 had a charm to a youth of my age beyond all the rest, and 
 many a night did I drink in the intoxicating draughts, 
 until I could scarcely tolerate the tame and insipid attrac- 
 tions of every-day life. 
 
 Knowing in my own case the effects produced by such 
 exhibitions as these, I confess that I am at a loss to ima- 
 gine how it is that fathers and mothers take their sons and 
 daughters to witness such sights. I cannot believe that a 
 right-minded father would willingly introduce his sons to 
 such scenes as I have often witnessed, where there is 
 everything to call forth and develope the strongest passions 
 of our nature ; and how any mother, with any pretensions 
 to modesty and propriety herself, can allow her young and 
 innocent daughters to be contaminated by such exhibitions, 
 is to me a marvel. 
 
 Men and women are selected for the ballet who are 
 formed in nature's fairest mould, and they are attired in 
 such a costume as to display to the greatest advantage 
 their beautiful proportions, and well-turned limbs. The 
 dancing, it is true, is perfection, the very poetry of motion, 
 but it is terribly dangerous, I think, to both sexes ; not 
 only to those who are engaged in it, but also to the spec- 
 tators. 
 
 A caustic anonymous writer of the day, speaking of such 
 an audience, says : " A word to you, young fashionable 
 ladies, and your foolish mothers, who frequent the Italian 
 Opera, and gaze with looks unquailed on a spectacle that 
 makes the veteran who has 'braved the battle and the 
 breeze ' throw up his hands in amazement as he takes a 
 survey of the house from the stage to the five tiers, from 
 the dress circle up to Mount Olympus, where sit the
 
 Medical Students. 79 
 
 ' gods and goddesses.' Many a night have you proved, 
 while gazing on the ballet, with all the men around you, 
 how little you cared for morality, or decency either. The 
 ballet-girl is the living representative of the 'social evil' 
 in full force 'tis her vocation ; you see it, and you know 
 it. She spares you the trouble of going behind the scenes ; 
 she comes forward with lascivious mien and gesture to 
 invite you with her desir valse to follow her example. She 
 may be vicious, but you are the lady patronesses of vice." 
 
 It is well known that the Italian Opera is the favourite 
 resort of the English aristocracy, and those among them 
 who would exclude the ballet as objectionable, and would 
 retain only the operatic entertainments, would do well to 
 consider that the operas most popular of late years are not 
 at all such as to exert a salutary influence upon our young 
 aristocratic scions, male and female. The immorality and 
 profligacy set forth, in the most alluring and attractive 
 manner, in Don Griovanni, Lucrezia Borgia, Rigoletto, La 
 Sonnambula, Norma, and La Traviata, are too notorious 
 to need any further reference to them, and I should hope 
 that no sober-minded father would be found to give his 
 deliberate consent to his sons and daughters witnessing, 
 night after night, either the indecent exhibition of the 
 ballet, or the not less dangerous and pernicious tendency of 
 the operas. 
 
 During my stay in Smithfield I formed an acquaintance 
 with some medical students, who lodged in the same house 
 as myself, and who were attending the lectures at St. 
 Bartholomew's Hospital. I spent a good deal of my time 
 with these young gentlemen about town, and visited 
 Vauxhall Gardens, and other places of less exceptional 
 character. Most of these young fellows were from the 
 country, and their parents could have had but little idea of 
 the kind of life they led in London. I found that, for the 
 most part, they were allowed to procure lodgings for them- 
 selves, somewhere in the vicinity of the hospital ; and there 
 being little or no restraint upon their movements, they
 
 80 Bartholomew Fair. 
 
 were often out at all hours of the night. It is not surpris- 
 ing that young men at this very critical age, left so much 
 to themselves, should in many unhappy instances form 
 habits of dissipation and profligacy which cling to them 
 all through their after-life. 
 
 While I was living in Smithfield the anniversary of St. 
 Bartholomew's Fair came round. The fair at that time 
 was rather on the wane, but it attracted large multitudes 
 of people, and lasted, I think, three days. Such an 
 assemblage as that, in the very heart of London, could 
 but be interesting to " a young man from the country." 
 I very much enjoyed my rambles among the crowds of 
 sightseers, and paid my threepence more than once to 
 have a place on Richardson's outside stage, for the pur- 
 pose of looking round upon the sea of upturned faces. I 
 had a few narrow escapes of getting into some rather 
 awkward scrapes with my medical friends from our larkish 
 pranks. Peter Crawley, the celebrated pugilist, kept a 
 tavern in Little Britain, and most of the medical students 
 were frequent visitors at this establishment, not only to be 
 instructed in the art of self-defence, but to play at skittles, 
 bagatelle, and other kindred amusements. 
 
 Having spent about two months at Smithfield, and seen 
 a good deal of London, I began to think seriously again 
 of my long-cherished purpose of becoming a soldier. My 
 brother and an elder sister, staying in London at the 
 time, were both anxious to divert me from my military 
 predilection, and proposed my seeking a situation in some 
 house of business, or look out for an appointment in the 
 civil service. I could not, however, think of settling down 
 to anything short of soldiering ; and the idle and dissi- 
 pated life I had been leading for some months past only 
 tended to strengthen the resolution I had formed to enter 
 upon a career that would call forth my energies, and give 
 me some purpose in life. 
 
 It was on a fine, bright, frosty morning, in the winter 
 of 1833, that I left my kind friends in Smithfield for the
 
 The Royal Artillery. 81 
 
 head- quarters of the Eoyal Artillery at Woolwich. I got 
 up on the outside of an omnibus in Gracechurch-street, 
 and enjoyed the pleasant ride through Greenwich, and in 
 due time was put down at the nearest point to the Artillery 
 Barracks. I inquired of the sentry at the outside gate for 
 the adjutant's quarters, and having found them, sought an 
 interview with that gentleman, and presented my letter of 
 introduction from the major-general at Canterbury. The 
 adjutant was a tall, soldierly looking man of about forty, 
 who received me very kindly. He told me that he had 
 already heard of me from the major-general, and that he 
 had been expecting me for some weeks. He appeared to 
 be pleased with my appearance, but was fearful that the 
 impediment in my speech would be an objection on the 
 part of the medical officers. Having given me some good 
 advice as to what to do and what to avoid, as a soldier, 
 he encouraged me to hope that, by good conduct and 
 careful attention to my duties, I should soon be made a 
 non-commissioned officer, as I had a very influential friend 
 and patron in the major-general. 
 
 I was then handed over to the orderly corporal, with the 
 adjutant's instructions that I was to be taken to the medi- 
 cal officers for their examination. The major-general's 
 letter, and also one from the adjutant, were enclosed to 
 the doctors, and my heart beat high with anxious expecta- 
 tion as I marched off to the inspection-room. On arriving 
 there, I was ushered into a large apartment, with three 
 gentlemen seated at a table in the middle of the room. 
 The corporal presented the letters and withdrew, and I 
 was left alone with this formidable conclave. I was in a 
 state of no small nervous excitement ; and after reading 
 the letters, the doctors carefully looked me up and down. 
 One of them, an elderly gentleman with white hair, 
 inquired of me my name. Now, my own name had 
 always been a great difficulty with me, as it began with a 
 consonant, and I made several ineffectual attempts to get 
 it out. My stammering tongue, however, Avould not obey ;
 
 82 Bitter Mortification. 
 
 my lips were sealed as with lead, and a cold weight 
 pressed on my heart. Again and again did I summon 
 my resolution to conquer the mocking demon, but failed, 
 and after many abortive efforts I was obliged to spell out 
 my name to them. Unfortunately the next question was, 
 " Where do you come from ?" Canterbury was another 
 difficult word with me, and the nervous dread and sensi- 
 tive shame so common to stammerers increased upon me, 
 and I was foiled again in attempting to enunciate the 
 dreaded word. 
 
 In the meanwhile the doctors looked at me with patient 
 and kindly eyes, and at each other with gravity. The 
 president glanced at the major-general's letter that lay on 
 the table before him. I saw at once the critical position 
 in which I stood, and bitter was my mortification. I felt 
 that I could have uttered any but my own name, and I 
 wished that I had been born anywhere rather than Canter- 
 bury. Seeing the dilemma in which these gentlemen were 
 placed, to break the silence I volunteered some remarks 
 upon my stammering, and told them how I had acquired 
 the habit. This explanation was given with little or no 
 hesitation, and I began to hope that I should pass muster. 
 They made inquiries then as to my age, and the healthi- 
 ness and longevity of my family. My replies to these 
 questions appeared to be satisfactory. 
 
 I was requested to withdraw, that they might consult 
 upon the matter ; and never shall I forget the dreadful 
 suspense I endured during the quarter of an hour that 
 deliberation lasted. My whole future life depended upon 
 their decision, and when the bell rang which was to sum- 
 mon me again into their presence, my heart sank within 
 me. 
 
 On re-entering the room I could see at once that my 
 doom was fixed. The president told me that they had 
 every desire to pass me, but that the Articles of War were 
 so strict that they could not consistently with their duty to 
 the service overlook the impediment in my speech, and
 
 A Rejected Recruit. 83 
 
 therefore they must reluctantly reject my application. One 
 of the other doctors told me that my age, and personal 
 appearance, were just such as they could desire, and that 
 I should have made a good soldier ; while the third re- 
 marked that I should no doubt succeed in obtaining some 
 appointment as a clerk, where my stammering would not 
 be an obstacle, either in my work, or to my advancement 
 in life. 
 
 A note to the adjutant was duly written, indicating 
 their decision ; and having thanked them for their kind 
 feeling towards me, I was marched back to the adjutant's 
 quarters. 
 
 That gentleman expressed great regret at my not being 
 able to pass the medical ordeal, and sympathized with me 
 in my bitter disappointment. He said he would write to 
 my patron at Canterbury, and tell him the cause of my 
 rejection, and hoped I should be successful in procui'ing a 
 situation in the Civil Service. 
 
 I thanked the adjutant for his kindness, and left his 
 quarters with a feeling of dreary disappointment, known 
 only to those who have been thwarted in the thing of all 
 others that they had set their heart upon. 
 
 The corporal, in whose care I had been, was quite 
 moved at my downcast looks, and I left him with a hearty 
 shake of the hand, and with a feeling* something akin to 
 envy, as I glanced at his uniform with the double stripes 
 on his jacket indicating his first promotion. 
 
 I took up my carpet-bag, and slowly retraced my steps 
 to the outer gate of the barracks. I strolled on into 
 Woolwich churchyard, which commands a fine view of 
 the Thames, and sat me down on one of the tomb-stones 
 to give vent to my feelings, and decide upon my future 
 course. 
 
 One thing was quite certain, that I would never return 
 to Canterbury " for scorn to point the slow and moving 
 finger" at one who had boasted that he would be a soldier, 
 and was rejected. No ; I felt that I would rather sweep
 
 84 Noble Resolve. 
 
 a crossing, or take the most menial'office among strangers, 
 than subject myself to the sneers and ridicule of some I 
 should meet at Canterbury. And then, I felt that all my 
 bright hopes of " battles, sieges, fortunes, moving acci- 
 dents by flood and field, and hair-breadth escapes in the 
 imminent deadly breach," were all dashed away, and gone 
 for ever and that I must bid " farewell to the neighing 
 steed, and the shrill trump, the spirit-stirring drum, the 
 ear-piercing fife, the royal banner, and all the pride, pomp, 
 and circumstance of glorious war." How bitterly did I 
 lament the habit of stammering I had formed, and began to 
 feel it to be indeed true, that it is the fate of the stam- 
 merer "to be mortified in every point, baffled at every 
 turn of life, for want of that most common privilege of 
 man, 
 
 ' The merest drug of gorged society, 
 Words, windy words.' " 
 
 I sat musing and meditating in this quiet churchyard 
 for some time. At length my disappointed hopes and 
 wounded pride found relief in tears ; and as I looked down 
 upon the river, and saw the outward-bound merchantmen 
 slowly wending their course along the silent highway of 
 the Thames, I thought if I could work my way out in one 
 of those gallant vessels to a far-off land, some El Dorado, 
 where, if I did not make a fortune, I should at all events 
 get away from companions and connections that I knew 
 would bring about the ruin of my body and soul. 
 
 It was no small mortification to be obliged to return 
 to Smithfield crestfallen and rejected ; but I was young, 
 strong, and healthy, and was, moreover, determined no 
 longer to live an idle and listless life. 
 
 I took my carpet-bag, and made up my mind to return 
 to Smithfield, tell them of my rejection at Woolwich, and 
 at once set about in right earnest to get something to do. 
 My friends kindly sympathized with me in my disappoint- 
 ment; and as my host at the inn at which I had been
 
 An Unexpected Friend. 85 
 
 staying as a guest, was once in the drapery business, he 
 suggested that I should call upon some of his acquaintances 
 in the trade, and endeavour to obtain employment. 
 
 I knew nothing of the drapery business, further than 
 the smattering gained in my early days by frequently 
 visiting a large establishment of a neighbour of my father's 
 at Canterbury ; but I had a mind to work, and a deter- 
 mination to do anything rather than continue to lead an 
 idle life. 
 
 Accordingly, the next morning I started for the Strand 
 to call on a gentleman known to mine host at Smithfield, 
 and while there a town-traveller in the glove trade called. 
 I was introduced to this gentleman, and he was informed of 
 my disappointment at Woolwich, and of my desire for 
 employment. He said it was a shame that a young fel- 
 low should be drifting away to nobody knows what, and 
 asked what I was willing to do. I told him anything. 
 He was pleased with my desire for employment, said he 
 was going west, and should be calling upon all the large 
 drapery firms in that direction, and proposed that I should 
 accompany him. 
 
 I was delighted with his benevolent and frank behaviour 
 towards me, and I felt an honest pride in carrying his 
 neatly-packed parcel of sample glovers by his side, as we 
 trudged on up the Strand. I found he was a man that I 
 could speak to without any fear or reserve, and my stam- 
 mering was scarcely recognizable. I gave him some brief 
 account of my family and previous history, that made him 
 the more desirous to be the means of serving me. 
 
 The first large establishment we called at was " Water- 
 loo House," in Cockspur-street. I was introduced to one 
 of the principals of the firm, who seemed inclined to engage 
 me, though he demurred rather at the fact that I knew so 
 little of the business. He appointed me to call the next 
 day to hear his decision. 
 
 On leaving Waterloo House my good friend called upon 
 many of the principal houses in Waterloo Place and Re-
 
 86 First Engagement. 
 
 gent-street, but without any success so far as I was con- 
 cerned. We pursued our course into Oxford-street, and at 
 a large house a few doors from Marylebone-lane now the 
 celebrated firm of Marshall and Snelgrove they wanted a 
 ticket-writer, and some one who would make himself gene- 
 rally useful in the establishment. As I wrote a tolerably 
 good hand, and was rather clever with my pen, I thought 
 I could soon learn how to write the tickets that are 
 attached to " splendid shawls" and " rich gros de nap," &c, 
 exposed for sale in the window. 
 
 The proprietor of this establishment was pleased with 
 my appearance, and engaged me at once. The terms 
 were that I was to board and lodge in the house, and to 
 receive a salary of \ a-year. The engagement was to 
 commence on the following day. 
 
 My kind friend and patron, the town traveller, to whom 
 I was indebted for this truly disinterested sen-ice, was as 
 much delighted as myself, and I was determined that my 
 conduct should be such in every way as to justify, in some 
 measure, the very kind interest he had taken in my welfare. 
 
 I parted with him at the door of the shop, and he left 
 me with a few brief words of kindly counsel, and told me 
 that he should always call and see me whenever he came 
 west. 
 
 I was rejoiced on returning to Smithfield to tell my 
 friends there of my success. They were a little amused at 
 the thought of my becoming " a counter-jumper" so soon 
 after my military adventure ; but at the same time they 
 were glad to find that I had succeeded in getting some- 
 thing to do, as they were becoming rather anxious about 
 my restlessness, and they feared, moreover, that my inti- 
 macy with the medical students would not tend in any way 
 to improve my morals. 
 
 I entered upon my new engagement on the following 
 morning, and after a little practice found myself quite at 
 home in the art of ticket-making. I was informed by 
 some of my fellow-assistants in the shop that a person
 
 A Good Master. 87 
 
 who worked for the trade made sometimes as much as 
 fifteen shillings or a pound per day in going round from 
 shop to shop writing these tickets, and was advised to pay 
 particular attention to this branch of the business, in case 
 of my not excelling as a salesman. 
 
 When not occupied in ticket-making and in duties con- 
 nected with the counting-house, I gained some practical 
 knowledge of the haberdashery branches of the trade, and 
 was soon able to serve customers very creditably. I found, 
 ^however, that my stammering often prevented me from 
 expatiating as eloquently as could be desired on the quali- 
 ties of more expensive articles, such as a shawl, or a silk 
 dress, so that I was glad to make myself as proficient as 
 possible in the branches of the business where my pen and 
 pencil were brought into practice. 
 
 I was fortunate in gaining the good opinion of my em- 
 ployer, and still more happy in getting into the good books 
 of his better-half, an agreeable lady in the meridian of 
 life, with a numerous family, the younger members of 
 which took a special liking to me. Beuig rather a handy 
 fellow, my services were often called into requisition in 
 various ways by this lady, from whom I received many 
 little acknowledgments of my attempts to please. 
 
 The domestic arrangements of this establishment were 
 most excellent. Everything was d^ne to make the young 
 persons in their employ comfortable and happy after the 
 hours of business, and the food provided for us was of the 
 best description. Family worship was regularly conducted 
 by the head of the establishment, and the young men from 
 the shop were invited, but not compelled, to attend these 
 services. 
 
 I was so pleased with the cheerful disposition of my 
 governor, and also by the consistent manner of conducting 
 his business, that I determined to attend one of these ser- 
 vices. It was the first thing of the kind I had ever seen, as 
 nothing of this nature obtained in my father's family. I had 
 always the impression that only methodistical people in-
 
 88 A Christian Household. 
 
 troduced such practices into their week-day domestic ar- 
 rangements, and I always had a great horror of, and 
 thorough contempt for, anything bordering upon Me- 
 thodism. 
 
 I found, however, that there was an attractiveness about 
 the service that very much won upon me. The family, 
 consisting of the heads of the household, their children, 
 the servants, and porters, and about ten or a dozen of the 
 young men from the shop, were regularly assembled after 
 breakfast in the morning, and also in the evening as often 
 as circumstances would permit. The governor read a suit- 
 able chapter from the bible, and afterwards offered an ex- 
 tempore prayer of about eight or ten minutes. There was 
 nothing wearisome about the service, and I could not help 
 remarking that the young men who attended these meet- 
 ings for Divine worship were for the most part among 
 the best assistants in the shop. 
 
 I was struck, not only by the natural and becoming 
 manner in which my employer conducted these services, 
 but also I could not fail to see that his business was con- 
 ducted in such a way as to recommend the sacred subjects 
 dilated upon in his prayers and praises. It requires no 
 small amount of moral courage for an employer, who is a 
 religious man, in these cutting and trimming times, to 
 maintain a becoming consistency between services such as 
 these that I advert to, and his daily dealings with his cus- 
 tomers, and those who are in his employ. 
 
 I am happy, however, to be able to record that few in- 
 deed were the inconsistencies I observed in the profession 
 and practice of this good man during the eighteen months 
 I remained in his employment. 
 
 My employer remarked one day at dinner, a few Sundays 
 after I entered his establishment, that there was a pew at 
 the chapel that he attended quite free to any of the young 
 men who might desire to make use of it. 
 
 I had never attended a Dissenting meeting-house in 
 my life ; but my curiosity was a little excited to see and
 
 A Dissenting Chapel. 89 
 
 hear what sort of a preacher he could be who had such a 
 consistent and cheerful man for a hearer. 
 
 I made up my mind to go on the following Sunday, 
 and judge for myself, both as to the preacher and the ser- 
 vices; and I accordingly accompanied one of the young 
 men from the shop, who I found was accustomed to attend 
 this place of worship. 
 
 The chapel was situated in the New Road, and was a 
 large oblong, plain brick building, destitute of any archi- 
 tectural pretensions, and capable of holding 1200 or 
 1400 people. It is one of the commodious chapels that 
 were erected in populous districts of the metropolis by the 
 late Thomas Wilson, of Highbury, a man who deserves 
 honourable mention by every Congregational Dissenter, as 
 one who laid out a large fortune to promote the interests 
 of that denomination, and who devoted a long and useful 
 life to benevolent and philanthropic measures to benefit his 
 less favoured countrymen. 
 
 The interior of the chapel was of the plainest and most 
 unadorned description. We were there early ; the place 
 was comfortably filled some minutes before the hour of 
 service, by a remarkably well-dressed and intelligent-look- 
 ing congregation. At the hour of Divine service, a tall, 
 dark, majestic looking man, between thirty and forty years 
 of age, walked rather hurriedly fnem the vestry, and 
 ascended the pulpit ; he was attired in a black flowing 
 gown and clerical bands. The clerk, or precentor, occu- 
 pied what a Churchman would denominate the reading- 
 desk. A hymn, from Dr. Watts's collection, was given 
 out by the precentor, and each verse was read by him 
 successively as they were sung ; a practice, I believe, gene- 
 rally discontinued now in Congregational churches. The 
 hymn being finished, the minister arose, and read selec- 
 tions from the Scriptures, consisting of a Psalm, and a 
 chapter from the Prophecies of Isaiah. This reading was 
 remarkably good and impressive. This was followed by 
 an extempore prayer of about twenty minutes, in language
 
 90 A Nonconformist Minister. 
 
 alike devout and simple, and with a solemnity that very 
 much struck me. The prayer being ended, another hymn 
 was sung, and at the close came the sermon. 
 
 I have the most vivid and distinct recollection of the 
 whole scene, as it was entirely new to me, and differed so 
 materially from the Church of England services, with which 
 I had been familiar from my childhood. The text was 
 taken from Isaiah vi. 1-4 ; and it was a sermon on the 
 memorable vision of the Prophet in the Temple. I can 
 recollect even now, at a distance of more than thirty 
 years, the opening sentences of that discourse, and the 
 marked attention of the great congregation made a deep 
 and lasting impression upon me. After reading the text 
 very deliberately, the preacher looked up from the Bible, 
 and with rather low and chastened voice said, " 'In the 
 year that King Uzziah died/ which, according to chrono- 
 logy, was the year in which Romulus, the founder of the 
 Roman Empire, was born. ' In the year that King 
 Uzziah died : ' for kings must die. ' All flesh is grass, 
 and the goodliness thereof is as the flower of grass.' The 
 boast of heraldry, the pomp of power, all the beauty, and 
 all the wealth of the world, await alike the inevitable hour. 
 
 ' The path of glory leads but to the grave.' 
 
 ' Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils ; 
 for wherein is he to be accounted of?' But God lives; 
 He is the everlasting King ; His throne endureth to 
 all generations ; His dominion does not pass away, and 
 He revealed Himself in unwonted splendour and ma- 
 jesty to the mind of His Prophet when King Uzziah 
 died." 
 
 The preacher then directed attention to two points from 
 the passage selected. 1. The glory of God as manifested 
 in Christ Jesus to the Prophet's mind: and 2. The man- 
 ner in which the Seraphim witnessed the deed. The ser- 
 mon was a full hour in its delivery, and was one of great 
 beauty and power. The preacher had no notes before
 
 An Accomplished Preacher. 91 
 
 him, and I was astonished at his ready eloquence, as sen- 
 tence after sentence came from his lips in the most natural 
 and unaffected manner. The language was chaste and 
 elegant, his elocution the best I had ever heard, even on 
 the stage, and his gesture such as would have done honour 
 to John Kemble in his best days. 
 
 I went away from that chapel with a very different opinion 
 of Dissenters and their services to that which I had enter- 
 tained all my life. I had always associated Dissent and 
 Dissenters with ignorance and vulgarity, and imagined, 
 as many other Churchmen do in the present day, that their 
 religion was made up mainly of cant and hypocrisy. Here, 
 however, was a scholar and a gentleman ; a man endowed 
 with the great natural talents and acquirements that make 
 up an orator ; and exhibiting moreover, as I was iiiformed, in 
 his daily life, the virtues that should ever characterize and 
 distinguish the minister of Christ. 
 
 I gathered from my employer, on returning from the 
 morning service, some few particulars relating to the prea- 
 cher, and found that he had originally studied with a view 
 of becoming a clergyman in the Established Church ; but, 
 upon more mature inquiry and deliberation, he saw that he 
 could not honestly subscribe to the formularies and tests of 
 that community, and therefore became a Nonconformist min- 
 ister. He commenced his ministry at Dublin in 1814, and 
 removed to London in 1817, and at the time referred to 
 was in the zenith of his fame as a pastor of the flock of 
 Christ, and a preacher of the everlasting Gospel. 
 
 I returned again to the services in the evening ; and such 
 was my admiration of the preacher, and the earnest reality 
 there appeared to be in the mode of conducting Divine 
 worship, that I soon began to look forward to the Sunday 
 services as both an intellectual treat, as well as a becoming- 
 acknowledgment of the sacredness of the day. 
 
 The opportunities I have had for the last thirty years 
 of making myself better acquainted with the ministers of 
 our Congregational and Baptist Churches, have produced
 
 92 Literature of Nonconformists. 
 
 in me the conviction, that, beyond all question, there are 
 men among them who in general learning, and scholastic 
 attainments, are not a whit behind any of their more favoured 
 brethren in the Establishment. 
 
 The literature of the Nonconformists, published during 
 the last half century, will, I am sure, bear a fair compari- 
 son with anything that has been issued from those ancient 
 and honoured seats of learning at Oxford, Cambridge, and 
 Dublin, from which they have been excluded. 
 
 That I may not be deemed presumptuous in what I 
 have stated of the learning and literature of the pastors of 
 Baptist and Congregational Churches, I am glad to find 
 that my humble opinion is fully justified and confirmed, 
 by the deliberate judgment of a man in all respects quali- 
 fied to be heard upon such a question. The late Josiah 
 Conder, in his able and interesting account of the life and 
 writings of Dr. Watts, entitled " The Poet of the Sanc- 
 tuary," speaking of the pastors of Congregational and 
 Baptist Churches, says, " Whatever there may be in the 
 present aspect of our churches to moderate a boastful esti- 
 mate, or to excite anxiety or humiliation before God, this 
 may be safely and soberly affirmed ; that, in no country 
 in the world, at any former period, has there existed a body 
 of men equally numerous, consecrated to the service of the 
 Christian Ministry, occupying a higher position in point 
 of attainments and efficiency, or exhibiting so perfect an 
 agreement in sound doctrine, unshackled by articles or 
 tests, with more exemplariness of character." 
 
 Surely such a testimony as this, and others that might 
 readily be quoted, should check the flippant and reckless 
 assertions that are not unfrequently made by Churchmen, 
 as to the intellectual and moral status of a body of noble- 
 hearted and self-forgetting men, most of whom have been 
 driven from the Establishment, as were their forefathers, 
 because they could not conscientiously and honestly give 
 their " assent and consent " to the articles and formularies 
 of a Church many of whose doctrines and practices they
 
 Moral Thoughtful-ness. 93 
 
 believe so contrary to the word of God, and subversive of 
 the supremacy of Christ. 
 
 To return, however, to my own personal history. I con- 
 tinued my duties in the shop, and soon became quite 
 proficient in the art of ticket-making, as well as being 
 fortunate enough to retain the good opinion of my employer, 
 and to stand well with my colleagues in the establishment. 
 Unfortunately the hours devoted to business were long and 
 exhausting. I was expected to be in the shop by seven 
 in the morning, and for some months during the season 
 we did not leave business at night before eleven and twelve, 
 so that there was little or no time for mental and social 
 culture. 
 
 I gained, however, not only a tolerable knowledge of 
 some branches of the business, but also an insight into 
 some phases of human character, both as to the young people 
 in houses of business and also as to the customers who 
 frequented our shops, that has been of great service to me 
 in my subsequent career. 
 
 I was now a regular attendant at the morning and 
 evening family worship, and was never absent from the 
 Sunday services. The sermons I heard opened up to me 
 new and important subjects, and a state of moral thought- 
 fulness was produced in my mind, such as I had never 
 before been conscious of. 
 
 Matters went on thus for several weeks, and I became 
 more and more convinced that there was a reasonableness 
 in personal religion, and in the claims of God upon me, 
 that I could not gainsay, and also that the whole course of 
 my former life had been at variance with what I saw to be 
 the Divine requirements. I had been taught by my dear 
 mother in very early life that I should love the Lord our 
 God with all my heart, and soul, and mind, and strength, 
 and my neighbour as myself; but although I had been 
 religiously brought up, and had, moreover, been duly bap- 
 tized and confirmed by those whose Apostolic authority in 
 the Church had never been called in question, yet I knew
 
 94 A Convincing Sermon. 
 
 well enough that I was living practically " without God in 
 the world," and yielding willingly to my own inclinations, 
 whenever they came in collision with any higher require- 
 ment. 
 
 Such was the state of my mind when I heard a sermon 
 addressed particularly to the young, from the words, 
 " Wilt thou not from this time cry unto me, My Father, 
 thou art the guide of my youth ?" (Jeremiah iii. 4). The 
 preacher dwelt long and lovingly on the paternal character 
 of God, and that His love flowed out to us altogether in- 
 dependent of any goodness in the creature, but had its 
 foundation in the intinite depths of a Father's heart. That 
 God is our own Father, and therefore in our perverseness 
 and rebellion never thinks of casting us off, but His 
 thoughts turn constantly and persistently to the means of 
 our restoration to holiness and happiness. The preacher 
 spoke affectionately of the young ; their unsuspecting 
 trustfulness, their moral feebleness, their peculiar circum- 
 stances, their exposure to stronger temptations than usual, 
 their ardent temperament, their strong desire of gratifica- 
 tion ; the youthful passions struggling for development, 
 and unrestrained indulgence, and the readiness of the 
 youth to plunge into all the gaieties and pleasures of the 
 world, without thinking of consequences, or dreaming for 
 a moment of the retribution that must inevitably follow 
 such a course. He then spoke of the unsatisfactoriness of 
 a life of lawless indulgence, and instanced Solomon ex- 
 claiming mournfully in the prime of his manhood, when he 
 had taken his fill of all these things " Vanity of vanities, 
 saith the preacher, all is vanity." 
 
 The sermon concluded with an expostulatory appeal to 
 the young of both sexes, full of tenderness and earnest 
 pathos, to seek Divine guidance ; and instead of looking 
 for happiness in selfishly and foolishly following the plea- 
 sures of sin for a season, to come back to God, and rest 
 with a child's confidence in a Father's heart. 
 
 Every word of that sermon came home to my heart ;
 
 A Great Change. 95 
 
 and I felt as certain of its being a message of mercy from 
 the Great Father to me, as did the Apostle Paul when he 
 was stricken to the earth by the Divine glory on his way 
 to Damascus. 
 
 I did not speak to my companion as we returned from 
 the chapel, but sought my bedroom, and there for the first 
 time in my life poured out my full heart " in strong crying 
 and tears " at the feet of that Great and Loving God 
 against whose goodness I had been sinning, and whose 
 parental authority I had dared to call in question. 
 
 I arose from my knees that night an altered young 
 man : it was the great crisis in my life ; and from that 
 moment I recognized a relationship that I believe shall 
 never be dissolved, either in life or death, and the conse- 
 quences of which eternity alone can fully develope and 
 reveal. 
 
 Ther.e was no friend near to whom I could open my 
 mind, and tell all the new and deep feelings that I was 
 the subject of. The young man who accompanied me to 
 the chapel was, I believe, a Christian ; 'but he was of a 
 cold, unsympathetic disposition, and I intuitively shrunk 
 from making him acquainted with the altered state of my 
 mind. I could not summon resolution enough to speak to 
 my employer upon the subject, though, I believe, had I 
 done so, he would gladly have counselled me, and would, 
 moreover, have instructed me more fully in the great truths 
 that were now agitating my bosom. 
 
 Having left home hurriedly, I did not bring a Bible 
 with me, and I felt ashamed to let those around me 
 know this. I wrote to my mother, told her of my visit 
 to the Dissenting chapel, and of how pleased I was both 
 with the minister and its services ; and also that I was 
 desirous of leading a new life, and should be glad to have 
 a Bible. 
 
 In a day or two I received a copy of the Scriptures, 
 bound up with the Book of Common Prayer. The latter 
 circumstance I thought rather a significant fact, as I well
 
 96 A Bible Student. 
 
 knew the great objection on the part of my parents to 
 anything in religious matters tending to lessen my respect 
 for, much less to supei'sede, that which was prescribed by 
 the Church of England. 
 
 My mother wrote to me at the same time a long and 
 loving letter, telling me how I had gladdened the hearts 
 of my father and herself by sending for a Bible. Her 
 letter was such as only a mother could write to a prodigal 
 and repentant son, and had my altered feelings with refer- 
 ence to religion been brought about in connexion with 
 services of the Established Church, all would have been 
 well ; but her letter concluded by hoping that, in attending 
 a Dissenting place of worship, I should be careful not to 
 forget the Church of my Fathers. 
 
 I was very glad to possess a Bible of my own ; and as 
 I had a small chamber to myself, was determined both 
 night and morning to make myself acquainted with its 
 sacred contents. I had never, as far as I could remem- 
 ber, from choice, opened the Bible to read ; though I had 
 been taught to look upon it with reverence and respect 
 from my earliest days ; and on Sunday afternoons we 
 were, as children, always required to read a chapter aloud 
 to my mother, as well as being examined as to our know- 
 ledge of the Church Catechism. 
 
 In the absence, however, of any friend with whom I 
 could converse on the subject of personal religion, and of 
 my state of mind in reference thereto, I turned lovingly to 
 the grand old Book I had so long neglected, and practi- 
 cally disregarded, and literally made it the man of my 
 counsel. I found in the Psalms of David that which my 
 inner and better nature yearned for ; and many a time did 
 I open my Bible, and, on my knees, make the fifty-first 
 Psalm my own prayer to the Great Father, against whom 
 I had so grievously offended. 
 
 I now set myself in right earnest to become better 
 acquainted with the Scriptures ; and as I had always 
 been an early riser, sometimes I was up " before the grey
 
 Archbishop Whately. 97 
 
 dawn dappled into day," poring over the sacred pages, 
 and drinking deeply " of the water of the fountain of 
 life." 
 
 The historical portions I left for the present ; but the 
 Psalms of David, the Proverbs of Solomon, and the Book 
 of Ecclesiastes, together with the Prophets and the New 
 Testament, were read and re-read many times ; and I 
 began to wonder how any one with the slightest preten- 
 sions to be thought well informed, could live in ignorance 
 of the sacred writings, even as a literary production. 
 
 I began to be twitted a little by some of my colleagues 
 in the establishment as to my altered views, and more 
 serious demeanour ; and one of them went as far as to 
 impute it to a desire to please the governor, and to ingra- 
 tiate myself with his wife. 
 
 These little outward annoyances were, however, nothing 
 in comparison with what was going on in my inner man. 
 The terrible struggles there for the mastery of the new 
 principle over the old and long-indulged nature were con- 
 stant and severe. I began to find that, habits, easily 
 formed at the first, were not to be cast off in a day, or to 
 be uprooted without a resolute, determined, and uninter- 
 rupted effort ; and truthfulness compels me to acknowledge 
 that, not unfrequently, have I been vanquished and over- 
 come when I have fought hard, and stuuggled manfully to 
 obtain the mastery over some evil habit formed in my early 
 youth, and which had grown with my growth and strength- 
 ened with my strength. 
 
 The late Archbishop "Whately, in one of his valuable 
 and interesting lectures before the Dublin Young Men's 
 Christian Association, entitled " Habits," remarks, " That 
 the words custom and habit, though often carelessly used 
 as if they were synonymous, are not so in reality, but 
 denote, respectively, a cause and an effect. The frequent 
 repetition of any act is a custom ; and the state of mind, 
 or of body thence resulting, is a habit. The custom is 
 not the habit, but it forms the habit ; and this habit, in
 
 98 Conformity to Christ. 
 
 turn, helps to keep up the custom. For continued action 
 is like a continued stream of water, which wears for itself 
 a channel that it will not be easily turned from. The bed 
 which the current had gradually scooped at first afterwards 
 confines it. Any one for instance, who has long been 
 accustomed to rise at a certain hour every morning, will 
 have acquired the habit of waking and being ready to 
 rise at that hour. And one who has been accustomed to 
 drink to excess, will have fallen into the habit of craving 
 for that stimulus, and of yielding to that craving. And so 
 in other matters." 
 
 Now I found that what the accomplished prelate has 
 thus laid down with his accustomed perspicuity and force 
 was, indeed, terribly true in my own case. I had been 
 wont, through many years, to yield willingly to the habit 
 of profane swearing, partly from the assistance it gave me 
 in surmounting my impediment in speech, as well as to 
 render my speaking more emphatic ; and also to indulge 
 in other profligate and lawless habits at variance with the 
 teaching of the Bible ; and how to " cease to do evil, and 
 learn to do well," was no small difficulty with me. 
 
 I began to read the Bible with a desire to make my 
 daily life and thoughts conformable to its teaching ; but 
 it was one thing to read in the Book of the Lord what I 
 should be and do, and quite another thing to bring out, 
 and exemplify in my daily life, its sacred lessons. 
 
 " In vain the name of Christ we bear, 
 Unless the heart of Christ we share. 
 Through faith and charity alone 
 Is Christ received, and felt, and known. 
 
 In vain the name of Christ we hear, 
 Unless the faith of Christ we share ; 
 Not words alone, hut deeds shall prove 
 The living faith that works by love. 
 
 In vain the name of Christ we bear, 
 Unless the cross of Christ we share ; 
 The path that leads us to the skies, 
 Demands love's perfect sacrifice.
 
 Moral Victories. 99 
 
 In vain the name of Christ we bear, 
 Unless the love of Christ we share ; 
 That love that bids the dying live, 
 And whispers on the cross, Forgive ! " 
 
 These lines forcibly represent true Christianity ; and 
 I found that the mere reading of the Bible, and listen- 
 ing to sermons, would do me no good, except I was re- 
 solutely determined to practise, and carry out, through 
 Divine help, the lessons of wisdom and instruction I was 
 gaining from a careful and diligent perusal of the Scrip- 
 tures, and from attending the enlightened ministry of the 
 Word. 
 
 Here was the great difficulty with me ; and I found 
 that successfully to overcome an evil habit, and to put in 
 its place the antagonistic virtue, was no easy task, but, 
 on the contrary, an Herculean labour, that called for my 
 most watchful and unwearied efforts. To correct an evil 
 habit of long standing is like rolling back a mountain 
 stream, after it has hollowed out a channel for itself; and 
 only deep and strong religious convictions of duty to God, 
 and to His kingdom in the world, will, with Divine help, 
 enable a man successfully to become the victor. 
 
 Still, my young brothers, let me tell you, for your 
 encouragement, that, hard and difficult as it is to get back 
 again in allegiance to God and duty, that it is not impos- 
 sible, for " all things are possible to him that believeth" in 
 the power and sympathy of the Great Father to His weak 
 and erring children, and His readiness to help them in this 
 life-enduring struggle. 
 
 Let me assure you, my young readers, that there is no 
 joy to be compared with that of gaining a moral victory 
 over yourself; and also to remind you at the same time 
 that there is no feeling of shame, and self-loathing, and 
 contempt, comparable to that which is endured when we 
 wilfully and willingly yield ourselves to the gratification of 
 an evil habit, when all our better nature and higher 
 instincts rise up, and protest against its indulgence.
 
 100 Heart Conflicts. 
 
 Kecollect that 
 
 " Where'er an evil passion is subdued, 
 Or virtue's feeble embers fann'd ; where'er 
 A sin is heartily abjured, and left; 
 There is a high and holy place, a spot 
 Of sacred light, a most religious fane, 
 Where happiness descending sits and smiles." 
 
 The greatest difficulty in fighting against, and over- 
 coming, an evil habit, is in taking the first step to resist it ; 
 hut having done this, through Divine grace, keep steadily 
 to the resolution, and though again and again you will be 
 tempted by the syren charmer, and suffer much pain from 
 the intense craving after the accustomed indulgence, yet 
 the path will become less rugged, and smoother, and 
 easier, the longer you continue to tread in it. 
 
 Do not be discouraged at finding bad thoughts, and 
 forbidden desires, force themselves ever and anon into your 
 mind, providing you do not cherish, and indulge, and 
 retain them there. " Resist the Devil, and he will flee from 
 you." Evil propensities will gradually become weaker, 
 and lose their force, by being continually checked and 
 restrained by right principle. 
 
 " To thine ownself be true," and you shall obtain the 
 victory. " Strive to enter in at the strait gate," and re- 
 member that the seven-fold blessing at the final goal is 
 for him that overcometh. Yes, it is " to him that overcom- 
 eth will I grant to sit with Me in My throne, even as I 
 also overcame, and am set down with My Father in His 
 throne! " Hold on my brother, bravely, and 
 
 " Despair of nothing that you would attain, 
 Unwearied diligence your point will gain." 
 
 The process will be slow and painful, but persevere and 
 bear in mind that nothing great and durable has ever been 
 produced with ease : labour is the parent of all the lasting- 
 wonders of the world, whether in verse or stone, poetry, 
 or the pyramids ; and remember that the prize held out
 
 Divine Sympathy. 101 
 
 before you is great, and worth contending for ; and also 
 that 
 
 " Habitual evils change not on a sudden ; 
 But many days must pass, and many sorrows, 
 Conscious remorse, and anguish must be felt, 
 
 To curb desire, to break the stubborn will, 
 
 And work a second nature in the soul." 
 
 If you would oh tain the mastery over yourself, and be 
 pronounced the victor at the great day, you must not only 
 be valiant for the truth ; but you will have to grapple with 
 deadly grasp the Devil in your own heart ; but in so fight- 
 ing, you are not alone. " No man, in this battle, goeth a 
 warfare at his own cost." He who hath called you to enter 
 upon this race set before you, is the Author, as well as the 
 Finisher, of your faith ; and He has promised, moreover,that 
 He will " never leave you, and never forsake you." And 
 when life's conflict shall be ended, and you have thrown 
 away for ever the sword, as you did one day the scabbard, 
 you will find yourself reposing under the branches of the 
 tree of life, with all the truly wise, the holy, and the good, 
 of every age and clime. Names, many of whom even 
 here in this dark world of sin and sorrow 
 
 " shall sink not in oblivion's flood, 
 But with clear music, like a church-bell's chime, 
 Sound through the rivers' sweep of onward rushing time." 
 
 And it is most true that 
 
 " there is but 
 
 One great society alone on earth : 
 The noble living, and the noble dead." 
 
 We are not told much, definitively, in the Bible, of 
 what Heaven is ; but we are informed that the " kings of 
 the earth bring their glory and their honour into it." 
 "Not only those born to royal estate, but as well the 
 kings of mind and heart." The poet shall bring his crown 
 of song ; the orator, his crown of eloquence ; the philoso- 
 pher, his crown of thought ; the scientific man, the crown
 
 102 Life-long Struggle. 
 
 of his own magnificent inventions. These are crowns 
 that will last for ever, and shine upon the starry shore of 
 Heaven before our God. We hear, too, of the instru- 
 ments of God, the music of harps fills the everlasting 
 hills with melody. And, above all, there is one instru- 
 ment there that divine instrument the renewed nature 
 of man in its perfection. The affections with all their 
 beautiful strength, and their more beautiful weakness ; 
 the imagination with 
 
 " the gleam, 
 
 The light that never was on sea or land ;" 
 
 the conscience tuned to the music of God's eternal law : 
 these are the strings of that instrument that shall ring out 
 in Heaven's high arches for ever and ever. That instru- 
 ment, my young brother, may be yours, cultivate it, 
 be it your ambition to present it to Him " upon whose head 
 are the many crowns," and you shall hear the thrilling 
 words, " Well done, thou good and faithful servant, enter 
 thou into the joy of thy Lord." 
 
 Now, while all this, and much more than any pen of 
 man can fully make known, may be yours , do not think 
 that it is to be obtained by listlessly yielding yourself to 
 dreamy reveries and wild imaginings. No ; you must gird 
 up the loins of your mind, and remember, that, though 
 " the gift of God is eternal life," it is only so " through 
 our Lord Jesus Christ." That, while the Saviour has 
 triumphantly removed the great obstacles that stood in the 
 way of our reconciliation to God, by His spotless life and 
 sacrificial death, yet, we are to be " made meet for the 
 inheritance of the saints in light ; and this is a process 
 which is to be wrought in us, by the power and energy of 
 the Holy Ghost, in a daily and life-long struggle with 
 the evil that is in our own hearts, and with the habits we 
 have formed, that are contrary to the Divine requirements. 
 For although it is " the grace of God that bringeth sal- 
 vation," yet it is ever found, in the Scriptures, in con-
 
 Doctrine and Practice. 103 
 
 nection with the practical subjugation of all our powers to 
 God ; or, as the great Apostle adds, in the verse I have 
 quoted, " teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly 
 lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this 
 present world." 
 
 But I must again return to my personal history. I 
 found more and more enjoyment in the sermons and ser- 
 vices of the sanctuary ; for it was my great privilege to be 
 instructed in the divine things by a man who in his public 
 ministrations was "aworkman," inall respects, that "needed 
 not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." I 
 subsequently found that in his personal intercourse with 
 the people of his charge he was at once a faithful pastor, 
 a discreet counsellor, and a sympathizing friend. He was 
 far more than even this, and his worthiest and most en- 
 during monument will be found in the book of God's 
 remembrance. 
 
 The preacher brought under my notice the whole range 
 of Christian doctrine and practice ; and while my mind was 
 becoming richly stored with sound theological teaching, 
 the great change was slowly and silently going on within ; 
 and although daily failures in duty were not unfrequent, 
 and humbled me in my own sight, yet I was fully con- 
 scious of being a new creature in Christ Jesus ; because 
 " old things were passing away, and* ah 1 things were be- 
 coming new." 
 
 I recollect, just about this time, that some references 
 were made from the pulpit to Doddridge's " Rise and Pro- 
 gress of Religion in the Soul ;" and Wilberforce's " Prac- 
 tical View of Christianity ;" and also to Thomas Scott's 
 " Force of Truth." I procured these three works, and in my 
 early mornings read them carefully. These justly memor- 
 able books shed a flood of light upon the moral relationship 
 subsisting between my soul and God, and the duties arising 
 out of this relationship, yet I many a time became tho- 
 roughly weary of them, and was glad to turn away from 
 them to my Bible, where I found more real sympathy with
 
 104 Self- righteousness. 
 
 my heart struggles, and far greater help in overcoming 
 my moral difficulties. I saw plainly enough what I ought 
 to be, but how to perform that which was good was the 
 great difficulty. 
 
 My struggles after conformity of heart and life to the 
 Divine Image were not a little hindered and impeded by 
 my attempting to draw up written rules and regulations 
 for the guidance and governance of my daily conduct. 
 I have one of these papers now before me, extracted from 
 Doddridge's " Rise and Progress," in which I most cor- 
 dially adopted every sentiment as my own ; and in witness 
 whereof attached my signature at the bottom of the sheet 
 of foolscap containing the directions. I was vainly en- 
 deavouring to weave out for myself a garment of salvation 
 of my own providing, instead of trusting simply and entirely 
 in the blood and righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ 
 for justification and acceptance in God's sight. 
 
 How men torture and afflict themselves in preparations 
 to receive the Grace of God, and many of the so-called 
 " guides" in matters of this nature, are calculated to lead 
 away the mind of an awakened man from accepting at 
 once the great Salvation as it is freely offered in the 
 Gospel; for 
 
 " Oh, how unlike tlie complex works of man, 
 Heaven's easy, artless, unencumber'd plan ; 
 No meretricious graces to beguile, 
 No clustering ornaments to clog the pile ; 
 From meanness, as from ostentation, free, 
 It stands, like the cerulean arch we see, 
 Majestic in its own simplicity. 
 Inscribed above the portal, from afar 
 Conspicuous as the brightness of a star; 
 Legible only by the light they give. 
 Stand the soul-quickening words, Believe and live" 
 
 Just about this time I saw advertised a work upon the 
 causes and cure of stammering, written by a gentleman 
 who had been an army surgeon, and who professed, in most
 
 A Stammering-cur er. 105 
 
 confident terms, to cure this irritating and annoying habit. 
 Although my means were very slender, having only ten 
 pounds a-year, and my clothes and washing to pay for out 
 of that sum, I purchased a copy of this work for three 
 shillings and sixpence, and read it with great avidity. The 
 author appeared to know something of stammering, and at 
 the end of the book was given a goodly number of testi- 
 monials from patients who had been benefited, and of some 
 that were cured by his treatment. 
 
 Now I felt that the impediment in my speech was not 
 only increasingly mortifying to me in the daily intercourse 
 of life ; but it was also a serious obstacle to my making 
 any progress in the business. A stammerer, with ever so 
 good a knowledge of his business, (especially in one like 
 the drapery trade, where so much depends upon freedom 
 and readiness of speech,) would never be a successful sales- 
 man ; and, consequently, I determined to seek this gentle- 
 man's professional assistance, if his terms were in any way 
 within my reach, and try if possible to overcome my in- 
 veterate enemy. 
 
 The work in question, like all similar productions, stated 
 that the author would see patients at certain hours as to 
 terms, &c, and I obtained easy permission from my em- 
 ployer to go and see this gentleman, and found that his 
 ordinary terms were entirely beyond my reach ; but when 
 I told him of my circumstances, and the smallness of my 
 income, he agreed to give me his professional assistance for 
 an hour a day, until my impediment was cured, for five 
 pounds. 
 
 My employer was so anxious to fall in with my plans that 
 he not only gave me the permission to be absent from the 
 business daily for the purpose of attending to the instruction 
 of this gentleman ; but he also, with great kindness, gave 
 me half-a-year's salary in advance, to enable me to avail 
 myself of the treatment. 
 
 Having paid my fee, the doctor explained to me the 
 physiological causes of my stammering ; and with a view
 
 106 Modus operandi." 
 
 of making this better understood he rang the bell for a 
 sheep's tongue to be brought up, from which he pointed 
 out the anatomy of the vocal organs, and causes of my 
 stammering, together with the means to be adopted for its 
 removal. 
 
 As there was no secresy imposed upon me by this 
 gentleman, I may mention that the mode of treatment 
 consisted mainly in speaking as much as possible from the 
 throat, or, as he called it, gutturally. 
 
 Although this produced an unpleasant indistinctness in 
 the voice, I found it gave me some relief, and after a few 
 lessons I could read from the " Times" a leading article 
 with very little hesitation. 
 
 I began to hope that I should be freed from my old 
 enemy, and found that I got on tolerably well with serving 
 customers, except they happened to be ladies of peculiar 
 temperament and disagreeable manners, when I sometimes 
 stuck fast, and was compelled to hand the customer over 
 to some more highly-favoured colleague who possessed a 
 fluent tongue. 
 
 I attended this gentleman's instructions daily for about 
 six weeks, and could read aloud not only to him, but also 
 to a room full of company, with very slight and occasional 
 hesitation. He considered the case to be so successful a 
 one, that I was shown as a specimen of the cure; 
 and remember reading before a Liverpool merchant, who 
 brought his daughter to the doctor for treatment, a beauti- 
 ful girl of seventeen, who stammered fearfully. This young 
 lady, when attempting to speak, put both her hands to her 
 head, and made the most terrible grimaces, and after 
 several convulsive efforts to speak the words were ejected 
 with great force from her pretty mouth, and she was quite 
 exhausted. I took as much interest in this case as did the 
 doctor, who more than once hinted that she would make me 
 a suitable wife, and that her father was a man of con- 
 siderable property. 
 
 I had no opportunity, however, of becoming better
 
 Leave the Drapery Business. 107 
 
 acquainted with this young lady, and at the end of six 
 weeks I left her still under the doctor's treatment, and 
 have never heard whether she was the better for the in- 
 struction that she received or not. 
 
 In my own case the benefit derived was of a very tran- 
 sient and temporary nature, for in less than a couple of 
 months from the time I discontinued the lessons my im- 
 pediment returned, with all its terrible annoyances. 
 
 In 1834 my father, having failed in business, came to 
 London. The Archbishop of Canterbury, hearing of his 
 failure, presented him with an appointment in the National 
 Library, where he remained till his death in 1847. 
 
 I continued in the drapery business for eighteen months, 
 when I had some words with my employer, and gave him 
 notice that I should leave his establishment. I never liked 
 the business, and was moreover desirous of embarking in 
 some occupation more in accordance with my taste than 
 making attractive tickets for the window, and sometimes 
 using my vocal powers in selling fidgety old ladies silks and 
 satins, to say nothing of balls of cotton, and pieces of tape. 
 
 I left my employer and his excellent lady with recipro- 
 cated regrets, and I shall never cease to remember with 
 heartfelt gratitude not only the many kindnesses that I 
 received from both of them, but also the great benefit I 
 derived in a religious point of view during the time spent 
 under their roof. 
 
 In the meanwhile I continued to attend the sanctuary, 
 and on leaving my employer, engaged, with some difficulty, 
 as the place was always crowded, a sitting at the chapel. 
 I had now attended the services regularly for more than 
 twelve months, and my attachment to the minister was in- 
 creasing daily. The few weeks that I was out of employ- 
 ment gave me more time leisurely to take a retrospect of 
 the change in my life and character that had taken place 
 during the past year, and also to think more soberly as to 
 what was to be my future course of action with reference 
 to my again taking a situation.
 
 108 Offence of the Cross. 
 
 My father and family had removed to London, and 
 were living in the neighbourhood of Bedford Square. I 
 had to put up with a good deal of bantering from my bro- 
 thers and sisters in consequence of what they termed my 
 Methodistical views ; and although my father and mother 
 could not but be struck with the moral change that had 
 been wrought in me, yet they both strongly objected to 
 my going to a dissenting place of worship, and they were 
 sadly afraid that I was becoming " righteous overmuch." 
 
 I am glad, however, to state that I was enabled to bear 
 not only the taunts and jeers of my brothers and sisters, 
 but also the more painful remarks of my father and mother 
 as to chapel and chapel- goers, with a good measure of 
 meekness and forbearance. I had no doubt or uncertainty 
 as to the great change that had taken place within me, 
 and was resolutely determined, as far as I could, to carry 
 out to any extent, and in spite of all opposition, the reli- 
 gious convictions of duty that had been formed within me 
 from a- diligent and prayerful reading of the Scriptures, 
 and the teaching I was listening to from the pulpit. 
 
 I could not help perceiving that the work of bringing 
 about any change in my sentiments and inclinations, such 
 as that which I had lately undergone, must be one of some 
 considerable difficulty, and only to be effected gradually. 
 I was painfully conscious of the labour and difficulty of 
 forming good moral habits, especially as I had to wn-learn 
 BO many evil habits of long standing and unrestrained in- 
 dulgence. My age and ardent temperament were such as 
 to render it necessary that I should exercise the greatest 
 watchfulness, not only with reference to my outward de- 
 portment, but more especially as to the state of my heart. 
 Oh, how often has that prayer of David gone up to the 
 throne of the Eternal from my agonized bosom " Create 
 within me a clean heart, God, and renew a right spirit 
 within me." " Cleanse Thou me from secret faults, and 
 keep back Thy servant also from presumptuous sins ; let 
 them not have dominion over me."
 
 Philosophy of Temptation. 109 
 
 I record it for the encouragement of those who may be 
 similarly situated, that these two brief petitions were never 
 unanswered. Moral and spiritual aid in answer to these 
 heart cries has come quicker than the lightning's flash, 
 and I have been strengthened with strength in my inner 
 man. Whenever I have failed in duty, and yielded to 
 temptation, it has ever been the result of infirmity of pur- 
 pose and moral weakness. Those who know anything of 
 their own hearts will, I am sure, bear me out in the asser- 
 tion that no man is ever compelled to do anything that is 
 evil ; but in a question of such vital importance the Word of 
 the Lord puts the matter beyond all doubt, and says, in 
 language that finds an echo in the heart of every thoughtful 
 man, "Let no man say when he is tempted, I am 
 tempted of God : for God cannot be tempted] with evil, 
 neither tempteth he any man ; but every man is tempted 
 when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then 
 when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin ; and sin, 
 when it is finished, bringeth forth death." (James, i. 
 13-15.) 
 
 In this brief but pregnant quotation is contained the 
 philosophy of temptation ; and the reading of many works 
 on the subject of the freedom of the will, during the past 
 thirty years, has only convinced me that the great Milton 
 has summed up the whole controversy in one grand line 
 of his immortal epic, when, in speaking of the fall of our 
 first parents, he speaks of them as 
 
 " Sufficient to have stood, yet free to fall." 
 
 But, to return from this digression, and lest I should be 
 wearisome, I must state that the great truths of Chris- 
 tianity were gradually and silently advancing in their in- 
 fluence upon my daily life. Many Avere the moral battles 
 fought within my own bosom at that critical period of my 
 life, and they have continued from those days of my early 
 manhood to the present moment ! And many of the prac- 
 tices learned in my youth will, I fear, have to be fought
 
 110 Silent Transformations. 
 
 against, and resisted, until the " earthly house of this 
 tabernacle" be taken down and laid aside for ever. 
 
 I have often been struck by the fact that almost all the 
 great and mighty revolutions that are taking place around 
 us in the material world are carried on in silence : 
 
 " In silence miglity things are wrought, 
 Silently buikled, thought on thought, 
 
 Truth's temple greets the sky; 
 And, like a citadel with towers, 
 The soul with her subservient powers, 
 
 Is strengthen'd silently. 
 
 Soundless, as chariots on the snow, 
 The saplings of the forest grow 
 
 To trees of mighty girth ; 
 Each nightly star in silence burns, 
 And every day in silence turns 
 
 The axle of the earth. 
 
 The silent frost, with mighty hand, 
 Fetters the rivers and the land, 
 
 With universal chain; 
 And smitten by the silent sun, 
 The chain is loosed, the rivers run, 
 
 The lands are free again. 
 
 O, source unseen of life and light, 
 Thy secresy of silent might 
 
 If we in bondage know, 
 Our hearts, like seeds beneath the ground, 
 By silent force of life unbound, 
 
 Move upward from below."* 
 
 So silently were the great moral transformations going 
 on in my heart and mind. I found then, as I do now, 
 " that in me (that is, in my flesh) dwelleth no good thing ; 
 for to will was present with me ; but how to perform that 
 which was good I found not. For the good that I would 
 I did not, but the evil which I would not, that I did." I 
 found then, as I do, alas ! now, " a law, that when I would 
 
 * From " The Rivulet," a contribution to sacred song. By the 
 Rev. T. T. Lynch. A poetic gem.
 
 Church Membership. Ill 
 
 have done good evil was present with me. And though I 
 delighted in the law of God after the inward man, I 
 saw another law in my members, warring against the law 
 of my mind, and oftentimes bringing me into subjection 
 to the law of sin which was in my members." (Romans vii. 
 18-23.) 
 
 " Progress is the law of life " in any form ; and the life 
 of God in the soul of man is not an exception to this ge- 
 neral rule. 
 
 I began to think, now that I had more time for reflec- 
 tion, that I ought to connect myself outwardly with the 
 people of God. The announcement was made every month 
 from the pulpit that the preacher would be glad to see 
 applicants for church membership, either at his own house 
 or in the vestry of the chapel ; and I was a little curious 
 to know what was done at a " church meeting," which was 
 announced to take place on the Friday evening preceding 
 the first Sunday in the month. 
 
 I had never spoken to the minister, and was rather 
 afraid to call upon him at his private residence, so I de- 
 termined upon writing to him, stating the benefit I had 
 derived from his ministry, and asking permission to be a 
 partaker of the Lord's Supper. 
 
 Having presented my letter to the chapel-keeper, I 
 waited in the chapel to know the result of my application. 
 In a little while I was requested to go into the vestry, 
 where I found the minister and two rather elderly gentle- 
 men, who I afterwards learned were what are termed 
 " deacons." The preacher received me very kindly, shook 
 me by the hand with much friendliness, and requested me 
 to take a seat. 
 
 I was a little taken aback by the presence of the other 
 gentlemen, as there is a sacredness about communications 
 such as I had made in my letter which we naturally 
 shrink from making public. The preacher said that they 
 were very pleased with my letter, and that the application 
 should be submitted to a meeting of the Church which was
 
 112 A Church Meeting. 
 
 to be held the same evening. The other gentlemen made 
 a few kindly remarks, and I withdrew, greatly wondering 
 what sort of an ordeal I should have to pass through at 
 the church meeting. 
 
 This meeting took place in the chapel at seven o'clock, 
 and I found myself with eight or ten more persons, who 
 were also applicants for church membership, in a waiting- 
 room adjoining the chapel. 
 
 We sat very silently in this waiting-room, and the voice 
 of melody and the prayer that followed were distinctly 
 heard by us. In a little while, to my great surprise, I 
 heard the minister read out, in a low voice, my letter. 
 Some remarks were made at the close in tones that I 
 could not catch, and I waited patiently to know the result. 
 
 In a little while we were requested to enter the chapel, 
 and the pew-opener led us to a seat exactly in front 
 of the table, at which the minister sat. Immediately on 
 our being seated, the minister arose and came to me ; he 
 said that my late employer, who was at the meeting, had 
 corroborated all that I had stated in my letter, and had 
 also furnished the meeting with some interesting particulars 
 of the change that had taken place in my life and character. 
 
 It was customary for applicants for church membership 
 to be proposed at one meeting, and, after inquiry had been 
 made as to their moral character, &c, they were, if ap- 
 proved of, admitted to the fellowship of the Church on the 
 following church meeting. Mine was, however, made an 
 exceptional case, as my employer had supplied at once all 
 the information that was needed. The minister therefore 
 informed me that I was admitted as a member of the 
 Church at once, and that he should be happy to see me at 
 the Lord's table on the following Sunday morning. 
 
 I was so completely overcome by the strangeness of the 
 proceedings, and the importance of the step I was taking, 
 that my feelings obtained the mastery over me, and I gave 
 vent to them in a flood of tears. At the close of the meet- 
 ing the minister congratulated me on my admission to the
 
 My First Communion. 113 
 
 church, and gave me a very cordial invitation to call upon 
 him at his private residence, whenever I would like to con- 
 verse with him upon any of the great subjects that had 
 brought us together. 
 
 I felt towards this good man more than any words 
 of mine can adequately express. He had been the means, 
 under God, of awakening within me a desire to lead a 
 new life ; and I looked upon him with a filial reverence 
 and love that I had never felt towards any other person. My 
 affection for him increased daily, and I felt towards him a 
 deep and holy love, greater even than that I bore to my 
 natural parents. I accepted his kind invitation, and called 
 upon him several times, told him further particulars of my 
 early life, and of the jeers and persecutions I was subjected 
 to, from my parents and brothers and sisters, at my becom- 
 ing a Methodist. He counselled me with words of wisdom 
 and tenderness ; and, with a view of improving my mind, 
 offered me the free use of any books in his well-selected 
 and extensive library. 
 
 So annoying were the jeers and taunts I had to meet 
 with at home, that I asked my pastor to recommend me to 
 board and lodge in some religious family, however humble 
 their circumstances might be. He told me that I must 
 not think of leaving my home, but must bear with Chris- 
 tian meekness the reproach of the cross, and honour my 
 father and mother, by a willing obedience to their wishes 
 in all matters not relating to conscience and to God. 
 
 I shall never forget the memorable day that I first sat 
 down at the Lord's table ; and for the information of many 
 of my old friends of the Church of England, I shall fur- 
 nish a few particulars as to the mode of administering that 
 ordinance in the congregational church with which I was 
 connected. 
 
 At the close of the morning service, when the general 
 congregation had retired, the members of the Church, who 
 were communicants, occupied the complete area of the 
 chapel, to the number of seven or eight hundred. The
 
 1 1 4 Mode of Administration. 
 
 bread and wine were placed upon a table in front of the 
 pulpit. The service commenced with an appropriate hymn, 
 such, for example, as 
 
 " When I survey the wondrous cross 
 
 On which the Prince of glory died, 
 My richest gain I count hut loss, 
 And pour contempt on all my pride." 
 
 Then followed a short address on the sacrificial work of 
 Christ, and his union with his people ; with his last request 
 that they should do this in remembrance of Him. This 
 was followed by a short prayer, and the elements of the 
 broken body and shed blood of the Lord Jesus were 
 handed round to the members, who remained in their 
 pews. A hymn concluded the service ; and while memory 
 holds her place in me I shall never forget the feelings 
 with which I joined in the last verse of that sacred song 
 
 " Were the whole realm of nature mine, 
 That were a present far too small : 
 Love so amazing, so divine, 
 
 Demands my soul, my life, my all." 
 
 A thousand hallowed recollections cluster around this 
 happy period of my life ; and at a distance of more than 
 thirty years I look back with devout gratitude to the step 
 I was induced to take, as by far the most important event 
 in my chequered history. 
 
 Being out of employment, and having no liking to the 
 trade with which I had been recently connected, my father 
 sought an interview with his Patron, the Archbishop of 
 Canterbury, who was so kind as to give me an appointment 
 in the National Library with my father. 
 
 I need not say that I found myself far more at home 
 in my new occupation than in that which I had followed 
 for the last eighteen months ; but for obvious reasons I 
 shall not be expected at present to advert again to my 
 official connection with a Library which has long since 
 taken its high place among the foremost in Europe, and
 
 Course of Reading. 115 
 
 in which I shall ever esteem it a great privilege to have 
 held, for the larger portion of my life, a very humble 
 position. 
 
 My hours of attendance at the National Library gave 
 me ample time for reading and mental culture, and I found 
 in my good pastor a friend and adviser, ready at all times 
 to give me not only the use of his library, but also the 
 benefit of his own extensive reading. 
 
 My reading, up to the period of my coming to London, 
 had been mostly confined to novels and romances, and 
 books of far worse character ; but I had a strong desire 
 now to become acquainted with the literature of my own 
 country, and as the impediment in my speech shut me out 
 of society, to a great extent, I was glad to find in books 
 the companionship that my heart yearned for. 
 
 I began to read some of the old Puritan Divines, and 
 found a sound manly divinity in the works of Howe, Owen, 
 Baxter, Brookes, Bunyan, and others, that enlarged and 
 enlightened my mind in theological literature. I com- 
 menced also a course of reading from the poets, and cannot 
 tell the rapture and delight I experienced at a first perusal 
 of " Paradise Lost." I finished it at a couple of sittings, 
 and committed large portions afterwards to memory. 
 When I had thoroughly enjoyed the poetry of Milton, I 
 turned to his English prose works with much pleasure and 
 not a little profit. I find many young men who are fond 
 of poetry, (and who is not ? for it has been truly said that 
 " poetry is the record of the best and happiest moments of 
 the happiest and best minds"), and can quote long passages 
 from Milton's Poems, while they know nothing of the in- 
 comparable energy and eloquence of his prose works. My 
 good pastor called my attention to these writings of that 
 great man. I recollect that Macaulay says of them: 
 " Milton's prose writings deserve the devoted attention of 
 every man who wishes to become acquainted with the full 
 power of the English language. They abound with the 
 noblest passages, and the style is stiff with gorgeous em-
 
 116 Shakespeare. 
 
 broidery. . Not even in the ' Paradise Lost ' has the great 
 poet ever risen higher than in those parts of his contro- 
 versial works in which his feelings, excited by conflict, find 
 a vent in bursts of lyric and devotional rapture. It is 
 to borrow his own majestic language ' a sevenfold chorus 
 of hallelujahs and harping symphonies.' " 
 
 Our Poet Laureate calls him, in one of his never-to-be- 
 forgotten lines, the 
 
 " God-gifted organ-voice of England." 
 
 These were followed by the works of Pope, Crabbe, 
 Butler, Goldsmith, Thomson, Gray, Cowper, Campbell, 
 Coleridge, Eogers, Byron, Wordsworth, Shelley, and 
 Moore. To these succeeded the plays and poems of the 
 great Shakespeare, which so enriched my mind and exer- 
 cised my understanding that ever after their study I enjoyed 
 far more pleasure in my general reading. The English- 
 man who has never read the dramatic writings of our great 
 countryman is to be pitied: he little knows the mine of 
 wealth that he is neglecting, and the ever-widening fields 
 of thought that lie spread out before him in that marvel- 
 lous writer. I would particularly impress upon our young 
 men, were there any necessity for its being done at the 
 present day, the desirableness of becoming thoroughly 
 acquainted with the writings of Shakespeare ; and any one 
 may do this now-a-days, inasmuch as there are not only 
 beautifully printed and splendidly illustrated editions of the 
 great poet, for those who can afford to purchase such 
 luxuries ; but there are also " penny " editions of his 
 separate plays, which you can purchase, and carry about 
 with you, as I have done ; and let them be the companions 
 of your solitary walks, as well as the delight of your fire- 
 side musings. 
 
 I remember somewhere to have read by an anonymous 
 writer that " Shakespeare was the profoundest thinker, the 
 wittiest, the airiest, the most fantastic spirit (reconciling 
 the extremes of ordinary natures) that ever condescended
 
 Biograph ies . 117 
 
 to teach and amuse mankind. He plunged into the depths 
 of speculation ; he penetrated to the inner places of know- 
 ledge, plucking out ' the heart of the mystery ; ' he soared 
 to the stars ; he trod the earth, the air, the waters, with a 
 kingly step. Every element yielded him rich tribute. He 
 surveyed the substances, and the spirits of each ; he saw 
 their stature, their power, their quality, and reduced them 
 without an effort to his own divine command." 
 
 My pastor and friend also recommended me to read the 
 biographies of the great and good ; and I thereby became 
 acquainted not only with the leading men of our own de- 
 nomination, as Robert Hall, Andrew Fuller, John Foster, 
 the late Dr. M'All, of Manchester, Winter Hamilton, John 
 Ely, of Leeds, Jay, of Bath, and a host of others, but also 
 with the wise and good of other communions, such, for 
 example, as Thomas Chalmers, Richard Watson, the 
 Wesleys, Whitfield, Henry Martin, Leigh Eichmond, Sir 
 James Mackintosh, Lord Eldon, Wilberforce, Fowel 
 Buxton, Southey's Life of Nelson, Boswell's Johnson, 
 Stanley's Life of Arnold of Rugby, and many more whose 
 memories are cherished by me with many grateful recol- 
 lections. I also spent not a few of my early mornings 
 upon the essayists of the Johnsonian period, as well as 
 making myself tolerably acquainted with the best writers 
 of fiction of that age. 
 
 My chief delight was, however, in theology and theolo- 
 gical writers ; and the preaching I was accustomed to 
 attend led me not only to read writers of our own commu- 
 nion, but also made me desirous of becoming acquainted 
 with the works of most of the great writers that have 
 adorned the Church of England. The writings of Isaac 
 Barrow, Jeremy Taylor, South, and the Venerable Hooker, 
 could but exercise a beneficial effect upon me, and I am 
 greatly indebted to these giants of the Church of my 
 fathers for the intellectual and spiritual enjoyment I have 
 derived from a careful perusal of their writings. 
 
 The two toughest books I ever read were, Jonathan
 
 118 Love for Oratory. 
 
 Edwards " On the Will," and Butler's " Analogy." The 
 former of these taxed my reasoning powers to the utmost, 
 and I have had to throw it aside altogether for a time, that 
 I might get my thoughts into another channel, and so 
 relieve my mind. Butler's " Analogy " I have read again 
 and again : it is a dry, hard book ; but the man who will 
 take the pains to master it will be in little danger of having 
 his mind disturbed by the shallow, yet specious sophistries 
 of some of the semi-theological writings of our own day. 
 
 Having always had a love for oratory, I spent a good deal 
 of my spare time in reading the speeches of Burke, Pitt, 
 Fox, Sheridan, Curran, and others, as well as those of the 
 men of my own time, such as Canning, Brougham, O'Con- 
 nell, Shiel, Daniel Webster, and Macaulay. I had always 
 a love for music ; but not even the harmonies of Handel, 
 or the melodies of Mozart, ever were so pleasurable to me 
 as a great speech or a good sermon from a living orator ; 
 and I have often felt, as I have been listening to a great 
 speaker, that I would rather be an orator than possess the 
 wealth of a Rothschild, or wield the destinies of a nation ; 
 for, after all, these are the true kings among men, and 
 they exert an influence upon the mental and moral condition 
 of their fellows, such as wealth could never purchase, and 
 despotic rule never command. 
 
 But, lest I should become wearisome to some of my 
 readers, in yielding to these rhapsodies, I would just say, 
 to my younger brothers in particular, that most of my 
 reading has been done before breakfast. There is a fresh- 
 ness in the early morning that makes life a luxury ; and 
 those who indulge in long and late slumbers lose some of 
 the greatest enjoyments of which our nature is capable. 
 
 If you are a Christian, what is more fitting than early 
 rising and prayer ? It has been beautifully said by one of 
 our old poets that 
 
 " When first thy opening eyes receive 
 
 The glorious light of day ; 
 Give thy awakening spirit leave 
 To be as blest as they.
 
 Early Rising. 119 
 
 Our outward organs well may teach 
 
 Its duty to the soul ; 
 And thoughts ascend, that need not speech, 
 
 Unto their heavenly goal. 
 
 For hearts, whose love to God is true, 
 
 Should open with the dav, 
 As flowers, impearl'd with morning dew, 
 
 Their tenderest tints display. 
 
 Give God thy waking thoughts, that He 
 
 Throughout the day may keep 
 The spirit company, and be 
 
 Its Guardian while asleep. 
 
 Yet sleep not when the sun has risen, 
 
 For prayer with day should rise ; 
 And holiest thoughts, set free from prison, 
 
 Should soar above the skies. 
 
 There are appointed hours between 
 
 Our souls and love divine ; 
 Nothing of earth should intervene 
 
 To mar their blest design. 
 
 The manna's heavenly charm was gone, 
 
 With morning's stainless dews ; 
 And flowers on which the sun has shone 
 
 Their sweetest perfume lose ! 
 
 Then let not needless slumber glut 
 
 Morn's glories by its sin; 
 When this world's gates are closest shut, 
 
 Heaven's open ! enter in ! 
 
 Walk out beneath the roseate skies, 
 
 Eye, ear, and heart awake ; 
 List to the melodies that rise 
 
 From tree, from bush, and brake. 
 
 Each fluttering leaf, each murmuring spring 
 
 The great I AM doth own ; 
 To Him the soaring sky-larks sing 
 
 In music's sweetest tone. 
 
 Canst thou not sing ? ! leave thy cares 
 
 And follies ; go thy way ! 
 And morning's praises, morning's prayers, 
 
 Go with thee through the day !
 
 120 Morning Musings. 
 
 Serve God before the world below ; 
 
 Nor suffer, unimplored, 
 That blessing from thy path to go, 
 
 He only can afford. 
 
 This done, to Him resign thy will, 
 
 Who never will forsake 
 Those who, like Jacob, wrestle still, 
 
 As day begins to break. 
 
 Mornings are emblems, shadowing forth, 
 
 Unto the spirit's eye, 
 Man's resurrection, and the birth 
 
 Of hopes that cannot die. 
 
 The glorious star which speaks them near, 
 
 Like that of Bethlehem, 
 Is life and light ! Its rise more dear 
 
 Than crown or diadem. 
 
 But when the morning's prime is past, 
 
 And worldly cares are rife, 
 May thy soul's harmony outlast 
 
 The daily din of life! 
 
 Despatch whatever must be done; 
 
 Life hath a load to bear, 
 Which may be borne ; a path to run, 
 
 Beset with many a care. 
 
 Keep such without ; and let thy heart 
 
 Be still thy God's alone; 
 And He, thy spirit's better part, 
 
 Shall bless thee as His own." 
 
 I offer no apology for adorning my humble pages with this 
 exquisite poem of Henry Vaughan, modernized by Bernard 
 Barton ; as nothing I could say on the subject would induce 
 the practice of such a custom, if a deaf ear be turned to such 
 an invitation. 
 
 But I can truly say, that, in my own case, the habit 
 of early rising has afforded me the quiet and undisturbed 
 leisure for reading and meditation that has gone very far 
 to allay that nervous irritability produced by my stammer- 
 ing, as well as given me an opportunity of reading many
 
 Reading. 121 
 
 works that I should otherwise have neglected, and been 
 ignorant of; and, I may add, that this rough-and-ready 
 story of my life has been wholly written in the early 
 mornings between four and eight. 
 
 Much has been said of books and mental culture to our 
 young men of the present day ; and I would add my humble 
 testimony to the desirableness of giving attention to reading. 
 Remember the words of England's greatest essayist, that 
 should be written on your heart, " Eead not to contradict 
 and refute, nor to believe and take for granted, nor to find 
 talk and discourse, but to weigh and consider." Had I 
 received better early training, I should have been a very 
 different man to what I now am ; and often do I mourn 
 that I did not, in the days of my youth, possess the ad- 
 vantages for mental and moral culture that are now within 
 reach of all our young men in our many " Christian 
 Associations," and " Societies for Mutual Improvement." 
 
 Recollect, my young brothers, that 
 
 " He who seeks the mind's improvement, 
 
 Aids the world in aiding mind ; 
 Every great commanding movement 
 Serves not one, but all mankind." 
 
 The great Milton has told us that " a good book is 
 the precious life-blood of a master-spirit, embalmed and 
 treasured up on purpose to a life beyond life." 
 
 Old Richard de Bury, in " Philobiblon," written as early 
 as the fourteenth century, says, in words that find an echo 
 in many a lover of reading, " In books, we find the dead 
 as if alive ; in books, we foresee things to come ; in books, 
 warlike affairs are methodized ; in books, the laws of peace 
 are manifested. All things are corrupted and decay with 
 time. Saturn ceaseth not to devour his offspring, and 
 oblivion covereth the glory of the world. But God hath 
 provided for us a remedy in books, without which all that 
 were ever great would have been forgotten. To books, 
 how easily, how secretly, how safely, may we expose the 
 nakedness of human ignorance, without putting us to shame.
 
 122 Dr. Charming. 
 
 These are the masters who instruct us without rods, with- 
 out anger, or without reward ; if you approach them, they 
 are not asleep ; if you interrogate them, they do not hide 
 themselves ; if you mistake them, they never murmur ; if 
 you are ignorant, they do not laugh at you. Oh, books ! 
 alone liberal and making liberal, who give to all who ask, 
 and emancipate all who serve you." 
 
 These golden words of the good old monk are confirmed 
 by the testimony of one of the best men, and most elegant 
 scholars of modern times ; the late Dr. Channing, who 
 says in his lecture on " Self-Culture," in eloquent language 
 that every young man should remember, " It is chiefly 
 through books that we enjoy intercourse with superior 
 minds, and these invaluable means of communication are 
 in the reach of all. In the best books great men talk to 
 us, give us their most precious thoughts, and pour their 
 souls into ours. They are the voices of the distant and 
 the dead, and make us heirs of the spiritual life of past 
 ages. Books are the true levellers ; they give to all who 
 will faithfully use them, the society, the spiritual presence, 
 of the best and greatest of our race. N"o matter how poor 
 I am ; no matter though the prosperous of my own time 
 will not enter my obscure dwelling : if the sacred writers 
 will enter, and take up their abode under my roof; if 
 Milton will cross my threshold, to sing to me of Paradise ; 
 and Shakespeare, to open to me the worlds of imagination, 
 and the workings of the human heart ; and Franklin, to 
 enrich me with his practical wisdom, I shall not pine for 
 want of intellectual companionship, and I may become a 
 cultivated man, though excluded from what is called the 
 best society in the place where I live. The great use of 
 books is to rouse us to thought, to turn us to the questions 
 which great men have been working on for ages, to 
 furnish us with the materials for the exercise of judgment, 
 imagination, and moral feeling, and breathe into us a 
 moral life from spirits nobler than our own." 
 
 And lastly, as the preacher would say, let me refer my
 
 " True Manhood? 123 
 
 young brothers to a work recently issued by one of our 
 foremost living preachers, who, in speaking of the subject 
 I am treating of, observes,* " With what more than 
 regal power do books invest us ! The mightiest potentate 
 cannot surround himself with a galaxy of more brilliant 
 talent, or with wiser counsellors than they supply. I sit a 
 king in my study, commanding the attendance, not of 
 ordinary men, but of those who were princes in the realms 
 of thought. I am instructed as I read their most matured 
 thoughts on the loftiest themes which can occupy the 
 attention of mankind ; I am inspired by their fervid utter- 
 ances. The masters of song strike their lyres at my 
 bidding, and rouse me from my lethargy by their soul- 
 stirring strains. On the wings of their lofty conceptions, 
 I soar into the regions of the sublime, forgetting my cor- 
 roding cares as I wander amid tlie glorious imagery which 
 surrounds me there. The men of the past live before me 
 as I pore over the historic page. I mingle in their 
 gatherings ; I listen to their talk ; I share in their sorrows 
 and their joys ; I wrestle with them in their conflicts, and 
 rejoice with them in their victories. I am cautioned by 
 their mistakes ; I am made better by their goodness ; I 
 profit by the experience of many generations." 
 
 Many a time before I was married, as I have sat in my 
 own little room in the grey mornings, waiting for the day, 
 and in the dusky evenings, before the lamp has been lighted, 
 glancing at the few choice authors (who have been the 
 companions of my solitary hours), as well as when I have 
 been surrounded all day long in the National Library by 
 
 " The grand old masters, 
 
 And the bards sublime, 
 Whose distant footsteps echo 
 Through the corridors of time," 
 
 * " True Manhood : its Nature, Foundation, and Development. 
 A book for young men. By William Landels, minister of Kegents- 
 park Chapel. 12mo. London, 1861."
 
 124 Robert Soutliey. 
 
 have the beautiful lines of Southey, written in his library, 
 come to my recollection : 
 
 " My days among the dead are pass'd ; 
 
 Around me I behold, 
 Where'er these casual eyes are cast, 
 
 The mighty minds of old ; 
 My never-failing friends are they 
 With whom I converse night and day. 
 
 With them I take delight in weal, 
 
 And seek relief in woe ; 
 And while I understand and feel 
 
 How much to them I owe, 
 My cheeks have often been bedew'd 
 With tears of thoughtful gratitude. 
 
 My thoughts are with the dead : with them 
 
 I live in long past years, 
 Their virtues love, their faults condemn, 
 
 Partake their griefs and fears ; 
 And from their sober lessons find 
 Instruction with a humble mind. 
 
 My hopes are with the dead ; anon 
 
 With them my place will be ; 
 And I with them shall travel on 
 
 Through all futurity; 
 Yet leaving here a name, I trust, 
 Which will not perish in the dust." 
 
 I found, as many others have done, that while I gained 
 strength and stability of character, as well as sympathy 
 and aid in the Divine life, by my outward profession of 
 Christianity, in connecting myself with a Christian Church ; 
 yet, after all, the great struggle was to maintain a right 
 state of heart and mind, and to have subjugated within me 
 those passions that were at variance with the Divine re- 
 quirements, as well as antagonistic to my own happiness. 
 
 This is the battle-field where the Christian warrior must 
 fight, 
 
 "His warfare is within. There he toils, 
 And there he wins fresh victories o'er himself,
 
 Old Habits. 125 
 
 And never-withering wreaths ; compared with which 
 The laurels that a Caesar wears are weeds." 
 
 Old habits had daily to be fought against, and criminal 
 indulgences were not always successfully resisted, for 
 
 " Let but temptation touch the line 
 
 Electrical within, 
 
 That spark will spring the secret mine 
 Of nature's ready sin." 
 
 But I struggled hard and prayerfully to eject the demon 
 who had so long wielded his sceptre over my entire nature, 
 and in the main- 1 was the victor, and came off " more than 
 conqueror through Him that loved me," for 
 
 " More things are wrought hy prayer 
 Than this world dreams of." 
 
 I was much struck with a sentence I met with in the 
 life of Fowel Buxton, to the following effect : " The longer 
 I live the more am I certain that the great difference 
 between men, between the feeble and the powerful, the 
 great and the insignificant, is energy, invincible deter- 
 mination, & purpose once fixed, and then death or victory. 
 That talent can do anything that can be done in this 
 world, and no one can be a man without it." 
 
 Just about this time I was appointed the London agent 
 for two Universities, one in Ireland and the other in Scot- 
 land, entitled to certain privileges under the Copyright 
 Act. The duties connected with these agencies occupied 
 nearly my entire evenings during the week; but as my 
 salary at this period was only .80 a-year, I was glad to 
 increase my income from other sources, and the more 
 especially as I was beginning to think of looking about 
 me for some loving heart with whom I could share my 
 joys and sorrows. 
 
 Some of my more serious readers will think it rather 
 premature for a young man of nineteen to be thinking of 
 marriage ; and, perhaps, under ordinary circumstances it
 
 126 Early Marriages. 
 
 is not well to be taking such a step at so early an age. 
 But it will be remembered that I was a youth of ardent 
 temperament, and that I had formed connections in my 
 early days that were not of the most reputable character ; 
 and although I had long before this ceased to have any 
 communication with these acquaintances, yet I neverthe- 
 less felt a yearning for some sister spirit ; and a desire, 
 also, to be settled in a home of my own, however humble 
 that home might be. 
 
 I had many a time felt, in my own heart, as well as 
 read in the well-known couplet, that even in Eden, with 
 all its primaeval beauty and loveliness, 
 
 " The world was sad, the garden was a wild ; 
 
 And man, the hermit, sigh'd, till woman smiled." 
 
 Let philosophers, with Malthus at their head, and John 
 Stuart Mill to bring up the rear, say what they will 
 against early marriages, I am decidedly of opinion that a 
 young man cannot do better, under certain circumstances, 
 than form a virtuous attachment to some girl of suitable 
 age ; and, if his love be reciprocated, it will help to keep 
 him from " the lips of a strange woman." 
 
 " For, indeed, I know 
 Of no more subtle master under Heaven 
 Than is the maiden passion for a maid ; 
 Not only to keep down the base in man, 
 But teach high thoughts, and amiable words, 
 And courtliness, and the desire of fame, 
 And love of truth, and all that makes a man." 
 
 It was not long before I saw among my new connec- 
 tions one that I thought in every respect would make me 
 a good wife. I found, on our becoming better acquainted, 
 that there was just that accordance of sentiment between 
 us in matters of the greatest moment as to make our 
 union likely to be a happy one. I made a full declara- 
 tion of my love, and was accepted ; and if the maiden I 
 had selected was not " the idol of my youth," she was 
 " my last love," and " the darling of my manhood."
 
 Happy Love. 127 
 
 She was as great an admirer of my pastor as I was ; 
 and while we have listened to his sacred eloquence, the 
 services grew even more interesting and attractive, for 
 although sometimes it was true that 
 
 " Long was the good man's sermon ; 
 
 Yet it seem'd not long to me : 
 
 For there sat by my side a maiden, 
 
 Who was all the world to me." 
 
 Though our affection for each other grew exceedingly, 
 yet, as my income was a very slender one, there were 
 prudential reasons for putting off for awhile the " consum- 
 mation so devoutly to be wished." 
 
 Though many years have passed since then, and some 
 of them dark and trying, yet I can even now say, in the 
 beautiful words of Scotland's greatest poet, 
 
 " happy love ! where love like this is found ! 
 
 heart-felt raptures ! bliss beyond compare ! 
 I've paced much this weary, mortal round, 
 
 And sage experience bids me this declare 
 If Heaven a draught of heavenly pleasure spare, 
 
 One cordial in this melancholy vale, 
 'Tis when a youthful, loving, modest pair, 
 
 In other's arms breathe out the tender tale, 
 Beneath the milk-white thorn that scents the evening gale." 
 
 I am glad to be able to record, for the information of 
 those of my readers who may have thought me a little 
 imprudent in my matrimonial anticipations, that we 
 waited in "the patience of hope" for four long years 
 before we were united in marriage. 
 
 These years of courtship were among the very happiest 
 of my life, and I look back upon them as truly halcyon 
 days. Frequently during that long season of joyful anti- 
 cipation did I quote to her listening ear the well-known 
 lines, 
 
 " The fountain mingles with the river, 
 
 And the rivers with the ocean ; 
 The winds of heaven mix together, 
 With a sweet emotion.
 
 128 Courtship. 
 
 Nothing in the world is single ; 
 
 All things by a law divine 
 In one another's heing mingle, 
 
 Why not I with thine? 
 
 See the mountains kiss high heaven, 
 
 And the waves clasp one another ; 
 No sister flower would be forgiven 
 
 If it disdain'd its brother. 
 And the sunlight clasps the earth, 
 
 And the moonbeams kiss the sea ; 
 What are all these kissings worth, 
 
 If thou kiss not me ? " 
 
 With a view of still further increasing my income, in 
 order that I might put by something to begin housekeeping 
 with, I obtained some work of a literary character ; and 
 very frequently have I sat up after midnight, and begun 
 again with the early morning, to complete work that I had 
 undertaken to do by a certain time. These prolonged 
 hours of hard work overtaxed my system, and brought on 
 seasons of nervous exhaustion and depression that have 
 caused me much suffering in later years. 
 
 In 1836 I made another attempt to get the better of 
 my stammering, by atteiiding the lectures of a professor 
 of elocution from Scotland ; but, I regret to say, with as 
 little success as that which had preceded it. This gentle- 
 man was very desirous of effecting a cure, as it would 
 have been of great service to him (as well as no small 
 benefit to me) to have referred to the cure of a case so 
 inveterate as mine was known to be. However, it was a 
 failure, and I submitted to the renewed mortification and 
 disappointment with as much Christian resignation as I 
 could muster. 
 
 I found that reading aloud in my own room alone, and 
 holding imaginary conversations with myself in the open 
 fields, did more than anything else to remove many of my 
 difficulties. The great thing to be attended to in stam- 
 mering, providing there is no organic defect, is to under- 
 stand clearly the right use of the vocal organs, and then
 
 Letter-writing. 129 
 
 to practise the voice in speaking and reading, as you 
 would acquire the mastery over a musical instrument. 
 There is no "royal road" to the cure of stammering any 
 more than there is to any other art that we are desirous 
 of becoming proficient in. Good speaking, under any 
 circumstances, must be the result of quiet, persistent, 
 indomitable, but patient labour; and these qualities are 
 happily eminently characteristic 
 
 " Of the Anglo-Saxon mind ! 
 That makes a man inherit 
 
 The glories of his kind : 
 That scatters all around him 
 
 The conqueror of time. 
 mighty perseverance ! 
 
 courage stern and stout ! 
 That wills and works a clearance 
 
 Of every rabble rout, 
 That cannot brook denial, 
 
 And scarce allows delay, 
 But wins from every trial 
 
 More strength for every day." 
 
 During our somewhat lengthened courtship we were 
 accustomed to write long and loving epistles to each 
 other, not only upon the usual topics that young people 
 discourse upon in such circumstances, but also upon the 
 subjects of our reading and thinkings, and upon the best 
 way of bringing up a family, providing we had any. 
 
 I had acquired a great fondness for this interchange of 
 thought from reading the beautiful letters of the poet 
 Cowper ; and I would advise any young man who is de- 
 sirous to excel in letter-writing, to read, if he can, Southey's 
 edition of the poet's writings, where he will find the most 
 complete collection of these truly exquisite compositions. 
 I was often reminded, while reading them again and 
 again, of a passage I recollect from the writings of 
 Robert Hall, the great Baptist preacher, wherein he says, 
 that " the pleasures resulting from the mutual attachment 
 of kindred spirits are by no means confined to the moments
 
 130 Marriage. 
 
 of personal intercourse ; they diffuse their odours, though 
 more faintly, through the seasons of absence ; refreshing 
 and exhilarating the mind by the remembrance of the 
 past, and the anticipation of the future. It is a treasure 
 possessed, when it is not employed ; a reserve of strength, 
 ready to be called into action when most needed ; a foun- 
 tain of sweets, to which we may continually repair, whose 
 waters are inexhaustible." 
 
 Having collected a little furniture, I selected apartments 
 in the neighbourhood of St. John's-wood, that we might be 
 near our chapel ; and in the summer of 1840 we were mar- 
 ried. Some one has said recently, in one of the public 
 prints, that marriage is rapidly going out of fashion in 
 England among certain classes. If this be true, it will be 
 a fatal thing for our country, for it may still be affirmed 
 that marriage is "honourable in all;" and no country in 
 the world can flourish in the best sense where its sanctities 
 are set at naught and made light of, or its sacred obliga- 
 tions neglected. Oh ! that in moral, manly England it 
 should ever be said that the flower of womanhood shall be 
 allowed to blush in unappreciated beauty, and waste its 
 priceless fragrance on things that are called men, who had 
 lost the sense of so exalted an enjoyment. " Oh ! woman, 
 self-forgetting woman, poetry of human life," let it never 
 be said of thee that the men of England desire to make 
 thee only their paid mistresses, and degrade thee to the 
 " hire of a harlot." Let my countrymen rather learn 
 that 
 
 " Woman here, by wedded love, may be 
 Nearest to divinity." 
 
 And come what will, poverty or riches, sickness or death, 
 we may say 
 
 " I hold it true, whate'er befall, 
 I feel it when I sorrow most, 
 'Tis better to have loved and lost 
 Than never to have loved at all." 
 
 Our marriage being over, we returned from a short
 
 A Help-mate. 131 
 
 trip, and spent the greater part of our honeymoon in our 
 own humble little home, happy as a king and queen, for 
 
 " There are as many lovely things, 
 
 As many pleasant tones, 
 For those who sit by cottage hearths 
 As those -who sit on thrones." 
 
 I soon found that a wife's influence in a dwelling was 
 like the alabaster-box of ointment, whose fragrance filled 
 the house; and I would fain persuade any young man, 
 circumstanced as I was, to go and do likewise. The re- 
 collection of those happy evenings of my early married life 
 oftentimes comes back upon me like a bright and beauteous 
 vision ; and after an interval of nearly a quarter of a cen- 
 tury, during which period I have had great and terrible 
 trials to pass through, the poet's words are true, that 
 
 " To lean our heart upon another heart 
 In love that neither life nor death can part, 
 So seek we still to end our life-long quest, 
 For only in true love we find true rest. 
 
 That love which makes another's life our own, 
 And tunes our jarring natures to one tone; 
 The filling up of all we've sought so long ; 
 For, leaning on itself, no strength is strong." 
 
 I found in her whom I had married not only a loving 
 companion at my fireside, but she was also of great service 
 in assisting me with my agency business. The books col- 
 lected by me from the publishers, for the Universities I 
 represented, were by her carefully sorted and arranged for 
 marking off and invoicing; and when the cases were 
 packed for their destination, she rendered me the greatest 
 assistance. 
 
 Matters went on in this way, all merry as a marriage 
 bell, for two years, when there was born to us a daughter. 
 I shall never forget the first feeble cry of my own child. 
 It opened a fountain of strange feeling in my being that 
 I was hitherto unconscious of; and when I first gazed 
 upon her little, round, and ruddy face, and imprinted upon
 
 132 Becomes a Father. 
 
 her baby mouth the first long and loving kiss of a father, 
 I felt as I had never felt before ; and glad indeed was my 
 full heart to pour out its devout thanksgivings at the great 
 Father's feet, who had so mercifully preserved my wife in 
 this season of maternal solicitude, and given me a child of 
 my own to give back to Him. 
 
 The day of a man's marriage is a memorable event in 
 his history ; but the day when he becomes a father, if he 
 be a Christian, awakens within him feelings the most 
 sacred, and brings with it a responsibility that would be 
 well-nigh overwhelming, did he not know that with the 
 new relationship comes also the promise of the needful 
 help rightly to discharge the important duties of a parent. 
 I felt no small pleasure in writing a note on the Sunday- 
 morning following the birth of our first child, to my dear 
 pastor, announcing the happy event, and desiring to offer 
 our united thanksgivings publicly for the great mercies we 
 had received. 
 
 Many and hearty were the congratulations of my friends 
 on the birth of our child, and the only drawback to our 
 pleasure was in having a disagreeable old woman for a 
 nurse. This venerable personage was a perfect nuisance ; 
 she would never leave the bedside of my wife for a moment 
 during the day, and at night she snored so loudly as not 
 only to prevent her mistress from getting any sleep, but 
 she awoke me in the adjoining room. And what annoyed 
 us most was, that she denied that she ever snored, and was 
 quite offended at me for giving her a little friendly advice 
 how to counteract that unfortunate habit. However, she 
 was attentive to my wife and careful of the baby, and in due 
 time her month was up. This old lady's services were 
 never engaged on any future occasion, and I threw up my 
 cap and gave three hearty cheers as the cab drove away 
 from my door with Mrs. Gamp and her box. I never 
 could understand why young healthy women could not be 
 trained to perform these necessary attentions, and I am 
 glad to find that this is now being done ; fdr an ugly, old,
 
 Infant Baptism. 133 
 
 gin-drinking woman to sleep with your wife and fondle 
 your baby, and for the most part take her meals with you, 
 is by no means a pleasant thing, and especially as there is 
 no necessity for its being so. 
 
 The birth of our little one brought the subject of bap- 
 tism to my notice ; and it being the custom in the Inde- 
 pendent Churches to administer this ordinance to infants, 
 the rite was duly performed by my pastor at one of our 
 public services. I never had my attention called par- 
 ticularly to this question until several years after this, when 
 from associating with Baptists I was compelled to investi- 
 gate the subject ; but as I shall have to speak at a later 
 period of my history of the alteration that subsequently 
 took place in my views on baptism, I will not dwell upon 
 the matter now. 
 
 Just about this period my three brothers left good mer- 
 cantile situations for the army ; and enlisted as private 
 soldiers in a distinguished cavalry regiment at that time 
 on foreign service in India. I was a good deal concerned 
 at their taking such a step, as I fear it was my own ex- 
 ample in the first instance that led them to think of the 
 army. It was a great source of grief to my parents, as 
 two of them were holding good situations in a large and 
 old-established bookselling business in St. Paul's Church 
 Yard, and the third was living at a wholesale stationer's 
 establishment in the Strand. 
 
 They joined the depot of the regiment at Maidstone, 
 and after about six months' training there, were sent out 
 to join the head-quarters of the regiment at Meerut. My 
 eldest brother was a remarkably strong and healthy man, 
 and was such an adept at the broad-sword exercise that 
 his comrades at Maidstone frequently prevailed upon him, 
 when not on duty, to go through the various cuts for their 
 entertainment. 
 
 The climate of India, however, had such an effect upon 
 him, that he had hardly joined the regiment at Meerut, 
 before he was obliged to be sent away to the Military
 
 134 Cholera. 
 
 Sanatorium at Landour, in the Himalaya Mountains, where 
 he died a few months after of that Indian scourge dysen- 
 tery. My surviving brothers being younger, were better 
 able to endure the climate, and served with the regiment 
 at the battle of Maharajpore, in 1843 ; and afterwards in 
 the campaign of the Sutlej ; and were fortunate enough 
 to take part in the splendid action at Aliwal, under Sir 
 Harry Smith; as well as being present at the battle of 
 Sobraon. 
 
 The regiment was ordered home in 1846 ; and one of 
 my brothers, after having gloriously sustained the character 
 of a British soldier in the battles above referred to, died of 
 cholera, at Berampore, near Calcutta, as the regiment was 
 proceeding down the Ganges to embark for England. 
 
 Poor fellow, he was returning home after severe hard- 
 ships, and many hair-breadth escapes, bringing with him 
 several little relics of the battles he had taken part in. He 
 had written to us on his birth-day, and only a few days 
 before his death, full of joy and hope at the thought of 
 coming home so soon. On the day he died he was walk- 
 ing with his comrades on the banks of the Ganges in his 
 accustomed health and spirits; was taken ill at eleven, 
 died at three in the afternoon, and was buried the same 
 evening in the plains of Plassey, under the entrenchments 
 thrown up by the enemy, where Lord Clive achieved 
 his memorable victory, and, by a singular coincidence, on 
 the anniversary of the day on which that great battle was 
 fought. 
 
 He was a great favourite with the colonel, who had 
 promoted him to be a sergeant, with the promise of a 
 commission on his return to England. He died at the early 
 age of 27. Three other men in the regiment died the 
 same day of that dreadful disease. 
 
 How mournfully true it is that 
 
 " The path of glory leads but to the grave." 
 A young lady in one of the eastern counties of England,
 
 A Fact for "Horse Guards" 135 
 
 who has published a volume of poems, made my brother's 
 death the subject of a short poem, from which I extract 
 the following two stanzas as no mean specimen of her 
 poetical powers : 
 
 " He died not on the battle-field, where slaughter'd thousands bled, 
 Not in the ranks of ruthless war, his young life's blood was shed 
 He fell not where the gleaming steel was flashing fiercely round, 
 When charging troops, and cannons' roar, mock'd e'en the thun- 
 der's sound. 
 
 No; sword and bullet pass'd him by, amid that fated throng; 
 He rode erect, unharm'd, unscathed, in youthful vigour strong : 
 And he the loved the good, the brave who 'scaped a soldier's 
 
 death, 
 Beneath the stroke of sickness dread hath yielded up his breath." 
 
 My youngest brother returned to England, received a 
 commission in the regiment he had served in, and was made 
 adjutant ; he remained in the regiment until he became 
 senior lieutenant, when he was obliged to sell out, his pay, 
 as an officer, being totally insufficient to enable him suit- 
 ably to maintain his position among his brother officers. 
 
 I cannot help remarking that it is a great fault in our 
 army, that, when deserving soldiers are promoted from the 
 ranks to be commissioned officers, their pay should be so 
 small, as either to involve them constantly in pecuniary 
 difficulties, or oblige them to sell their well-earned com- 
 mission, and leave the service just when they are becoming 
 most valuable as soldiers, and could render the most effi- 
 cient aid to their country. 
 
 A soldier who has gone through all the preparatory and 
 intermediate steps, as a private and non-commissioned 
 officer, before obtaining his cornetcy, ought to be too valu- 
 able to his country and his Queen, than to be obliged to 
 retire, because he has no private fortune to maintain his 
 position with his more favoured brother officers. 
 
 They manage matters of this nature far better in the 
 Continental armies, than we do in England ; and our 
 authorities at " Horse Guards " would do well to take this
 
 136 Army Reform. 
 
 question into their serious consideration ; every day's ex- 
 perience in modern warfare shows the necessity that those 
 who are placed in command of brave men should be well 
 trained and efficient soldiers. It will be remembered that 
 the charge brought against us by our French allies in the 
 Crimea was, that ours was " an army of lions commanded 
 
 If our country is to maintain her name and fame among 
 the nations of the world, these manifest evils must be 
 remedied, or the words of her greatest poet will cease to 
 be verified, that 
 
 " This England never did and never shall 
 Lie at the proud foot of a conqueror. 
 Come the three corners of the world in arms, 
 And we shall shock them ! 
 
 Naught shall make us rue, 
 If England, to herself', do rest but true." 
 
 I return once more to my personal history and expe- 
 rience. When first awakened to a concern about my 
 spiritual state before God, I was too anxious to get that great 
 matter settled to think very much about the subject of 
 ecclesiastical polity. But as I continued to attend the ser- 
 vice of a Nonconformist minister, and derived no small 
 benefit from the same, the question as to whether I was 
 right in leaving the Church of England came frequently 
 before me. 
 
 The continued opposition also that I met with from my 
 father and mother to my becoming a Dissenter, and the 
 not unfrequent inquiries of friends as to my reasons for 
 leaving the communion of the Established Church, led me 
 carefully and thoughtfully to investigate this important 
 subject. 
 
 As soon as I began to think upon the points in dispute, 
 I saw clearly enough that it was not a question to be de- 
 cided by those holding ecclesiastical position in the Church 
 of England, and that, as a layman, I am equally respon-
 
 The Established Church. 137 
 
 sible as the clergy for the views I hold, and for the system 
 of Church polity I do my part to maintain. 
 
 If I am a Churchman, I am bound to accept all that 
 the clergy are called upon to subscribe to. A noble 
 earl, who is a distinguished member of the National 
 Church,* says deliberately, in writing upon the subject : 
 " I am not going to let it be assumed that in matters of 
 this kind they [the clergy of the Church of England] are 
 the only persons to be shot at, or take offence. I maintain 
 that this is the cause of the laity just as much as it is the 
 cause of the clergy. Why, if the clergy have been guilty 
 of perjury, I in supporting the clergy have been guilty 
 of subornation of perjury. I, too, have signed the Articles ; 
 I, too, am a subscriber to what is contained in the Prayer- 
 book, just as much as the clergy are subscribers to it ; I 
 do, as a layman, everything that the clergy do, with the 
 exception of the administration of the Sacraments ; and I 
 take my full share of responsibility with them." 
 
 Now, these words of truth and soberness come well from 
 noble lips, and I endorse the sentiment contained in them 
 most cordially. I have never been able to understand 
 how laymen in the Church of England, or among other 
 denominations, can excuse themselves from responsibility 
 in questions of this nature, by stating that the formularies 
 laid down as the ground of faith and practice are sub- 
 scribed to and agreed upon by the clergy or ministers, but 
 that the laity are not to be held responsible for what they 
 contain. 
 
 It should always be borne in mind that the conforming 
 to any ordained test is simply a response to law which 
 peremptorily imposes it ; and the Act of Uniformity, as 
 every other statute of the realm, derives its force from the 
 people as represented in Parliament. Every citizen in 
 England who has a vote in electing members of the legis- 
 lature is responsible, if not for the passing of that Act of 
 
 * Lord Shaftesburv.
 
 138 Authoritative Formularies. 
 
 Uniformity in 1 662, yet assuredly for its continuance to 
 the present time ; and therefore every layman is justly re- 
 quired to study hoth the propriety of the law as well as its 
 observance. The consequences of this act of the legisla- 
 ture concern every worshipper in the hierarchy and every 
 citizen of the empire. Feeling this to be the case, I 
 entered upon the consideration of the subject as a just and 
 legitimate act of inquiry, and in so doing, I took care to 
 consult the authoritative formularies of the Church, and 
 compared these with the standard of all appeal in matters 
 of this nature the written Word of God. 
 
 I need hardly remind any of my readers that every 
 clergyman of the Church of England is required by law to 
 swear that he believes and adopts ex animo the Thirty-nine 
 Articles of that Church. If any one applying for ordina- 
 tion refuse a solemn declaration of consent to all that they 
 contain, he cannot be legally ordained ; and if, after his 
 ordination, he learns from the Scriptures, or from any 
 other source, truths that may induce him to contravene 
 anything laid down in the Articles, his legal and eccle- 
 siastical position and rights as a clergyman of the Church 
 of England are by that act forfeited. Now, the sixth 
 Article affirms that " Holy Scripture containeth all 
 things necessary to salvation : so that whatsoever is not read 
 therein, nor may be proved thereby, is not to be required 
 of any man that it should be believed as an article of the 
 faith, or be thought requisite or necessary to salvation." 
 
 This appeal to the Scriptures is reiterated and confirmed 
 by the twentieth Article, which states, in language clear 
 as the light, that " it is not lawful for the Church to or- 
 dain anything that is contrary to God's word written, 
 neither may it expound one place of Scripture that it be 
 repugnant of another." 
 
 These being the authoritative affirmations of the Na- 
 tional Church, no Englishman need fear being censured 
 for impertinence if he compares the formularies of this 
 Church with the Word of God as found in the Scriptures. 
 I felt, in investigating the matter, that as a layman I had
 
 Church of Christ. 139 
 
 a great advantage over the clergy, inasmuch as they are 
 bound to accept the teaching of the Church as defined by 
 ecclesiastical law, while I was at liberty to reject any in- 
 terpretation of the Articles, <fee, that was not in harmony 
 with the clear statements of God's word. 
 
 Thei*e is no term in the New Testament which has been 
 so much abused and misunderstood as " the Church ;" and 
 as I believed it to be of the first importance in the inquiry 
 in which I was engaged, to have clear ideas upon that 
 subject, I took more than ordinary pains to ascertain at 
 the outset what is understood by " the Church." 
 
 The Koman Catholic talks of the church, and he means 
 his own church, and affirms that there is no other church 
 in the world except his own. The Episcopalian speaks of 
 the church, meaning by that term what is called the Estab- 
 lished Church of England in these realms ; many members 
 of which, when they talk of the church, mean the building 
 in which they worship. The Dissenter talks of the church, 
 and he means the communicants of that chapel or congre- 
 gation of which he is a member. 
 
 In order, however, to understand the peculiarities which 
 distinguish the Church of Christ, we must make our appeal 
 to the Scriptures, and whatever obtains among men that 
 is antagonistic to, or not in harmony with, these sacred 
 records, must be at once discarded. Institutions may exist 
 professing to be the Church of Christ; but if they cannot 
 bear comparison with the teaching of Scripture they must 
 be rejected, though they are built upon the edicts of coun- 
 cils, and come armed with regal authority and power. 
 Since the foundation of the Church of Christ in the apos- 
 tolic age, the battle for its corruption has been fought with 
 an intensity of zeal and mental resource that are truly 
 marvellous. Men have, unhappily, shown more hatred, 
 malice, and uncharitableness, in discussing this question, 
 than any other that has come under investigation ; and it 
 is quite refreshing to turn from their angry writings to the 
 calm and dignified teaching of the Word of God. 
 
 In the Scriptures we find that Jesus Christ is " the head
 
 140 Primitive Churches. 
 
 of the body, the church." (Col. i. 18). He is the foun- 
 tain of its law, the author of its salvation, the responsible 
 Head and centre of its movements, the source of its strength, 
 and the security of all its hopes. The Church of Christ i3 
 " His body, the fulness of Him that filleth all in all." The 
 " body " here spoken of appears to me to be that company 
 of believers in the world which, filled with His life and 
 guided by His will, are the representatives of His kingdom 
 among men. They are subject to His rule and authority ; 
 a household designed for the nourishment of His children ; 
 an army to fight His battles in the world ; the dwelling- 
 place of God, glorious in the universality of its communion, 
 its services, its privileges, and its destiny. Jesus Christ, 
 and He alone, " is the Head of the body, the church ; 
 who is the beginning, the first-born from the dead ; that 
 in all things He might have the pre-eminence : for 
 it pleased the Father that in Him should all fulness 
 dwell." (Col. i. 18, 19). Now the terms His " body, the 
 church," in this passage, cannot relate only to those to 
 whom they were originally addressed ; but I believe they 
 include the saints and faithful in Christ in every age of 
 the world, from that period. In accordance with this 
 view we find that there have been bodies, or congregations, 
 of men and women in the world, since the days of the 
 apostles, guided and governed by the edicts of Christ, 
 endowed by His gifts, filled with His Spirit, manifesting 
 His life, bearing witness to His truth, and braving every 
 danger rather than forfeit their love and allegiance to 
 Him. These assemblies of the faithful may hold their 
 meetings in many places at the same time. The Church 
 of Christ, in the first century, had their assemblies at Rome, 
 Colosse, Ephesus, Corinth, and many other places. They 
 were separate and distinct from the world, and were consti- 
 tuted and built upon the foundation of the apostles and pro- 
 phets, "Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner-stone, in 
 whom all the building, fitly framed together, groweth unto an 
 holy temple in the Lord, an habitation of God through the
 
 The True Church. 141 
 
 Spirit." Such, and such only, I believe to have been the 
 Church of Christ in the first ages of Christianity; and 
 wherever the Gospel has been preached since that period, 
 there have been those who have, in the main, answered 
 to these Christians of apostolic times. The one true 
 Church of the living God, in the world, is made up of 
 all true believers in the Lord Jesus Christ; those who 
 have been brought, either by the preaching of the gospel 
 or the reading of the scriptures, to trust in the love of 
 God, through the blood and righteousness of Christ, as 
 their only ground of acceptance in His sight. 
 
 Converted men and women in every place, all the world 
 over, form the members of the Church ; and wherever 
 these are found there is a member of Christ's true and 
 holy Church. They are " born, not of blood, nor of the 
 will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." 
 (John i. 12, 13). They are distinguished by holiness of 
 life and conversation. They hate sin and love Christ. 
 No power on earth can extinguish that Church ; its mem- 
 bers may be persecuted, oppressed, burned, cruelly treated, 
 as they have been and may be again, but they can never 
 be extinguished. The Pharaohs, the Herods, the Neros, 
 the bloody Marys and their infernal bishops, and all the long 
 black list of persecutors down to our own days, may do 
 their best and their worst, but the Church of Christ will 
 outlive them all. This is the only Church of which no 
 member can perish. Once enrolled as a member of this 
 Church, a man is safe for eternity. Its members may be 
 few in comparison with the multitudes who despise them ; 
 but these are they who shake the universe and change the 
 fortunes of kingdoms by their prayers ; these are the life- 
 blood of a country the shield, the defence, the stay and 
 support of any country they inhabit. A glorious Church, 
 that shall one day be presented by Christ to the Father, 
 " without spot or wrinkle, or any such thing," amid the 
 wonder and acclamations of an assembled universe. 
 
 It would have been well if the kings and rulers of the
 
 142 Ecclesiastical Supremacy. 
 
 earth bad left this sacred society alone, as its memhers 
 would not interfere with any form of government that may 
 obtain among men ; but unhappily it has happened to the 
 Church as its divine Founder had predicted " In the world 
 ye shall have tribulation ;" and this is as true to-day as it was 
 when that sentence fell from the lips of the Lord Jesus. 
 Every reader of ecclesiastical history knows well enough 
 that a power antagonistic to Christ and Christianity soon 
 began to show itself. Pastors of Christian churches were 
 found to have more influence than civil officers, and measures 
 were adopted to make the churches comprehend the people. 
 Papal Eome succeeded to heathen Kome, and men assumed 
 the place of God. The Scriptures were laid aside for 
 priestly dogmas, and canon law soon took the place of the 
 laws of Christ and His kingdom. With the assumption of 
 divine authority priestly power began to override all civil 
 rule, subjecting it to its own use. Kings held the sword 
 for popes, and the Church of Christ in England suffered 
 from these innovations beyond all present calculation. 
 England had not only to struggle against a power contend- 
 ing for authority with the throne ; but the Church, under 
 the same papal power and influence, suffered the far 
 greater calamity which flows from a contest for supremacy 
 with Christ. 
 
 History tells us plainly enough that ecclesiastical 
 supremacy is never safe, but when vested in the great 
 Head of the Church, Jesus Christ ; and if monarchs, as 
 well as their subjects, would only think at all upon the 
 matter, they would shrink with instinctive horror from any 
 human assumption of religious supremacy. 
 
 In subjecting the Church of Christ to the civil power, 
 men have been guilty of the greatest sin against its 
 Founder, as well as inflicting a deep injury upon the sub- 
 jects of His kingdom. By placing the Church of Christ 
 under human laws, that it may be national, has reduced it 
 from its Catholic dignity and rights to a mere sectarian 
 community, defined by civil law, used for .civil purposes,
 
 Clerical Subscription. 143 
 
 and subject not to Jesus Christ its rightful Lord, but to 
 the British Throne. In departing from the guidance, and 
 forfeiting the support, of its Divine Head, it seems to me 
 to cease to be the Church of Christ at the very moment, 
 and by the very act which makes it the Church of Eng- 
 land. 
 
 Lest I should be deemed uncharitable in what I have 
 stated, I would remind my readers that the evidence which 
 sustains this charge against the National Church is to be 
 found in her own legal documents, in her oath of con- 
 formity, and in judgments recently passed in her Ecclesi- 
 astical Courts. 
 
 The Acts of Edward VI, Queen Elizabeth, and Charles 
 II. are not merely declarative, but, as many have been 
 made to feel, they are penal laws. They give the Church 
 of England her national position and legal rights, and 
 have placed dogmas, formularies for prayer and praise, 
 with orders for absolution, and a host of other things that 
 no one ever found authorized in Scripture, not only side 
 by side with, but above, the authority of the Bible. 
 
 That it may be seen that I have not gone one whit 
 beyond the facts of the case, I will quote the oath of con- 
 formity sworn by every clergyman in the following terms : 
 
 " I do willingly and ex animo subscribe to these three 
 articles above mentioned, and to all things contained 
 therein." 
 
 These articles are as follows : 
 
 First, " That the King's Majesty, under God, is the 
 only supreme governor of this realm, as well in all spiritual 
 or ecclesiastical things or causes, as temporal" Secondly, 
 " That the Book of Common Prayer, etc. containeth in it 
 nothing contrary to the Word of God," etc ; and thirdly, 
 " That he alloweth the Book of Articles of Religion, 
 agreed upon in Convocation, 1562 : and that he acknow- 
 ledgeth all and every the articles therein contained, being 
 in number thirty-nine, besides the ratification, to be agree- 
 able to the Word of God."
 
 144 Dr. Lushington. 
 
 Now while admitting that there are two saving clauses 
 in the above, viz. " under God," and " agreeable with the 
 Word of God," two points are clear from these authorita- 
 tive documents, first, that " under God " the King is 
 made by law to hold the place which God has given to our 
 Lord Jesus Christ ; and second, the term " agreeable with 
 the Word of God," affirms what is not true, inasmuch as 
 the oath binding the clergyman to the use of the Book of 
 Common Prayer, limits the use and interpretation of 
 Scripture to that which is declared by law to be the matter 
 which each clergyman is to teach and use. The clergy- 
 man is bound, not to his own conscientious belief of what 
 Scripture teaches, but to that construction of Scripture 
 teaching which has been beforehand defined for him by 
 the English law, in the Articles, the Kubric, the Book of 
 Common Prayer, and the Homilies. 
 
 This that I have stated is abundantly and conclusively 
 confirmed by the late judgment delivered in the Ecclesi- 
 astical Court, by Dr. Lushington, in the recent prosecutions 
 relating to a work entitled " Essays and Reviews." That 
 distinguished judge is reported to have said that " he would 
 not revert to Scripture as the test by which doctrine should 
 be determined ; and his decision was that all extracts from 
 Scripture must be erased from the articles of the prose- 
 cutors." This authoritative declaration was confirmed by 
 the following : " As a Judge, he could not be guided by 
 anything but judicial authority. Nor must he take for his 
 guide the most learned and orthodox clergy of the Church ; 
 for all he had to do was to try to get the true construction 
 of the Articles of Religion, according to the ordinary 
 principles of law. If ever any great discoveries were made 
 which were antagonistic to the Articles of the Church, a 
 clergyman was not at liberty to avail himself of them in 
 opposition to the articles : for the law must be obeyed, 
 even to a degree of harshness, and for a remedy applica- 
 tion must be made to the legislature, by whom, the Prayer 
 Boole was originally settled"
 
 Church and Dissent. 145 
 
 It has been truly said that by this judgment Dr. Lush- 
 ington has made it clear to the British nation that the 
 Church of England is no more subjected to the gramma- 
 tical teaching of Scripture than she is to the supreme 
 authority of Christ. Her head is the ruling monarch, 
 whether he be Henry VIII, the second Charles, or George 
 IV. Her doctrines and acts of discipline and worship are 
 fixed by the legislature to which her clergy swear subjec- 
 tion ; and therefore by the Scripture, which she declares 
 to be the Word of God, she is proved to be not in any just 
 sense a Church of Christ at all. In the process of her 
 nationalization she has departed from Christ, the Head, 
 compromised His law for the law of England, forfeited His 
 aid for that of national support, and become by her own 
 acts, to all intents and purposes, a sect in separation from 
 the body of Christ. The axiom that sustains the whole 
 judgment of Dr. Lushington is, the law of England must 
 not be violated. Discover what we may, therefore, in 
 Scripture, or elsewhere, no truth from God or man can be 
 used in the Church of England against her Articles and 
 Prayer-book, which are fixed by law. 
 
 Now, lest I should weary my readers, these investiga- 
 tions into the Church of England, and my position as a 
 Dissenter, led me, after mature thought and deliberation, 
 to the determination never to be deterred by an obnoxious 
 name (for I like not that of Dissenter) from an open 
 avowal of the change that had taken place in my views 
 relating to ecclesiastical matters. More than a quarter of 
 a century has passed over me since I set myself to the 
 examination of the claims of Church and Dissent ; and I 
 am the more convinced every day of my life that while 
 the clergy of the Church of England have enriched 
 our literature with some of its choicest works, and the 
 piety and moral worth of many among them are such as 
 to command my admiration and respect, yet the system to 
 which they belong is one of the greatest evils that has 
 been inflicted upon our country ; and I will ever do the 
 L
 
 146 Sacrifice to Duty. 
 
 utmost in my power, by constitutional means, to remove 
 so great an obstacle to the kingdom of Christ in the 
 world. 
 
 I was perfectly sure, while going through the examina- 
 tion of the question of Church and Dissent, that I should 
 retain many friends by remaining in the communion of 
 the Church of England, and that it would be neither 
 seemly nor wise to dissent from that Church if it could 
 possibly be avoided. I could not but be aware, on the 
 other hand, that by becoming a Dissenter I should bring 
 upon myself a good deal of odium, and sink in the esti- 
 mation of many whose good opinion I valued, and which 
 Avould be of use to me as far as my worldly prospects were 
 concerned. However, the duty of becoming a Dissenter 
 was so pressed upon me, as the result of my reading and 
 thinking upon the subject, that I was determined, come 
 what might, to stand by my convictions, and openly avow 
 myself as one who conscientiously and thoughtfully dis- 
 sented from the Established Church. I think, at the same 
 time, that no man ought to secede from the Church of Eng- 
 land, if it can be avoided, as it is desirable on many 
 accounts that Christians should not be divided, but should, 
 if it were possible, constitute one united denomination, pre- 
 serving the " unity of the spirit " and enjoying the " com- 
 munion of saints." When this, however, is not possible, 
 then I think it behoves a man to be able, with becoming 
 meekness and firmness, to state boldly and unhesitatingly 
 his reasons for seceding from the Established Church, and 
 for casting in his lot with the Nonconformists. This I 
 desired to do, with the feeling that all my early training 
 and education, as well as my promotion in the world, very 
 much inclined me to lean lovingly to the Church of my 
 fathers ; but I had learnt from the reading of the Scrip- 
 tures, as well as from the perusal of ecclesiastical history, 
 that in matters of this nature inclination and interest must 
 be laid aside, and a man must sternly and resolutely do his 
 duty, come what may. A Christian man, it may be said
 
 Not ashamed. 147 
 
 " Holds no parley with unmanly fears, 
 Where duty points, he resolutely steers, 
 Facing a thousand dangers at its call, 
 And, trusting in his God, surmounts them all." 
 
 In becoming a Nonconformist, I did not feel in doing 
 so that it required any apology from me. I considered 
 that I had an undoubted right to examine for myself the 
 constitution and claims of the Church of England as one 
 of the institutions of our country ; and, having done so, to 
 discuss these claims with the same freedom as any other 
 topic. 
 
 The Church of England I found to be of human consti- 
 tution, the creature of the people ; and that which the 
 people have created they surely have a right to examine, 
 and, by legitimate means, to control. Churchmen some- 
 times look down from the high places of the Establishment 
 upon Nonconformists as those who are chargeable with 
 some weakness, or guilty of some wrong, and who need, 
 therefore, to advance some extenuating plea for the pur- 
 pose of evading reproof or of mitigating censure. As 
 Nonconformists, we know that they are superior to us in 
 many things that are indeed " highly esteemed among 
 men," but at the same time we verily believe that we are 
 superior to them in that " which is approved of God." No 
 Nonconformist who has taken the pains to understand his 
 principles need ever to be ashamed to avow them ; for al- 
 though our brethren in the Establishment have undoubtedly 
 the beneiit of external distinction, we think we have the 
 superiority of truth on our side. 
 
 The head and front of my objections to the Established 
 Church consisted in its bold and undisguised assumption 
 of a temporal headship, as not only being antagonistic to 
 the supremacy of Christ, but also leading to evils of the 
 greatest magnitude. In addition to this, the Book of 
 Common Prayer contains in it formularies and services at 
 variance with Scripture, and calculated, in my humble 
 opinion, to do an amount of mischief by its false teaching
 
 148 Book of Common Prayer. 
 
 that is appalling to think of. Recollecting as I do the 
 influence of its teaching in early life upon my own mind, I 
 am the more anxious to preserve my own children, as well 
 as others, from its dangerous and pernicious tendencies. 
 
 Fearing that I have already trespassed too largely on 
 the time and attention of my readers, by dwelling so long 
 upon this vexed question of Church and Dissent, I would 
 only say further, that I repudiate most heartily, as anti- 
 scriptural and dangerous, many things in the baptismal 
 services of the Church of England, where infants are made 
 by a mechanical process " members of Christ, children of 
 God, and inheritors of the Kingdom of Heaven ;" and this 
 in no limited sense, as is seen by the prayer offered by the 
 officiating clergyman and congregation assembled, which 
 states, in solemn and awful words : " Almighty and ever- 
 lasting God, who hast vouchsafed to regenerate these thy 
 servants by water and the Holy Ghost, and hast given 
 unto them forgiveness of all their sins !" 
 
 There are also serious objections to the priestly assump- 
 tion in the service for the visitation of the sick, where 
 one sinful man thus addresses himself to another : " Our 
 Lord Jesus Christ, who has left power to his Church to 
 absolve all sinners who truly repent and believe in Him, 
 of His great mercy forgive thee thine offences, and, by 
 His authority, committed to me, I absolve thee from all thy 
 sins, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of 
 the Holy Ghost." 
 
 Again, in the sublime service employed at the burial of 
 the dead, what must we think of invariably hearing these 
 solemn words pronounced over a most notoriously and 
 profligate man, whose death-bed witnessed neither re- 
 pentance for his past life, nor faith in the Saviour for the 
 forgiveness of his sins : " Forasmuch as it hath pleased 
 Almighty God of His great mercy to take unto Himself the 
 soul of our dear brother here departed, we therefore com- 
 mit his body to the ground . . . . in sure and certain 
 hope of the resurrection to eternal life, through our Lord
 
 Congregationalism. 149 
 
 Jesus Christ," (fee ? Then follows the prayer : " Almighty 
 God ... we give Thee hearty thanks, for that it hath 
 pleased Thee to deliver this our brother out of the miseries 
 of this sinful world," <fcc. 
 
 If words can be used and sentences can be framed to 
 express error and to foster delusion, certainly these are 
 such words, and they are acknowledged to be so by not a 
 few even of the clergy, all of whom, nevertheless, express, 
 in the presence of God, their unfeigned assent and consent 
 to all and everything in the book which contains them, 
 and every member of the Church sanctions the system of 
 which it is a part. 
 
 Having stated as briefly as I can, consistently with 
 the importance of the subject, my reasons for becoming a 
 Dissenter, I shall be expected to say something for identi- 
 fying myself with a denomination entitled Independents, 
 or Congregationalists. 
 
 The distinctive and essential principles of the Congre- 
 gational form of church government are, that a single 
 congregation of believers, agreeing to walk together 
 according to the faith and order of the Gospel, is a com- 
 plete Church ; that every such congregation has (by neces- 
 sary consequence) the entire power of government in 
 itself. In support of the first great principle of Congre- 
 gationalism, viz. that a single congregation of believers 
 and not a number of such congregations united together, 
 and forming a denomination is a Church, Congregation- 
 alists make appeal to the word " church" in the New Testa- 
 ment. There are unquestionable instances in the New 
 Testament of the use of the word " church" in the Congre- 
 gational sense. It is, indeed, the ordinary custom of 
 the writers of the New Testament to call a single congre- 
 gation of believers a Church. In support of the second 
 great principle of Congregationalism, that every separate 
 congregation of believers has the full power of government 
 within itself there being no higher authority upon earth 
 to confirm or reverse its decisions we may refer to Matt.
 
 150 The True Church. 
 
 xviii. 15-17 : " If thy brother offend thee," <fec, " tell it to 
 the church," i.e. to the body of communicants, whose 
 decision is represented as final. As the last resort, the 
 offence is to be told to the Church, and from its sentence 
 there is no appeal ; because, if they act according to the 
 law of Christ, their sentence is confirmed by Christ. 
 They refer, also, to 1 Cor. v. 1-7, compared with 2 Cor. 
 ii. 1-5, where it will be found that both passages refer to 
 the case of the incestuous person in the church at 
 Corinth. These two Epistles to the Corinthians, it must 
 be recollected, were addressed to the Church, i.e the 
 society of believers in that city. Now let those of my 
 readers who will take the pains to do so, remember that 
 the Apostle censures that body for permitting the offender 
 to remain among them, that he commands them to put 
 him away, and that afterwards, when assured of his un- 
 feigned repentance, he enjoins them to " confirm their 
 love towards him," and they will see how powerfully this 
 apostolic precedent supports the following great principles 
 of Congregationalism, that the private members of a 
 church have a voice in, and some power over, the exclusion 
 and restoration of offenders. The Apostle's command to 
 put the offender in this case away was an intended test of 
 their obedient spirit; but how could it have been so if 
 they not only had no power over his expulsion, but if even 
 their opinion in reference to it was not to be ascertained ? 
 And, again, it is evident that the decision of a separate 
 Church, i.e. of the pastor and private members, is a final 
 one. 
 
 We may appeal also, in support of both the great prin- 
 ciples of Congregationalism, to the directions contained in 
 the New Testament in relation to the reception of mem- 
 bers into the Church. It will be seen, by those who will 
 take the trouble to turn to the passages, that the recep- 
 tion of members into the Churches of the Apostolic age 
 was the act of the Church, and not of the pastor and office- 
 bearers only, as is the case in some Christian churches.
 
 Church Discipline, etc. 151 
 
 Those of my readers who defer to the teaching of Scripture 
 on matters of this nature will find, by referring to Rom. 
 xiv. 1, " receive you," i.e. the church ; Acts ix. 26, " the 
 disciples were afraid of him," and so they did not at first 
 receive him. When Apollos was disposed to pass through 
 Achaia, " the brethren " wrote recommendatory epistles, 
 and sent them not to the office-bearers of the churches, 
 but to the churches, " exhorting the disciples to receive 
 him," (Acts xviii. 27). Such recommendatory epistles 
 were common ; they were attestations to the Christian 
 character of the person who carried them, sent from the 
 Church to which he had formerly belonged, to the Chris- 
 tian body existing in the place to which he was going. 
 (See Phil. ii. 29 ; Col. iv. 10). 
 
 We may also appeal to the directions of the New 
 Testament in regard to the exercise of discipline. These 
 are all addressed to the Church at large. (See 1 Cor. v. 
 7 ; Gal. iv. 1, " Ye that are spiritual restore," &c.) 
 
 My apology, if one be needed, for entering thus rather 
 minutely into particulars relating to the church govern- 
 ment and order obtaining among the Congregationalists 
 has been done to convince an unprejudiced reader (if such 
 a personage can indeed be found) that we have scriptural 
 ground and warrant for what is done in our Churches ; and 
 I would remark, that if errors are found amongst us, 
 either in doctrine or practice, they can be rectified at 
 once, without waiting either for an Act of Parliament on 
 the one hand, or an edict from an ecclesiastical council or 
 synod on the other. 
 
 I could also enter upon other matters relating to eccle- 
 siastical polity obtaining among the Congregationalists, as, 
 for example, the choice of a pastor or minister, the nature 
 and extent of pastoral authority, the choice and election of 
 elders or deacons, and other questions connected with the 
 internal government and arrangement of our Churches ; 
 but it would perhaps be out of place in such a work as I 
 am engaged upon, and some may also imagine that a
 
 152 Unity of the Church. 
 
 layman should not intermeddle with subjects of this 
 nature. 
 
 I trust, however, I have said enough upon the subject 
 to convince my readers that I took some pains myself to 
 understand the principles and practices obtaining in the 
 communion to which I deemed it my honour and happiness 
 to belong ; and that I had also good and sufficient reasons 
 for leaving the Church of England, and becoming a Non- 
 conformist. 
 
 I would only say further, in reference to what I have 
 stated of the change that had taken place, not only in my 
 religious views, but also in the estimate I formed of a 
 Church establishment and Dissent, that while I hold 
 decided and strong views upon these great questions, I 
 nevertheless am most anxious to cultivate a spirit of real 
 brotherliness towards all those who " love our Lord Jesus 
 Christ in sincerity." I made up my mind upon this 
 point while the subjects were under consideration, that I 
 would never connect myself with any body of Christians 
 where the terms of membership or communion were such 
 as to exclude any who professed personal faith in Christ, 
 and whose daily life was such as to justify the profession 
 they had made. 
 
 I think that the union of Christians of all denomina- 
 tions, where no compromise of principle is demanded, is 
 most desirable ; and those who are like-minded with 
 myself would do well to provide themselves with a most 
 able discourse upon the subject, lately published, where 
 they will find this deeply interesting question treated with 
 the hand of a master, and in a truly Catholic spirit.* 
 Christians of all denominations may read that sermon 
 with profit. 
 
 I return from this somewhat lengthened digression upon 
 
 * " The Unity of the Church, a Discourse delivered at Greville- 
 place Church, St. John's Wood, London. By the Kev. J. C. Gal- 
 laway, A.M. Ward and Co. 1860. 12mo."
 
 Loss of Income. 153 
 
 ecclesiastical polity to my own personal history again. In 
 1842, two years after my marriage, and shortly after the 
 birth of my first child, I met with a serious diminution in 
 my income. The amendment of the Copyright Act, passed 
 in that year, disfranchised six of the Universities entitled 
 to privileges under the Act, and made an alteration in the 
 mode of delivery with reference to the libraries still entitled 
 to publications under the statute. One of the libraries 
 which I acted as agent for was disfranchised, and the 
 alteration in the mode of delivery of the books rendered 
 my service for the other no longer necessary. The diminu- 
 tion in my income caused by these alterations was a very 
 severe loss to me, being no less a deduction than .100 
 a-year. I received the most nattering testimonials from 
 the librarians of the colleges I had represented since 1 835, 
 expressive of their approbation as to the manner in which 
 I had discharged my work for them, and regretting that 
 my services would no longer be required. 
 
 This sudden decrease in my income led me at once 
 to set about making up the deficiency in the best way I 
 could. It grieved me to abridge some of the comforts of 
 my little home, just when they appeared to be the most 
 needed ; but there was no help for it, and my wife cheer- 
 fully acquiesced in the arrangements we were obliged to 
 make, and cheered me on like a true-hearted woman. 
 
 I obtained, through my official connections, a good deal 
 of copying and work of a kindred nature, which occupied 
 me fully during the hours I was not engaged in my regular 
 employment. I sat up, sometimes, long after midnight, 
 and rose again as soon as it was light, to work upon my 
 manuscripts ; and frequently the writing was so bad, and 
 the interlineations so many, that it was with great difficulty 
 I could make any way with them. However, I stuck to 
 the work with a manly determination to do all in my power 
 to make up in some degree the loss in my income ; and for 
 several successive years I appropriated my annual vacation 
 to earning money to meet the increasing wants of home,
 
 154 The Sabbath. 
 
 instead of seeking the rest and recreation that should 
 follow prolonged and unbroken toil. My Sabbaths during 
 these years were priceless, and gave me some foretaste of 
 " the rest that remaineth to the people of God." Oh ! 
 how refreshing was it to body and mind to lay aside the 
 toils and labours of the week for the calm and tranquillising 
 services of the sanctuary, and the quiet pleasures of my 
 little home. How is that man to be pitied who, from 
 any cause, robs his soul of the nourishment, and his body 
 the rest and restorative influence of the Sabbath. The 
 going with the multitude to keep holy day, the sacred 
 songs of the house of God, the prayers and thanksgivings 
 of my much-loved pastor, and his eloquent and heart- 
 stirring sermons, helped mightily not only to preserve the 
 life of God in my soul, but also to fit me better for return- 
 ing to the poorly requited toils and labours of the week. 
 
 Well does an eloquent writer of our own denomination, 
 lately deceased, Winter Hamilton, of Leeds, say, " Oh 
 Sabbath ! needed for a world of innocence, without thee 
 what would be a world of sin ! There would be no pause 
 for consideration, no check to passion, no remission of 
 toil, no balm of care ! He who had withheld thee would 
 have forsaken the earth ! Without thee He had never 
 given to us the Bible, the Gospel, the Spirit ! We salute 
 thee as thou comest to us in the name of the Lord 
 radiant in the sunshine of that dawn which broke over 
 creation's achieved work ; marching downward in the 
 track of time, a pillar of refreshing cloud and of guiding 
 flame, interweaving with all thy light new beams of dis- 
 covery and promise, until thou standest forth more fair 
 than when reflected in the dews, and imbibed by the 
 flowers of Eden ; more awful than when the trumpet rung 
 of thee on Sinai. The Christain Sabbath ! Like its 
 Lord, it but rises again in Christianity, and henceforth 
 records the rising day ! And never since the tomb of 
 Jesus was burst open by Him who revived and rose, has 
 this day awakened but as the light of seven days, and
 
 Its Rest and Blessedness. 155 
 
 with healing in its wings ! Never has it unfolded without 
 some witness and welcome, some song and salutation ! It 
 has been the coronation day of martyrs, the feast day of 
 saints ! It has been from the first until now the sublime 
 custom of the Churches of God ! Still the outgoings of its 
 morning and its evening rejoice. It is a day of heaven 
 upon earth. Life's sweetest calm, poverty's best birth- 
 right, labour's only rest. Nothing has such a hoar of 
 antiquity on it ; nothing contains in it such a history ; 
 nothing draws along with it such a glory ! Nurse of 
 virtue, seal of truth ! the household's richest patrimony, 
 the nation's noblest safeguard, the pledge of peace, the 
 fountain of intelligence, the strength of law, the oracle of 
 instruction, the ark of mercy, the patent of our manhood's 
 spiritual greatness, the harbinger of our soul's sanctified 
 perfection, the glory of religion, the watch-tower of immor- 
 tality, the ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it 
 reacheth to heaven, with the angels of God ascending and 
 descending on it ! " 
 
 There was not only an intellectual power of a high 
 order in the ministry I attended, but there was in every 
 sermon something that met the necessities of my spiritual 
 cravings, as well as affording me materials for thought 
 during the brief intervals of leisure I could command 
 during the week. The prayers of my pastor were such as 
 I have never heard equalled. He appeared on the Sunday 
 morning to come direct from the very presence of the 
 Eternal, and to breathe the atmosphere of Heaven. 
 Many a time have I been reminded, while kneeling with 
 him and the great congregation at the throne of the 
 heavenly grace, of the words of Cowper 
 
 " When one who holds communion with the skies, 
 Has fill'd his urn where those pure waters rise; 
 And once more mingles with us meaner things, 
 "Pis e'en as if an angel shook its wings : 
 Ambrosial fragrance fills the circuit wide, 
 Aud tells us whence hia treasure was supplied."
 
 156 Increase of Family. 
 
 Oh ! how much do I owe thee, thou kind-hearted and 
 gifted man of God. I have sat delighted at thy feet for 
 many years : years marked hy many sorrows, as well as 
 hallowed by sacred joys, and grateful recollections. Never 
 shall I fully know the greatness of my obligation to thee, 
 till I find myself, through your instrumentality, safe and 
 secure within the Father's house, to go no more out for 
 ever! 
 
 My own troubles at this period were not a little increased 
 by the pecuniary difficulties of my father ; whose pecuniary 
 embarrassments did not arise from his living beyond his 
 income, but they were the result, in the first place, of 
 old debts contracted at Canterbury, and these obligations 
 were increased by the exorbitant interest charged by loan 
 societies and bill discounters. 
 
 Justice to myself, and to my wife, obliges me to say, 
 that I never on my own account incurred pecuniary obli- 
 gations that I could not discharge ; though often, through 
 illness and unavoidable demands upon my slender finances, 
 we have been put to the greatest possible shifts, and have 
 been obliged to den;f ourselves many little gratifications 
 and indulgences which we otherwise should have enjoyed. 
 However, I am glad to be able to say, for the encourage- 
 ment of any of my readers who may be similarly circum- 
 stanced, that the discipline, though sometimes sharp and 
 severe, has been salutary and useful ; and also that I always 
 found Divine help as well as human sympathy in all my 
 difficulties of this nature. 
 
 In 1844 was born to us a second daughter, and shortly 
 after this I was visited by my first serious illness. I had 
 just before this time met with an advertisement in one of 
 the papers that a lady, who had cured herself of a bad 
 habit of stammering, offered her services for the removal 
 of that affliction. I replied to the advertisement, saw the 
 lady, and it was arranged that she should give me an 
 hour's instruction daily until my impediment was removed. 
 
 As the lady referred to was both well-informed and
 
 Free Speech. 157 
 
 agreeable in her manners, these daily interviews were very 
 delightful. Having explained to me the process she had 
 herself adopted for the removal of the defect in her own 
 speech, we carried on our lessons in a series of conversa- 
 tions upon almost every conceivable topic. Many were 
 the hearty laughs we had in chatting over all sorts of 
 things, subjects, and persons; and I looked forward to these 
 daily exercises with great pleasure. 
 
 I profited so much by this lady's instructions as to be 
 able to converse with both ease and fluency, and began 
 to imagine that I should get rid of my old source of annoy- 
 ance altogether. Every one who knew me was surprised 
 at the alteration in my speaking, but unhappily the im- 
 provement was not of long duration- 
 One principal feature in this lady's treatment of stam- 
 mering was to speak ivith great force and energy. In 
 consequence of attending to this, and finding it so success- 
 ful, I carried out these instructions to their fullest extent ; but 
 I regret to say nearly at the cost of my life. About two 
 months from the time that I commenced this forced method 
 of speaking, I was walking leisurely home from a week- 
 night service at our chapel, when I felt a peculiar sensa- 
 tion in my throat and chest, and immediately found my 
 mouth filled with blood. Fortunately I was not far from 
 home, and on arriving there my wife was very much 
 alarmed, and went herself for our medical attendant, who 
 lived in the immediate neighbourhood. The doctor told 
 me I had ruptured a blood-vessel in connection with the 
 lungs. He took from my right arm a large quantity of 
 blood, and I was ordered to remain on the sofa through 
 the night, and to be kept free from all excitement. The 
 bleeding from the mouth continued at intervals through 
 the night, and in the morning I was got to bed, though 
 obliged to remain in a sitting posture, with bags of ice 
 applied to my chest and kept as cool as possible, and almost 
 starved. No one was allowed to see me but my wife, who 
 
 " Beside my couch of care an angel nurse she stood."
 
 158 Woman's Nursing. 
 
 How true, beautifully true, are the poet's lines 
 
 " Oh ! woman, in our hours of ease 
 Uncertain, coy, and hard to please, 
 And variable as the shade 
 By the light quivering aspen made : 
 When pain and anguish wring the brow, 
 A ministering angel now." 
 
 It is in sickness and trouble that we find out fully the 
 gentle qualities of woman's nature. Let a man be laid 
 aside from his active employment and confined to a sick 
 chamber, as I was, for many long and wearisome weeks, 
 shut out from all his friends, and he will learn how to 
 appreciate fully the gentle, thoughtful, and uninterrupted 
 nursing of a loving wife. Her quick eye, and attention to 
 a thousand little things that minister to our ease and com- 
 fort, are then seen. She intuitively discerns our wants 
 almost before they are known to ourselves, and she minis- 
 ters to them so lovingly as to conceal the extent of her 
 obligation. In the language of one * who has employed 
 his eloquent pen upon this theme would we say, as a 
 matter of experience, " How much better than man does a 
 woman relieve the distressed mind, when, with a tact 
 which would be artful were it not so natural, she diverts 
 his thoughts from painful themes. When she speaks 
 words of comfort, how much more does she soothe us by 
 her soft and musical accents than man by his sharp and 
 ringing tones ! How effectually does her cheerful coun- 
 tenance and manner dispel our sadness ! And when to 
 her natural qualities she has added the graces of religion, 
 what so fitted as her quiet composure, amid difficulty and 
 distress, to raise us from our despondency, and win us back 
 to faith in God ! In the sick chamber, where man has 
 neither the quiet manner nor the delicate touch, nor the 
 assiduous attention, nor the sympathy and patience which are 
 necessary, she moves with steps noiseless as falling snow- 
 
 * " Woman's Sphere and Work, considered in the Light of Scrip- 
 ture. By W. Landels. London, 1859. 8vo."
 
 Womanly Sympathy. 159 
 
 flakes, and speaks in a voice soft as an angel's whisper ; 
 though subdued, she feels no embarrassing restraint, nor does 
 the softness of her manner interfere with the promptness or 
 efficiency of her service. Where man by rough handling 
 would give pain, her touch is so gentle that it soothes the 
 sufferer ; and while everything is done for him which care 
 or love can prompt, it is all done so quietly that, but for 
 the offices she pel-forms and the comfort which she minis- 
 ters, he would be unconscious of her presence. Man's 
 sympathy is slow to move, and his patience is soon ex- 
 hausted ; woman's sympathy is not more prompt than it is 
 enduring. The sight of distress is sufficient to stir her 
 deep womanly nature ; and where she is brought much 
 into contact with it, the constancy with which she ministers 
 to it is marvellous. On this account she is man's first and 
 last solace. 
 
 " ' woman ! woman ! thou wert made, 
 
 Like heaven's own pure and lovely light, 
 To cheer life's dark and desert shade, 
 
 And guide man's erring footsteps right.' " 
 
 The hemorrhage came on for several successive nights, 
 and it was thought more than once that I must have sunk 
 under the exhaustion. The slightest movement brought 
 on the bleeding, and my doctor strictly forbade me to make 
 any attempt to speak, and directed me to make known my 
 wants by writing on a slate. For some weeks my life was 
 despaired of; it hung tremblingly, as by a very slender 
 thread ; and I could plainly see, by the anxious looks of 
 my medical attendant, who was frequently with me two and 
 three times during the day, that matters were very serious. 
 lie told my wife, at the first, that had I been in an agi- 
 tated and alarmed state of mind nothing could have saved 
 me. Happily, when it happened, I had been attending 
 one of the quiet week-evening services of the sanctuary, 
 and my friend and pastor had been preaching from the 
 words, " He restoreth my soul." My mind was kept in
 
 160 Thoughts in Sickness. 
 
 perfect peace. I had long ere this settled the great point, 
 and I could rely with deep and unwavering confidence upon 
 Him who had borne the penalty of all my sins,, and whose 
 obedience to the law that I had broken made me feel both 
 safe and happy. The tranquil and blissful hours that I 
 enjoyed during that sickness will never be forgotten by me. 
 I was able, in quiet thought, to go down to the founda- 
 tions of my faith and hope, and found them to be firmer 
 than the everlasting hills; yea, as immoveable as the 
 throne of the Eternal. 
 
 It has been said that " a sickness that leads the way to 
 everlasting life is better than the health of an antediluvian ;" 
 and I found in these critical days and long wakeful nights 
 that only the strong consolation made known in the Gospel, 
 and cordially received into the soul, is sufficient to bear up 
 the mind when the great shadow of eternity falls fully upon 
 us. Then it is that we see the meaning of life and the 
 sacredness of duty, and the utter helplessness and hope- 
 lessness of having nothing but one's own doings to put in 
 the place of God's requirements. Often, as I lay awake 
 iii those long nights, did I think of my past life and 
 history in connection with what Scripture reveals to us 
 of eternity, and the rewards and retributions of the future 
 world. Any view of eternity is overwhelming, but more 
 especially so when we think that we shall exist for 
 ever. I recollect reading, somewhere in one of Forster's 
 letters, that he was almost crushed under the idea of eter- 
 nity, even apart from the idea of retribution. The idea is 
 fearful ! How can I sustain an endless existence ? How 
 can I prolong sentiment and action for ever and ever? 
 "What may, or can become of me, in so stupendous a pre- 
 dicament? What an accumulation of miracles will be 
 required to preserve my faculties, my being, from becom- 
 ing exhausted and extinct ! How can there be an unde- 
 caying, ever new, and fresh vitality and animation, to go 
 powerfully along with an infinite series of objects, changes, 
 excitements, and activities ?
 
 A Sick Bed. 161 
 
 My mind was filled with such thoughts and inquiries, 
 and then I found, as I had never to the same extent 
 experienced before, the preciousness of Christ, and the 
 blessedness of having a personal faith and trust in His 
 great work of salvation. I saw then, as in letters of fire, 
 that as " by one man's offence death reigned by one, much 
 more they which receive abundance of grace, and of the 
 gift of righteousness, shall reign in life by one, Jesus 
 Christ : " that " as by the offence of one judgment came upon 
 all men to condemnation, even so by the righteousness of 
 One the free gift came upon all men to justification of life. 
 For as by one man's disobedience many were made sin- 
 ners, so by the obedience of One shall many be made 
 righteous." That " where sin abounded grace did much 
 more abound:" that "as sin hath reigned unto death, even so 
 might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life, 
 through Jesus Christ our Lord." 
 
 A sick bed is not always the most favourable place to 
 learn the way of salvation, because very often intense pain 
 and anxiety about other matters so occupy the mind as to 
 render it incapable of giving the attention that it deserves 
 and demands ; but it is the place to try the reality of a man's 
 religion whether it be a thing of mere sacraments and 
 creeds, or a living principle in the heart and mind. Such 
 being the case, I would press upon my readers the impor- 
 tance of settling this great question while they are in 
 health, and have time and opportunity. Make your elec- 
 tion now ; " now is the day of salvation, now is the ac- 
 cepted time;" now settle the point in your own case, 
 whether it shall be pleasure or duty; your own will, or 
 God's will ; the passions indulged, or kept down ; the 
 maxims and customs of the world, or the convictions of 
 conscience and the word of God; Christ, or the devil; 
 heaven, or hell. 
 
 My illness was a very anxious one, and was also of long 
 duration ; but the greatest possible kindness and consi- 
 deration were exercised towards me by the gentleman at
 
 162 Pastoral Visits. 
 
 the head of ray department, who, although a severe disci- 
 plinarian, was a tender-hearted and sympathizing man, 
 and in cases of illness particularly thoughtful and indul- 
 gent. As soon as I was well enough to be seen, my 
 pastor came to my bedside, and in soft and loving tones 
 spoke to me of my illness, and of the consolation I had 
 enjoyed from the great truths he had been the means of 
 introducing to my attention. 
 
 I became accustomed to look forward to these pastoral visits 
 with much pleasure. I knew his well-known rap at the 
 door, and " there was music in his very feet, as he came up 
 the stairs." There was nothing exciting in his manner, 
 and his visits always left behind a soothing influence upon 
 me. He would tell me of the sermons he had been 
 preaching during my absence, and talk to me of Heaven. 
 His prayers, tender and low, that he offered up to the 
 Great Father at my bedside, will never be forgotten either 
 by my wife or myself. My eldest girl always ran to meet 
 him, and there was something about his whole deportment 
 that made him a favourite with every one in the house. 
 He helped very much to allay the fears and apprehensions 
 of my wife, and had always some cheering word of encou- 
 ragement to say as to the future. 
 
 We were particularly happy also in the doctor that at- 
 tended us. He Tvas a gentleman of great skill and expe- 
 rience, and of large practice, yet he paid me as much 
 attention as if I had been one of his most wealthy patients. 
 
 He took a particular interest in my case, having two 
 others of a similar nature under his treatment at the same 
 time, one of which proved fatal. 
 
 I have mentioned that I was almost starved under the 
 treatment I experienced. I had no animal food of any 
 kind for some weeks ; cold water in abundance, and a very 
 little rice, was all that I was allowed to take in the way of 
 nourishment, as it was essentially necessary to keep me 
 down to as low a point as possible consistent with being 
 alive. I was obliged to sit in an upright posture in bed,
 
 A Tripe Dinner. 163 
 
 with the slightest possible covering upon me, and large bags 
 of ice kept incessantly applied to my chest. Often when my 
 wife brought me a little rice, almost cold, and hardly more 
 than would cover a crown-piece, have I asked if that was 
 all that I was to get for my dinner. She would look at 
 me with pity, and say cheerily that I should have more 
 the moment that the doctor ordered it. I used to implore 
 her to let me have another spoonful of rice ; but she was 
 inexorable, although I could see in her averted face the 
 tear stealing down the cheek that too clearly indicated 
 what it cost her to deny me this small request. The doc- 
 tor told me at the close of my long illness that I had had 
 a most narrow escape, and that I owed quite as much to 
 the firm but tender treatment of my wife as to anything he 
 had done for me. I must mention an amusing incident 
 that occurred during my illness. When the hemorrhage 
 had ceased for about a week, the doctor told my wife that 
 I might have a little tripe for dinner. I was delighted at 
 the change of diet, though I had never tasted tripe in my 
 life, and had a peculiar aversion to it. However, the 
 article was procured and brought up to me. The joy 
 experienced by me at the sight of that savoury morsel can 
 only be adequately understood by those who have gone 
 almost without food, for I know not how many days I had 
 had nothing but a little rice and cold water. No tea, 
 coffee, chocolate, or cocoa to say nothing of broth or 
 beef-tea were allowed; and to see and smell anything 
 that really looked like food was almost more than I could 
 endure. My wife left the tray for a moment on the bed, and 
 in a couple of minutes the plate was as clean as a cat could 
 have licked it. On returning to the room she was amazed 
 to see that it was gone, and almost thought that it had 
 slipped off the plate on to the floor. I told her, however, 
 what had become of it, and she gently chided me for eating 
 it so quickly. 
 
 The doctor came just as I had finished this banquet, 
 and waa told that I had enjoyed my dinner very much.
 
 164 East Rudham. 
 
 He inquired the quantity I had taken, and was informed 
 that it was about a quarter of a pound. He was quite angry 
 at my having had so much, as he intended that I should 
 only have had about two ounces. However, the result 
 proved that the excess had done me no harm ; but my wife 
 was more careful in future not to let me have one iota 
 more than the doctor prescribed, and all my coaxing soli- 
 citations were in vain. 
 
 After several weeks of careful nursing I was so far 
 restored that the doctor said I might be removed to the 
 country for change of air. My wife selected a snug little 
 farm-house, belonging to one of her relatives, at East 
 Rudham, a quiet little village in Norfolk, between Faken- 
 ham and Lynn, where she knew every care would be taken 
 of me. My eldest little girl was sent with me, while my 
 wife and the baby were left at home to keep house. 
 
 I enjoyed that visit amazingly, as the relatives were 
 very kind, and I was allowed to do quite as I liked, and 
 could wander about its green lanes and pleasant pastures 
 with my little daughter " at our own sweet will." 
 
 The village of East Eudham is only about two miles 
 from Houghton Hall, a truly sumptuous pile, built by 
 Sir Robert Walpole, but now the property of the Marquis 
 of Cholmondely. My brother-in-law, where I was staying, 
 was very intimate with the head gamekeeper of this pala- 
 tial domain, and an introduction to him gave me the free 
 range at all times over the gardens, pleasure-grounds, and 
 the magnificent park. 
 
 The park and pleasure-grounds that surround this 
 princely edifice are laid out so as to give the greatest 
 possible effect: they are so disposed as to appear one 
 beyond the other, in different shades, and seem to stretch 
 away to a very considerable extent. The Hall itself im- 
 presses the mind with everything that magnificence can 
 inspire, as well as presenting a fair specimen of the power, 
 wealth, and grandeur of the illustrious Prime Minister who 
 caused it to be erected. The large and celebrated collec-
 
 Houghton Hall 165 
 
 tion of pictures that once adorned its walls are, alas ! no 
 longer there : they were sold in 1779, by George, Earl of 
 Orford, to Catherine of Russia, for no less a sum than 
 45,500 ; a sum that will in some way indicate their value, 
 but which was said to be far less than the great statesman 
 paid for them. There are a few good pictures there now; 
 there are also some choice specimens of sculpture, many of 
 them antiques, and some by the great artists of modern 
 times. The' ceilings of some of the rooms are painted by 
 Kent, who also furnished designs for most of the furniture. 
 In one of the dining-parlours there is some beautiful pear- 
 tree carving by Grinling Gibbons. 
 
 Houghton Hall ! how does thy name recall to me the 
 many pleasant weeks spent in wandering about thy beau- 
 tiful scenes with my little daughter. I had for some years 
 been confined to London, and had worked with, hands and 
 head incessantly. How grateful and gladsome were these 
 country scenes to me ! One who had lived long in London 
 and had a keen relish for the country, says, in language 
 that I could make my own, 
 
 " As one who long in populous city pent, 
 Where houses thick, and sewers annoy the air, 
 Forth issuing on a summer's morn, to breathe 
 Among the pleasant villages and farms 
 Adjoin'd, from each thing met conceives delight ; 
 The smell of grain, or tedded grass, or kine, 
 Or dairy, each rural sight, each rural sound." 
 
 I felt as free and frolicksome almost as the lambs that 
 disported themselves about me, and was as happy as the 
 little birds that sang among the branches. We used to 
 lie down under the large umbrageous trees, and watch the 
 squirrels in their gambols as they leaped from branch to 
 branch. While my little daughter would amuse herself 
 by the hour in gathering wild flowers, I enjoyed my book, 
 and gave myself up to dreamy reveries. The "lowing herd 
 winding slowly o'er the lea," the bleating sheep, the song 
 of birds, the rustling leaves, the hum of insects, arid the
 
 166 " Quiet Resting-places." 
 
 murmuring streams, are sounds fraught with exquisite 
 melody to some minds. 
 
 I thoroughly enjoyed this holiday so long waited for, 
 and my health very visibly improved. It could not be 
 otherwise, for I seemed to drink in health with every 
 breath, and all nature around appeared to sympathize in 
 my gladness, so that the very trees of the wood clapped 
 their hands with joy. 
 
 I had always been a lover of Nature, and my early life 
 was spent among some of her most quiet beauties, so that 
 my enjoyment of this change was very great, and I felt 
 oftentimes 
 
 " Nature, changeless as thou. art, 
 
 Majestic in repose; 
 The same, while kingdoms pass away 
 
 And generations close; 
 The infant, in its hour of dread, 
 
 Will seek its mother's knee, 
 And by a kindred instinct led, 
 
 I turn and fly to thee !" 
 
 These " quiet resting-places " in a world of toil are 
 most grateful to an over-wrought brain and a debilitated 
 body ; and the weeks spent in this neighbourhood will ever 
 be green spots in my memory. I have very often felt, 
 when wandering alone amidst some of Nature's most 
 beautiful scenes, that there is something more than sym- 
 pathy in the works of God around us, for after all 
 
 " 'Tis not in outward loveliness 
 
 The spirit most delights ; 
 The landscape in its sunny dress, 
 
 Or starry pomp of nights; 
 These are but silent witnesses 
 
 Of that which in them lies, 
 A power pervading earth and seas, 
 
 And coming from the skies." 
 
 Some of my truest, deepest, and holiest feelings have 
 been stirred within me as I have gone out alone at even- 
 tide to meditate in some pastoral scenery : the mind has
 
 Sympathy with Nature, 167 
 
 seemed intuitively to turn to the Great Father in Heaven, 
 and all the outward world around has appeared but one 
 vast temple erected to His praise and filled with His wor- 
 shippers. I have felt a seriousness of mind steal over me 
 somewhat akin to what Moses must have experienced 
 when he heard the Divine Voice say, in accents soft and 
 tender, " Put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place 
 whereon thou standest is holy ground ; " and then 
 
 " Transfigured in this glory fair, 
 The whole earth stands, one house of prayer, 
 
 One ante-room of Heaven ; 
 For surely, though we know it not, 
 God's presence is in every spot, 
 
 To those who seek it given." 
 
 There are holy interviews between the soul and God 
 that let us into the " secret place of the Most High," 
 when we seem to " abide under the shadow of the Al- 
 mighty." We go back again to the busy working world, 
 feeling that this is not our rest ; and however hard we 
 may toil for the bread that perisheth, there is a home in 
 reserve for us, in which our nobler nature shall have free 
 scope for enjoyments and relationships such as nothing on 
 earth can afford. 
 
 Frequently have the words come, as it were instinctively, 
 to my lips, as I have been gazing upon fair scenes such as 
 I have adverted to, " all things are yours." Yes, if we 
 have given up our rebellion, and have returned in penitence 
 and love to our Father's heart and house, we may feel 
 that we have a right and title to all that is around us in 
 this fair and beautiful world. Of a Christian it may indeed 
 be said 
 
 " He looks abroad into the varied field 
 Of nature, and though poor perhaps, compared 
 With those whose mansions glitter in his sight, 
 Calls the delightful scenery all his own. 
 His are the mountains, and the valleys his, 
 And the resplendent rivers, his to enjoy
 
 168 A Wesley an Chapel 
 
 With a propriety that none can feel, 
 But who, with filial confidence inspired, 
 Can lift to Heaven an unpresumptuous eye, 
 And smiling say, ' My Father made them all ! ' 
 Are they not his by a peculiar right, 
 And by an emphasis of interest his, 
 Whose eye they fill with tears of holy joy, 
 Whose heart with praise, and whose exalted mind 
 With worthy thoughts of that unwearied love, 
 That plann'd and built, and still upholds, a world 
 So clothed with beauty for rebellious man ! " 
 
 " Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth ;" 
 and the richest worldling, though he may call himself " lord 
 of the soil," and look around upon a thousand broad acres 
 that he may rightly call his own, yet he has not the enjoy- 
 ments of the man who, though he have not an inch of ground, 
 has nevertheless the true enjoyment of all that is spread 
 out before him. If I am a child of God by faith in Jesus 
 Christ, the world and all that it contains are mine 
 
 " For me kind Nature wakes her genial power, 
 Suckles each herb, and spreads out every flower ; 
 Annual for me the grape, the rose renew, 
 The juice nectareous, and the balmy dew; 
 For me, the mine a thousand treasures brings : 
 For me, health gushes from a thousand springs : 
 Seas roll to waft me, suns to light me rise : 
 My footstool earth, my canopy the skies." 
 
 Shortly after my arrival at the quiet little village of East 
 Kudham, a little incident occurred that caused a hearty 
 laugh, not only among my relatives there, but also among 
 my friends in London. I walked out through the strag- 
 gling little village one evening, and was attracted to a 
 plain red-brick building, standing back from the road, and 
 which I afterwards found to be a Wesleyan Chapel. There 
 were about half-a-dozen people standing at the entrance, 
 and as I approached one of them made me a respectful 
 bow, and remarked that I was rather late. I looked in- 
 quiringly for an explanation, when the person said that she 
 thought I was the local preacher, who was expected from
 
 Village Prayer-meeting. 169 
 
 a neighbouring village, from the direction of which I had 
 come. I told the friends that I was no preacher, but was a 
 stranger in the neighbourhood in search of health and rest. 
 They pressed me then to occupy the pulpit, as the preacher 
 whom they expected 'had not arrived. To this request 
 I could not yield, as I had at that time never engaged in. 
 duties of that nature. They then proposed that a prayer- 
 meeting should be held, and literally led me up to the 
 chair to preside. I consented to this, more by quietly 
 yielding, than by anything said ; having learnt from them 
 the order of the service, and arranged that they should 
 call upon suitable people to pray, as I was an entire stran- 
 ger. There were about thirty persons present, chiefly 
 labourers and their wives, with one or two of a better class. 
 I thought of my stammering tongue, and feared I might 
 break down in giving out the hymn ; but there was no 
 time for hesitation, and having selected the hymn I read 
 it out in solemn tones, and with great deliberation. This 
 was followed by reading one of the Psalms ; and as they 
 were all strangers to me, I assumed a ministerial air, and 
 did not stammer in the slightest degree. The reading 
 being ended, I said, " Let us pray ;" when, to my surprise, 
 the soft voice of one of the females was heard. It was the 
 first time that I had ever heard a woman pray in public, 
 and I was a little afraid at what would follow ; my fears 
 were soon allayed, as the prayer was one suitable in all 
 respects to the occasion. The language was simple, devout, 
 and scriptural, and at the close of her prayer, a touching 
 and delicate allusion was made as to the state of my health, 
 and that I might be restored to my family benefited and 
 in safety. This was followed by another hymn, and a 
 second female prayed. This good sister was a great con- 
 trast to the last, and made up in fervour and warmth what 
 she lacked in other ways. She was the wife of one of the 
 labourers present, and her language, though scriptural and 
 devout, was not the best specimen of the " Queen's Eng- 
 lish." To this succeeded a third prayer, offered by an
 
 170 Recovery from Sickness. 
 
 elderly man with venerable look and silvery hair. After 
 this I gave out another hymn, and at the close offered a 
 short prayer, and pronounced the benediction. 
 
 I was not a little glad to find the service over, as it was 
 the first time in my life that I had ever taken a public 
 part in devotional exercises. I did not tell the friends 
 this, and they appeared to be glad that I had taken the 
 presidency at the meeting, and thanked me for my services. 
 
 My relatives were not a little surprised when I told them 
 where I had been, and how I had been engaged. They 
 were Church people, and knew nothing of Dissenting prac- 
 tices, and therefore were at a loss to understand how I 
 could have consented to have been pressed into such a 
 service. 
 
 My London friends were not a little amused that I should 
 have been taken for a Dissenting parson, and I was joked 
 about it many times. However, I made a good impression 
 upon my Wesleyan friends there, and enjoyed the service 
 much ; and I hear that, though twenty years have passed 
 since then, kind inquiries are even now made, by some 
 who were present at that meeting, about the pale-faced 
 gentleman who was staying there for the change of air. 
 
 After spending six or eight weeks in this delightful 
 neighbourhood, I returned to London, and resumed my 
 ordinary work. I was particularly cautioned by my doc- 
 tor to avoid all violent exercises, such as running, jumping, 
 and lifting anything heavy. 
 
 Every possible indulgence was granted to me by the gen- 
 tleman at the head of my department ; and I am pleased 
 to record this as only one among many instances of his great 
 kindness and consideration to those under his command 
 who, from sickness, or other causes, needed his help and 
 sympathy. During a period of more than thirty years that I 
 have had the honour of serving under him, and in which I 
 have had more than ordinary opportunities of observing what 
 has taken place, I have known that, while he looks up 
 most keenly those who would attempt to abuse the privilege
 
 Sydney Smith. 171 
 
 accorded to invalids by the trustees of our National Library, 
 I have never known a single instance of his refusing to 
 obtain, for those who really needed it, the full benefit 
 of absence from duty in cases of sickness and domestic 
 affliction. In my own case I can truly say that, had he 
 been my father, he could not have behaved to me with 
 greater kindness and consideration. 
 
 During the next two years of my life, 1845-46, I do 
 not recollect anything particularly to record beyond the 
 fact that I had a terrible struggle to keep my expenditure 
 below my income. The salaries of every one in the estab- 
 lishment to which I belonged were notoriously small, so 
 much so, that the late Mr. Joseph Hume, who took much 
 interest in the place, said that it was the worst paid of 
 all our public institutions. 
 
 However, I was happy in having a wife who not only 
 helped to improve our income by her own earnings in fancy- 
 work and embroidery, but was also most careful in our 
 expenditure ; and I was often for my own part comforted 
 by Sydney Smith's assurance, that, though " other rules 
 vary, this is the only one you will find without exception, 
 that in this world, the salary or reward is always in the 
 inverse ratio of the duties performed." 
 
 Privations, and difficulties, arising from slender means 
 and sickness, are not pleasant things to bear; but they exert 
 a salutary influence : and while one is compelled to go 
 without many little luxuries which ample means can pro- 
 cure, yet there is a vast amount of enjoyment to be had 
 from a wise and careful appropriation of even a small 
 income. Some one has said that " more mean things have 
 been done in this world under the shelter of wife and 
 children, than under any other pretext that worldly -mind- 
 edness can resort to ;" but it need not be so, if we cultivate 
 a thankful acquiescence in whatever it may please the 
 Great Father to appoint for us ; and it is most true that 
 
 " If in our daily course, our mind 
 Be set to hallow all we find,
 
 172 Children. 
 
 New treasures still of costless price 
 God will provide for sacrifice. 
 
 The trivial round, the common task 
 Would furnish all we ought to ask : 
 Room to deny ourselves a road 
 To bring us daily nearer God." 
 
 One of the subjects of the greatest anxiety to us at this 
 time, and all through the earlier part of our married life, was 
 the difficulty in procuring suitable education for our children. 
 Schools such as we should like to have sent them to were 
 beyond our reach, and those that were within our means 
 were not desirable on many accounts. The course of 
 instruction was very meagre, and then the class of children 
 sent to these cheaper schools was not such as we were 
 desirous of our little ones making companions of. 
 
 It has been my lot all through life to have had friends 
 and acquaintances whose means were far above my own ; 
 and although I cannot charge myself with being proud, 
 yet I did feel anxious to maintain our social position, and 
 in doing so we were obliged to cheerfully submit to many 
 privations. 
 
 But what is there that a father will not forgo for his 
 children; I never felt that any sacrifice was too great 
 to make for them. Bless their little hearts, how have 
 they gladdened my home when otherwise it would have 
 been cheerless and dreary ! No love is so pure, so 
 disinterested, as that of a child. What indeed would the 
 world be without children ? They are the flowers of our 
 homes and the delight of our hearts. What is more glad- 
 some than their loud, happy, joyous ringing laugh ? And 
 Heaven seems nearer to us as we gaze into their innocent 
 faces, and look into the soft depths of their loving eyes. 
 I have often felt that the words of the poet have beautifully 
 expressed my own thoughts as I have gazed admiringly 
 at them : 
 
 " little feet ! that such long years 
 Must wander on through hopes and fears,
 
 A Soldier's Return. 173 
 
 Must ache and bleed beneath your load ; 
 I, nearer to the wayside inn 
 Where toil shall- cease and hope begin, 
 
 Am weary, thinking of your road ! 
 
 little hands ! that, weak or strong, 
 Have still to serve or rule so long, 
 
 Have still so long to give or ask ; 
 I, who so much with book and pen 
 Have toil'd among my fellow-men, 
 
 Am weary, thinking of your task. 
 
 little hearts ! tliat throb and beat 
 With such impatient, feverish heat, 
 
 Such limitless and strong desires; 
 Mine that so long has glow'd and burn'd, 
 With passions into ashes turn'd, 
 
 Now covers and conceals its fires." 
 
 Towards the close of 1846 my youngest, and now only 
 surviving brother, returned from India with the remnant 
 of his regiment. He had gone out a mere lad, and re- 
 turned to us now in the prime of his manhood. He had 
 gone through all the vicissitudes of a British soldier's life 
 in a foreign land, under the burning suns of India. He 
 had seen some actual service at the battles of Maharajpore, 
 Buddiwal, Aliwal, and Sobraon, for which he had been 
 rewarded by medals. He had left my eldest brother 
 alone in his glory at Landour, sleeping in the dust, far 
 away among the lofty Himalayas. He had closed the eye- 
 lids of another loved one, who had gone scatheless through 
 some terrible battles, and was cut down like a flower, and 
 buried by the side of the mighty Ganges, on his way 
 home. 
 
 As might have been expected, our first meeting was a most 
 affecting one. Some delay had occurred in his getting a 
 furlough to visit us ; my father's health would not allow of 
 his going to meet him at the ship, and my own doctor 
 peremptorily forbade me to go, as any sudden emotion 
 might produce a return of the hemorrhage from the lungs, 
 and might be fatal to me.
 
 174 A Family Group. 
 
 We were assembled at my father's apartments in the 
 vicinity of Russell-square, and I well remember the state 
 of anxious suspense we endured as we awaited his arrival. 
 Every cab that was heard in the streets made our hearts beat 
 quicker ; and when at length he arrived, and we heard his well- 
 known voice at the door, we could hardly believe our ears. 
 In another moment he stood in our midst, and was locked 
 in his mother's embrace. It was a scene such as a painter 
 would have delighted to have transferred to canvass. The 
 tall and manly form of my brother, with the gay scarlet 
 uniform of his regiment, with face bronzed by the scorching 
 suns of India ; my mother, almost always an invalid, 
 clasping him about the neck as only a mother can ; my 
 father, bending in loving admiration over his long-expected, 
 darling boy ; my sisters and myself standing in speechless 
 joy until our turn came to have the loving kiss and the 
 hearty grip of the hand of him we loved so well. 
 
 Oh ! it was a scene to be remembered, and one that 
 gladdens this dark world of sin and woe. He told us of 
 his voyage, of his troubles, of his battles and his hair- 
 breadth escapes ; but when he came to talk of those who 
 had been left behind in that far-off land, there were sobs 
 heard in that room, Rachel weeping for her children 
 because they were not, as well as tears of joy and grati- 
 tude on account of him who had been so mercifully pre- 
 served in the day of battle, and safely returned to tell of 
 the wondrous mercy of Him who had made him the object 
 of His loving care. 
 
 All that long afternoon, and far into the hours of the 
 night, did we sit and talk of all the things that had hap- 
 pened during his absence from us. 
 
 I was admiring the golden bars upon his arm, when he 
 turned and whispered to me that the jacket he wore was 
 that that had belonged to the poor fellow they left sleeping 
 by the banks of the Ganges. It was a home-stroke that 
 quite unmanned me, and I wept like a woman till I was 
 fairly ashamed of my weakness.
 
 The Divine Order. 175 
 
 My brother brought with him many little trinkets and 
 curiosities from Lahore and other places for his mother 
 and sisters ; and he rewarded me with a silken sash, taken 
 from some Sikh chieftain slain at Aliwal. A relic that I 
 shall keep as long- as I live. 
 
 In recalling the scene that I have attempted to describe, 
 I am reminded of the Divine order and arrangements in the 
 world around us and within us. We do not become all at 
 once that which we have set our hearts upon ; it must be 
 the result of patient labour and untiring persistence : 
 
 "'Tis first the true and then the beautiful, 
 
 Not first the beautiful and then the true ; 
 First the wild moor, with rock, and reed, and pool, 
 Then the gay garden, rich in scent and hue. 
 
 'Tis first the good and then the beautiful, 
 Not first the beautiful and then the good ; 
 
 First the rough seed, sown in the rougher soil, 
 Then the flower-blossom, or the branching wood. 
 
 Not first the glad, and then the sorrowful, 
 But first the sorrowful and then the glad ; 
 
 Tears for a day, for earth of tears is full, 
 Then we forget that we were ever sad. 
 
 Not first the bright, and after that the dark, 
 But first the dark, and after that the bright; 
 
 First the thick cloud, and then the rainbow's arc, 
 First the dark grave, then resurrection-light. 
 
 'Tis first the night, stern night of storm and war, 
 Long night of heavy clouds and veiled skies, 
 
 Then the far-sparkle of the morning-star, 
 That bids the saints awake and dawn arise. 
 
 'Tis first the fight and then the victory, 
 
 Not first the victory and then the fight; 
 First the dark night, and then the dawning day 
 
 Which ushers in the everlasting light. ' 
 
 Shortly after the arrival from India of my brother I lost 
 my father. His death was very sudden, after a slight ill- 
 ness of only a few days. He was laid aside from duty for
 
 176 Death of my Father. 
 
 about a fortnight with an attack of influenza ; but the im- 
 mediate cause of death was the rupture of a blood-vessel 
 in the neighbourhood of the heart. I had seen him on the 
 evening of the night he died, and before I left assisted in 
 lifting him into bed, as he had become very weak from 
 the influenza. In bidding him good night, he held my 
 hand within his for a long time, and appeared reluctant for 
 me to leave. However, there was nothing to awaken our 
 fears as to his recovery, and I left him about ten ; but the 
 lingering pressure of his hand within mine was what I have 
 never forgotten. He was taken worse about two o'clock in 
 the morning from the cause I have mentioned, and expired 
 gently, as an infant would fall asleep, about four. My 
 mother and brother were with him ; but I did not know it 
 till my arrival at my post the next morning, when it came 
 upon me like a thunder-clap ; and not only upon myself, but 
 also all his colleagues ; for no one imagined that from so 
 slight an illness he would have died. 
 
 His loss was felt by many ; but his own immediate 
 family, and my dear mother, were well-nigh overwhelmed 
 with sorrow. He was a man of singular amiability ; 
 quiet and undemonstrative in his manners, but full to 
 overflowing of affection and love. Oh, that I could embalm 
 his memory as he deserves ! He w T as kindly, benevolent, 
 and liberal, far beyond his means. He ever responded to 
 affection's call, and was full of care for others : weary 
 often with others' burdens, generous man, and yet his own 
 loving heart was too little strong to bear it. Many mourned 
 his loss ; and he has left behind him a memory fragrant 
 and beautiful. Oh, my father, how much do I owe 
 thee ? I can never pay the happy debt until I depart 
 
 " Then will I bless and love it all away 
 In that bright world, my father, where thou art ! " 
 
 My father's affairs were left in a very unsettled state, 
 and I was nearly ruined in my poor endeavours to ad- 
 just them. Had they been, however, still more compli-
 
 Godly Sorrow. Ill 
 
 cated, no labour or sacrifice on my part would have been 
 grudged for such a -father. I had caused him much 
 anxiety, and not a little grief, by my waywardness and 
 wickedness in early life ; but he never upbraided me for 
 this in after days, and was not only a fond and loving 
 father, but also a wise and faithful counsellor, ever ready 
 to help me in all my difficulties. 
 
 The death of my father had a great effect upon my own 
 health, and I began to find a decrease in the buoyancy 
 and elasticity of mind that I had hitherto enjoyed. I 
 know not what I should have done but for the consolation 
 of religion. In the great truths of the Bible I found a 
 never-failing source of comfort and help. I saw that 
 these times of trouble came not by accident or chance ; 
 but were messengers from God to do me good the chas- 
 tisements not in anger, but in love, from One whose good- 
 ness and mercy had followed me all the days of my life. 
 It is well in time of trouble to see God's fatherly hand, 
 and 
 
 " Sorrow toucli'd by Thee grows bright, 
 
 With more than rapture's ray; 
 As darkness shows us worlds of light, 
 We never saw by day." 
 
 It is well to remember that discipline is the end of all 
 God's dealings with his children. Good old Thomas a 
 Kempis truly says that " the whole life of Christ was a 
 cross and martyrdom : and dost thou seek rest and joy ? " 
 Some people, Christian people, seem to think that the end 
 of life is to be as comfortable as possible, and to make the 
 best of both worlds. I am not by any means unmindful 
 about the good things of the present world they were 
 sent for our enjoyment, and are to be received with 
 thanksgiving and prayer ; but there are higher and 
 nobler purposes to be accomplished in passing through 
 this probationary state we are to be educated for some- 
 thing beyond the present life. 
 
 For my own part I would not have been without my
 
 178 Birth of a Son. 
 
 troubles ; they have done me good, and have, by God's 
 blessing, produced within me the peaceable fruits of 
 righteousness. In adverting to this subject I am re- 
 minded of some exquisite lines from the accomplished pen 
 of the late Earl of Carlisle, which I am sure my readers 
 will thank me for inserting here : 
 
 " How little of ourselves we know, 
 
 Before a grief the heart has felt ! 
 The lessons that we learn of woe 
 May brace the mind as well as melt. 
 
 The energies too stern for mirth, 
 
 The reach of thought, the strength of will, 
 
 'Mid cloud and tempest have their birth, 
 Through blight and blast their course fulfil ! 
 
 And yet 'tis when it mourns and fears 
 
 The loaded spirit feels forgiven; 
 And through the mist of falling tears 
 
 We catch the clearest glimpse of Heaven." 
 
 A few weeks before the death of my father we had 
 born to us a little son. The birth of a child in a family is 
 always a matter of no small joy, and this dear little fellow 
 was welcomed most heartily. We hoped that he would 
 grow up to be a companion and protector to his sisters, as 
 well as "a son of consolation " to ourselves. I was so 
 glad to have a boy that I might train him up so as to 
 avoid the evils I had fallen into. He was a darling little 
 fellow, and his mother was very proud of him ; but, alas ! 
 all our hopes were blighted by his early death, and, as 
 we thought, premature removal. He took the hooping- 
 cough from his eldest sister, and in a few days sickened 
 and died. 
 
 Everything that medical skill and tender nursing could 
 do was called into requisition to save this little one ; but 
 it was in vain. One who has gone through this trying 
 ordeal has said, in words that will move every parent's 
 heart who has watched by a sick-bed
 
 His early Death. 179 
 
 " We watch'd him breathing thro' the night, 
 
 His breathing soft and low ; 
 As in his breast the wave of life 
 Kept heaving to and fro. 
 
 So silently we seem'd to speak, 
 
 So slowly moved about, 
 As we had lent him half our power 
 
 To eke his living out. 
 
 Our very hopes belied our fears, 
 
 Our fears our hopes belied ; 
 We thought him dying when he slept, 
 
 And sleeping when he died. 
 
 For when the morn came dim and sad, 
 
 And chill with early showers, 
 His quiet eyelids closed he had 
 
 Another morn than ours." 
 
 The death of our dear little boy, so soon after the 
 removal of my father, was a great trial to us ; but, beyond 
 the loss of the child, death brought with it no terrors. "We 
 could hardly bring ourselves to believe that the child was 
 really dead, so beautiful did he look the bloom was upon 
 his little cheeks, and the pretty mouth looked more exquisite 
 than ever. As we fondly gazed at him, the beautiful 
 words of that great master of song came instinctively to 
 my mind : 
 
 " He who hath bent him o'er the dead, 
 Ere the first day of death is fled; 
 The first dark day of nothingness, 
 The last of danger and distress, 
 (Before Decay's effacing fingers 
 Have swept the lines where beauty lingers), 
 And mark'd the mild angelic air, 
 The rapture of repose that's there, 
 The fix'd, yet tender traits that streak 
 The languor of the placid cheek; 
 And, but for that sad shrouded eye, 
 That fires not, wins not, weeps not now, 
 And but for that chill, changeless brow, 
 Where cold obstruction's apathy
 
 180 A Mother's Love. 
 
 Appals the gazing mourner's heart, 
 
 As if to him it could impart 
 
 The doom he dreads, yet dwells upon. 
 
 Yes, but for these, and these alone, 
 
 Some moments, aye, one treacherous hour, 
 
 We still might doubt the tyrant's power; 
 
 So fair, so calm, so softly seal'd, 
 
 The first, last look by death reveal'd." 
 
 His mother could not bear to leave him at night, and 
 we carried his little coffin to our own bed-room, and 
 placed him on the drawers by the bed-side. It was not 
 until the day of the funeral that his eyes began to sink, 
 and the bright coral of his baby lips to fade. To put 
 such a treasure into the cold grave is no small trial of 
 faith, and especially to her who bore him ; but 
 
 " Oh ! when a mother meets on high 
 
 The babe she lost in infancy, 
 Hath she not then, for pains and fears, 
 
 The day of woe, the watchful night, 
 For all her sorrow, all her toars, 
 
 An over payment of delight ? " 
 
 Among the many friends who condoled with us on the 
 loss of our child was our pastor. He was a man pre- 
 eminently fitted for pastoral visitation, as well as being so 
 distinguished as a preacher. His presence in a sick 
 chamber and the house of mourning was like the entrance 
 of the light after a dark and stormy night. He moved so 
 quietly, and his tones were so gentle, that the most excited 
 felt soothed by his first few words of kindly greeting. He 
 was a man of thoughtful brow, and meek full dark eye, 
 with large projecting eyebrows. There was a tender and 
 delicate sort of melancholy about him that the better 
 qualified him to comfort and console the mourner or the 
 invalid ; and yet he was full of wit and quiet fun, and 
 could say things on suitable occasions to make you hold 
 your sides for laughter. The mind that has an equal 
 mixture of melancholy and vivacity is sure to be attractive ;
 
 Pastoral Cares. 181 
 
 but to be lively without levity, and pensive without dejec- 
 tion, is a very jare quality. These qualities were found 
 in a remarkable and unusual degree in our pastor; and 
 his many visits made to me in sickness, and to our house- 
 hold in times of sorrow and bereavement, were among the 
 most pleasant and profitable in my history. 
 
 He appeared ever to feel the great responsibility of his 
 position, for 
 
 " 'Tis not a cause of small import 
 
 The pastor's care demands ; 
 But what might fill an angel's heart, 
 And fill'd a Savior ' 
 
 It would be well if the members of our Churches would 
 remember how valuable is the time of such a man, and 
 how foolish it is to waste his precious moments in talk 
 about a hundred things that are of no sort of importance. 
 When prevented by sickness from attending the Sanctuary, 
 our pastor would make frequent visits ; he would tell me 
 of what he had been preaching on the past Sabbath, and 
 has often thus furnished me with profitable subjects for 
 thought and meditation. His prayers on these occasions 
 were the soft and tender breathings of a strong but loving 
 nature ; and when his visit was over, and he was gone, 
 you felt that you had been holding intercourse with one of 
 " Nature's noblemen," whose influence would last for many 
 days. 
 
 Our children were very fond of him, and he was parti- 
 cularly partial to our eldest girl, who always ran to him 
 with that intuitive knowledge that a child has of those who 
 love them. He never, as a rule, visited his people while 
 they were able to attend the services, as the congregation 
 was so large that it would have been impossible ; but if 
 any of his flock were in trouble, or sick, he was always 
 found among them, let their position in life be ever so 
 humble. There were more than eight hundred registered 
 members of the Church under his pastoral care at the time 
 I am writing of, besides a great many occasional commu-
 
 182 Pulpit Preparation. 
 
 nicants ; and it will be apparent that, with such a number, 
 to visit in times of affliction was no small labour. His 
 wife once told me, on my asking when he prepared his 
 sermons, that they were generally written between the 
 hours of twelve at night and three in the morning. He 
 has himself informed me, when conversing on the subject 
 of preaching, that he never let a train of thought escape 
 him, let the hour of the night be what it may, he always 
 got up and jotted it down. To meet the same congrega- 
 tion Sabbath after Sabbath with anything worth listening 
 to, requires that a man should work hard, and my friend 
 told me that wherever he was, or however he might be 
 engaged, either at home or abroad, he was ever collecting 
 materials for sermons. When a younger man he used to 
 think that thoughts which came trooping unbidden, like a 
 flock of birds, would come again when he wanted them, 
 and had more leisure to entertain them, and put them to 
 some good purpose ; but he found they did not come again 
 oftentimes, and therefore he formed the habit of securing 
 them on paper whenever and wherever he might be. 
 
 To have to meet a London congregation from week to 
 week, such as that which assembled in the house of prayer 
 I attended, was no small drain on the intellectual and 
 nervous powers of a man. It is not only the preaching 
 that must be provided for, but there is to bring the many 
 varied wants of such a multitude before God in prayer, 
 and this in language that shall be edifying and profitable. 
 Our reverend brother in the Establishment has no such 
 drain upon him, inasmuch as a liturgy is provided, which, 
 for comprehensiveness, as well as devotional feeling, cannot 
 be expelled. And yet there is something in the exercise 
 of free prayer, when conducted by a man of ability, and 
 who himself cultivates the spirit and habit of devotion, 
 that is very refreshing and helpful. I have heard Church- 
 men speak with contempt and ridicule of a Dissenting 
 parson's prayers ; but though this may be true of some, it 
 is by no means applicable to many of the men who fill our
 
 A Liturgy. 183 
 
 metropolitan and provincial pulpits. I would for my own 
 part far rather listen to the beautiful service of the Church 
 of England, rich in devotional thought, and expressed in 
 language simple and sublime, than the loud and noisy 
 prayers, in hackneyed language and irreverent manner, 
 that may be heard in some of our Dissenting Chapels. 
 
 I have often thought that Nonconformists might with 
 much advantage use a liturgy occasionally ; as well as that 
 the reading of the Scriptures in our chapels should be 
 more consecutive, as is the case in the lessons prescribed 
 by the Church of England. 
 
 I have always been at a loss, however, to understand 
 why in the public services of the Church of England the 
 Book of Revelation has been entirely excluded, while the 
 Apocryphal books form a part of the daily reading. I 
 have been a little surprised sometimes to find that intelli- 
 gent Churchmen had never noticed this strange anomaly. 
 
 I am a Nonconformist upon principle, and I glory in 
 the freedom of our Churches, and would die the death of a 
 martyr rather than relinquish one jot or tittle of the liberty 
 and freedom obtained for us by our noble forefathers ; yet, 
 nevertheless, I am not so blind to some of the evils that 
 obtain in our Churches, as not to desire that they should be 
 removed. I know by making this confession I shall be 
 charged by some of the old school of Dissenters with 
 deserting their principles ; but I care not for this, as I am 
 not so wedded to Dissent as not to see that there are im- 
 perfections in our Church arrangements which we should 
 do well to consider and remove. 
 
 The ability to remove any evils in our midst, either of 
 doctrine or practice, is one of the distinguishing charac- 
 teristics of Congregationalism ; and there are to be found 
 among us a noble body of men, both lay and clerical, 
 equal to any in other denominations, who are well able to 
 grapple with difficulties that may stand in the way of such 
 improvements ; and I would say to them with all humility, 
 " I speak as unto wise men ; judge ye what I say."
 
 184 Discu'ssion Meetings. 
 
 To return once more to my personal history. Trouble 
 and bereavement had done their work upon me, and given 
 me a more sober and serious view of life, but 
 
 " Was not earth's most auspicious hour 
 
 One darksome, sad, and wild ? 
 When crucifixion was the birth, 
 Redemption was the child." 
 
 I had a good many privations to undergo from slender 
 means, and we rarely had the doctor out of the house for 
 many weeks during the year : but I was enabled to breast 
 the wave, and hold on ; and I thought that 
 
 " If misfortune comes, she brings along 
 The bravest virtues. And so many great 
 Illustrious spirits have conversed with woe, 
 Have in her school been taught, as are enough 
 To consecrate distress, and make ambition 
 E'en wish the frown beyond the smile of fortune." 
 
 In the next year or two of my life nothing occurs to me 
 that is worth recording. Matters went on much as usual, 
 excepting that in 1848 I gained promotion at my place of 
 business that increased in a small degree my income, so 
 that I was less anxious about the ways and means. Just 
 about this time I joined a small society of friends for mu- 
 tual improvement in reading aloud, and for the discussion 
 of moral, political, and social questions. There were only 
 about a dozen members, and the meetings were held at 
 the houses of those who had the best accommodation for 
 such purposes. 
 
 These meetings were very pleasant. In the reading 
 meetings a certain number of the members would select 
 pieces of prose or poetry, and these were read and criti- 
 cised in the freest possible manner, both as t6 the compo- 
 sitions themselves, and the manner in which they .had been 
 read or delivered. 
 
 It is surprising how few really good readers are to be 
 found either in private society or in our reading desks and 
 pulpits. Heading is thought by some to be one of the
 
 Good Reading. 185 
 
 easiest things in the world to do ; but let any one go into 
 our public courts, and churches and chapels, and it will 
 soon be evident that to read well is by no means an easy 
 accomplishment. Until lately very little attention had been 
 given to the subject ; but we have had many professional 
 readings of late years, and the people generally appear to 
 be more desirous of acquiring a correct and pleasurable 
 mode of reading, instead of the careless, drawling habit 
 that is for the most part seen and heard in our social 
 circles, as well as public places. 
 
 No exercise is more conducive to health than good read- 
 ing, providing certain rules are borne in mind. Those 
 who are desirous of attaining a habit of good reading will do 
 well to consult a small work lately published by a gentleman 
 who has given more attention to the subject than almost 
 any one that I know of. It is entitled, " The Right 
 Management of the Voice, and on Delivery in Speaking 
 and Reading. By the Rev. W. W. Cazalet, A.M." 
 
 The discussion meetings of the little society of which I 
 was a member were always looked forward to with much 
 pleasure. Almost all the topics of the day were brought 
 under consideration, and it fell to my lot to prepare short 
 essays on some subjects that could not but be interesting 
 in discussing ; and I am sure that the preparation required 
 was a very healthful exercise in testing one's mental re- 
 sources, and accustoming one's self to address a meeting 
 without that fear and dread that is mostly the case when 
 a man has never measured himself fairly with his fellows 
 in intellectual combat. The subjects allotted to me were 
 " The Claims of our Roman Catholic Fellow-subjects to 
 the Rights of Citizenship ;" " Slavery ; is it a thing sanc- 
 tioned by God ?" " In what Sense, and to what Extent, 
 are the Scriptures Inspired?" " The Sovereignty of God 
 and the Free-agency of Man," <fcc. 
 
 The discussion of these and kindred subjects was found 
 to be exceedingly useful and interesting, and we were ac- 
 customed to express ourselves most freely and unreservedly
 
 186 Inspiration of the Scriptures. 
 
 on the questions introduced. I recollect that the paper I 
 drew up on the Inspiration of the Scriptures caused a good 
 deal of discussion, and was useful to not a few of the mem- 
 bers whose views upon that great subject had been very 
 loose or mistaken. 
 
 As the subject of the Inspiration of the Scriptures is one 
 that occupies a very prominent position just now, I may 
 be pardoned for adverting to the paper I drew up on that 
 important question. 
 
 I felt the solemnity of the subject, and at the same time 
 did not shrink from boldly and fearlessly speaking of some 
 of the theories which had been put forth by those who 
 have written on the Inspiration of the Scriptures ; striving 
 earnestly, at the same time, not to forget the decorum which 
 becomes the discussion of solemn subjects. 
 
 I had seen sufficiently into the question to be most 
 thoroughly convinced that fully to grapple with the great 
 subject required an amount of scholarship and ability to 
 whicli I did not for a moment pretend. I was convinced 
 that that was a fitting task for a powerful and resolute 
 mind, which should bring to the subject not only profound 
 scholarship, but also an energy and earnestness commensu- 
 rate in some measure with an inquiry which had long been 
 felt by those who meditated on theology to be a most 
 pressing want of the Church. 
 
 I knew also that those who would be engaged in dis- 
 cussing the matter were men, like myself, desirous of 
 understanding the real merits of the question in a religious 
 aspect for our daily guidance in the perusal and medita- 
 tion of the sacred volume. 
 
 That the book, or collection of books, whicli we call the 
 Bible was inspired in some sense, has been the current 
 belief of the Church in all ages, and this was most cordially 
 believed by those who were assembled with me to discuss 
 the subject. There was not in any one of us a perhaps, 
 or peradventure, as to whether the Bible was of God ; we 
 all knew by an internal conviction, which no power of
 
 In what it consists. 187 
 
 argument or sophistry could in any way shake, that in 
 receiving it as a Divine revelation we had not followed 
 " cunningly devised fables ;" but were resting our faith 
 upon " the oracles of God." And further, we knew, all 
 of us, that the ultimate appeal in matters of faith and 
 doctrine had ever been made to these venerable writings. 
 
 The Apostle Paul, in writing to the Corinthians, tells 
 them that " the things of God knoweth no man, but the 
 spirit of God," (1 Cor. ii. 11); but the writers of the 
 Bible speak with as much familiarity of the " things of 
 God," as they do of the things of man. They always 
 speak as consciously authorized instructors : not only do 
 they, as other historians, relate facts, and pass opinions 
 fairly within the scope of their faculties, but they with 
 equal confidence deliver judgments belonging to a far 
 higher domain. 
 
 I did not in the paper referred to enter upon the question 
 of the canon of Scripture, but accepted it as the Church has 
 received it, and therefore confined my remarks to the in- 
 quiry, In what sense, and to what extent are the Scriptures 
 inspired ? 
 
 In considering the subject I was bound to admit that a 
 large and numerous body of Christians, from an early 
 period, distinguished alike by piety, learning, and intel- 
 lectual status, have affirmed, that the Bible is God's word 
 in the same sense as if He had made use of no human 
 agent, but had Himself spoken it as He did the Decalogue. 
 These held that " every word, every syllable, every letter, 
 is just what it would have been had God spoken from 
 Heaven without any human intervention." 
 
 A writer of no small ability,* who sets forth this theory, 
 says with much candour, " I am aware how large a claim 
 this is to make for the Bible, and the very largeness of 
 the claim has produced much painful doubt in many minds. 
 But we must never argue from inconveniences. Truth 
 
 * Baylee, " On Verbal Inspiration of the Scriptures."
 
 188 Verbal Inspiration. 
 
 or falsehood is the only rational test by which to examine 
 principles." He goes on to affirm that " this is indeed a 
 large claim to make for the Bible, but it is not more than 
 can be fully demonstrated. The Bible," he says, "is 
 the word of God it is appealed to as God's words, every 
 natural image is found to be most wonderfully true, every 
 scientific statement is infallibly accurate, its words and 
 phrases have a grammatical and philological accuracy 
 such as is possessed by no human composition ; it is not 
 only God's word, but God's words : then it is indeed ver- 
 bally inspired, every letter of it is stamped with the image 
 of God, and with the superscription of His name as the 
 unalloyed coin of His glorious kingdom." 
 
 Now I felt that this kind of dogmatism used by the ad- 
 vocates and defenders of a verbal theory of inspiration, 
 while it is pleasing to a morbidly orthodox ear, and passes 
 current with the disciples of a certain theological school, 
 will never satisfy a calm and thoughtful inquirer, or a 
 mind really anxious to " prove all things," as the proper 
 preliminary to " holding fast that which is good." 
 
 I have no sympathy with those advocates of a theory of 
 inspiration which ignores phenomena, and exalts a priori 
 conclusions ; or, in other words, excludes the Baconian 
 method of induction from the domain of theology. 
 
 If the sacred writers claimed this special inspiration, 
 then indeed there would be nothing left us but to admit 
 that a sound believer in Revelation must receive it, for 
 inspired men best know the nature of the gift by which 
 they are endowed. But they do not make any such claim, 
 or give any such definition, as to exclude the inquiry as 
 to what inspiration is, what are its characteristics, its ex- 
 tent, and its limits. 
 
 Now, while yielding to no man in my unwavering re- 
 pose and unquestioning trust in the truth of God's word, 
 yet it is in the truth of its great and saving statements, its 
 revealed facts and doctrines that my faith rests : and not 
 in the infallibility of its minute references to matters which
 
 Its UntcnaUeness. 189 
 
 in no way concern the competency of the writers to instruct 
 us in Divine things. 
 
 Those who hold the verbal theory of inspiration repre- 
 sent the mind as the passive recipient of Divine truth ; 
 and one illustration of this theory is, to quote their own 
 language, " that the mental faculties of the Apostles and 
 Prophets were like so many pipes of an organ into which 
 the Divine Spirit breathed, and without any concurrence 
 of their own, sent forth the music of Divine truth to ravish 
 the ears of the world." 
 
 With reference to this theory, the idea is entertained by 
 many, that a distinct commission to write was in every 
 instance given to the sacred penmen by God ; that each 
 book came forth with a specific impress of Deity upon it ; 
 and that the whole of the canon of Scripture was gradually 
 completed by so many distinct and decisive acts of Divine 
 ordination. Now the evidence of this opinion must, I 
 think, be regarded as totally defective, and its growth and 
 progress in the Church can only be ascribed to the low 
 and mechanical view of the whole question of inspiration 
 itself. Let any one look carefully through the books 
 composing the Old and New Testaments, and consider 
 how many can lay claim to any distinct commission; and 
 consequently how their inspiration can be at all defended, 
 if it be made to rest upon this condition, I am quite at a 
 loss to determine. That Moses had a divine commission 
 to institute the Jewish Theocracy, and to give both the 
 moral and ceremonial law to the people, there can be no 
 question ; but that does not prove any Divine commission 
 to write the whole of the Pentateuch as we now have it. 
 I would not have it thought by these remai'ks that I throw 
 the slightest shade of doubt upon the inspired source of 
 the Pentateuch, as perhaps no book of Scripture has greater 
 internal arguments to vindicate its Divine origination. If 
 we pass on to the books of Joshua, Judges, Euth, Samuel, 
 Kings, and Chronicles, where in any one of these books can 
 we discover any specific Divine ordination that they should
 
 190 Inspiration Theories. 
 
 be written at all? So far from finding this, the very 
 authors are totally unknown ; and all that we can say is 
 that they were universally received, both as veracious 
 histories, and as containing correct religious sentiments, 
 by the Jewish people. In like manner the date and au- 
 thorship of the book of Job are highly problematical, and 
 the learned are quite at a loss to assign any other reason 
 for its being received into the Jewish canon except the 
 extraordinary religious value of its contents. 
 
 If we look again to the Psalms, respecting the author- 
 ship of many we are altogether in ignorance ; and those 
 which are undoubtedly ascribed to .David were evidently 
 intended as sacred hymns and odes, some of them written 
 for the Temple service, and others the natural outpourings 
 of a mind at once devotional and poetic. We cannot find 
 in any case, as far as I can learn, that' they were written 
 by express commission, and all that we can say is that 
 they embodied the religious consciousness, or, if the term 
 be preferred, the state of inspiration to which the mind 
 of the writer was elevated. 
 
 With regard to the prophetic writings, these certainly 
 occupy a much higher position than the historical books, 
 inasmuch as we learn that the authors actually received a 
 prophetic commission to declare the counsels of God to 
 the people. This does not, however, necessarily involve 
 any distinct and separate commission to write the books in 
 question ; nor have we any reason, as far as I know, to 
 regard their writings as inspired in any other sense than 
 as containing the authentic announcements of their oral 
 testimony. 
 
 Passing from the Old Testament to the New, the same 
 entire absence of any distinct commission to the writers of 
 the several books (with the exception perhaps of the Apo- 
 calypse) presents itself. The Gospels, for example, were 
 regarded in the second as in the nineteenth century, as 
 authentic documents descending from the Apostolic age, 
 and containing the substance of the Apostolic testimony.
 
 Inspiration Theories. 191 
 
 I cannot but believe that upon the authenticity, or rather 
 the apostolicity, of our Gospels rests their claim to inspi- 
 ration. Containing the substance of the Apostles' testi- 
 mony, they carry with them that special power of the Holy 
 Spirit which rested on the Apostles in virtue of their office, 
 and also on other teachers and preachers of the first age. 
 
 The subject is a very wide one, and second in impor- 
 tance to hardly any that can be raised ; but it seems to me, 
 after a thoughtful consideration of the question, that the 
 proper idea of inspiration, as applied to the Scriptures, does 
 not include verbal dictation, or any distinct commission 
 from God. 
 
 The inspiration of the sacred writers I believe to have 
 consisted in the fulness of the influence of the Holy Spirit 
 specially raising them to, and enabling them for, their 
 work, in a manner which distinguishes them from all other 
 writers in the world, and their writings from all other 
 writings. 
 
 The men were full of the Holy Ghost, and " spake as 
 they were moved " by His divine influence. The books 
 of Scripture are the pouring out of that fulness through 
 the men, the conservation of the treasure in " earthen 
 vessels." 
 
 Some one has truly said that " the treasure is ours in 
 all its richness, but it is ours, as it only can be ours, in the 
 imperfections of human speech, in the limitations of 
 human thought, in the variety incident first to individual 
 character, and then to manifold transcription and the lapse 
 of ages." 
 
 I would only add further my humble belief that the Scrip- 
 tures contain all that is necessary to man's salvation. " It is 
 not," to use the words of one who has written on the sub- 
 ject, " arithmetical truth, nor geographical truth, nor anti- 
 quarian truth, nor scientific truth, which we must go to the 
 Scriptures to learn, but moral and religious truth. Errors 
 may have crept in with the progress of time, and under 
 the progress of transcription and translation ; but, with all
 
 192 Free Enquiry. 
 
 these errors and apparent discrepancies before us, they do 
 not change a single fact, nor affect a single doctrine. The 
 Bible is made up of facts and doctrines, not of the history 
 of those facts and doctrines. The histories may vary, but 
 the truths and the facts on which those truths are based are 
 unchangeable." 
 
 What the Apostle John says, in concluding his gospel, 
 is equally applicable to the entire Scriptures : " These 
 things are written that ye might believe that Jesus is the 
 Christ, the Son of God, and that believing ye might have 
 life through His name." 
 
 There are those who would have us believe in the pre- 
 sent day that a great part of the Old Testament is only 
 valuable in an antiquarian point of view, and that much of 
 its teaching has become obsolete. We are quite willing 
 that the Bible should be put into the crucible, and sub- 
 jected to the severest test that man can invent, as we have 
 nothing to fear from true criticism. One who has devoted 
 the labours of a life to the investigation of Biblical science,* 
 has stated, that " the object of true criticism is not to alter 
 Scripture dogmatically on the judgment of any individual, 
 but it is to use the evidence which has been transmitted to 
 us as to what the holy men of God, inspired by the Holy 
 Ghost, actually wrote." 
 
 For my own part, I believe that one of the very greatest 
 advantages an enlightened people can enjoy is the liberty 
 of freely discussing every subject which can fall within the 
 compass of the human mind. A great writer on moral 
 and religious questions, lately removed from among us, 
 says truly that, " however some may affect to dread contro- 
 versy, it can never be of ultimate disadvantage to the in- 
 terests of truth or the happiness of mankind. The colours 
 with which wit or eloquence may have adorned a false 
 system will gradually die away, sophistry be detected, and 
 everything estimated at length according to its true value." 
 
 * Dr. Tregelles.
 
 Homoeopathy. 193 
 
 I have no fears as to the ultimate triumph of truth ; and 
 I firmly believe, in spite of all the open and avowed attacks 
 made by infidels on the one hand, and by the more danger- 
 ous and insidious sophistries of those who hold high posi- 
 tions in the National Church on the other, that the Bible is 
 the grandest, the noblest, the most sublime book anywhere 
 to be found in the world. 
 
 About this period of my life my attention was called to 
 the subject of Homeopathy ; and, in order that I might 
 know something as to the real merits of the question, I cast 
 about for a book that would fairly present the matter for 
 consideration. After looking at a good many works advo- 
 cating its claims, written by members of the medical pro- 
 fession, I decided upon carefully reading a volume issued 
 under the superintendence of the British Homoeopathic 
 Association, entitled, " Truths and their Eeception, consi- 
 dered in relation to the Doctrine of Homoeopathy," by 
 Marmaduke Sampson. 
 
 I have never been deterred by ridicule from the examina- 
 tion of any subject ; and it has always appeared to me to 
 be a poor, miserable shift to smile or sneer at a thing you 
 know nothing about, simply because a number of people 
 have condemned it, and some great names have denounced 
 it as a heresy not to be tolerated. Everything good in the 
 world has been treated in this way, and I can recollect 
 many things, that are now established and recognized facts, 
 that for a man once to have confessed that he believed in, 
 would have been a reason for his being counted a fanatic 
 and a quack. Sometimes I have heard it sneeringly re- 
 marked, What can you expect from a man who believes in 
 homoeopathy ? I can only say that, having examined as 
 carefully as I could the evidence adduced for the correctness 
 of the great truth, " Similia similibus curantur," I was 
 thoroughly persuaded that reason and argument were in 
 favour of homoeopathy. Having ascertained that, I tried 
 it first upon my own person with marked effect, and then 
 upon my children with complete success. Since that period
 
 194 "Similia similibus curantur." 
 
 I have had many serious attacks of illness, but have never 
 doubted the soundness of Hahnemann's celebrated axiom ; 
 and I cannot but think that, had I been treated by what 
 are called " the doctors of the old school," I should long 
 ere this have " gone to the bourne from whence no tra- 
 veller returns." More than fifteen years' experience of the 
 correctness of the principle and practice, is not to be upset 
 by a joke in " Punch," or a bitter paragraph from " The 
 Lancet." 
 
 The Literature of Homoeopathy now takes its place in 
 the realms of thought, and among its practitioners are 
 found some of the ablest physicians of the day.* There 
 is a great advantage that the new system has over the old, 
 namely, that Nature has a far better chance to right her- 
 self under Homoeopathic treatment than by the large and 
 ponderous doses of the old school ; the longer I live the 
 greater is my faith in the restorative powers of Nature. I 
 do not forget the affirmation of Dr. Forbes, the late Editor 
 of the " Medico- Chirurgical Review," than whom no one 
 is more competent to judge, who says that the mortality 
 would not be so great if diseases were not treated medi- 
 cinally. 
 
 I am not such a fool as to believe that Homoeopathy is 
 everything that could be desired, or that all that Hahne- 
 mann taught is to be believed ; but I do believe that the 
 world owes a large debt of gratitude to that great man for 
 the discovery and application of a truth that must at no 
 distant period be universally admitted and acted upon. 
 
 In 1850, I had another addition to my family a little 
 daughter. These arrivals were always looked forward to 
 with very much pleasure, and never regarded as a misfor- 
 tune, as I have sometimes heard friends, with what are 
 
 * For confirmation of this see the list of members of the British 
 Homoeopathic Association ; and those who want further informa- 
 tion upon the entire question will do well to consult a work en- 
 titled, " Homoeopathy and its Principles explained," by John Epps, 
 M.J).
 
 "A Babe in a House" 195 
 
 called " slender means," remark. The birth of a child 
 into a family ought ever to be regarded with joy. It was 
 always so in my own case : I subscribe most heartily to- 
 what the author of "Proverbial Philosophy" says upon 
 the subject : 
 
 " A babe in a house is a well-spring of pleasure, a messenger of 
 
 peace and love : 
 A resting-place for innocence on earth ; a link between angels 
 
 and men : 
 Yet is it a talent of trust, a loan to be rendered back with 
 
 interest; 
 A delight, but redolent of care ; honey-sweet, but lacking not 
 
 the bitter." 
 
 Yes, these dear little ones always brought with them an 
 increase of love : and that father is not to be envied, who, 
 whatever else he may possess, has no love for his children, 
 and does not feel it to be a happiness and privilege to toil 
 for them. My children have been to me the occasion of 
 my greatest joy, and some of the pleasantest hours of my 
 life have been passed, not only in the enjoyment of their 
 playful gambols, but also in wording with hand and head 
 for their welfare and happiness. 
 
 In 1851 we removed from St. John's- wood to the 
 neighbourhood of Queen-square, that I might be nearer 
 to my place of business, as my health began to awaken 
 some apprehension on the part of my wife and family. 
 
 We were very loath to leave St. John's -wood for many 
 reasons, but chiefly on account of our attachment to our 
 dear pastor. However, I had learnt, among other things 
 from him, that sacrifices must be made for duty, and that 
 inclination must never stand in the way of a man's reso- 
 lutely carrying out that which he sees to be right. 
 
 For seventeen years I had been a constant and careful 
 attendant upon the ministry of this good man. I can 
 never adequately express the deep sense of obligation I 
 feel with reference to him. He was the means, under 
 God, of first awakening within me a state of moral
 
 196 A Retrospect. 
 
 thoughtfulness, and of directing me to an Almighty 
 Saviour. He gave me a taste for reading, and lent me 
 from his own library books, the influence of which upon 
 me will never cease. He instructed me in Divine things 
 as " a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly 
 dividing the word of truth." He visited me in times of 
 sickness and trouble, and comforted my heart when I have 
 been well-nigh swallowed up of over-much sorrow. I feel, 
 and I am right glad to record my obligation, that, what- 
 ever I am as a husband, a father, a friend, and a member 
 of society, I owe it mainly to the preaching and influence 
 of this great and good man upon me. He has recently 
 retired from the ministry with a shattered nervous system 
 and impaired health, and I trust that his declining years 
 may be happy and peaceful, and that an abundant entrance 
 may be ministered unto him, when he dies, into the ever- 
 lasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. 
 
 He has published only a few occasional sermons ; but 
 those who feel any interest in what he was as a preacher, 
 can judge in some degree of his powers by a volume of 
 sermons he has recently published, entitled, " Freedom 
 and Happiness in the Truth and Ways of Christ."* The 
 twenty sermons contained in this volume were selected as 
 samples of his preaching, in the ordinary course of his 
 ministry; and those who heard them with the living voice, 
 and accompanied with the nervous power that he could 
 put into them, will regret that such a man should no 
 longer be heard in our metropolitan pulpits. 
 
 The apartments we occupied in Brunswick-row, Queen - 
 square, were very commodious and healthy. It was one 
 of the old-fashioned houses that abound in that neighbour- 
 hood. You might have driven a hackney-coach up the 
 
 * As this gentleman has now for many years retired altogether 
 from public life, I may, without impropriety, give the title of his 
 last published work: " A Retrospect of Forty Years in the Wilder- 
 ness. A Sermon preached at Paddington Chapel, June 27th, 1858. 
 By James Straiten. Ward and Co., 27, Paternoster Eow."
 
 A New Pastor. 197 
 
 staircase. Our front-rooms overlooked the garden of the 
 Rev. Fred. Maurice, one of the most accomplished clergy- 
 men of the Church of England, whose labours in con- 
 nection with the Working-men's College will ever be 
 remembered by a class that has, until lately, been sadly 
 neglected. The back-windows overlooked the gardens in 
 Queen-square, so that we had floral beauties and green 
 trees both back and front. 
 
 There is, perhaps, no part of London more healthy than 
 the neighbourhood of Russell-square. The soil is gravel, 
 and the drainage for the most part good. The nearness 
 to my official duties was a great convenience, as it enabled 
 me to dine with my family instead of going to a tavern for 
 that purpose. We missed, however, our walks in the 
 Regent's-park, but, most of all, the ministry of our good 
 pastor. 
 
 After hearing some of the Nonconformist ministers in 
 the neighbourhood to which we had removed, we connected 
 ourselves with a Church presided over by one of the most 
 popular preachers of the day. Our new pastor was mainly 
 distinguished by what I may call his hearty manner and 
 devout demeanour in the pulpit, and which deservedly 
 commends him to the sympathies of his large and highly 
 respectable congregation. 
 
 The Church with which we were connected at Blooms- 
 bury was what is denominated Baptist ; but the constitution 
 of its society was such that ah 1 Christians were admitted to 
 its communion, and a large number of the communicants 
 were Paedobaptists. Most of the Baptist Churches in Lon- 
 don and the provinces are formed upon this Catholic basis, 
 and the members of such Churches are found to work most 
 harmoniously together. There is no compromise on the 
 part of the Baptist, and his Paedobaptist brother is treated 
 in all respects on an equality with himself, and has, more- 
 over, the benefit, if he pleases, of seeing the ordinance of 
 believers' baptism administered, and, consequently, of 
 having the subject occasionally brought under his notice.
 
 198 Promotion. 
 
 The services at this popular and crowded chapel were so 
 conducted as to afford nourishment to the spiritual life, and 
 the minister there is known to be a man eminently useful 
 to a certain class of people. As a speaker from the plat- 
 form, as well as a preacher, he is always listened to with 
 attentive interest : and some of his lectures at Exeter Hall, 
 before the Young Men's Christian Association, have pro- 
 duced a great and lasting effect. 
 
 This gentleman received me with his usual kindness 
 and urbanity ; and during the four years we attended his 
 ministry he was everything that we could desire, both as a 
 pastor and a friend. 
 
 For the next year or two of my life I cannot remember 
 that anything occurred that would be interesting to my 
 friends. I had still to work hard, not only at my ordinary 
 duties, but also at other times whenever I could get any 
 writing to do ; and my vacations continued to be employed 
 in earning money to meet the urgent necessities of our 
 daily life, instead of being devoted to recreation and rest. 
 
 However, I had great reason to be thankful that my 
 health was, for the most part, such as to enable me to de- 
 vote my leisure hours in obtaining the means for making 
 my home more comfortable, as well as procuring some 
 suitable education for my children a thing I have never 
 been able to do from my ordinary salary. 
 
 In the spring of 1854 I obtained, quite unexpectedly, 
 the office of Receiver of Publications delivered under the 
 Copyright Act at the British Museum. I had some quali- 
 fications for this duty, having not only been connected with 
 the bookselling trade from my earliest days, but I had 
 already discharged the same duty for two of the privileged 
 libraries from 1833 to 1842, so that I was fully acquainted 
 with all the practical details of the work. 
 
 I had looked wistfully at the appointment ever since the 
 death of my father in 1847 ; but as the duty of seeing that 
 the Copyright Act was complied with, on the part of the 
 Trustees of the British Museum, at that time rested with
 
 Copyright Act. 199 
 
 the secretary ; the keeper of the printed books, strangely 
 enough, had nothing whatever to do with the Act, but to 
 receive the publications when they were transferred to the 
 library from the secretary's office. 
 
 The Eoyal Commission * that was appointed to inquire 
 into the constitution and management of the British Mu- 
 seum rectified many of the anomalies that existed up to 
 that time ; and among other things effected by that com- 
 mission was, that the keeper of the printed books should 
 henceforth have the entire management and control of the 
 provisions of the Copyright Act, relating to the delivery of 
 publications at the National Library. 
 
 As soon as a fitting opportunity presented itself, the 
 gentleman at the head of the department I had served in, 
 and without any application on my part, very kindly 
 recommended me for the appointment as receiver, f 
 
 The work was most congenial to me, and the position it 
 gave me in the establishment was in advance of that 
 which I had previously occupied. The salary of the 
 receiver of copyright publications, at the time I refer to, 
 was but a few pounds a year more than I had received in 
 
 * An epitome of the voluminous evidence given before this Com- 
 mission by Mr. Panizzi would, if published, be most interesting to 
 those desirous of becoming acquainted with the rise and progress of 
 the National Library. That evidence manifests a thorough knowledge 
 and grasp of the subject; and with the new reading-room with its 
 adjuncts, as a part of its practical development, will be a noble and 
 an enduring monument to the fame of the eminent librarian to 
 whom England and the literary world owe so much. 
 
 f This is only one of the many acts of unsolicited kindness that 
 I have received from this gentleman. Since these pages were 
 written, and while they are passing through the press, Mr. Panizzi 
 has laid at Her Majesty's feet the high and responsible appointment 
 she was pleased to confer upon him some years since. The Trus- 
 tees of the British Museum, and the House of Commons, have alike 
 acknowledged the eminent services of Mr. Panizzi, and I trust he 
 may long enjoy, among his much-loved books and many friends, 
 the rest and leisure so well earned, and so much needed, after a 
 long and uninterrupted life of toil and anxiety.
 
 200 Death of my Mother. 
 
 my former position in the library ; but the hours of 
 attendance were lessened, and my vacation was increased. 
 
 I gave myself to the discharge of my new duties most 
 unreservedly so much so as to injure my already im- 
 paired health ; but I was fond of the work, and I was 
 also desirous of evincing my gratitude to the head of my 
 department for having so kindly selected me for the office. 
 
 In the following year, 1855, my mother died very sud- 
 denly, after an illness of a single day. I was summoned 
 to her bed-side immediately on hearing of her sickness ; 
 but it was believed that the medicines administered were 
 of that powerful nature that she was perfectly stupified by 
 them, and could not articulate a word, and was unconscious 
 of anything that was passing around until she sunk gradu- 
 ally away. 
 
 There was no occasion for my mother to have made any 
 expression of the state of her mind, as her previous life 
 had sufficiently shown that she was a Christian of no 
 mean attainments ; and, after all, it is not so much how 
 we die as how we have lived. She had been a woman of 
 prayer from her early life ; and her knowledge of the 
 Scriptures, and delight in public worship were known to 
 all her family circle. Towards the close of the day on 
 which she died I whispered into her ear some passages of 
 Scripture ; she heard them, and tried to lift the heavy 
 eyelids, but could not. There was a beautiful tranquil 
 smile upon her countenance, and once I felt a slight 
 pressure of her hand as I held it within mine. She slept 
 away so softly, without a sigh or groan, that we could 
 scarcely tell when she ceased to breathe. Her end was 
 literally peace, and she fell asleep in Christ. As we 
 knelt around her bed to pray, the feeling of every one 
 present was, " Let me die the death of the righteous, and 
 let my last end be like hers." 
 
 I had now lost both parents, and when that is the case 
 there seems to be only a step between ourselves and 
 death. How true are the words
 
 A Worthy Baronet. 201 
 
 " 'Tis strange that those we lean on most, 
 
 Those in whose laps our limbs are nursed, 
 Fall into shadow, soonest lost : 
 Those we love first are taken first. 
 
 God gives us love. Something to love 
 He lends us ; but, when love is grown 
 
 To ripeness, that on which it throve 
 Falls off, and love is left alone." 
 
 On the death of my mother we removed from Queen- 
 square to what was then known as the New-road, near 
 Albany-street. At this time the building long known as 
 the " Diorama " was undergoing a transformation, and 
 was just about being opened as a place of worship. It 
 was one of the many commodious and elegant chapels 
 erected in London and its suburbs by a worthy baronet, 
 who is an enlightened and influential member of the legis- 
 lature, and a man of truly noble and catholic spirit. His 
 praise is in all the Churches, and his liberal purse is ever 
 ready to help any movement that will benefit his fellow- 
 countrymen. There are not a few such men among the 
 ranks of Nonconformists ; would that their number were 
 increased a hundredfold ! 
 
 I attended the opening services of this new chapel, and 
 was much interested in all its proceedings. We had been 
 induced to remove to the neighbourhood mainly that we 
 might attend the ministry of the gentleman who had been 
 prevailed upon by the generous baronet, who had erected this 
 noble chapel, to leave a large and influential Church and 
 congregation in one of our chief provincial towns, and 
 enter upon this new and important sphere of labour. 
 
 I had heard some occasional sermons and lectures by 
 this young minister on his visits to the metropolis, and 
 believed him to be a man of rare and singular ability. We 
 accordingly provided ourselves with sittings at this new 
 chapel. Many of those who enter the Kegent's-park by 
 Park-square East, from Portland-place and the Euston- 
 road, would not imagine, from the plain exterior of the
 
 202 Voluntaryism. 
 
 building, long known as the "Diorama," that there is behind 
 that unadorned entrance one of the most beautiful chapels 
 in London. The style of architecture of this chapel is 
 Byzantine. The pulpit is very elegant, from a design by 
 Thomas, the late eminent architect ; it is constructed of 
 Caen stone, with panels of alabaster in each of the sides. 
 The chapel contains sittings for more than twelve hundred ; 
 and there are also, in addition to these, two hundred free 
 seats for strangers and the poor, with about a hundred and 
 sixty sittings for the Sunday-school children connected 
 with the chapel. It is said that the converting the " Dio- 
 rama " into a chapel cost the wealthy baronet upwards of 
 20,000. 
 
 It has sometimes been sneeringly and contemptuously 
 asked, What has Congregationalism and Voluntaryism 
 done in connection with Dissenters ? We might, in an- 
 swer to this inquiry, point to the thousands of chapels that 
 have been erected throughout the length and breadth of 
 our Fatherland, where freedom to worship God according 
 to the dictates of our consciences is the birthright of every 
 Englishman ; and also to the many schools that have been 
 founded by Nonconformists, where not only the children of 
 the poor receive a good plain education, that shall fit them 
 to be intelligent members of the community, but where 
 what are termed the middle classes may obtain a first-class 
 commercial and classical education for their sons, and suit- 
 able instruction for their daughters, without subjecting them 
 to the test of the Church Catechism, or requiring their 
 assent and consent to any creed of man's devising. To 
 quote from one who has paid some attention to this particular 
 subject,* in an interesting paper, entitled, " The Position of 
 Nonconformists:" "We would remind our friends of other 
 denominations that a Baptist minister was the founder of 
 the Bible Society, and also of the Religious Tract Society ; 
 an Independent minister was the founder of the Deaf and 
 
 * Rev. E. Ainslie.
 
 Sir J. P. Kay ShuttUwofth. 203 
 
 Dumb Asylum. Dissenters founded the Orphan Asylum 
 at Clapton, since taken from them by Churchmen. An 
 Independent minister founded the Infant Orphan Asylum, 
 also taken from them by the wicked test of the Church 
 Catechism ; and then he founded the Infant Orphan Es- 
 tablishment, where there is no test, and where there is 
 given to the child of the Churchman, in a Christian spirit, 
 what the Churchman denies to the child of a Dissenter in 
 a sectarian spirit. Dissenters founded the Orphan Work- 
 ing School, now on Haverstock-hill ; a Dissenter founded 
 the London City Mission ; a Dissenter was the origin of 
 the British and Foreign School Society ; Dissenters have, 
 with Churchmen, aided in building and supporting British 
 schools over the whole kingdom. The Voluntary principle 
 sent a Baptist missionary to India before a Church mis- 
 sionary, or a bishop, had planted foot on that soil, and 
 when, to the disgrace of England and English law, he was 
 obliged to take refuge in a Dutch settlement ; and a Con- 
 gregationalist was the first Protestant missionary to China : 
 he translated the Scriptures into the Chinese language, 
 compiled a lexicon, and both of these men Carey and 
 Morrison rose to the highest distinction in India and 
 China. The South Seas, Africa, Greenland, and every 
 part of the world, have been visited and blessed by men of 
 God, sent forth and sustained by the Voluntary principle. 
 They have reduced spoken to written languages, translated 
 the Scriptures, founded schools and colleges, made large 
 contributions to literature and science, and have conferred 
 on Britain immortal honour. The Church of England, as 
 an establishment, has done nothing in other lands but what 
 she has done on the same principle." 
 
 Lest I should be deemed partial and biased in what I 
 have said and quoted upon this subject, let me transfer to 
 these humble pages the testimony of the secretary of the 
 Committee of the Council of Education,* who, in his work 
 
 * Sir J. P. Kay Shuttleworth.
 
 204 'A Valuable Testimony 
 
 on education, says: " The Congregational Dissenters have 
 ever been friends of freedom, defenders of the rights of 
 the minority, and missionaries to the benighted villages of 
 England, to the wild valleys of the Welch mountains, or 
 the turbulent colonists of its mines, and to the regions of 
 darkness and death, where typhus and cholera find their 
 victims in our towns. They comprise a large and influ- 
 ential portion of the middle classes ; they claim to be de- 
 scendants of the Puritans, who, whatever were their own 
 errors, were stern and successful champions of the English 
 Eeformation, and have left a deep trace, not only in the 
 history, but in the institutions, the manners, observ- 
 ances and character of the nation. They have just cause 
 to point to their own independence of the State, as the first 
 conspicuous triumph in this country of religion, unaided by 
 traditional authority, by the power of a foreign hierarchy, 
 or the protection of domestic princes. They embody 
 principles of self-government, of which our race and coun- 
 try have in civil affairs exhibited the most successful ex- 
 amples, and they are at least sincere and earnest in their 
 endeavours after a primitive and apostolic simplicity in 
 their discipline and ceremonial. Communions having these 
 high claims to respect, comprising not less than 4,000 
 congregations, and of 1,500,000 of members, representing 
 2,250,000 of the population, must wield no small influence 
 on opinion." 
 
 Surely such a testimony as that I have just quoted, 
 from a man occupying a distinguished position in the'fore- 
 front of the advocates for the National Church, should 
 have its due weight in silencing some of the small-fry of 
 the Church of England, who are ever affecting to sneer 
 at Dissent and Dissenters, as people beneath their con- 
 tempt. 
 
 It would be an easy and pleasant task to quote from 
 writers that are termed authorities in ecclesiastical ques- 
 tions, to justify our position as Nonconformists, and this 
 from men who are notable members of the Church of
 
 from Church Authorities. 205 
 
 England, and in no way likely to favour Dissent. Con- 
 gregationalists concur with Bishop Gibson, that " the 
 Christians in particular cities and countries are every- 
 where in the New Testament styled Churches, which 
 properly denotes an assembly of persons called together 
 in one body." We accept the 'statement of Dr. Isaac 
 Barrow, that " each Church did separately order its own 
 affairs, without recourse to others ;" and that the apostolic 
 writings assume individual churches to be " able to exer- 
 cise spiritual power for establishing decency, removing 
 disorders, correcting offences, deciding cases," &c. We 
 endorse the testimony of Gibbon, the historian, that " the 
 societies which were instituted in the cities of the Roman 
 empire were united only by the ties of faith and charity. 
 Independence and equality formed the basis of their in- 
 ternal constitution. Each formed within itself a separate 
 and independent republic." We believe with Mosheim, 
 the ecclesiastical historian of the Church, that "thechurches, 
 in those early times were entirely independent, every one 
 governed by its own rulers, and its own laws ;" that it is 
 " out of all doubt that every one of them enjoyed the same 
 rights, and was considered as being on a footing of a most 
 perfect equality with the rest.'' 
 
 Hence Congregationalists demand, in the words of Bishop 
 Stillingfleet, " What ground can there be why Christians 
 should not stand on the same terms now as they did in the 
 time of Christ and His apostles ? What charter has Christ 
 given the Church to bind men up to more than He hath 
 done?" Archbishop Whately tells us that in the consti- 
 tution of the Primitive Churches each was " a distinct, 
 independent community on earth, united by the common 
 principles on which they were founded, and by their mutual 
 agreement, affection, and respect ; but not having any 
 recognized head on earth ; . . . and as for, so called, 
 general councils, we find not even any mention of them, 
 or allusion to any such expedient ;" and that " each bishop 
 originally presided over one entire Church."
 
 206 Locke, Paley, etc. 
 
 We believe, with Dr. Merle D' Aubigne, that " the Church , 
 in the first three centuries, in the period of her simplicity, 
 her charity, and her martyrs, was independent of the State. 
 This was of immense advantage to her ; for she could de- 
 velope herself freely, conformably to her nature, while no 
 foreign power interfered in her affairs, corrupting her 
 purity." 
 
 Milton tells us, in the avowal of his belief, that " forced 
 consecrations, out of another man's estate, are no better 
 than forced vows, hateful to God, ' who loves a cheerful 
 giver.' " And the learned Archbishop before quoted says, 
 that, in proportion as any man has a right understanding 
 of the Gospel, " will he perceive that the employment of 
 secular coercion in the cause of the Gospel is at variance 
 with the true spirit of the Gospel. . . . Parliament 
 should have none other than civil functions. The Church 
 of Christ should be legislated for by none but its own 
 members." 
 
 John Locke affirmed that " the Church itself is a thing 
 absolutely separate and distinct from the Commonwealth. 
 He jumbles heaven and earth together, the things most 
 remote and opposite, who mixes these two societies which 
 are in their original, end, business, and in everything, 
 perfectly distinct and infinitely different from each other." 
 
 " Christianity," says Archdeacon Paley, " is not a code 
 of civil law. It can only reach public institutions through 
 private character. ... A religious establishment is no 
 part of Christianity." Bishop Shipley said in the House of 
 Lords, " The Dissenting clergy, I am told, declaim against 
 all human authority in matters of religion. They hold 
 that no Church has a right to impose an article of faith 
 on any other Christian community. I believe from my 
 heart they are right ; at least, if they be not, he that can 
 refute them is a much abler man than myself." 
 
 For my own part I repudiate the name " Dissenter," 
 except in accommodation to a conventional usage of lan- 
 guage. We are no Nonconformists to the "faith once
 
 Newman Hall 207 
 
 delivered to the saints." Ours is not the sin of innovation. 
 Ours is not the guilt of schism. We are as intimately 
 allied with a National Church and a political religion as 
 ever were Tertullian, or Polycarp, or Ignatius ; as ever were 
 Peter, or Paul, or John. In the words of one of the noblest 
 Nonconformist ministers of our own day,* we may say : 
 " We have never dissented from the Church of the New 
 Testament. It is not ifie who have forsaken the apostles' 
 doctrine and fellowship. We abide by the primitive rule. 
 We repudiate altogether the notion that our origin is to 
 be sought for in the troubled reigns of the Tudors and 
 the Stuarts. Brown was not our founder. The ejected 
 Nonconformists were not the first Congregationalists. The 
 persecuted Puritans did not originate our order. Geneva 
 was not our cradle. To Calvin and Luther we owe not 
 our birth. We trace beyond the Eeformation. We are 
 older than the Waldenses. The ancient fathers are to us 
 but modern names. We have a higher antiquity than 
 Rome. We are successors of the Apostles ; our Church 
 government is as old as the New Testament, and our 
 founder is Christ Himself." 
 
 I return once more from this renewed digression upon 
 Nonconformity to my own personal history. 
 
 It was a most inspiring sight to see that large and 
 beautiful sanctuary which I now attended, crowded on the 
 Lord's-day with intelligent and attentive worshippers ; and 
 still more gratifying to hear, from its manly and earnest 
 minister, the glad tidings of salvation through a crucified 
 and exalted Saviour. 
 
 In common with most other successful men, the minister 
 of this chapel has had his detractors ; he has been igno- 
 rantly and recklessly accused of not preaching the Gospel. 
 Every strong and thoughtful man has his own way of 
 treating particular subjects, and there is something more 
 to do than declare from time to time from the pulpit that 
 
 * * Rev. Xewman Hall.
 
 208 A Calumny refuted. 
 
 " God is in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself, and 
 not imputing unto men their trespasses." This is only a 
 part of the "glorious Gospel of the blessed God ;" but upon 
 this great central truth the minister referred to was, and is, 
 wont to dwell most clearly and fully. If men and women 
 are to be taught " that the grace of God that bringeth 
 salvation," is to be proved in its reception by u teaching 
 us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should 
 live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world," 
 (Titus i. 11, 12), then these great moral lessons must be 
 enforced. This is the grand end of all God's dealings 
 with the world ; and in my humble opinion he is the 
 defective and false teacher who dwells only upon the 
 promises of pardon and forgiveness, justification by faith, 
 and admission to the favour and love of God, without re- 
 ference to worthiness of any kind, and who in doing so 
 neglects to enforce the Divine requirements as to the moral 
 duties of the Gospel. However, the published sermons of 
 the man against whom this charge has been made, by those 
 who have never regularly attended his ministry, will suffi- 
 ciently answer this groundless calumny. It will be found 
 by those who are interested in the matter that the sermons 
 of this eminent preacher are, as one observes, " not only 
 distinguished by a careful and a cultured style, but they 
 abound in just evangelical thought. In varied and reite- 
 rated forms the great doctrines of the incarnation and 
 sacrificial atonement of Christ are fully and earnestly stated, 
 and all this free from the mawkish and unctuous senti- 
 mentalism which is so common in many of our pulpits, and 
 which chiefly affects the most sacred themes. The ser- 
 mons of this good man are at once manly and tender, full 
 of just thought and reverential feeling." 
 
 Some of the truest and most lasting friendships I have 
 made in life have been those that I have formed from the 
 frank and spontaneous expression of my sentiments. This 
 was the case with the gentleman that I have been advert- 
 ing to. After hearing him for several successive Sundays,
 
 An Elder. 209 
 
 and attending the week-night lecture, I introduced myself 
 to him at the close of one of the services as an admirer 
 of his preaching, and one that was willing to render him 
 any help that lay in my power. He received me in the 
 most kind and cordial manner, thanked me for my sym- 
 pathy, and invited me to help him in the work of forming 
 a Church, and organizing a Sunday-school. To these 
 duties I set myself in right earnest ; and when a provi- 
 sional committee was appointed for carrying out these and 
 other desirable objects, I had the honour of being selected 
 as honorary secretary, both for the chapel and also for the 
 schools. 
 
 Not long after this I was elected to the office of an elder 
 in this Church. I shall never forget the strange sensation 
 that came over me when I received the first intimation that 
 it was the intention of the members of the Church to elect 
 me to that office. I should as soon have thought of being 
 made Archbishop of Canterbury as that I should be se- 
 lected as one to fill so sacred an office as that which I have 
 referred to. 
 
 For the information of such of my readers as may be 
 desirous of being informed on the subject, I may mention 
 that, in the apostolic churches, elders were an order of lay- 
 men who assisted those to whom was committed the stated 
 work of the Christian ministry. Dr. Macknight, an un- 
 doubted authority in all matters relating to the constitution 
 and discipline of the Church of the New Testament, thinks 
 that, in the apostolic age, the term elder was applied to 
 " all who exercised any sacred office in the Christian 
 Church," (Acts xx. 17-28). 
 
 Elders, in the Presbyterian discipline, are officers who, 
 in" 1 - conjunction with the minister and deacons, compose 
 what is called the Kirk Sessions, to take cognizance, not 
 only of all grosser immoralities, but on some occasions to 
 carry their jurisdiction into the bosom of families, to dis- 
 arm private resentments, and arbitrate in cases of domestic 
 variance. In the Christian society to which I refer, the
 
 210 Nervous exhaustion 
 
 elders discharged the office which originally belonged to 
 the deacons of attending to the interests of the poor. 
 They were chosen from among the people, who had the 
 power to dismiss them from the office at any properly con- 
 stituted meeting of the Church. 
 
 The appointment of deacons in the first Christian Church 
 is distinctly recorded, (Acts vi. 1-16). Their qualifica- 
 tions are stated by the Apostle Paul, (1 Tim. iii. 8-12). 
 These weighty and solemn words were again, and again, 
 and again, read and pondered by me. The standard of 
 the New Testament is very high as to all who hold offices 
 in the Churches of Christ; and I found it profitable to 
 keep it in view, though I never could attain perfectly to 
 its sacred requirements. 
 
 In 1856 I had the first of a succession of serious attacks 
 of nervous exhaustion and mental depression. Hard work, 
 and scarcely a day's vacation that I could afford to take as 
 a holiday, began to tell upon me, and I felt it very much. 
 I had hitherto been equal to any reasonable requirement 
 made upon my energies, and I fear that I had drawn too 
 much upon my resources. The work that I was officially 
 engaged upon was of a highly responsible and harassing 
 nature ; and although the hours of attendance were not 
 such as to press heavily, yet, unfortunately, my tempera- 
 ment was of that character as to lead me to tax my powers 
 to the full extent while engaged in business ; and not only 
 so, but I carried all my anxieties about with me, and could 
 not divest myself of them at home. I was compelled, in 
 the spring of this year, to spend six weeks in the country ; 
 and though the rest and change were very grateful, after 
 the many years of almost uninterrupted labour, yet I was 
 so depressed that, though I had always been a lover of the 
 country, and in former years had enjoyed the most exqui- 
 site pleasure in rambling about over hill and dale, finding 
 " sermons in stones and good in everything," I could now 
 find little or no enjoyment. Jaded and worn out, I felt 
 most keenly and painfully that
 
 and Mental depression. 2 1 1 
 
 "The pleasant heights of breezy life, 
 
 The pleasant heights are past ; 
 The sunny slopes of buoyant life, 
 The sunny slopes are past." 
 
 Surrounded by beautiful scenery, and in the midst of 
 kind and loving friends, but I could derive no pleasure from 
 the one, and would have shunned the other. In former 
 years I had been as joyous and glad as were the birds 
 that sang among the woods and the hedgerows ; but 
 now I wandered about silent and sad in the midst of all 
 that was calculated to produce happiness and joy. I had 
 many a time in earlier years roamed abroad in the same 
 meadows, and along the same green lanes, feeling as 
 light-hearted and gladsome as a child ; but now a gloom 
 and sadness had settled down upon me that made life a 
 burden, and society of almost every kind an intolerable 
 nuisance. I could derive no comfort from the considera- 
 tion of the great verities of God's revelation to man, and 
 thought myself shut out from all hope. I have taken a 
 favourite book in my pocket, and have sought some quiet 
 nook, or sat upon a stile, and have tried to read it, but 
 could not. I have taken out my Bible, and turned to the 
 most consolatory passages ; but they all seemed to be 
 intended for anybody but me. Everything within me 
 was dry, barren, and lifeless, and I almost envied the 
 sheep as they snipped off the short grass around me, and 
 would have exchanged willingly my existence with one of 
 the cows that grazed so complacently about my path. 
 
 This period of gloom and depression lasted for about 
 three or four months, and it was not till the autumn came 
 that I was better. I shall have occasion to speak of 
 other returns of this fearfully trying disease, and will 
 therefore now leave the unwelcome subject. 
 
 About this time I was introduced to a gentleman who 
 had spent many years on the study of the human voice, 
 and whose attention had led him necessarily to the inves- 
 tigation of the causes of what is called stammering.
 
 212 Stammering and 
 
 I had made up my mind, sometime previous to this, not 
 to try any more pseudo-curers of impediments of speech, 
 as I had not only given considerable attention to the sub- 
 ject myself, and had read everything within my reach that 
 had been written upon stammering, but I had also had 
 the benefit of the treatment of no less than five of the 
 most distinguished advertised curers of that distressing 
 malady, without having derived any real and permanent 
 benefit from any one of them. 
 
 As stammerers form a somewhat large class of the 
 community it may not be uninteresting, to many of my 
 readers, if I enter into a few particulars relating to this 
 distressing calamity. I scarcely think that it is possible 
 to speak in too strong language of the intense mortification 
 endured by a sensitive mind suffering from this vitiated 
 habit of speaking. I can subscribe, without any mental 
 reservation, to what has been said of it by one who has 
 suffered more or less from stammering all through a long 
 life that 
 " It is as lack of breath or bread, life hath no grief more galling." 
 
 What I have to say is not that which I have obtained 
 from a careful and extensive perusal of the literature of 
 the subject, but what I have myself endured, and from a 
 close observation of its terrible effects upon sufferers with 
 whom I have come in contact. 
 
 It is the uniform practice of pseudo-curers of stammering 
 and their name is legion when they are unsuccessful, 
 to throw the entire blame upon their poor mortified and 
 dispirited patient. It has been my misfortune to bear this 
 cruel and cowardly treatment, in addition to the bitter 
 mortification of feeling that you must carry your infirmity 
 still about with you ; and it has raised my righteous indig- 
 nation against the men who have done this after procuring 
 you as a patient by the most undoubted promises of " a 
 certain and permanent cure." 
 
 There are happily exceptions to this rule, and it was
 
 Stammering- Curers. 213 
 
 my good fortune to fall into the hands of a man who was 
 at once a scholar and a gentleman, and whose knowledge 
 of the difficulties which a stammerer had to encounter 
 made him patient and persevering in his intelligent and 
 gentle treatment. 
 
 I owe so much of my present freedom from stammering 
 to the skilful instructions of this gentleman that I am 
 glad of making this public acknowledgment of my great 
 obligations to him ; for, although the impediment of 
 speech that I have laboured under from my boyhood is 
 not entirely removed, I am enabled freely to enjoy the 
 delightful interchange of thought in friendly and social 
 converse, as well as occasionally to take part in public 
 services, which would try a man who had never been 
 afflicted with a stammering tongue. 
 
 The gentleman referred to is the Rev. W. W. Cazalet, 
 A.M., who, in addition to his little work on " Stammering, 
 the Cause and Cure," has written also a very able treatise 
 " On the right Management of the Voice in speaking and 
 reading," which has passed through several editions, and 
 will be found to contain some truly valuable hints to those 
 who are called upon to make public speaking and reading 
 aloud a part of their daily business. 
 
 I have already stated in a former part of this work 
 that I became a stammerer from being placed with a rela- 
 tive who had a bad impediment in his speech. The habit, 
 like most other habits, was the result of imitation in the 
 first instance, and it was not until I was sent to a boys' 
 school that I began fully to feel the annoyances of stam- 
 mering. It subjected me to a good deal of ridicule, as 
 well as made it difficult at times for me to take part in the 
 classes. The constant mortification, arising not only from 
 the impediment of speech, but also from the ridicule of my 
 school-fellows, produced in me an irritability of temper 
 that has been a great source of sorrow to me all through 
 life. If I was strong enough to thrash a boy who scorn- 
 fully mocked me, I did ; and if he were a great big bully
 
 214 Stammering and 
 
 of a fellow, which was frequently the case, I looked upon 
 him with a silent angry contempt, and was obliged to bear 
 his unkind and cowardly treatment as best I could. 
 
 On leaving school I found that it was a serious objection 
 to my entering upon many avocations where talking was 
 required. It was this that led my father to place me in 
 a conveyancer's office, where my pen, and not my tongue, 
 was chiefly called into requisition. 
 
 My stammering tongue did not, however, keep me from 
 making love to the pretty conveyancer's daughter, who 
 taught me to exercise my vocal powers in song, where the 
 words would warble on flowingly enough. On leaving my 
 native place for the army it was a serious difficulty, and 
 turned my career into a widely different channel. I found 
 it a great annoyance in business, and was glad enough 
 when I obtained employment in the National Library, 
 where my duties were chiefly confined to the pen. There, 
 however, I have sometimes felt most keenly that 
 
 " "Pis to be mortified in every point, 
 Baffled at every turn of life, for want 
 Of that most common privilege of man, 
 The merest drug of gorged society, 
 Words windy words." 
 
 I have been often asked how I managed to get on in 
 courting, and have replied, that there are a thousand ways 
 of winning a woman's heart besides talking twaddle and 
 trash to her. There is the language of the eye, and the 
 manly thought struggling, it may be, for utterance, but 
 still it is there ; and then there is the pen, by which a 
 man may put the woman he loves in possession of what he 
 feels in burning words, which his tongue would never let 
 him freely utter. 
 
 It is in society, and in public, that I have found my 
 infirmity the most annoying. Though friends sometimes 
 " wound deeper by their compassion," yet they know us, 
 and will estimate us, not from what we say, but from what 
 we are : yet this is not the case with strangers. I have
 
 Stammering- Curers. 215 
 
 many a time been looked upon with pity by those to whom 
 I have been trying to make myself understood, and have 
 been obliged to mutilate and mangle a sentence which 
 would have been intelligible enough had I been able to 
 have given it uninterrupted utterance. 
 
 The most trying of all hearers to a stammerer is the 
 cold and unresponsive listener one who will, perhaps, in 
 kindness, avert his face from yours, instead of looking at 
 you and expecting the answer. I have seen sometimes in 
 the quick, restless, anxious eye of a stammerer the terrible 
 struggle that was going on within, and have taken his 
 trembling hand, hot and feverish, that he might feel that 
 one understood his feeling of mortification, and sympa- 
 thized in his sufferings. 
 
 It is not so much in reading that stammerers have the 
 greatest difficulty. I could always read aloud the grand 
 majestic lines of " Paradise Lost," or Gray's " Elegy," 
 with little or no hesitation, as they flow on so musically, 
 that when you have once started it is almost impossible to 
 stammer. It is very different in dialogue, where quick- 
 ness is required in taking up the various parts of a conver- 
 sation ; and the different characters must be borne in 
 mind, so that the voice, as well as the manner, may be 
 adapted to each in succession. 
 
 In my early days I read a great deal of poetry, and 
 committed large portions to memory, which I have found 
 in after-life most valuable, not only for the purposes of 
 practising the voice, but also from the pleasure to be 
 derived from the oral utterance of great and beautiful 
 truths in choice and elegant words. 
 
 In my solitary rambles oftentimes passages from " the 
 bards sublime " have been my never-wearying companions, 
 and have helped me to understand fully the beautiful words 
 of the author of the " Christian Year," when he says : 
 
 " There are in this loud stunning tide 
 
 Of human care and crime, 
 
 With whom the melodies abide 
 
 Of th' everlasting chime ;
 
 216 Rev. W. W. Cazalet. 
 
 Who carry music in their heart 
 
 Through dusky lane and wrangling mart, 
 
 Plying their daily task with busier feet, 
 
 Because their secret souls a holy strain repeat. 
 
 A stammerer will find the greatest difficulty in reading 
 aloud, even when no one is present, some of the dialogue 
 scenes in Shakespeare. Let him try, for example, the 
 fourth scene in the first part of " Henry IV ; " and hy 
 the time he has endeavoured to personify the characters 
 there introduced, he will find it no small relief to close the 
 favourite author, for the more flowing lines of Milton, or 
 the pensive musings of Gray. 
 
 Reading aloud is one of the most healthful, as well as 
 agreeable exercises, when care is taken not to strain the 
 voice or make any undue effort to give effect to what we 
 are reading. We have high medical authority for affirming 
 that reading aloud, even where there is a tendency to pul- 
 monary disorder, is, when proper care is taken, salutary in 
 promoting the healthy development of the organs of respi- 
 ration. 
 
 Sir Henry Holland, in his " Medical Notes," chap. xx. 
 p. 422, makes some most valuable remarks on this subject, 
 and speaks of one or two remarkable cases known to him 
 where a constitutional tendency to asthma showing itself in 
 early life has been subdued to a great extent by exercising 
 the chest on certain regulated efforts, of which recitation 
 formed a part. 
 
 It must be borne in mind, however, that it is not mere 
 recitation or reading aloud that will produce these salutary 
 effects. The great matter is to acquire the right method 
 of using the organs of the voice ; and for this purpose I 
 can refer my readers with all confidence to the work of 
 Mr. Cazalet, " On the right Management of the Voice," 
 already referred to. 
 
 The subject of correct reading and speaking is treated 
 in that work by a man who has thoroughly studied and 
 mastered the whole philosophy of the question, and with an
 
 Literature of Stammering. 217 
 
 entire absence of that ignorant dogmatism and disgusting 
 quackery which characterize many similar productions of 
 men whose advertisements meet the eye in our public 
 journals. 
 
 The literature of stammering is very interesting to those 
 who are desirous of becoming conversant with the subject ; 
 and if the statistics of stammering could be correctly 
 ascertained it would, I fear, present a sad picture of the 
 wide-spread misery produced by this distressing- malady. 
 Two well-known and distinguished literary men of the 
 present day are not only the subjects of this painful habit, 
 but have also written their experiences. I allude to the 
 deservedly popular author of " Proverbial Philosophy," 
 and to a distinguished clergyman and novelist, who has 
 recently reprinted an article on the subject that originally 
 appeared in " Eraser's Magazine." 
 
 An anonymous work purporting to be the experiences 
 of a stammerer was published a few years since, under the 
 title of " The Unspeakable." It is an amusing book for 
 a wet day, or a country ramble ; but it is, however, painful 
 to read the experiences of those who have suffered from 
 this " tyrannical Argus." 
 
 Many ludicrous stories have been told of stammerers, 
 and I could add a few to the number, but that I question 
 the propriety of repeating stories relating to others who 
 have suffered from this mortifying and painful habit. I 
 recollect some years ago calling at the house of a friend, 
 where, from being well known to the servants, I was 
 always allowed to pass in at once : a new servant answered 
 the door one day I called, and of course waited for me to 
 state my name and business. I made several ineffectual 
 attempts, first of all, to ask if my friend was at home, and 
 then, not having a card with me, to tell her my name. 
 The girl stood very patiently holding the door in her hand 
 for some minutes, when finding that all my efforts were 
 unavailing, she left me in the passage to call her mistress. 
 The lady, who was in an adjoining apartment, hearing that
 
 218 A slip of the Tongue. 
 
 some one was a long time at the door, came forward, and 
 I heard the girl say, " Oh ma'am ! here's a foreigner at the 
 door wants something but I can't understand a word he 
 says." I was much amused, and called out to the lady, 
 ( who immediately recognized my voice, and we enjoyed a 
 hearty laugh at the adventure. 
 
 It has been remarked that stammerers can always sing 
 and swear, without any interruption from their malady. 
 I can in my own case attest the truthfulness of this state- 
 ment. In my early life I used to chant what I was de- 
 sirous of saying, when I had much to communicate, and 
 I could always do this without the slightest difficulty, as 
 the continuous flow of sound was uninterrupted. I regret 
 to say that I also acquired a bad habit of interlarding my 
 conversation with oaths, where I could do this without 
 giving offence, and it helped me very much in my utter- 
 ance by giving emphasis and force to what I had to say. 
 I had great difficulty in after-life to break myself of this 
 profane and vulgar habit, and I remember one instance in 
 particular where the force of habit was rather singularly de- 
 veloped, when I thought I had gained the complete mastery 
 of it. One day at the Museum the gentleman at the head 
 of my department came to me in haste, asking for "Faccio- 
 lati's Italian Lexicon : " it was out of its place, and I made 
 several abortive attempts to tell him who had taken it. 
 Finding that I was baffled at every point, I so far forgot 
 myself as to recur to my old habit, and with a most em- 
 phatic oath told him at once who had taken the book. Of 
 course I immediately apologized for this unwarrantable 
 rudeness, and was forgiven as quickly. 
 
 This habit of swearing had become as inveterate as my 
 stammering, and even in more advanced life, I have had 
 to lay considerable restraint upon my " unruly member " 
 whenever I have been stirred with strong feelings, lest I 
 should inadvertently forget myself and recur to my old 
 habit. Swearing is like swimming, when once acquired 
 it can never be forgotten.
 
 A Deprivation. 219 
 
 I always felt the annoyance of my stammering most of 
 all in conversation, and it has denied me the privilege of 
 that free and unrestrained interchange of thought which 
 is the chief charm of friendship. 
 
 Hundreds of times have I gone away from the society 
 of men and women of cultivated minds, who would have 
 freely responded to any demands made upon them, but the 
 thoughts that came to my lips rarely or ever found ex- 
 pression ; and I have sought, when I have left 'their com- 
 pany, to relieve my labouring chest and wounded feelings 
 by holding an imaginary conversation with myself, just 
 by way of letting off the steam. 
 
 The poor timid man, that may sometimes be seen in 
 company, 
 
 " who stands aloof, nor mingles with 
 The wise and good in rational argument, 
 The young in brilliant quickness of reply, 
 Friendship's ingenuous interchange of mind, 
 Affection's open-hearted sympathies, 
 That feels himself an isolated heing, 
 A very wilderness of widow'd thought ! " 
 
 demands our tenderest sympathy, for he loves sweet social 
 converse, but he is forced to sit silent, because 
 
 " Nervous dread and sensitive shame 
 Freeze the current of his speech." 
 
 Those only can fully sympathize with these sufferers 
 who have themselves gone through the agonizing ordeal. 
 
 I recollect some years since meeting with a man, of 
 distinguished ability as a civil engineer, who stammered 
 so fearfully that he could scarcely articulate two words in 
 succession without the most painful and distressing con- 
 tortions of countenance. The anxious and beseeching look 
 of this sufferer, when attempting to speak, was most pain- 
 ful, and I have sometimes grasped his hand and begged 
 him to desist, as the efforts he made were so violent that I 
 dreaded the consequences to himself.
 
 220 Stammering Curable. 
 
 It is fortunate that the habit of stammering is rarely 
 seen to afflict females, although the instance named by 
 me in the early part of my history was a notable excep- 
 tion. To see the countenance of a woman distorted by 
 this terrible malady would be a sad drawback upon the 
 pleasure we derive from the uninterrupted flow of their 
 eloquent tongues. If Lord Byron disliked to see women 
 eat, it is questionable if he would have enjoyed the society 
 of his fair friends, the Countesses of Guicciolo and Bles- 
 sington, had they been stammerers. 
 
 After all my experiences of pseudo-curers of stammering, 
 it is a consolation to me to know that the disease, or habit, 
 bad as it is, will really give way under skilful and perse- 
 vering treatment. In my own case I have had the double 
 misfortune of not only suffering the mortification incident 
 to the malady itself, but also the bitter feeling of having 
 fallen into the hands of those who promised me " a perfect 
 cure," and when that failed, cast the entire blame of their 
 failure upon myself. It is no small pleasure to be able .to 
 refer to one among the many who offer their professional 
 services to those who suffer from this affliction, who, I 
 know, possesses all the means at his disposal of relieving 
 the most deeply- seated impediment of speech ; and with 
 this concluding remark I will dismiss the subject. I may 
 add, however, that the gentleman I have referred to is 
 not aware, until these pages meet his eye, that I should so 
 pointedly allude to himself in this matter of stammering. 
 
 In the spring of the following year I had a return of 
 the mental depression that I had previously suffered, which 
 lasted for several months, during which period I found that 
 it was with very great difficulty I continued to discharge 
 my ordinary daily duties. 
 
 These attacks of depression were the more trying from 
 the fact of there being little or nothing in my outward ap- 
 pearance to indicate ill-health ; and as sufferers from these 
 complaints are generally supposed to be persons too ready 
 to yield to despondency, I had abundance of advice from
 
 Medical Sympathy. 221 
 
 my friends not to let anything worry me, and to try and 
 take matters quietly and easily. 
 
 It is in vain to recount to any but a medical man the 
 long catalogue of melancholy symptoms incident to this 
 form of disease ; and it has been a great relief to me 
 to pour out my complaints to one both skilful and kind. 
 The medical profession are justly famed for their tender 
 and delicate treatment of some of the more trying maladies 
 that " flesh is heir to," and but for this inteHigent and 
 sympathizing treatment in my own case, I think my suf- 
 ferings would have ended in black despair. 
 
 Everything was done for me that medical skill could sug- 
 gest, but my doctor insisted upon my appropriating my 
 vacation to obtaining rest and recreation, instead of 
 using it, as had been the case for many years, to purposes 
 of business with the view of increasing my finances. I 
 saw and felt the necessity of this advice, and acted accord- 
 ingly. 
 
 As these vacation rambles are amongst the most pleasant 
 reminiscences of my life, I shall endeavour to recall a few 
 particulars relating to them.
 
 IV. 
 
 BRIEF RECOLLECTIONS OF SOME VACATION 
 
 RAMBLES, WITH THOUGHTS AND 
 
 GLEANINGS BY THE WAY. 
 
 " When thou haply seest 
 Some rare note-worthy object in thy travels, 
 Make me partaker of thy happiness." 
 
 " As odours, press'd in summer hours 
 
 From summer's bloom, remain 
 To soothe and comfort, till the flowers 
 Of Spring revive again, 
 
 So memory's magic wand restores 
 
 Gladness too bright to last, 
 And in a flood of music pours 
 
 Sweet echoes of the past." 
 
 recording these wanderings, of course, I do 
 not write for the information of those who 
 have gone over the ground themselves, nor 
 for those who contemplate such rambles, as 
 the world-known " Handbooks " of John 
 Murray, and Adam and Charles Black ; the " Practical 
 Guides," and the " special edition " of " Bradshaw's Con- 
 tinental Guide," will afford correct and ample information 
 upon all points connected with such peregrinations. 
 
 I simply record my own impressions of places that I 
 have visited, and people that I have seen, for the amuse- 
 ment of my friends and the entertainment of those who,
 
 Paris. 223 
 
 from various causes, have never had the opportunity of 
 seeing much beyond their own immediate homes. 
 
 In the autumn of one year I accepted the invitation of a 
 friend, who had known me for a long period, to accompany 
 him in a short trip to the Continent. Up to this time I 
 had never gone out of sight of the white cliffs of my native 
 land, and the thought of seeing something of foreign 
 lands charmed me much. 
 
 Our route was Paris, via Southampton and Havre. On 
 arriving at Havre we visited the museum and other places 
 of note there. I was much struck with the different man- 
 ners and customs of the people, so entirely unlike our own ; 
 and everything was new and interesting, so that it was 
 with difficulty one could believe that so great a change could 
 be found in a people living so near our own shores. To 
 hear every one speaking a strange language, and at every 
 point to be wanting some information which you could only 
 obtain by asking, taxed our little stock of French very 
 amusingly, and convinced us how truly valuable is a 
 thorough knowledge of a language spoken by a great 
 people so near our own shores. 
 
 The ride by rail from Havre to Paris is very picturesque ; 
 and I began to be convinced that Frenchmen may be 
 justly proud of " La Belle France." I should have liked 
 to have had a day to have looked over the fine old town of 
 Kouen ; but our time was limited, and we were booked 
 through to Paris direct. 
 
 Paris more than came up to all that I had expected. 
 
 The day we arrived there was fine, and the atmosphere 
 clear and beautiful. We engaged apartments in a plea- 
 sant street in the suburbs, near the Barriere de Clichy ; 
 and having deposited our luggage and refreshed ourselves, 
 we sallied forth to see the great city. The cheerfulness 
 and activity of the people, as well as the handsome and 
 tastefully fitted-up shops of the principal streets, were 
 objects of admiration. Our first dinner in Paris was a very 
 unsatisfactory affair, though we appeared to have partaken
 
 224 The Tuileries. 
 
 of many dishes. We got on much better at breakfast : the 
 nice fancy bread and beautiful butter, with the incompar- 
 able coffee, made us praise our neighbours very much. 
 The substantial meat-breakfasts of our own land are needed 
 by the difference of climate ; but such a meal in Paris 
 would never be thought of. 
 
 The atmosphere, though so clear and light, I found very 
 enervating ; there seemed to be nothing for the lungs to 
 bite at. The streets, though well watered, were not cool, 
 and there was a disagreeable, faint, vegetable odour about 
 them which was sickly and unpleasant. Frenchmen may, 
 however, well be proud of such streets as the Hue Eichelieu, 
 St. Honore, and Vivienne. We wandered along, almost 
 unconscious of the distances we were traversing, being so 
 much taken up with admiration at the Place Koyale, 
 the Place Vendome, the Place de la Concorde, the Place 
 des Victoires, the Place de la Bastile, the Place Eiche- 
 lieu, and others, too numerous to be noted down, but 
 which are familiar enough to all our country cousins who 
 have visited Paris. Our apartments overlooked pretty 
 gardens, and the backs of some large houses in an adjoin- 
 ing street. I was not a little amused to see the windows 
 thrown open, and men come out upon the balconies to 
 shake the bed-clothes, and then help the women to make 
 the beds. I can hardly imagine some of my friends in 
 England doing this. A fellow that we saw every morn- 
 ing engaged in these domestic duties with his wife, 
 went about his work very cheerfully, and enlivened us by 
 whistling some lively tunes. One of these he gave us so 
 frequently that I find myself even now often whistling it. 
 
 On the next day we visited the Palace of the Tuileries 
 and the Louvre, where we spent some delightful hours in 
 gazing upon the statuary and pictures, and were much in- 
 terested in the fine collection of models of marine archi- 
 tecture. We returned again and again to the Louvre, 
 and every time with renewed admiration. It is a truly 
 magnificent collection, and is displayed with the most
 
 Imperial Library, etc. 225 
 
 exquisite taste. The contrast with our own national col- 
 lection, in point of arrangement, tells most unmistakeablv 
 in favour of our neighbours over the way. 
 
 We missed seeing the Imperial Library, in consequence 
 of its being closed for some purpose, during the week we 
 remained in Paris, and could only look up at the fine build- 
 ing in the Rue Richelieu, containing perhaps the largest, 
 if not the choicest, collection of books in Europe. Our 
 own National Library is rapidly coming up to it in point 
 of numbers ; and from all accounts there is no comparison 
 as to the superior facilities afforded to readers who use our 
 own magnificent reading-room, and those who seek to make 
 themselves acquainted with the Imperial Library of France. 
 
 A stroll round the colonnade of the Palais Royale, to 
 look at the shop windows, was a never-ending source of 
 amusement to us. Frenchmen certainly possess the happy 
 knack of displaying their wares to the best advantage. 
 We may be " a nation of shopkeepers," but we have yet to 
 learn the art of setting out a window in a way pi-operly to 
 display the articles for sale, and at the same time please 
 the eye and not offend the taste. 
 
 The bridges are numerous, and some of them highly 
 picturesque. The elegant suspension bridge De la Cite, 
 with its ornamental Gothic gates at either end, is very 
 beautiful ; and so is the Pont Neuf, the largest and most 
 frequented in Paris : but I do not recollect any that will 
 bear a comparison in all respects with our London, Water- 
 loo, and Westminster bridges. 
 
 We visited most of the principal churches, and I sup- 
 pose the palm must be yielded to the Cathedral of Notre 
 Dame, though I confess I was far more pleased with the 
 exterior than the interior of that most noble building. The 
 interior of most of the continental cathedrals that I have 
 seen very much disappointed me, with the exception of 
 Strasbourg and Cologne ; there is, for the most part, so 
 much bright ornament and colouring that meet the eye 
 on every side, and such a close and vitiated atmosphere
 
 226 Churches, etc. 
 
 from the constant daily services, that I always felt glad to 
 get outside and breathe the fresh air. 
 
 The Madeleine is a splendid temple ; hut it hardly looks 
 like a place dedicated to religious services. We were 
 much pleased, however, with the choral and instrumental 
 service there, and heard a very earnest sermon from no 
 mean preacher. We saw the sacrament of the Eucha- 
 rist administered, and were not a little amused to see 
 afterwards the collecting-bag handed round by a tall foot- 
 man with a cocked hat. 
 
 We visited the far-famed Pantheon, or, as it is now 
 called, the Church of Saint Genevieve. It is unquestionably 
 a fine building, but nothing about it to inspire the mind of 
 the beholder with lofty aspirations and noble resolves. The 
 fact that the remains of two of the greatest minds that 
 France has produced repose there, Voltaire and Eousseau, 
 excite a melancholy train of thought, to think that such 
 commanding talents should have been devoted to blot out 
 the name, if that were possible, of that benign and beauti- 
 ful religion introduced by Jesus Christ, and which blesses 
 and ennobles any nation that will listen to its sacred teach- 
 ing, and yield a willing obedience to its heavenly laws. 
 What would France be if it were thoroughly imbued with a 
 real and life- giving Christianity ! 
 
 Our visit to the Jardin des Plantes was a most pleasant 
 and agreeable one. It shows the desirableness of combin- 
 ing in one place, where it can be accomplished, not only 
 the living animals and birds, but also a complete collection 
 of prepared specimens, in order that the natural history 
 student may have the two-fold advantage of studying the 
 objects, both living and dead. Such an arrangement in 
 our own Kational Museum would not only be a boon to 
 the student of that particular branch of science, but would 
 also afford room for the more ample development of other 
 departments which it is desirable should not be separated. 
 The fine collection in the Museum of the Luxembourg, 
 of paintings by modern artists, afforded us a rich treat.
 
 Versailles. 227 
 
 The magnificent line of road terminated by the Arc de 
 Triomphe was traversed by us repeatedly. We have 
 nothing at all comparable with this elegant and gorgeous 
 work of art in London. Our own " Marble Arch," at the 
 top of Oxford-street, must not be named in the same day 
 with this beautiful Parisian structure. 
 
 Every day of our week in Paris was so fully taken up 
 that we omitted to visit the cemetery of Pore la Chaise, 
 and some other of the lions. We returned every 'evening 
 to our apartments so thoroughly knocked up, that we had 
 no desire to venture out to see Paris by night ; so that that 
 phase of Parisian life must be reserved for some future 
 visit. 
 
 We did not leave Paris without going to see Versailles. 
 If Paris is France, no one would have a very intelligent 
 idea of Paris who had not seen Versailles. It is indeed a 
 palace ; and a long day spent in wandering through its 
 almost endless galleries and saloons gives one a better idea 
 of the history of France than any work that I know of. 
 You are reminded almost at every point by some gorgeous 
 article of furniture, or some splendid picture by Vernet or 
 Delaroche, of the great national events that have taken 
 place in the history of the country ; and there is an air of 
 princely magnificence in everything you see around, both 
 within and without, of that truly regal place. 
 
 The extensive gardens and pleasure-grounds are in 
 keeping with the Palace, and it is altogether a place of 
 which any nation may be justly proud. The only Palace 
 in England that at all approaches it is that of Hampton 
 Court ; but the comparison is greatly in favour of Ver- 
 sailles, both in extent and in the variety and beauty of its 
 contents. 
 
 My impressions of the French people from what I saw 
 of them are that they are a highly intelligent, active, 
 quick, and responsive race. A glance at them will con- 
 vince any one that they are a people that will continue to 
 exert a great influence in the world. I was much struck
 
 228 French Women. 
 
 with the frank and cheerful appearance of most of the 
 men ; but there was a care-worn, anxious look about the 
 women that indicated their need of what we understand in 
 England by home influences. During the short time spent 
 in Paris and its environs I only saw one really pretty 
 woman. The ladies in France know far better than our 
 own fair countrywomen how to blend the colours in their 
 costume so as to make a plain woman elegant and attrac- 
 tive ; but they are wanting in that womanliness that gives 
 such a charm to an English face. 
 
 Let any one take a stroll through the fashionable 
 boulevards and parks of Paris who has been accustomed 
 to Kensington-gardens and Rotten-row, or Brighton 
 during the season, and if he has an eye for the beautiful, 
 the palm will be yielded to our countrywomen. 
 
 Whatever may have been said in praise of French 
 beauties, I am prepared to say of the women of England 
 
 " I deem the daughters of thy soil 
 Have greater share of beauty's spoil. 
 The clear blue eye, the rudely lips, 
 The cheek where rose in lily dips. 
 The auburn locks that lightly throw 
 A shade upon the temple's snow. 
 The silver tones that sweetly tell 
 The love that in your bosoms dvrell." 
 
 Frenchmen are perhaps more gallant than ourselves in 
 their treatment of the opposite sex ; but women look more 
 for strength and stability in men than for mere politeness, 
 which after all may be only a covering for selfishness. I 
 have seen a Frenchman almost overwhelm a lady near him 
 with his attentions at dinner, but take care at the same 
 time to keep the best parts of a cold fowl for himself. 
 
 The military have a very smart and soldier-like appear- 
 ance, and for light service would, I have no doubt, fully 
 bear out all that we have heard of their daring and dashing 
 services in the field ; but they contrast strangely with the 
 firm and measured tread of our Coldstream Guards : and
 
 Strasbourg. 229 
 
 one can easily imagine that though our neighhours over 
 the way are not wanting in courage, they have neither the 
 power of endurance, nor the imraoveable firmness of our 
 fellow-countrymen. 
 
 After spending a very pleasant week or ten days at 
 Paris, and seeing St. Cloud, we left the gay city by an 
 early train one morning for Strasbourg, en route to the 
 Ehine. The Strasbourg Railway is one of the longest 
 lines in France, the distance being about four hundred 
 miles. We left the handsome terminus by the 7 A.M. 
 train, and had a most delightful ride through some of the 
 fairest provinces of France, where the scenery, produce, 
 manners and character of the people differ considerably. 
 To have looked at the lofty towers of Notre Dame in the 
 morning, and find oneself gazing up at the magnificent 
 spire of Strasbourg Cathedral in the evening of the same 
 day is a luxury that kings could not have purchased a 
 quarter of a century ago ; but railways and locomotives 
 have so altered distances that now it is an every day 
 occurrence to see the sun rise on the banks of the Seine 
 in the morning, and before its last beams are seen in the 
 west you may find yourself quietly reposing on the banks 
 of the lovely Ehine. 
 
 After resting for the night at Strasbourg, we spent the 
 greater part of the next day in exploring the cathedral, 
 with its wondrous clock and its complete astronomical 
 almanack. The tower of the cathedral is nearly five hun- 
 dred feet above the pavement, and is indeed a master-piece 
 of architecture. As my companion, as well as myself, 
 was interested in " the black art," we did not forget that 
 Strasbourg claims the honour of using the first printing 
 press by Gutenburg. 
 
 We made our way from Strasbourg to Frankfort, 
 where we spent a day in seeing the principal objects of 
 interest in this lively city. The Goethe monument is a 
 worthy memorial of the greatest writer that Germany has 
 produced ; and one could not but look upon the house in
 
 230 The Rhine. 
 
 which the great child-like Goethe was horn with some- 
 thing of the same interest that we attach to that in which 
 our own great Shakespeare first saw the light. He was 
 unquestionably one of the great lights of the world ; but a 
 " lesser light " than the bard of Avon. The walks and 
 promenades about Frankfort are very picturesque and 
 beautiful. 
 
 The next morning found us on our way to Mannheim, 
 where we embarked on one of the Rhine boats, to see that 
 far-famed river. As we went down the stream the voyage 
 to Cologne was a very rapid one, and in the evening it 
 seemed more like a fair vision than a reality, that we had 
 beheld in one short day the unequalled scenery of that 
 majestic river, and its never-to-be-forgotten surroundings. 
 As point after point came into view, we could only look up 
 in silent admiration at the castellated ruins and vine- 
 terraced hills as they succeeded each other in picturesque 
 confusion, and longed for the quiet leisure and ample 
 means to explore the inland glories of the Rhine. 
 
 We were landed in the evening at Cologne ; and the 
 next day being Sunday, we visited the cathedral and most 
 of the other churches. The views about Cologne are not 
 famed for their beauty ; but in the evening we strolled up 
 the Rhine for some miles, and obtained a fine view of the 
 Seven Mountains bathed in the last rays of the setting 
 sun, and lit up with those beautiful violet tints that must 
 be seen to be fully understood. 
 
 We left the next day by rail for Calais, and found our- 
 selves in the evening taking a mutton chop with our tea at 
 the " Gun Inn," Dover. So ended my first Continental 
 trip ; and I promise myself, on some future day, should my 
 finances allow of such a luxury, the pleasure of a pedestrian 
 tour through the Tyrol and Switzerland, and a run through 
 Northern Italy. I should much like to see Rome.
 
 231 
 
 EDINBURGH AND THE HIGHLANDS 
 
 JINCE reading the " Waverley Novels," the 
 poems of Burns afid Scott, the " Noctes Am- 
 brosianse," and the " Recreations " of Chris- 
 topher North, to which I must add the sermons 
 of Dr. Chalmers and those of Edward Irving, 'together 
 with the writings of Thomas Carlyle, the most profound 
 and original thinker of our day, I had a strong desire to 
 see the land that gave birth to these illustrious men the 
 famous 
 
 " Land of brown heath and shaggy wood, 
 Land of the mountain and the flood." 
 
 In 1858, and again in 1861 , I spent two vacations in 
 Scotland. My first visit was chiefly confined to Edinburgh 
 and the adjacent neighbourhood, supplemented by a very 
 pleasant week's run through some of the Highlands, with 
 one of Scotia's sons, who had left his father's farm when 
 a young man, and, like most of his persevering and per- 
 sistent countrymen, had been successful on this side of the 
 Tweed. 
 
 It is scarcely possible to speak too highly of the 
 metropolis of Scotland. Edinburgh probably stands unri- 
 valled as a city its situation is magnificent ; and there 
 are few, if any, of my readers who have not read the 
 glowing accounts from the gifted pens of Dr. Johnson, 
 Sir Walter Scott, Christopher North, Hugh Miller, and 
 Professor Aytoun. 
 
 Poets have sung its praises, and historians and novelists 
 have dwelt upon its many beauties. In reading the glow- 
 ing accounts of their fatherland I had sometimes thought 
 them extravagant in their praises ; but I must candidly 
 confess that all the descriptions I have ever met with, even
 
 232 Edinburgh Castle. 
 
 including those of Lord Macaulay, fell far short of the 
 reality. Scotland exceeds in beauty and picturesqueness 
 all that her many bards have sung concerning her ; and 
 even the accomplished and eloquent pen of the late Pro- 
 fessor Wilson has failed fully to make her beauties known. 
 I do not wonder that Byron should have been charmed 
 as he roamed about " through its open glades, dark glens, 
 and secret dells," and that he could say of it 
 
 " England ! thy beauties are tame and domestic 
 
 To one who has roved on the mountains afar; 
 Oh ! for the crags that are wild and majestic, 
 The steep, frowning glories of dark Lochnagar." 
 
 On my first visit to Scotland I spent some weeks in 
 Edinburgh and its immediate neighbourhood. The city 
 itself teems with interest, not only on account of its un- 
 equalled natural scenery, but also for its rich and varied 
 historical associations. 
 
 If " that man is little to be envied whose patriotism 
 would not gain force upon the plain of Marathon, or whose 
 piety would not grow warmer among the ruins of lona," 
 as our great moralist observes, surely he must have a very 
 small soul who could ramble about the old town of Edin- 
 burgh, and not feel his heart beat quicker as he is reminded 
 almost at every turn of men who walke,d with kingly step 
 to the scaifold, or who suffered in Christian firmness and 
 meekness at the stake. 
 
 The Castle, with its many traditions, real and legendary, 
 and the magnificent views to be seen from its ramparts, 
 was a never-failing attraction to me. I visited it at early 
 morn, and saw the sun rise with orient beams upon its 
 black and frowning walls ; and at even-tide have I 
 lovingly lingered about its fortifications and look-outs, 
 musing over the startling and interesting events connected 
 with its chequered history and renowned story. 
 
 " Mons Meg" contrasts strangely with the more destruc- 
 tive "Armstrongs" of the present day, and the view from the
 
 Holyrood , etc. 233 
 
 Bomb Battery is magnificent. Among other objects of 
 interest in the castle are the small Xorman Chapel, built 
 by the queen of Malcolm Canmore, the Scottish Regalia, 
 and the window from which the young prince was let down 
 in a basket. Perhaps the best view of the castle is that 
 which may be seen from the Grassmarket the Smithfield, 
 in more senses than one, of Edinburgh ; but there are also 
 some fine views of the fortress from the Castle Gardens in 
 the valley below. 
 
 Heriot's Hospital, Parliament Square, the University, 
 John Knox's House, Tolbooth, the Lawn-market, St. 
 Giles's, Calton Hill, the Canongate, and Holyrood Palace 
 were visited many times. I was particularly interested 
 in the churches where the great Chalmers, and his no 
 less illustrious colleague, Edward Irving, spent their best 
 days. The Queen's Park, with its beautiful undulations, 
 and its breezy healthful heather hills, was a place of daily 
 resort with me; while Salisbury Crags, crowned by Arthur's 
 Seat, were classic grounds. I have sat for hours together 
 on the summit of Arthur's Seat, in the favourite niche of 
 the great Sir Walter, reading from the Heart of Midlo- 
 thian, and other of his works, faithful and graphic repre- 
 sentations of the surrounding scenery; drinking in the 
 invigorating breezes that may always be enjoyed there, let 
 the day be never so hot and close in the streets of the city. 
 
 Thei-e are several Cemeteiies in the vicinity of Edin- 
 burgh, some of them very beautifully laid out as gardens, 
 and made as attractive as possible. They contain the 
 precious dust of many of Scotland's noblest sons. I visited 
 the "Grange Cemetery" frequently, and was glad to linger 
 about the last resting-place of such men as Chalmers, 
 M'Cheyne, Mackintosh, the " Earnest Student," and 
 the lamented Hugh Miller, who fell a victim to an over- 
 wrought brain, and from whose writings I gratefully and 
 lovingly acknowledge to have derived much pleasure. 
 
 " Dean Cemetery " contains the ashes of Lords Jeffrey, 
 Cockburn, and Rutherford ; and some of the aristocracy
 
 234 Hawthornden. 
 
 of Edinburgh ; while not a few names of note are to Ix 
 seen on the monuments, erected in the very pretty garden - 
 like burying-place called the "Rose Cemetery." There is 
 an interesting monument here, erected by her Majesty 
 the Queen, to the memory of one of her faithful servants, 
 to whom she was much attached. The environs of Edin- 
 burgh are very picturesque and beautiful, and I paid frequent 
 visits to Granton, Trinity, New-Haven, Leith, Portobello, 
 Musselburgh, Melville Castle, Dalkeith Palace, Eoslin, 
 and Hawthornden. 
 
 Hawthornden and Eosliu are to the dwellers and 
 visitors at Edinburgh very much what our Hampstead and 
 Highgate are to us Londoners ; although in point of beauty 
 we must yield the preference to these Scottish places of 
 resort. 
 
 One day at Hawthornden I met a party of three young 
 ladies at the entrance of the grounds, who were annoyed by 
 the attentions of some young fellows, who seemed disposed 
 to make too free with them. Seeing the embarrassment 
 of these young ladies, and being a man in advanced life, 
 I offered my services to escort them through the grounds. 
 My offer was courteously accepted, and it added very much 
 to the day's enjoyment to ramble about this charming place 
 in company with those who could not only appreciate its 
 many beauties, but who could chat pleasantly upon the 
 various subjects brought to recollection in connection with 
 Roslin Chapel and Castle, as well as talk about the people 
 who had visited William Drummond, one of the most 
 distinguished of Scotland's earlier poets, and the friend of 
 our Shakespeare and Ben Jonson. 
 
 "We occasionally came across the gay gallant young 
 fellows who were making too free with my fair companions, 
 and they appeared to be a little vexed that I had supplanted 
 them. They followed us on to Dalkeith Palace, and we 
 found them again at Edinburgh in the evening. 
 
 I will not attempt any description of Eoslin and Haw- 
 thornden ; they are places which every visitor will be sure
 
 The Highlands. 235 
 
 to see : and those who are not so fortunate as to get so far 
 north will be better pleased to read some account of these 
 lovely places from those who have written specially about 
 them. 
 
 Dalkeith Palace, the property of the Duke of Buccleugh, 
 is about two miles from Lasswade, and is well worthy of 
 a visit. The Duke allows parties to see the palace and 
 grounds on Wednesdays and Saturdays ; while Hawthorn- 
 den and Rosliu can only be seen by visitors on -Wednes- 
 days. These attractive places can be reached from Edin- 
 burgh either by coach or rail. If you go by coach you 
 should be put down at Lasswade, and walk up the glen to 
 Koslin. The distance is only three miles, and the scenery 
 so beautiful that you will be well repaid for undertaking 
 the walk. 
 
 Lasswade, it will be remembered, is a little village, said 
 to have derived its name from a sturdy lass, who, in days 
 of yore, was wont to carry travellers over the Esk on her 
 back. It is interesting also as containing a cottage in 
 which Sir Walter Scott spent some of his happiest years. 
 
 I had arranged to spend my last week in Scotland with 
 a reverend friend from London. We met at Glasgow, 
 and set out from thence for a run through the Highlands. 
 Taking the steamer on the Clyde, we steamed down to 
 Dumbarton, and from thence by rail to Balloch, and soon 
 found ourselves on one of the fine steamers on Loch 
 Lomond. The day was showery and misty, so that we did 
 not see to perfection the enchanting scenery of this king 
 of Scottish lakes. The glimpses that we obtained at 
 several points were very beautiful, and the mist acted 
 like a thin veil, through which we gained occasional views 
 of the graceful slopes and monarch crown of Ben Lomond. 
 Had the day been fine we should have landed at Eower- 
 dennan, and climbed the mountain, but it would have been 
 labour in vain to have done so. 
 
 My fellow tourist was a Scotchman, familiar with the 
 scenery, and he pointed out to me, as we steamed along
 
 236 Loch Katrine. 
 
 over its placid waters, many beautiful views. Loch 
 Lomond is so extensive that different views may be ob- 
 tained of its beautiful scenery at every turn of the vessel. 
 
 We landed at Inversnaid, and walked across the moor 
 to Stronachlacher, a distance of about six miles, to Loch 
 Katrine. The rain now came down peltingly, as rain does 
 in Scotland, and we were glad to find both shelter and re- 
 freshment at the little inn that stands at the head of the 
 loch. The rain continued to pour down in torrents ; but 
 finding that there was no probability of its holding up, we 
 took our places on the smart little steamer that plies up 
 and down this queen of Scottish lakes. All the passen- 
 gers but ourselves took refuge in the cabin, but as we 
 were furnished with waterproofs, we continued on deck, as 
 the steamer moved silently and leisurely through the dark 
 and deep waters. In spite of the rain we enjoyed the 
 ten miles sail down this beautiful lake ; and as we were 
 both pretty well up in Scott's poems, we recited to each 
 other some of the well-known passages of the great Sir 
 Walter, so faithfully descriptive of the scenery through 
 which we were passing. The views of " Ellen's Isle " and 
 the surrounding scenery at the bottom of the lake can 
 hardly be surpassed for quiet beauty. The grey mist hid 
 the giant form of Benvenue, with its wild crags, from our 
 gaze ; and as the pitiless rain continued to fall, we could 
 not linger to look at the views at the lower end of the lake, 
 and were compelled to hurry through the far-famed Tros- 
 sachs, to find shelter at the castellated hotel, about half a 
 mile from the lake. 
 
 It is curious to observe, while passing through this 
 classic district, how tradition may spring from pure fiction. 
 Events which were the creation of the fertile brain of the 
 great " Wizard of the North," half a century ago, are now 
 gradually coming to be believed as veritable history by the 
 people around, and the guides will point out to you the 
 exact spot where Fitz-James's horse fell, as if it were a 
 well authenticated historical fact.
 
 Trossachi Hotel 237 
 
 The Trossachs' Hotel demands more than a mere 
 passing mention. It is really a magnificent turreted edi- 
 fice, which owes its present proud condition to the constant 
 stream of tourists through these romantic scenes during 
 the summer and autumn. We ascertained that this ex- 
 cellent, and well-conducted hotel was, not very many years 
 since, a little cottage, owned by a farmer of the neighbour- 
 hood ; but that soon after the " Lady of the Lake " was 
 published, the cottage was so crowded by visitors 'to Loch 
 Katrine, that further accommodation was required. The 
 present building owes its erection to Lord Willoughby 
 d'Eresby, and is quite a princely-looking place. The fare 
 is all that could be desired, and the sleeping apartments 
 most comfortable, the crowning glory is, that the charges 
 are very moderate, and the attentions of the officials most 
 courteous and intelligent. After resting for the night in 
 these very comfortable quarters, we awoke early in the 
 morning, and climbed to the summit of Ben An, which 
 lies immediately behind the hotel. The rain had ceased, 
 and the morning was clear and bright, so that we obtained 
 a splendid view of Loch Katrine, Benvenue, Ben Ledi, 
 and the renowned scenery of that classic spot through 
 which we had passed on the preceding day. 
 
 Our walk gave us a keen appetite for a good breakfast ; 
 after which we shouldered our knapsacks to pursue our 
 wanderings in search of the beautiful. We soon found 
 ourselves by the side of Loch Vennacher, a pretty lake of 
 five miles long, and about a mile and a half broad. Two 
 small islands rest upon its bosom, and the scenery around is 
 soft and verdant. Scott says of it 
 
 " Here Vennacher in silver flows, 
 Here, ridge on ridge, Benledi rose ; 
 Even the hollow path twined on 
 Beneath steep hank and thundering stone ; 
 The rugged mountains' scanty cloak 
 YTas dwarfish shruhs of hirch and oak, 
 With shingles bare, and cliffs between, 
 And patches bright of bracken green,
 
 238 Killin, etc. 
 
 But where the lake swept deep and still, 
 Dark osiers fringed the swampy hill ; 
 And oft both path and hill were torn 
 Where wintry torrent down had borne, 
 And heaped upon the cumber'd land 
 Its wreck of gravel, rocks, and sand." 
 
 Leaving Callender on our right we marched on through 
 the rugged pass of Leny to Loch Lubnaig, obtaining some 
 fine views of Ben Ledi, which from its position has been 
 called " the advance guard of the Highland hills." As 
 we had a long day's walking in prospect we did not ascend 
 Ben Ledi ; but we were informed that the view from the top 
 is very fine, embracing the entire breadth of Scotland, 
 from the Pass of Jura on the west, to the Bass Hock on the 
 east ; while the prospect northward extends to Inverness, 
 and southward to the English border. The scenery in the 
 vicinity of Loch Lubnaig gives you a general impression 
 of grandeur, but on the immediate margin of the lake the 
 banks are soft and verdant, contrasting pleasantly with the 
 rugged steeps of Ben Ledi. We strolled on leisurely by the 
 side of the lake through Ardchullerie to King's House, 
 where we arrived in time to see the sun go down behind 
 Ben Voirlich, as we took a ramble after an early tea. 
 
 We started early the next morning, and walked to 
 Lochearn Head to breakfast; after which, leaving the lonely 
 and desolate scenery of Loch Voil and the Braes of Bal- 
 quhidder on our left, we pursued our way to Glen Ogle, a 
 wild and picturesque walk to Killin. This latter place is 
 very beautiful, and to an artist would afford some fine 
 sketches ; but as neither of us possessed this accomplish- 
 ment, we lingered at Killin, and took into our mind's eye 
 all the beauties of the place. Having taken some bitter 
 beer and biscuit at the inn, we reached Loch Tay, and 
 took the left-hand road by the side of the lake, with Ben 
 Lawers towering just above us all the way to Kenmore. 
 On arriving at Kenmore we took a hasty early dinner, and 
 set out to see the far-famed Tay mouth Castle.
 
 Taymouth Castle. 239 
 
 Both the castle and the grounds in which it is embosomed 
 are thrown open to the tourist ; on applying at the entrance 
 lodge, we were furnished with a fine young intelligent 
 fellow, in full Highland costume, to conduct us through 
 the park, and point out the more beautiful views to be 
 obtained from this matchless domain, where Nature has 
 lavished her bounties so profusely, and where wealth has 
 called in the aid of art, and the most exquisite taste, to 
 make Taymouth Castle and its surroundings a kingly place. 
 The interior of this baronial castle is very spacious, and 
 furnished fit for a monarch. The proprietor of this noble 
 domain, the Marquis of Breadalbane, is married, but there 
 is no offspring. His grounds are so extensive that he can 
 ride a hundred miles, to the broad Atlantic, through lands 
 he calls his own ; but no child is there to run to him on 
 his return, and to call him father. Who that has a child 
 to love him would exchange with the noble owner of Tay- 
 mouth Castle ? A man may not have an inch of ground to 
 call his own, but may nevertheless be an inheritor of the 
 earth, and possess ah 1 things. It reminded us of the poet's 
 lines 
 
 " Cleon hath a million acres, 
 
 Ne'er a one have I ; 
 Cleon dwelleth in a palace, 
 
 Jn a cottage I ; 
 Cleon hath a dozen fortunes, 
 
 Not a penny I ; 
 Yet the poorer of the twain is 
 
 Cleon, and not I. 
 
 Cleon, true, possesseth acres, 
 
 But the landscape I ; 
 Half the charms to me it yieldeth 
 
 Money cannot buy ; 
 Cleon harbours sloth and dulness, 
 
 Freshening vigour I ; 
 He in velvet, I in fustain 
 
 Richer man am I. 
 
 Cleon sees no charm in nature,
 
 240 Schiehallion. 
 
 In a daisy I ; 
 Cleon hears no anthems singing 
 
 In the sea and sky ; 
 Nature sings to me for ever, 
 
 Earnest listener I ; 
 State for state, with all attendants, 
 
 Who would change ? XOT I." 
 
 We left Taymouth Castle with the persuasion that very 
 few of the ancestral halls renowned in ancient story can 
 equal this Highland home of the Marquis of Breadalbane ; 
 and we wondered not that our good Queen, when on a visit 
 to the noble owner with her late lamented consort, should 
 have remarked to their host that " she lived in a house 
 he in a palace." 
 
 On the following morning we left Kenmore, and walked 
 about three miles through the grounds of the noble mar- 
 quis, to Cusheville Inn, where we breakfasted. By the 
 way, I may just mention that these morning walks gave us 
 always a good appetite for breakfast, and that it would have 
 been a saving to the innkeepers if we had adopted the more 
 usual custom of taking this important repast before setting 
 out for our daily peregrinations. 
 
 We left the coach-road and crossed the moors to Blair 
 Athole. Though we were occasionally rather at a loss to 
 pick out our way, and missed the comforts of an inn, yet 
 by the aid of a good tourist's map, and a little inquiry of 
 the shepherds we met with in these lonely plains, we got 
 on pretty well, and were rewarded for all our pains by see- 
 ing a good deal of fine scenery not mentioned in any of 
 the guide-books. 
 
 On reaching the high ground a few miles from Cushe- 
 ville, we sighted Schiehallion a mountain between three 
 and four thousand feet high, and having a peculiar summit 
 resembling a half-crescent. In crossing the moor to the 
 river Tummel we had this fine mountain in view under 
 various aspects the greater part of the day. We wandered 
 along upon the beautiful heather in the direction, as nearly
 
 The Pastor of Foss. 241 
 
 as we could guess, of Blair Athole, and about noon found 
 ourselves at a little straggling village called Foss. 
 
 The long walk and the bracing air had reminded us 
 that "the inner man" needed attention, and we cast 
 about to find an inn. Upon inquiry we regretted to learn 
 that there was nothing of the kind within two or three 
 miles. " Tummel Inn " was the nearest, and to go there 
 would lead us some miles out of our projected route to 
 Blair Athole. Tired and hungry, we looked round the 
 little hamlet to see if there was any house that we might 
 venture to ask for a bason of milk and a little oatcake. 
 The manse was the best house to be seen, and I suggested 
 to my reverend friend that he should make himself known 
 to the minister as " a brother chip," and ask for " a cup 
 of cold water." After some little hesitation my proposi- 
 tion was agreed upon. 
 
 As we approached the neat little house we saw a tall, 
 reverend-looking man pacing up and down the lawn by the 
 side of the manse, apparently meditating upon some ab- 
 struse question, or thinking out a sermon for the next 
 Sabbath. He was a man of middle-age, with a thought- 
 ful, benevolent countenance; and as we approached the 
 low wall that separated the garden from the road, he came 
 forward to meet us. We inquired of him if there was any 
 inn in the place, and found our village friends were right 
 in the information they gave us. On learning this my 
 companion, who was the chief speaker upon all occasions, 
 rather hesitatingly told him that he was a brother minister, 
 that I was an elder in his kirk, and that we needed a little 
 refreshment. He immediately came to the gate and in- 
 vited us into his pretty little house. In a few minutes we 
 found ourselves quite at home with our good brother, and 
 there was placed before us a plentiful supply of bread and 
 cheese, butter, oatcake, honey, and a large jug of milk. 
 We found our good Samaritan was a bachelor, and a very 
 intelligent fellow. " The welcome was so cordial, and the 
 fare so good, that we did justice to our friend's luncheon, 
 n
 
 242 A Highland Manse. 
 
 and chatted away for an hour or more upon all sorts of 
 subjects. Our host would not let us leave without taking 
 " a wee drop of whiskey." Having regaled ourselves and 
 being rested, our kind brother walked with us down to the 
 ferry at the Tummel. We parted with many mutual good 
 wishes, and on our part with most grateful expressions for 
 the kind and generous treatment we had found at this 
 Highland manse. We left our cards with the minister, 
 and hope some day to see him in London, that we may 
 reciprocate his timely and brotherly hospitality. There 
 are thousands of kindly hearts behind a somewhat cold 
 exterior, if we would but put them to the test ; and I verily 
 believe that, in the present instance, it was " more blessed 
 to give than to receive." If a cup of cold water, given in 
 the name of a disciple, will not go unrewarded, this kindly 
 hospitality of the minister at Foss shall not be forgotten. 
 
 Having crossed the Tummel, we pursued our journey, 
 and reached Blair Athole by way of Glen Kannoch, and 
 so concluded a very pleasant day. We had a great desire 
 to see Glen Tilt ; but the Duke of Athole had shut up 
 that picturesque and romantic spot to tourists, and conse- 
 quently we could not gain admission. On my next visit 
 to the Highlands I was more fortunate, and enjoyed a 
 day's ramble through its wild and beautiful scenery by 
 way of Castleton of Braemar. 
 
 The next morning we mounted our knapsacks and 
 strolled leisurely on to the celebrated Pass of Killiecrankie, 
 the well-known scene of "the bloody Clavers," one of 
 Scotland's most hated foes. The Pass stretches away for 
 a mile or more by the side of the river Garry. The hills 
 rise from the bed of the river perpendicularly, forming a 
 solid wall of rock. On either side the banks are clothed 
 to the height of several hundred feet with waving birch- 
 trees, while Ben Vracky looks frowningly down upon the 
 Pass. The terraced slopes approaching this beautiful 
 valley are adorned by several picturesque villa residences. 
 I did not enjoy our ramble so much on this occasion, as I
 
 Dunkeld. 243 
 
 walked with a large blister under my great toe, produced 
 by the rather hard walking of the previous days. 
 
 We made Pitlochrie our resting-place for the night, and 
 the next day found us at the pretty little city of Dunkeld. 
 The entrance to this beautiful place is most imposing and 
 magnificent, as the hills on the opposite valley approach 
 each other, clothed with dark pine-forests and interspersed 
 with immense masses of naked rock. The Tay runs 
 through the town towards the sea, and the plain upon 
 which the city stands is embosomed among wooded hills 
 and mountains. 
 
 We took the rail from Dunkeld to Perth, but could not 
 stay there ; but continued our way to Edinburgh by 
 Dysart, Kirkaldy, Kinghorn, Burnt Island, and Granton. 
 
 So finished my first tour in the Highlands. I had seen 
 in a week more than enough to make me desirous of 
 visiting other famous places of 
 
 " The land of the mountain and flood, 
 Where the pines of the forest for ages have stood ; 
 Where the eagle comes forth on the wings of the storm, 
 And her young ones are rocked on the high Cairngorm." 
 
 SECOND VISIT TO THE HIGHLANDS. 
 
 |Y next visit to Scotland was in 1861. I had 
 for my fellow-tourists two old and valued 
 friends, in addition to my Caledonian compa- 
 nion on the last occasion. I cannot resist the 
 desire to let my readers know that the addition to our 
 party was a very happy one. One was an Australian 
 merchant on a visit to England for two or three years, 
 and who, since his return to the land of his adoption, has 
 been elected an M.P. for one of the most important con- 
 stituencies in South Australia. He was a man of middle
 
 244 "Jolly as Sand-boys." 
 
 age, with irresistible energy and quickness of perception. 
 During our month's tour he was ever ready to do any, or 
 all of us, a service as genuine and kind-heai'ted a fellow 
 as ever stood in shoe-leather, never thinking anything a 
 trouble, singularly free from selfishness, full of fun and 
 frolic, and as genial as a May morning. Our other 
 companion was a warm-hearted, active fellow, who by his 
 rare mechanical skill has a hundred times supplemented 
 the accomplished knife of Liston and his cutting col- 
 leagues. He has made for himself a name famous among 
 surgeons for inventing and manufacturing anything needed 
 by the profession, from a cork -leg fit for a duchess, to a nose 
 that would adorn the face of a duke. Mechanical skill of 
 this delicate character is rather rare in the world, and we 
 could but congratulate ourselves upon having such a man 
 with us, in case of any mishap in our own wanderings. 
 
 With such men as companions, a month's pedestrian 
 tour in the Highlands, or indeed anywhere else, could not 
 but prove a treat. Whether we were walking by the 
 way, fondly gazing upon the beautiful scenes around us, 
 or sitting in an inn enjoying our " creature comforts," we 
 were as " jolly as sand-boys " however jolly those happy 
 fellows may be. It added no little to our enjoyment, 
 that, being all of one mind as Christian brethren, "we could 
 present together our united and grateful adorations to the 
 great loving God who had spread out before us so many 
 scenes of beauty and grandeur, and who watched over our 
 wanderings with more than a Father's tenderness. 
 
 Having parted with our wives at King's Cross Station, 
 we started by the mail-train, and found ourselves next 
 morning at Edinburgh, where, after getting a wash and a 
 substantial breakfast, we left at once by rail for Stirling, 
 through Linlithgow and the memorable field of Bannock- 
 burn. 
 
 As we came upon these stirring spots our reverend 
 brother wanned up, and began to praise his native land, 
 for
 
 Stirling. 245 
 
 " Dear to him was Scotland, 
 
 In her sons and in her daughters, 
 In her Highlands, Lowlands, islands, 
 
 Regal woods and rushing waters ; 
 In the glory of her story, 
 
 When the tartans fired the field, 
 Scotland ! oft betray'd beleaguer' d 
 
 Scotland ! never known to yield." 
 
 Stirling and its Castle are very interesting in an histo- 
 rical point of view. It was not, however, on account of 
 the many sieges it had sustained ; nor that it was the birth- 
 place of kings ; nor that it was the favourite residence of 
 the Stuarts that we came to it not that the place was less 
 interesting to us on these accounts, but we were pilgrims 
 in search of the picturesque and the beautiful, and there are 
 few spots, even in Scotland, that can equal Stirling in this 
 respect. The views from the castle and the adjacent 
 churchyard are perhaps unequalled by any to be seen in 
 the Highlands, as they combine, with great extent and 
 extreme fertility, a magnificent range of mountains stretch- 
 ing away through the valley. Any description of such a 
 scene from my humble pen would be an impertinence ; it 
 must be gazed upon to be appreciated ; and without being 
 extravagant in my praises, for my own part I should have 
 been fully repaid for the long journey if Stirling alone had 
 been the object of our visit. Two of our party had seen 
 Stirling before, but it was all new to our Australian friend 
 and myself. In addition to the information supplied by 
 Adam and Charles Black, in their excellent " Scottish 
 Tourist," we had the benefit of our bishop, who was full to 
 overflowing in everything relating to the land of his nati- 
 vity. We were also joined by Mr. Culross, the Baptist 
 minister there a man of refined taste and elegant mind, 
 and a poet of no mean order. This gentleman gave 
 us the benefit of his genial society, and kindly pointed 
 out to us all the points of peculiar interest in the glorious 
 panorama stretched out around us on every side for many 
 miles.
 
 246 Scottish Worthies. 
 
 The churchyard on the opposite hill to that on which 
 stands the castle has heen tastefully laid out, chiefly at the 
 cost of the well-known Peter Drummond, who has also 
 erected statues to the memory of James Guthrie, the Stir- 
 ling martyr, Jolin Knox, Andrew Melville, Ebenezer 
 Erskine, and other illustrious Scottish worthies. There is 
 an exquisite group in white marhle, to commemorate 
 " Margaret Wilson of Glenervoch, the Virgin Martyr of 
 the Ocean Wave, and her like-minded sister Agnes." 
 
 Here also, in this beautiful spot, you may slake your 
 thirst at a fountain from which flows a stream of the cool- 
 est and most delicious water. There is a crag to the south 
 of the valley called " The Ladies' Look-out," from having 
 been used by the fair maidens, during the courtly days of 
 Stirling, as a natural gallery from which might be seen the 
 tournaments, and other sports which were then displayed 
 in the valley beneath. 
 
 After lingering upon the ramparts of the castle, and 
 resting ourselves in the pleasure-grounds adjoining, we 
 reluctantly descended into the town, where we hired a con- 
 veyance to the Trossachs. The scenery from Stirling, 
 through the Bridge of Allan and Callender, is very pictur- 
 esque. The first view of the Trossachs from the banks of 
 Loch Achray is possibly the finest certainly it is the most 
 striking. The great Sir Walter has depicted this scene 
 with his usual faithfulness and power, though even his de- 
 scription falls immensely short of the reality. 
 
 We took a stroll after tea to Loch Katrine, and wan- 
 dered by the margin of the lake by moonlight for a couple 
 of hours. Ben An, Ben Ledi, and Ben Lomond, were at 
 times distinctly visible, though their bald heads were occa- 
 sionally half veiled by mists, which only made them look, 
 if possible, more beautiful, as does the fair face of a bride 
 seen through her veil. The scene all around was beauti- 
 ful ; everything so still and quiet that we hardly liked to 
 break the silence by our own voices. After taking our fill 
 of this enchanting lake, we returned through the Trossachs,
 
 Loch Katrine. 247 
 
 and by the side of the little fairy -looking Loch Achray, 
 the waters of which wash the road. The moonbeams 
 were resting upon its peaceful and quiet bosom, and we 
 went happily to our comfortable beds at the hotel, sleeping 
 soundly enough after our previous night's journey from 
 London. 
 
 Breakfast over on the following morning, we walked up 
 to the foot of the lake, where, finding that we had an hour 
 or more to wait for the steamer, we hired a boat and rowed 
 up to " Ellen's Isle," the spot immortalized in " The Lady 
 of the Lake." Having landed, we ascended by a natural 
 staircase to the centre of the island, where such a scene 
 of quiet beauty surrounded us on every side, that for a 
 while we gazed upon it in silent admiration. One of the 
 party proposed that we should sing the beautiful lines 
 beginning with 
 
 " Triumphant Lord ! Thy goodness shines." 
 
 The words were so expressive of our joy and gladness that 
 we sang them out right manfully ; and if our voices were 
 not the most musical, our hearts fully responded to this 
 well-known sacred lyric. 
 
 We did not like leaving this lovely spot ; but as our 
 time was limited, we rowed back to our starting-point, and 
 took our places on board the pretty little steamer, " Eob 
 Roy," to sail up the lake. The morning was bright, with 
 occasional showers ; and as we steamed up the loch we 
 amused each other by repeating portions of " The Lady of 
 the Lake " as the scenery around suggested passages from 
 that beautiful poem. No one should pass through this 
 classic scenery who has not read Scott's poems and the 
 Waverley Novels. Every point of interest has been 
 noticed and faithfully delineated by the great novelist and 
 poet, and it is quite a relief to find your own exhausted 
 vocabulary of epithets of admiration supplemented by the 
 magic pen of the great " Wizard of the North." 
 
 Some one has said :
 
 248 Loch Lomond. 
 
 " The world is full of poetry ; the air 
 Is living with its spirit ; and the waves 
 Dance to the music of its melodies, 
 And sparkle in its brightness." 
 
 Poetry is never so beautiful as when that which gave 
 rise to it is around you : it is then you feel it to be a relief 
 to the pent-up feelings to repeat stanzas of immortal verse, 
 such as the circumstances demand, and as only a master- 
 mind could have penned. 
 
 Having gained the head of the lake, some of us tried 
 to repeat the unpronounceable name of the inn there : we 
 could only do it satisfactorily after repeated lessons from 
 our reverend friend, who always put us right in all matters 
 relating to his country. We set out to walk across the 
 moor to Loch Lomond, instead of coaching it, and in about 
 an hour and a-half found ourselves at Inversnaid. The 
 graceful and classic scenery of Loch Katrine should always 
 be seen first, as it prepares the way for the grander beau- 
 ties of Loch Lomond. 
 
 From Inversnaid we steamed up the loch to Kowerden- 
 nan, the best point for ascending Ben Lomond, which 
 rises immediately from the small inn that lies at its base. 
 Having refreshed ourselves with beer and biscuits and or- 
 dered dinner, we started for the mountain ; but on climbing 
 about two miles my respiratory organs reminded me that 
 I was not quite so young a man as I imagined ; and as I 
 had been an invalid for some months before taking this 
 Highland tour, I though it wise to give up the thought of 
 climbing to the summit. My disappointment was very 
 great, as may be imagined ; but I sat down on a mossy 
 bank and philosophised upon my condition as well as I 
 could, and contented myself with the scenery around. I 
 could not, however, forget that Dr. Chalmers had said, on 
 seeing the view from the summit of this grand old moun- 
 tain, that he " scarcely thought anything even in heaven 
 could be more beautiful." 
 As I sat pensively musing I took out my Bible, and
 
 Pensive Musings. 249 
 
 thought of the analogy between Nature and that sacred 
 record. In both we may trace the hand of God. His 
 creation is broken at every point : here a sheltered valley, 
 there a profound abyss on one side of a mountain whose 
 summit is in the clouds, whilst on the other there is a leap- 
 ing, noisy cataract. Here we may have spread out before 
 us soft and verdant pastoral scenery, with 
 
 " Quiet breadths of evening sky," 
 
 and off in the distance the great and wide sea, where the 
 waves lift up their voice. In the heavens above the stars 
 move in separate paths, and shine with varied degrees of 
 glory. And when we look into the Bible there is the 
 same sublime diversity : on one page there are, as it were, 
 pastures clothed with flocks, and valleys covered over with 
 the yellow corn ; on the next page we look up to heights, 
 and down into depths, where there are such hidings of 
 God's purposes that the loftiest faculties of man are 
 baffled and abased. We may follow our blessed Lord to 
 the quiet home of the Marys and Lazarus, his " own fami- 
 liar friend," where kind and loving words drop from His 
 divine lips ; or we may go up with Him to the mountain 
 of transfiguration, where the brightness of Heaven glows 
 and glistens from His face ; and then, again, walk with 
 Him mournfully to dark Gethsemane, and gaze in silent 
 admiring wonder at the wondrous scene at Calvary. The 
 blending of the divine and human in the person of Christ 
 is, to my mind, one of the most convincing of all proofs 
 that " certainly this was the Son of God ; " and there is 
 an irresistible charm about it. While we know and love 
 Him as a brother, He has also a fulness of glory about 
 Him too dazzling for mortal eyes. He is so human that 
 we may lean on His bosom, and kiss His blessed feet ; 
 and yet when His glory bursts out upon us, we fall at His 
 feet as dead, and can only cry, " My Lord, and my God." 
 These pensive musings were interrupted by the return 
 of my companions, who had been four hours in making
 
 250 Glencroe, 
 
 the ascent and descent, but were amply rewarded for 
 their labours by the splendid view they obtained from the 
 top. Though their appetites had been sharpened by their 
 exertions and the keen mountain air, they could hardly get 
 on with their dinner, so desirous were they to give expres- 
 sion to the admiration of the scene they had been rewarded 
 with from the summit of Ben Lomond. 
 
 Such a scene of majestic beauty as that which Loch 
 Lomond presents, either at early morn or dewy eve, when 
 the sun descends beneath its distant waters, I think, is 
 hardly to be met with this side of Heaven. 
 
 We stayed at the quiet little inn at Rowerdennan for the 
 night, and walked out the next morning, as soon as it 
 was light, by the margin of the lake. The mountain top 
 was hid by a grey mist, that seemed, as it slowly curled 
 away, like incense rising from an altar. We took a boat 
 and rowed out for a mile upon the lake, and returned to 
 breakfast with a good appetite. We got on the first 
 steamer and crossed to Tarbet, where we mounted our 
 knapsacks and walked leisurely on to Arrochar, for Glen- 
 croe. To avoid a couple of miles needless walking we 
 hired a boat at Loch Long, and crossed to the Glencroe 
 road. The boat leaked so in the stern that it was as much 
 as our surgical friend and myself could do to ladle out the 
 water with a small bucket. It would have been rather a 
 serious matter if the boat had gone down, as only two 
 of the party could swim, and there were no other boats in 
 sight. 
 
 Having put us ashore opposite the bend of the road 
 leading to Glencroe, we trudged on, with one of the 
 mountains at the head of Loch Long on our right, called 
 " The Cobbler," so designated from its remarkably bold 
 and fantastic outline. This glen resembles in some 
 respects Glencoe ; the lower slopes are broken and jagged 
 by protruding masses of rock, while the hills above are 
 split into separate summits of all imaginable shapes. 
 Some parts of the valley present a pleasing aspect of grey
 
 "Rest-and-be-thankfuL" 251 
 
 rock, purpling heath, and verdant pasture. It is at the 
 head of this glen that the stone is found bearing the 
 inscription, " Rest, and be thankful ; " words inscribed on 
 it by the soldiers who made the fine road, with the date, 
 " 1 748," and an addition by a succeeding party, " Repaired 
 by the 23rd Regiment, 1768." One who has lately 
 visited the spot says, " This seat was erected by General 
 Wade, while engaged in his great work of Highland road- 
 making ; and so long as it exists the general will be 
 remembered and Earl Russell too." We took out our 
 whiskey-flasks, and drank to the memory of the general 
 and the noble fellows who made the road. This stone 
 has been rendered more memorable since by Earl Russell 
 making the inscription his motto for a time with reference 
 to political measures. 
 
 I am not the man to underrate the services of that 
 eminently patriotic statesman, and would say that I 
 believe Earl Russell to be one of the few public men of 
 our time who would make almost any sacrifice for his 
 country's welfare. His private character will always 
 command the respect of all who can admire the Stirling 
 virtues which constitute the real glory of an English noble- 
 man. Never has a whisper of scandal been heard of this 
 Christian statesman, who is both loved and looked up to, 
 by a large circle of distinguished relatives and friends, as 
 well as the numerous and increasing moderate Reform 
 party in the country. 
 
 Earl Russell * has contributed somewhat largely to our 
 political and historical literature, and all his writings 
 evince a thorough knowledge of the subject in hand, com- 
 bined with a healthy moral tone. His " Life of Tom 
 
 * While these pages are passing through the press, his lordship 
 has, through the sudden and lamented death of Lord Palmerston, 
 been again called to the helm of the State. May he be enabled to 
 develope his first Reform Bill, as the extension of the franchise is 
 the cause of right, of justice, of expediency, of safety, and, I think, 
 of the highest political wisdom.
 
 252 Earl Russell 
 
 Moore " is a most charming book ; and every man inte- 
 rested in the political welfare of his country should read 
 his work " On the English Government and Constitution, 
 from the Eeign of Henry VII. to the present time."* I 
 remember, when a boy, that " Lord John " was to my 
 mind the beau ideal of a reformer, and my admiration of 
 this Christian statesman has increased with years. 
 
 A mile or two from the " Rest-and-be-thankful " stone 
 we found a farm-house, where we obtained some milk and 
 oatcake. Leaving Cairndow on our right, we made for 
 St. Catherines through Kinglass. We reached the ferry 
 at the head of Loch Fyne after a toilsome and wearisome 
 walk, which had 'completely knocked up our surgical 
 friend, who, though a man of indomitable pluck, was fairly 
 taken off his legs. He had, unfortunately, set out 
 upon this tour wearing a pair of smart Wellington boots, 
 which would have done well enough in Regent-street, 
 but were very poor articles to carry a man through a 
 pedestrian tour in the Highlands. They got so twisted 
 and out of shape by the rain, and the roughness of the 
 roads, that we were obliged two or three times in the 
 course of the day to draw them off his tender and blistered 
 feet, to try and straighten them. Our good Australian 
 brother was of much service in offices of this nature, as he. t 
 had had in early life considerable experience in traversing 
 the rough, half-formed roads of his adopted country. 
 
 The sail across Loch Fyne to Inverary is about three 
 miles, and we did not forget that this fine salt-water lake 
 is famous for its herrings. We were told that sometimes 
 as many as 800 boats may be seen in pursuit of these 
 breakfast luxuries, sold in London and elsewhere as " real 
 Yarmouth bloaters." 
 
 After resting and refreshing ourselves at the "Argyle 
 Head Inn," we set out to find, if possible, a more suitable 
 pair of boots for our poor crippled friend. We sought in 
 
 * 3rd Ed. Published by Longman and Co. Crown 8vo. 1865.
 
 Inverary. 253 
 
 vain among the shops at Inverary, a somewhat large town, 
 for a pair of boots that would fit our friend, as he had so 
 small a foot. He was obliged at length to put up with a 
 pair of women's highlows ; and I believe he preserves both 
 these and the Wellingtons as interesting relics of his first 
 tour in the Highlands, as well as occasionally exhibits 
 them when the tale is told to a few select friends around 
 his hospitable fireside. 
 
 We spent our first Sunday in the Highlands at Inverary, 
 and the rest and refreshment of the sacred day were most 
 grateful to us after the wanderings of the preceding week. 
 After inquiring as to the places of worship in the town, we 
 decided upon going to the U. P. kirk, where I witnessed 
 for the first time the mode of administering the ordinance 
 of Baptism among the Presbyterians. This Christian rite, 
 as administered by our Scotch Psedobaptist brethren, differs 
 very little from the mode that obtains in the Church of 
 England, only that the parent takes upon himself the re- 
 sponsibilities of bringing up the child religiously as a son 
 or daughter of the Church. This appears to me to be a 
 much more sensible and scriptural idea of the matter than 
 that of the Church of England, where sponsors, under the 
 name of godfathers and godmothers, are made to take 
 upon themselves vows which they never for a moment 
 intend to fulfil, and which, if they did, a parent would of 
 course resist as an infringement upon the parental autho- 
 rity, which, be it ever remembered, steps in before all 
 Church authority. The minister was a good man, but 
 very dull and prosy. Oh! when shall we see men in 
 earnest in the pulpit ? If we walk into any of our Courts 
 of Law we shall find the advocate, who is feed simply to 
 defend or prosecute either side, as the case may be, doing 
 his work right earnestly and skilfully, carrying the jury- 
 men with him, and obtaining a verdict for his client. A 
 doctor who goes in and out among his patients without 
 being thoroughly in earnest, would not be likely to extend 
 his practice. The man of science, who never was sure of
 
 254 Preaching. 
 
 anything, but always doubtingly putting his half-digested 
 theories forward, would never be a foremost man among 
 his fellows. The statesman who hesitatingly addresses a 
 listening senate, will not be likely to " bring down the 
 house " upon him, except he speaks from a firm conviction 
 that he can move the minds of his audience, and influence 
 their judgment. Then why should our preachers, for the 
 most part, be such a dull, passionless, wearisome set of 
 men? Theirs is the highest vocation that can be entrusted 
 to man. To be an " Ambassador of Christ " is to fill an 
 office that an angel might covet. To rescue a sinner from 
 the error of his ways is a God-like work, and to bind up 
 the broken-hearted a man must be tenderly in earnest. 
 If you were in a position of imminent peril, you would not 
 think much of the man who coolly told you that you had 
 better get out of it, but gave you no warm hand to grasp 
 your sinking and exhausted form. When you are crushed 
 sometimes under the pressure of some great domestic trial 
 or heart conflict, you would not care very much for the 
 poor lifeless twaddle that we hear oftentimes from the 
 pulpit. We want sympathy in our preachers : we want 
 them to be like the impassioned and tender-hearted Paul, 
 who not only thundered out the divine threatenings against 
 sin in high places, so that " Felix trembled " and King 
 Agrippa quaked with cowardly fear, but who could also, in 
 accents soft and loving as a mother's words, whisper peace 
 to the troubled soul. I know that this will cost a man some- 
 thing to do, and that he cannot benefit others to any profit 
 except by self-sacrifice. But it is a noble work, and there 
 will be the recompense of the reward. I like to see our 
 soldiers, brown and tawny from an Indian sun, wearing 
 their well-earned medals on their breast, which tell of 
 hard-fought fields and dangers in the deadly strife. I 
 love to talk with the bluff old heroes at Chelsea and at 
 Greenwich, who, with maimed limbs and crooked forms, 
 garrulously tell of the glorious deeds of their early days. 
 And why should we not have in our churches and pulpits
 
 Inverary Castle. 255 
 
 men whose love for souls should be, like their Master's, a 
 love " stronger than death." 
 
 But to return from this digression, which has been occa- 
 sioned by the pastor of the U. P. Church at Inverary. 
 After kirk was over we sought the banks of Loch Fyne, 
 and as the day was hot and scorching, we sat upon the 
 rocks and bathed our feet in its refreshing waters. The 
 scenery of Loch Fyne is rather tame, and devoid of any 
 striking or remarkable feature ; the shores are well wooded, 
 and the surrounding hills completely covered with trees. 
 
 The town of Inverary is built on an elongated indenta- 
 tion of Loch Fyne, and on a level space in front of Glen 
 Aray, a little elevated above the lake, stands the castle. 
 The Duke of Argyll, unlike his compeer of Athole, takes 
 no fees from tourists for admission to his castle and beau- 
 tiful grounds, and it added no little to our enjoyment to 
 feel that here 
 
 " Nature's charms, the hills and woods, 
 The sweeping vales, and foaming floods, 
 Are free alike to all." 
 
 Inverary Castle is not remarkable for its architectural 
 beauty, but the park in which it stands is very picturesque. 
 There are some magnificent trees, some of very curious 
 growth ; and from Duniquoich, which shoots up its conical 
 head above the contiguous range seven hundred feet, you 
 gain a splendid view of the surrounding country. 
 
 We spent a pleasant Sabbath evening in wandering 
 about the grounds of this distinguished Scottish nobleman. 
 Oh ! it is a marvellous proof of God's love to put such 
 rebellious creatures as we are into a world so filled with 
 beauty ; and it is a greater marvel still if we have been 
 brought back to filial obedience, and can look up and say 
 with tearful eye, " Our Father made all these mountains, 
 and lakes, and woodland heights, and running streams, 
 and peaceful valleys for our enjoyment ! " 
 
 We laid ourselves down on the mossy summit of Duni-
 
 256 A Sabbath Evening. 
 
 quoich, that Sabbath evening, and read the 67th and the 
 104th Psalms, and sang in unison the hymn beginning 
 
 " God of Bethel, by whose hand 
 
 Thy people still are fed ; 
 Who through this weary pilgrimage 
 Hast all our fathers lead." 
 
 The evening was soft and balmy, and we lingered about 
 this lovely spot till the shades of night warned us that " this 
 is not our rest." One of the party recited some beautiful 
 lines ascribed to Tom Moore ;. but as they are not found 
 in his acknowledged writings, I am sure the reader will 
 be pleased to have them : 
 
 " There is a world we have not seen, 
 
 That time shall never dare destroy ; 
 Where mortal footstep hath not been, 
 Nor ear has caught its sounds of joy. 
 
 There is a region, lovelier far 
 
 Than sages tell, or poets sing ; 
 Brighter than summer's beauties are, 
 
 And softer than the tints of spring. 
 
 There is a world, and oh ! how blest ! 
 
 Fairer than prophets ever told ; 
 And never did an angel-guest 
 
 One half its blessedness unfold. 
 
 It is all holy and serene, 
 
 The land of glory and repose ; 
 And there, to dim the radiant scene, 
 
 The tear of sorrow never flows. 
 
 It is not fann'd by summer gale, 
 
 'Tis not refresh'd by vernal showers, 
 It never needs the moon-beam pale, 
 
 For there are known no evening hours. 
 No ; for that world is ever bright, 
 
 With a pure radiance all its own ; 
 And streams of uncreated light 
 
 Flow round it from the eternal throne. 
 
 There, forms that mortals may not see, 
 
 Too glorious for the eye to trace, 
 And clad in peerless majesty, 
 
 Move-with unutterable grace.
 
 Ben Cruachan. 257 
 
 In vain the philosophic eye 
 
 May seek to view the fair abode, 
 Or find it in the curtain'd sky, 
 
 It is the dwelling-place of God." 
 
 As we returned to our inn we took a glimpse by moon- 
 light of the little obelisk, erected in a garden beside the 
 church, to commemorate the execution there, in 1685, 
 of several patriotic gentlemen by the name of Campbell, 
 who were among the last individuals that suffered for their 
 unflinching and faithful opposition to Popery. 
 
 The next morning, as soon as it was light, we shouldered 
 our knapsacks, and set out for Dalmally, leaving our foot- 
 sore surgical friend to come on to us by coach, as the 
 Wellington boots had made our brother not very nimble 
 on his legs, and we were afraid of his knocking up alto- 
 gether. The rain was falling heavily when we left In- 
 verary, and after walking about three miles through the 
 grounds of the Duke of Argyll, we called at a peasant's 
 cottage by the road-side, and obtained not only shelter 
 from the rain, but some milk and oatcake. The rain hav- 
 ing a little subsided, we marched on merrily enough through 
 some fine scenery, half obscured by the mists occasioned 
 by the heavy showers, until we reached Cladich, a cele- 
 brated village for anglers. There we dried our feet, and 
 got a good substantial breakfast ; and as neither of us 
 happened to be disciples of Izaac Walton, we pushed on 
 to Dalmally. 
 
 Just before entering Cladich we obtained a splendid 
 view of the far-spreading sides, and towering broadly- 
 peaked summit of the gigantic Ben Cruachan, with its 
 innumerable lines of silver, caused by the rains running 
 down its rugged sides. It is a magnificent mountain, and 
 we had it as a companion almost the whole of the following 
 day, as we walked slowly by the margin of Loch Awe. 
 
 On arriving at Dalmally, we found our crippled friend 
 all the better for the ride and the rest. He had ordered 
 dinner and beds for the night. He remarked that he
 
 258 Loch Awe. 
 
 found it a dull place without us ; but this would not have 
 been the case had he been a Waltonian, as there is some 
 fine fishing there. 
 
 We left our quarters at break of day next morning, and 
 soon found ourselves by the side of Loch Awe. It is a 
 lake about twenty-four miles in length, varying from half 
 a mile to three miles in width. There are several little 
 islands scattered over its surface, some of them beautifully 
 crowned with dark nodding pines ; indeed the eastern end 
 of the lake possesses innumerable beauties. We saw Kil- 
 churn Castle from the same point that Turner did when 
 the great painter made that silent and deserted ruin the 
 subject of one of his celebrated pictures. On another of 
 these beautiful islands are the ruins of a small nunnery of 
 the Cistercian order ; and on a third, called Fraoch Elan, 
 those of a castle, which we were told was granted, in 1267, 
 to Gilbert Macnaughten by Alexander III. Tradition 
 informs us that this latter island was named from Fraoch, 
 an adventurous lover, who, attempting to gratify the wishes 
 of his fair lady for the delicious fruit of the isle, encountered 
 and destroyed the serpent by which it was guarded, but 
 fell himself a victim to his gallant temerity. 
 
 Ben Cruachan rises in solemn grandeur from the margin 
 of the lake, and is twenty miles in circumference at its 
 base. The sheep that were feeding quietly on its green 
 slopes looked like little white specks ; and as we laid down 
 to rest ourselves at its feet the scene appeared altogether 
 so strangely beautiful that we could almost have imagined 
 ourselves gazing upon some fair vision in a dream. 
 
 On approaching the eastern end of the lake the scenery 
 increased in beauty and grandeur. As we neared the 
 Pass of Bradner, where on one side Ben Cruachan rises 
 abruptly, while on the other, the rock ascends from the 
 brink of the water almost perpendicularly, the dark waters 
 of the lake stealing slowly and silently into a deep narrow 
 gorge, the scene is magnificent. We stood in silent ad- 
 miration for some time, for all our epithets of the beautiful
 
 Pass of Bradner. 259 
 
 were exhausted ; and sometimes, when we are surrounded 
 with scenery of this character, speech is almost an imper- 
 tinence, and you would gag the man who would profane 
 such sacred moments by his noisy and meaningless twaddle. 
 This celebrated Pass was one of the grandest and wildest 
 scenes we had as yet met with in the Highlands, and we 
 lingered about it until we had got the whole scene photo- 
 graphed in our mind's eye. 
 
 We were compelled at length to leave this piece of 
 magnificent scenery, and strolled on by the side of the 
 Kiver Awe, which rolls on majestically over a rocky bed, 
 about four miles, to Bunaw. Our walk terminated at the 
 " Inn of Taynuilt," where we found very comfortable 
 quarters for the night. In the evening we had a ramble 
 by the side of Loch Etive, a salt-water lake of about twenty 
 miles long and a mile broad. Bathing in these salt-water 
 lochs is a great luxury, and after a day's hard walking it 
 is most refreshing. I found that I could always sleep 
 well during my tour in the Highlands, a thing I had not 
 done for many months before ; and that I awoke about four 
 in the morning, fresh and invigorated, as in days of yore. 
 
 The next morning, instead of going on from Taynuilt 
 to Oban, the usual route for tourists, we hired a boat and 
 two stout young fellows to row us up the inland arm of 
 Loch Etive in the direction of Glencoe. "We were well 
 repaid for this detour, as the scenery both of the lake and 
 the glen is wild and picturesque. The distance from 
 Taynuilt to the head of the loch is about twelve miles, and 
 we enjoyed the row exceedingly. Glen Etive is one of 
 the most secluded and out-of-the-way places you can 
 imagine. We walked on for some miles without any sign 
 of human habitation, save here and there a shepherd's 
 hut. These cabins are of the most primitive construction, 
 and are of the rudest description. The entrance to them 
 is so low that you must stoop to get in at the door, and 
 there is nothing within to ensure comfort in any way. 
 The light admitted is so small that it takes some time
 
 260 Glen Etive. 
 
 before you can see anything at all distinctly. We found 
 here, as in all the dwellings of the peasantry of Scotland, 
 something to feed the mind as well as the body. We 
 remarked in one of these huts a well-worn Gaelic New 
 Testament, a small Halifax edition of the " Pilgrim's 
 Progress," and some other religious books. Very nearly 
 all the Scottish peasantry can read and write, and in this 
 respect they strangely contrast with the labouring classes 
 in our own agricultural districts. 
 
 After walking ten or twelve miles up this glen, we turned 
 into one of these cabins to seek for some refreshment, and 
 as the shepherds were driving in the sheep preparatory to 
 deer-stalking, they had fortunately laid in a larger stock 
 of food than usual. We had set before us. by a tidy lassie, 
 some basons of milk and oatcake, which we much enjoyed. 
 As we were tired with our morning's walk, we stayed an 
 hour or more reciting poetry and singing snatches of well- 
 known songs. One of the party was called upon to sing 
 " Nora Creina." Little did Tom Moore ever dream that 
 that beautiful Irish melody would ever be sung in a Scotch 
 glen. Our visit and uproarious voices had induced the 
 wives and children from some of the adjacent huts to 
 gather round the door, so that we had quite a large audi- 
 ence. The shepherds came in to their dinner before we 
 started, and we left a few shillings with them to be distri- 
 buted among the children. We wound up our concert by 
 giving them the National Anthem, and left with many 
 hearty good wishes that we might have a pleasant jour- 
 ney. 
 
 Those who love romantic scenery should go to Glen 
 Etive. The guide-books say nothing about it; but any 
 one in search of the beautiful will find this unfrequented 
 glen abounding in scenery of the choicest and most exqui- 
 site character. We sat ourselves down many times to 
 look leisurely round upon the scene, and as we had had 
 our fun at the shepherd's hut, we gave way to quiet 
 thoughts, produced by the objects before us. It must
 
 Glencoe. 261 
 
 have been in some such scene of beauty as this that the 
 poet sang 
 
 " Far opening down some woodland deep, 
 In their own quiet glade should sleep 
 
 The relics dear to thought ; 
 And wild-flower wreaths from side to side 
 Their waving tracery hang, to hide 
 
 What ruthless time has wrought." 
 
 The walk up this glen was by a rough and unused road, 
 but the scenery on either side and before us was very fine. 
 The conical bold head of Buchael Etive on our left, the 
 Royal Deer Forest on our right, with the high ridge of 
 black rocks known as the Devil's Staircase in front. We 
 were glad, however, to find we were not far from Kings 
 House, for we had walked about fourteen miles through a 
 bad road, though there was everything around us to make 
 us forget our poor blistered feet. How sweet it is, after 
 such a day's toil, for toil it must be, if you get anything 
 worth your labour, to take off your boots and " stretch 
 your tired limbs " on a comfortable bed ! Verily " the rest 
 of the labouring man is sweet." 
 
 After refreshing ourselves at this welcome lonely inn, 
 standing in the midst of a bleak moor, we set off for Glen- 
 coe, the grandest and most romantic scene in the High- 
 lands. Our expectations were raised to the highest pitch, 
 and we were not at all disappointed. Glencoe is about six 
 miles in length, and the upper part of it is wild and ter- 
 rific beyond the power of description. It would need a 
 Ruskin, a Macaulay, or a Kinglake, to do anything like 
 justice to such a scene of unmingled wildness and terrific 
 grandeur. On the one side immense black ranges of rock 
 rise in a continuous series of high, naked, sharp-edged 
 precipices. The mountains on the southern side are lofty 
 and bold, and appear to have been crowded together by a 
 mighty hand, and then split up the centre by some subter- 
 ranean and irresistible force that carried everything before 
 it. The mountains on the north side of the glen are so
 
 262 Ballahulish. 
 
 sharp and pointed as to resemble the roof of a house. 
 Numerous torrents pour down their waters from these in- 
 accessible fastnesses, and the streams are so rapid, carry- 
 ing so much stony matter along with them, that they make 
 the road through the glen dangerous, and at times almost 
 impassable. The gloomy grandeur of this wild and tragic 
 glen is such as to impress the most unreflecting mind with 
 awe and solemnity. We paused, and turned again, and yet 
 again, to gaze silently upon the strange and imposing scene 
 around us, so different to the soft and peaceful scenery 
 through which we had wandered for some days past. 
 Evening was coming on, and the sun was already below 
 the black crags, and lighting up the naked summit of 
 Buchael Etive with those beauteous violet tints that only 
 Turner's pencil can place on canvass, and which must be 
 seen to be appreciated. The lower part of Glencoe, next 
 Loch Leven, is covered with rich verdure, and the course 
 of the river that runs through it is fringed by alder and 
 birch trees. It has been truly said that " Glencoe is to 
 the other glens what Tennyson is to contemporary poets. 
 If Glencoe did not exist, Glencroe would be famous." 
 
 As we left Glencoe behind us, the mountains of Morven 
 came into view, bathed in the glowing colours of a High- 
 land sunset. On arriving at the charming little village of 
 Ballahulish, on the banks of Loch Leven, we were literally 
 filled to overflowing with the scenes through which we had 
 passed. However, good scenery, like good sermons and 
 every other earthly good, must, after all, end in " creature 
 comforts." We were wearied with sight-seeing, and were 
 both tired and hungry, and consequently did ample justice 
 to the mutton chops and salmon steaks provided by the 
 very civil landlord of the little inn that stands on the very 
 margin of the lake. 
 
 After making a substantial tea, we took a stroll by the 
 side of Loch Leven by moonlight, and enjoyed a bathe in 
 its transparent and refreshing waters before going to roost 
 for the night.
 
 Ben Nevis. 263 
 
 We awoke refreshed the next morning, mounted our 
 knapsacks, and crossed the ferry for Fort William and 
 Bannavie, by way of Onich and Corran Ferry. We 
 walked on, talking of the beauties of yesterday, by the side 
 of Linnhe Loch, fourteen miles, to Fort William, where we 
 dined and engaged beds for the night. I would say, for 
 the information of tourists, that the accommodation at the 
 " Caledonian Hotel " at Fort William is far inferior to 
 that which can be obtained at the " Lochiel Arms " at 
 Bannavie, which is only three miles farther on the road. 
 Not only is the commissariat department bad at Fort 
 William, but we found that the charges were considerably 
 higher than at any other inn that we stayed at during a 
 month's tour in the Highlands. 
 
 At Bannavie the hotel stands in a fine situation, the 
 accommodation good, and the charges moderate, and where 
 Ben Nevis can be seen to the greatest advantage, who 
 
 " Looks from his throne of clouds o'er half the land." 
 
 A little incident occurred at the hotel at Fort William 
 that caused some amusement at the time. On going to 
 our bed-rooms at night, one of our party, who was famous 
 for imitating all sorts of noises, employed his powers at 
 cat-a-wauling along the passages. So true to nature was 
 the imitation that some of the tourists, who had retired for 
 the night, opened their doors and came out to drive such 
 unwelcome visitors away. When we were assembled at 
 breakfast next morning in the coffee-room, we were rather 
 amused to hear one of the party remark to the waiter how 
 they had been annoyed during the night by cats. The 
 waiter expressed his surprise, and replied that the gentle- 
 man must have been mistaken, as they had not a cat in 
 the house. One of the party remarked that probably the 
 gentleman had been dreaming, while the real delinquent 
 sat quietly eating his breakfast. 
 
 On inquiry of one of the guides at Fort William, we 
 found that to climb Ben Nevis was both difficult and tedi-
 
 264 Ben Nevis. 
 
 ous. The ascent usually occupies nearly four hours from 
 the base of the mountain, and the descent rather more 
 than half that time. The weather was doubtful, and we 
 decided upon not making the ascent, as there would have 
 been the risk of being disappointed when we had gained 
 the summit. 
 
 Ben Nevis rises majestically above the surrounding 
 hills, and looks over a vast and wide sweep of mountain 
 and moor, glen and lake, far away to the Highlands 
 that lie amid the western sea ; its base is almost washed 
 by the sea, and none of its vast proportions are lost 
 to the eye. The summit is not peaked but tabular, 
 and admirably harmonises with its general massiveness 
 and grandeur: its circumference at the base is said to 
 exceed twenty-four miles. "VVe wandered up the glen 
 from which Ben Nevis rises, for some miles, that we 
 might look up upon this mighty mass of creative power 
 in various aspects. Impressive and almost overwhelming 
 as it is to look down from the bald summit of some of 
 these everlasting hills upon the glorious view unfolded, 
 and the lesser undulations around, it is to me far more 
 impressive and inspiring to look up from some green and 
 quiet glen to one of these grand old mountains, whose 
 summit is either bathed in the sunlight, or veiled by the 
 mists of heaven. I love to lie down and silently let the 
 eye wander from point to point, and as you do so, you 
 gradually take in the vast and magnificent proportions of 
 such a mountain as Ben Nevis. Musing silently upon the 
 scene, the mind instinctively turns to the Almighty power 
 that lifted these enormous masses from the plain below. 
 Man feels at once his littleness and his greatness: 
 " crushed before the moth," but at the same time having 
 within him something that will live when " the mountains 
 shall depart, and the hills be removed." 
 
 Glen Nevis is one of the most beautifid valleys in Scot- 
 land, and as we wandered leisurely along by the side of 
 the stream that runs through it, we gained ever and anon
 
 Glen Nevis. 265 
 
 varied views of the great monarch of Scottish mountains, 
 that lifted its towering head above us. The grass was so 
 green, and the heather in full bloom, that we laid ourselves 
 down for some hours. Everything around was quiet and 
 serene, and the silence only broken by our own voices, 
 and the mournfully plaintive note of the plover : but for 
 those birds of the mountain this beautiful wilderness would 
 have been silent as the grave. We felt ourselves so com- 
 pletely shut out from the world, and the scene around and 
 above us so surpassingly beautiful, that it would not have 
 required much effort to have imagined ourselves fondly 
 gazing upon a second Eden. So beautiful was the scene 
 altogether, that we should not have wondered very much 
 to have seen a flock of angels settle down upon some of 
 the fair projecting peaks of this wondrous mass of crea- 
 tive power and beauty. An object worthy of the great 
 Architect, who had placed it there for so many ages, for 
 the admiration of His rebellious children. Oh ! what a 
 luxury is wealth ; that one may, without crippling matters 
 at home, go abroad in God's great world, and see the many 
 manifestations of His creative power ; and gratefully adore 
 the hand and the heart that has so lavishly filled man's 
 probationary resting-place with objects to please his eye, 
 and gratify his taste. 
 
 Having lingered long and lovingly in this charming 
 valley, we retraced our steps to the head of the glen, and 
 called at a farm-house to refresh the inner man. The good 
 farmer's wife gave us each a tumbler full of new milk, and 
 chatted very friendly to us. She called our attention to pho- 
 tographs of her son and daughter, for where is the mother 
 that is not proud of her children ? The son was a fine 
 strapping fellow, in the Volunteer uniform, and the daughter 
 a pretty fair-haired innocent looking lassie of nineteen. 
 
 An hour's walk brought us to the " Lochiel Arms," 
 Bannavie, one of the finest and best-managed hotels in 
 the Highlands. There is an excellent table d'hote every 
 day at five : we sat down in a splendid dining-room with
 
 266 Caledonian Canal. 
 
 about sixty tourists and visitors, among whom we found 
 some very agreeable people, especially three or four from 
 America. There is a magnificent view of Ben Nevis 
 from this hotel. We spent a pleasant evening in strolling 
 about the neighbourhood, and making inquiries as to time 
 of starting of the steamer that sails through the Cale- 
 donian Canal, from Bannavie to Inverness, twice a week. 
 The Caledonian Canal, through a valley of sixty miles, 
 called " The Great Glen of Scotland," deserves more than 
 a passing notice, as it is one of the grandest pieces of 
 workmanship ever executed by the hand of man. This 
 great and wonderful national work was projected and car- 
 ried out, at an expenditure of little short of a million 
 pounds sterling, by the genius and energy of the late 
 Thomas Telford, a man of whom Scotland may be justly 
 proud. There were, of course, many obstacles to be sur- 
 mounted in such a gigantic undertaking ; but they were 
 all overcome by the skill and persistency of the great 
 engineer who had been selected for the work. In 1803 
 the work was commenced, and the canal finally opened in 
 the autumn of 1822, with all due ceremony. The dimen- 
 sions of the canal originally resolved on were as follows, 
 viz. " The bottom width, 50 feet, with slopes of 18 inches 
 to a foot, so that a depth of cutting of 15 feet earth will 
 be obtained, to make the banks contain 20 feet of water, 
 which will be 110 feet in width at its surface." As the 
 summit level of the canal between Lochs Oich and Lochy 
 is more than ninety feet above high-water mark, at Fort 
 William and Inverness, the two extreme points, vessels 
 navigating this silent highway are raised and lowered by 
 locks. These locks are twenty-eight in number, and are 
 none of them less than 170 feet long, and forty feet 
 wide ; and each affording an average rise of eight feet, 
 capable of admitting a 32-gun frigate. At Bannavie 
 there are eight magnificent locks, within about a mile of 
 the sea, called Neptune's Staircase. The original inten- 
 tion of making the depth twenty feet was abandoned on
 
 Thomas Telford. 267 
 
 account of the immense expense that it would have 
 occasioned. The present depth is only fifteen feet, which 
 limits the navigation to vessels of that draught of water. 
 It is said that an additional expenditure of .50,000 
 would be required to carry out the full depth contem- 
 plated. However, it presents, as it is, an enduring monu- 
 ment, not only of the genius and talents of Telford, but 
 also of the national enterprise that could carry out so 
 grand an undertaking. 
 
 The following beautiful and graceful tribute to the 
 great man who originated and completed this wonderful 
 work, is from the pen of Southey, and was written by 
 him during a temporary sojourn at Bannavie in 1819, 
 while on a tour through the Highlands : 
 
 " Where these capacious hasins, by the laws 
 Of the subjacent element, receive 
 The ship, descending or upraised, eight times 
 From stage to stage with unfelt agency 
 Translated, fitliest may the marble here 
 Eecord the architect's immortal fame. 
 Telford it was by whose presiding mind 
 The whole great work was plann'd and perfected ; 
 Telford, who o'er the vale of Cambrian Dee, 
 Aloft in air at giddy height upborne, 
 Carried his navigable road, and hung 
 High o'er Menai's Strait the bending bridge 
 Structures of more ambitious enterprise 
 Than minstrels, in the age of old romance, 
 To their own Merlin's magic lore ascribed. 
 Nor hath he for his native land perform'd 
 Less in this proud design ; and where his piers 
 Around her coast from many a fisher's creek, 
 Unshelter'd else, and many an ample port, 
 Eepel the assailing storm ; and where his roads 
 In beautiful and sinuous line far seen, 
 Wind with the vale and win the long ascent ; 
 Now o'er the deep morass sustain' d, and now 
 Across ravine, or glen, or estuary, 
 Opening a passage through the wilds subdued." 
 
 It must be remembered that the construction of a canal
 
 268 Port Augusta. 
 
 on so large a scale, to connect the German and Atlantic 
 Oceans, was to be regarded as an experiment to ascertain 
 the prohable advantages, of which there was no previous 
 test of a similar description that could be applied. The 
 Isthmus of Suez Canal, that is now almost completed, is 
 but the development on a larger scale of that constructed 
 by Telford. I must return, however, again to our tour, 
 with the hope that I have not wearied my readers by this 
 short digression from the immediate subject in hand. 
 
 We took our places in one of the splendid steamers that 
 sail through this " silent highway " from Bannavie, and 
 were very much delighted with our trip. The tour by 
 the Caledonian Canal has become a favourite one, and 
 the steamer was crowded by tourists, all of whom seemed 
 thoroughly to enjoy the varied and continuous extent of 
 beautiful, romantic, and picturesque scenery through 
 which we passed, which probably is not to be met with, 
 within the same distance, in any other part of the British 
 Isles. 
 
 The steamer stopped at Port Augusta, to enable pas- 
 sengers to see Gordon Gumming' s exhibition ; but as we 
 all voted him a humbug, we preferred a stroll by the side 
 of the canal to patronising such a pretentious fellow. The 
 exhibition was displayed in a large tent close to the spot 
 where the steamer pulled up, and the gentleman himself, 
 in full Highland costume, stood at the door to entice visi- 
 tors within. Such an illustration of Barnumism, in the 
 midst of so much that was beautiful and attractive in nature 
 around, made us the more disgusted with this attempt to 
 minister to the love of the marvellous that is found in most 
 of our countrymen. 
 
 On leaving Port Augusta, the route is continued through 
 Loch Ness, a lake about twenty-four miles in length, and 
 varying in breadth from three quarters of a mile to a mile 
 and a quarter. The mountain ranges on either side are 
 about of equal elevation, averaging between twelve and 
 fifteen hundred feet in height. Mealfourvonie, about mid-
 
 Falls of Powers. 269 
 
 way on the north side, rears his dome-like head far above 
 the neighbouring hills, to a height of upwards of three 
 thousand feet. 
 
 The steamer stopped again at a landing-place on Loch 
 Ness to allow passengers to see the Falls of Towers. 
 These celebrated Falls, which have been the subject of 
 many a poet's lay, and Burns among the number, are 
 situated about a mile from the lake. The tourist will be 
 well repaid for making this detour, as it is the finest "thing 
 of the kind in Scotland. The principal fall dashes through 
 a narrow gap, over a height of about ninety feet, and is 
 very imposing. At the point we viewed it from, the 
 spray wetted us through, but we saw it to the best advantage. 
 Two rainbows spanned the bottom of the Falls, which 
 added not a little to the beauty of the scene. As there 
 had been a good deal of raiu just befoi'e our visit, the 
 volume of water was considerably increased, so as to make 
 the ground tremble around us from the shock of the tumb- 
 ling waters, and our ears were stunned with its ceaseless 
 roar. From the rocks surrounding the Falls, you obtain 
 a fine view of Loch Ness, backed by the steep and ample 
 sides of Mealfourvonie, while the foreground descending 
 to the margin of the lake is beautifully covered by woods 
 of the weeping birch. 
 
 On regaining the boat, we steamed along the lake, ad- 
 miring the noble scenery on either side. We longed to 
 wander up Glen Urquhart, one of the richest and most 
 beautiful of the Highland valleys, but our time would not 
 permit us to do so, and we reached Inverness about five 
 in the afternoon. Having secured comfortable quarters at 
 a quiet inn, we took a walk about this famous Highland city. 
 
 Inverness is the largest town in the Highlands, having 
 a population of nearly 20,000. Some have gone as far 
 as to compare it with Edinburgh as to its situation and 
 surroundings. However this may be, the scenery round 
 Inverness is very picturesque and beautiful. Everything 
 has been done that can be effected by wood and cultiva-
 
 270 Inverness. 
 
 tion, and the character of the country around combines not 
 only the rich open lowland views, but also the wildest 
 mountain scenery, and to this must be added the Moray 
 Frith, a maritime landscape not often equalled. From 
 the Castle Hill the views are very fine : the mountains 
 about Loch Ness terminating in the dome-shaped summit 
 of Mealfourvonie. Towards the west the hills rise in 
 clusters, and, we were told, present in winter a fine sight, 
 with their many snow-clad peaks, while to the north rises 
 the huge, shapeless mountain called Ben Weavis, tow- 
 ering above the surrounding hills to the height of 3,700 
 feet. Towards the east the waters of the Moray Frith 
 are seen stretching out into the German Ocean, and con- 
 ducting the eye to the dim distant mountain-ranges of 
 Sutherland, Caithness, and Banffshire. 
 
 The gaol is a fine building, lately erected in place of 
 the old prison, which we were told consisted of a single 
 chamber in one of the arches of the bridge that spans the 
 River Ness. It is said that this dungeon was only aban- 
 doned after a poor madman confined there had been 
 devoured by rats. There are some good churches, in the 
 steeple of one of which is a sweet clear-toned bell, placed 
 there by Oliver Cromwell, who brought it from the Cathe- 
 dral of Fortrose. The great so-called usurper has left 
 other marks of his presence here in the destruction of the 
 Monastery of Black Friars. A citadel and fort were also 
 constructed by him on the north side of the town, near the 
 mouth of the river. This fort was, however, demolished 
 at the Restoration to please some of the Highland chiefs, 
 whose loyalty was no longer doubtful. A considerable 
 part of the ramparts remain to remind the good people at 
 Inverness of England's greatest monarch. 
 
 We saw the spot where Macbeth's Castle once stood ; 
 and although there are some doubts among antiquarians 
 as to whether Duncan's foul murder was perpetrated there, 
 we could not but look with interest at a place rendered so 
 memorable by our " Divine Shakespeare." Within about
 
 A Pulpit Fop. 271 
 
 a mile of the town the river is divided into two branches 
 by a series of islands luxuriantly wooded. These islands 
 are connected by light and elegant suspension bridges, 
 and have been laid out into walks for the recreation of the 
 inhabitants. 
 
 We spent a Sabbath at Inverness, and in no place that 
 we visited in Scotland had we seen the outward reverence 
 for the sacred day so rigidly observed. The streets 
 during the hours of divine service were as silent as those 
 of Pompeii; not a carriage of any description, hired or 
 private, was to be seen. We went in the morning to hear 
 a gentleman who was considered the best preacher in the 
 place ; the church was well filled, and the preacher rather 
 a good-looking fellow, but a little conceited and theatrical 
 in his manners. When will those who fill the sacred office 
 learn to be natural and unaffected, instead of assuming an 
 artificial style and mannerism in the pulpit, which is dis- 
 gusting to a cultivated audience, and an insult to the God 
 of Heaven? The great charm about Mr. Spurgeon is his 
 perfect naturalness; there is no straining after effect. 
 He stands simple and reverent as a man ought to do before 
 God and his fellow men, and you forget the man in the 
 services in which you are engaged. Every one with any 
 pretensions to correct taste in these matters will concur 
 with the bard of Olney when he says, 
 
 " In man or woman, but far most in man, 
 And most of all, in man that ministers 
 And serves the altar, in my soul I loath 
 All affectation. 'Tis my perfect scorn; 
 Object of my implacable disgust. 
 What! will a man play tricks, will he indulge 
 A silly, fond conceit of his fair form, 
 And just proportion, fashionable mien, 
 And pretty face, in presence of his God ? 
 Or, will he seek to dazzle me with tropes, 
 As with the diamond on his lily hand, 
 And play his brilliant parts before my eyes, 
 When I am hungry for the bread of life? 
 He mocks his Maker, prostitutes and shames
 
 272 A Scotch Sabbath. 
 
 His noble office, and, instead of truth, 
 
 Displaying his own beauty, starves his flock ! 
 
 Therefore, avaunt all attitude, and stare, 
 
 And start theatric, practised at the glass ! 
 
 I seek divine simplicity in him 
 
 Who handles things divine ; and all besides, 
 
 Though learn'd with labour, and though much admired 
 
 By curious eyes, and judgments ill inform 'd, 
 
 To me is odious." 
 
 The sermon of this rather conceited fashionable Scotch 
 preacher was a very ordinary affair, and we could not help 
 remarking that he appeared to think far more of himself 
 than of his subject. In the afternoon we went to another 
 of the Free Churches, for our sympathies were chiefly with 
 our brethren who had emancipated themselves from State 
 control. The church was crowded, and the atmosphere so 
 intolerably hot and close that it was anything but in- 
 viting. The minister, a man advanced in years, was well 
 enough ; but he was dull and drowsy, and the place so 
 un wholesomely oppressive, that when the devotional ex- 
 ercises were over two of our party, who were sitting by 
 themselves near the door, quietly withdrew, leaving our 
 brethren to benefit by the good man's sermon. 
 
 In leaving the church at this hour we could not but be 
 impressed with the silence and solitude of the streets. An 
 hour before every thoroughfare was literally crowded with 
 people on their way to the different churches, but now not 
 a single person was to be seen in many of the streets. I 
 was much struck, during my two visits to Scotland, at the 
 way in which the outward observance of the Sabbath is 
 characterized. It is a beautiful and cheering sight on the 
 Sabbath morning to see such a " multitude " going up to 
 " the House of the Lord;" and in this respect Scotland 
 contrasts very favourably, as far as the outward observance 
 of the day is concerned, with our own land. 
 
 The Sabbath question is undoubtedly one of the very 
 first importance to any country and community; but to 
 legislate on the subject is confessedly a difficult and deli-
 
 Winter Hamilton. 273 
 
 cate matter. It should always be remembered by Chris- 
 tian statesmen, and indeed by every man possessing the 
 elective franchise, that the generous and confiding spirit of 
 Christianity has not imposed a single restriction upon us 
 with reference to the observance of the Sabbath. While 
 I heartily believe that those who from conscience and 
 principle turn their thoughts most entirely out of the cur- 
 rent of worldly cares on that day fulfil, unconsciously, a 
 great law of health ; and that, whether their moral nature 
 be thereby advanced or not, their brain will work more 
 healthfully and actively for it, even in physical and worldly 
 matters. " I have often thought," remarks one, " that it 
 must strike every thoughtful observer that it is because the 
 Sabbath thus harmonizes the physical and moral laws of 
 our being, that the injunction concerning it is placed 
 among the ten great commandments, from the lips of God 
 Himself, each of which represents some one of the immut- 
 able needs of humanity." Now, although this is most 
 true, yet I believe that the observance of the Sabbath must 
 ever be treated as a question of religious authority. I 
 recollect reading a work, many years since, by the late 
 Winter Hamilton, of Leeds, a man of much original 
 thought, and " mighty in the Scriptures," that exercised a 
 considerable influence upon me. I had been educated a 
 Churchman, and had a most superstitious reverence in my 
 mind as to the outward observance of the Sabbath, but the 
 work referred to had the effect of deepening my reverence, 
 as a Christian man, for the religious observance of the 
 sacred day ; but at the same time it set me right as to 
 what should be done by the nation in its legislative capa- 
 city, as to the outward observance of the day. I hold that 
 in the keeping of the Sabbath, as of any other religious 
 observance, to our own Master we stand or fall. I protest 
 most emphatically against the principle that recognizes 
 human magistracy in the province of conscience. The law 
 may defend, and it is one of its plainest duties, the worship 
 of religion ; for as this is the first right of man, civil go-
 
 274 Sabbath Legislation 
 
 vernments are bound to protect its subjects in it: but 
 having done this, the civil power must not, however, enjoin 
 or enforce it. The writer above referred to says, in his 
 own vigorous language, " Civil governments may not dic- 
 tate the form ; it may not arrogate the power of personal 
 responsibility. It may not distribute lure or disfranchise- 
 ment. Rulers, in matters of religion, are on a perfect 
 level with their subjects ; they are seldom so well informed 
 or so well disposed. They owe, whatever may be the ac- 
 cident of their rank, in common with the meanest, the 
 same individual accountableness. And it becomes every 
 Christian man not only to forbear to seek, but to solemnly 
 abjure, every political enforcement of the Sabbath. Be- 
 cause it is a state of things established and convenient, let 
 them do nothing to reprove it. Let their protest resound, 
 but let them never call in the avengement of human law 
 for any such case. Trade and pleasure on the Lord's-day 
 may annoy, and if these strictly interrupt Divine worship, 
 we may demand protection from it, but nothing else. L.et 
 it never be ours to wage a petty crusade on religious 
 grounds against the shop or the stall. Let it never be 
 ours, on every such pretext, to close the rivers, the rail- 
 ways, and the parks, whither city populations vent them- 
 selves. To do this would only debar, not convince. It 
 would only be an outforce, and not an inward homage. 
 As Christians and advocates of free trade in everything, we 
 must accord to all worship the same safeguard as we chal- 
 lenge for our own. We must leave all men alone in reli- 
 gious matters, as we plead to be left alone." 
 
 These just and equitable sentiments from so great a 
 writer will, I am sure, have their weight and influence 
 with all my readers, whether they agree with him or not ; 
 and in Scotland our Christian brethren very much need a 
 word of exhortation on this subject. They are very zeal- 
 ous on the Sabbath question, but I think it is " a zeal not 
 according to knowledge," and it would be well to ask them 
 " by what authority doest thou these tilings, and who gave
 
 a Difficult Matter. 275 
 
 you this authority ?" To stop the railways and shut up 
 the rivers, and, if they could, to close the parks, may be 
 in perfect accordance with both the letter and spirit of the 
 law of Scotland ; but he must be a bold and reckless man 
 who shall attempt to defend such a state of things from 
 the New Testament the statute-book of Christians. It 
 is well known that our Lord, and also His apostles, both by- 
 precept and example, taught their disciples, in those .early 
 and purer days of Christianity, that recreation was a neces- 
 sary and essential part of our life, in such a world of toil 
 and weariness as this. 
 
 Our Scotch Sabbatarians, who call public meetings in 
 its chief provincial cities to maintain this state of things, 
 and advocate their principles from the press and the pulpit, 
 profess to be marvellously careful of the railway and steam- 
 boat officials. This is a very commendable thing to do ; 
 but any one can see that, by a wise and equitable adjust- 
 ment of these practical matters, it would not fall more 
 heavily upon this class than it does upon those who are 
 obliged every Sabbath to be in attendance almost the entire 
 day in our churches and chapels. To do any good to a 
 large number, must always be a tax upon self-sacrifice. 
 The greatest happiness to the greatest number ought to be 
 our maxim in all legislative enactments. 
 
 The Sabbatarians affirm that to run a limited number 
 of trains on Sunday, and to man a few steam-boats, is an 
 infringement upon the law of heaven, and that it keeps 
 men employed without intermission. This assertion will 
 be found upon examination to be without foundation. We 
 readily admit that no class of men could toil all the year 
 round without rest and relief, but surely they have the right 
 to decide for themselves whether they shall make the attempt. 
 I would not for a moment advocate the principle that man 
 should be obliged to work on the Sabbath: that is the 
 farthest from my thoughts, and I would resist such a 
 thing with all my might and main ; but if the few choose 
 to labour on that day, that the many may more completely
 
 276 Sunday Workers. 
 
 enjoy and be grateful for their day's rest and recreation, 
 that is the choice of the few ; and all honour to the noble 
 fellows, it is always found that they will gladly and will- 
 ingly make the sacrifice. To work on this day is what 
 our Sunday School Teachers do almost every Sabbath 
 throughout the year ; and they are for the most part com- 
 posed of those who through the week are engaged in 
 warehouses and shops, and would be glad enough to get 
 out into the country for a day's rest and change. The 
 claims, however, of Him whom their souls love, and their 
 yearning tenderness to the children of their less favoured 
 brethren, constrain them to make the sacrifice : in my hum- 
 ble opinion no class of workers in the vineyard of Christ are 
 so deserving of the sympathy of their fellow-Christians as 
 are these self-forgetting and self-sacrificing Sabbath-work- 
 ers. From my own personal knowledge and observation of 
 this noble class for more than thirty years, I can bear testi- 
 mony to the fact that they forgo on the Sabbath the pleasures 
 of the family circle, the pleasant walk in one of the parks, 
 or the comfortable afternoon nap indulged in by many of 
 their Christian brethren. If any class will be more en- 
 titled to the reward of grace than others, I think it will 
 be those who persistingly and prayerfully pursue their 
 unpaid and unpurchasable labours in the heated and buz- 
 zing atmosphere of a Sunday School. They will have 
 the recompense of the reward from the Master's lips in 
 the " well done, good and faithful servant, enter thou into 
 the joy of thy Lord " as well as meeting many in 
 Heaven who never would have been there, but for their 
 loving ministrations on the Sunday. Think also of the 
 large staff of church and chapel keepers and pew-openers, 
 who on that day work harder than any other in the week, 
 while others sit comfortably in their well-cushioned seats ; 
 to say nothing of the men who use their mental powers, 
 and expend their physical energies in the ten thousand 
 pulpits of our own and other lands. 
 
 After considering the matter carefully in all its bear-
 
 Sabbath Recreation. 277 
 
 ings for many years, I am led to the conclusion that it is 
 far better that our crowded millions should get abroad 
 in the country and visit absent relatives, and soul-born 
 friends, and walk through the yellow corn-fields, as some 
 One else did, who declared, with an authority that none will 
 dare to question, " The Mabbath was made for man, and 
 not man for the Sabbath " than to sit in some dark un- 
 wholesome room, drinking whisky and smoking tobacco, 
 as may be seen in almost innumerable instances in Edin- 
 burgh, Glasgow, and other large towns in Scotland. Our 
 Scotch Sabbatarians would have their fellow-subjects attend 
 punctually at kirk in the morning and afternoon, though 
 they might spend their evenings either in getting drunk 
 upon whisky-toddy or indulging in licentiousness. 
 
 For my own part, I cannot see sufficient reasons for 
 shutting out the large majority of our fellow-countrymen 
 from such places as the British Museum, the National 
 Gallery, the South Kensington Museum, and the Crystal 
 Palace, on the only day of leisure when they can visit them 
 without deduction from their hard-earned wages. I fear 
 I may have shocked the religious feelings of some of my 
 friends by this frank avowal of my mind on the Sabbath 
 question. It is, however, a subject that occupies at the 
 present time a large share of public attention, and as 
 public opinion is the result of individual judgment, I must 
 be allowed to speak out my sentiments, and leave them 
 to the consideration of my readers. 
 
 It does not follow that because we would obtain, if 
 we could, as much rest and recreation for our hard-worked 
 countrymen on the Sunday as possible, that we desire to 
 see the reckless profanation of the sacred day as it un- 
 happily obtains on the Continent and other places, where 
 the people have not been subjected to Christianity divested 
 of the additions and mummeries of Popery. 
 
 I am almost ashamed at having trespassed so largely on 
 the time and patience of my readers about this vexed ques- 
 tion ; but those who have gone north of the Tweed will
 
 278 Aberdeen. 
 
 bear me out in my assertions as to the outward reverence 
 of the Sabbath there, and some of them may have had 
 opportunities at the same time of ascertaining what is 
 going on behind the scenes. 
 
 To return, however, from this digression to my narrative. 
 We took the rail from Inverness to Aberdeen, by way of 
 Fories, Elgin, and Keith, and from thence to Aboyne. 
 Aberdeen is an interesting quaint old city, and the grey 
 granite buildings in the principal streets have a very fine 
 effect. Our stay there was short, as we were anxious to 
 get into the open country again. Having arrived at 
 Aboyne, of late years so interesting as the point where 
 her Majesty leaves the railway for Balmoral, we again 
 shouldered our knapsacks, and walked on leisurely to Bal- 
 later, where we rested for the night. The next morning we 
 started for Balmoral, passing Abergeldie Castle, and Crathie, 
 two places now endeared to us in connection with the Queen 
 and her illustrious mother, and known almost as well as 
 the Bank of England and the General Post Office. 
 
 Leaving the little village of Crathie, we soon found 
 ourselves in the grounds of Balmoral. We called at the 
 palace, and sent our cards to the housekeeper for permis- 
 sion to see the interior of the castle and the grounds. 
 This lady received us most courteously, and regretted that 
 as they were making arrangements for the arrival of the 
 Queen, who was expected in a few days, no visitors were 
 allowed within the palace. She gave us permission to see 
 the gardens and plantations, and also to range about the 
 extensive grounds surrounding this Highland home of our 
 beloved Sovereign, rendered, however, desolate by the 
 absence of one who taxed his good taste to the uttermost 
 in making this beautiful retired spot as attractive as pos- 
 sible to his illustrious wife, and their royal children. 
 
 The palace, though a chaste and beautiful structure, 
 does not strike the beholder as being very regal. Tay- 
 mouth Castle and Dalkeith Palace have both a much more 
 palatial appearance, and the grounds surrounding them
 
 Balmoral 279 
 
 are more extensive and attractive than are those at Bal- 
 moral ; yet there is something about the severely classic 
 pile at Balmoral that reminds you at once of the exquisite 
 taste and refined mind of her Majesty and the illustrious 
 Prince, under whose immediate superintendence the new 
 palace was reared. The locality is far away from the 
 fashionable and frequented parts of the Highlands, and is, 
 indeed, in all respects just such a spot as might have been 
 expected would have been selected by its lamented owner 
 and his Koyal lady, as a quiet resting-place after the weari- 
 some round of courtly duties in the south. 
 
 The gardens and plantations in the immediate vicinity 
 of the palace are laid out, as may be imagined, in the best 
 taste ; but trees must have time to grow, and the altera- 
 tions that were made under the direction of the Prince 
 Consort will be seen to greater advantage as years roll on. 
 
 Having rambled for a couple of hours or more about 
 this Highland home of our beloved Queen, we bade fare- 
 well to Balmoral, and took the private road through the 
 Pine Forest to Castletown of Braemar. It came on to 
 rain, as it does in these northerly regions, without any 
 previous indication, and we were glad to have the shelter 
 afforded by the dark and sombre pines as we walked on 
 for some miles through the forest. The pelting rain, 
 however, did not prevent us from turning out of our way, 
 for some distance, to see the Falls of Garrawalt, a favourite 
 resort of her Majesty and her royal children. We looked 
 at them from several points of view ; and not with the less 
 interest from the fact that the Queen has made several 
 sketches of the more beautiful scenes with her own pencil. 
 
 We called at one of the gamekeeper's lodges not far 
 from the falls, and were shown by the good woman of the 
 house the chair where her Majesty had sat very often to 
 rest herself after a long walk. We were directed also to 
 portraits of the Queen and the late Prince Consort on the 
 walls of the little cottage, that were presented by the royal 
 widow. This gamekeeper's wife told us several very inte-
 
 280 Loch na Garr. 
 
 resting anecdotes of her Majesty ; but as they were men- 
 tioned incidentally as we conversed with her, I do not feel 
 at liberty to repeat them. I may say, however, that they 
 were such as to reflect the highest honour upon the great 
 personage in question, and convinced us more than ever 
 that, exalted as are the virtues of our Queen in her public 
 and regal capacity, she shines still more in her womanli- 
 ness. There was not one of us there who did not lift up 
 our hearts to the Fountain of all Goodness, that lie would 
 continue to manifest His care to her ; and that He would 
 bind up her sorrowing heart, and wipe the tears from her 
 sad countenance. How true it is that " one touch of 
 nature makes the whole world kin." 
 
 The day cleared up as we neared Braemar, and we 
 obtained some fine views of " dark Lochnagarr," towering 
 proudly pre-eminent in these northern Highlands. We 
 did not forget that Lord Byron considered it " one of the 
 most sublime and picturesque amongst our Caledonian 
 Alps." It was near here that poor Byron spent some of 
 his early happy years ; and in after-life, when in a foreign 
 land, the recollections of his youthful days came back upon 
 him, and while he mused his pen recorded some of the 
 thoughts that filled his heaving bosom : 
 
 " Away, ye gay landscapes, ye gardens of roses ! 
 
 In you let the minions of luxury rove; 
 Eestore me the rocks, where the snow flake reposes, 
 
 Though still they are sacred to freedom and love. 
 Yet, Caledonia, beloved are thy mountains, 
 
 Round their white summits though elements war, 
 Though cataracts foam 'stead of smooth flowing fountains, 
 
 I sigh for the valley of dark Loch na Garr. 
 
 Ah ! there my young footsteps in infancy wander'd ; 
 
 My cap was the bonnet, my cloak was the plaid ; 
 On chieftains long perish 'd my memory ponder'd, 
 
 As daily I strode through the pine-cover 'd glade. 
 I sought not my home till the day's dying glory 
 
 Gave place to the rays of the bright polar star; 
 For fancy was cheer'd by traditional story, 
 
 Disclosed by the natives of dark Loch na Garr.
 
 Braemar. 281 
 
 Years have roll'd on, Loch na Garr, since 1 left you, 
 
 Years must elapse ere I tread you again : 
 Nature of verdure and flowers has bereft you, 
 
 Yet still are you dearer than Albion's plain. 
 England ! thy beauties are tame and domestic 
 
 To one who has roved o'er the mountains afar: 
 Oh ! for the crags that are wild and majestic ! 
 
 The steep frowning glories of dark Loch na Garr!" 
 
 We turned again, and yet again, to get this fine moun- 
 tain fully impressed upon our mind's eye ; but as the day 
 wore on we were compelled to leave its sombre beauties, 
 and pursue our course to Braemar. 
 
 Castletown of Braemar is, as most of my readers will 
 recollect, the highest land in Scotland, as well as being 
 one of the healthiest places in the United Kingdom. It 
 formerly consisted of only a few cottages clustering round 
 Braemar Castle, but of late years it has been the resort of 
 many who are in search of health, and has already grown 
 to be a place of some importance. Its nearness to Bal- 
 moral will always make it attractive ; but one would hope 
 that those who visit it will never intrude too much upon 
 the royal domain, the chief charm of which is, that it is far 
 removed from sight-seers. There are now two commo- 
 dious inns at Castletown, where every comfort may be 
 obtained ; and the surrounding scenery, though not so 
 fine as some parts of the Highlands, is still highly pic- 
 turesque and beautiful. The annual gathering of the 
 clans at Braemar, sometimes honoured by the presence of 
 royal personages, is a sight I imagine that would be 
 exceedingly interesting. The view from the bridge of 
 Dee, both up and down the river, is very imposing. 
 Forests of fir clothe both sides of the valley, which is cul- 
 tivated in many parts. The corn-fields and green pastures 
 contrast well with the woods which occupy the gentle slopes 
 on either hand, while these are crowned by amphitheatres 
 of bare and lofty Alps, that rise in frowning majesty in 
 the background.
 
 282 Glen Tilt. 
 
 We obtained the best accommodation at Fisher's Hotel, 
 and learnt from its intelligent and obliging proprietor some 
 valuable information as to reaching Blair Athole through the 
 far-famed Glen Tilt. Information such as " mine host " 
 kindly furnished us with is of late years very necessary to 
 the tourist, as the Duke of Athole has not only demolished 
 the huts and houses that once stood in the glen, and that 
 were built by his ancestors, but he has also removed the 
 bridge over the Tarff that divides the glen, in order, if 
 possible, to prevent tourists from passing through this wild 
 and beautiful valley. 
 
 Glen Tilt, it will be remembered, is a celebrated sport- 
 ing rendezvous and deer-stalking region. Its ducal 
 owner boasts that he possesses the best stocked and most 
 extensive deer forest in all the country. It is said that 
 no less than a hundred thousand acres of the surrounding 
 ground are appropriated for the use of these noble animals. 
 It is somewhat singular that we wended our way through 
 this sequestered glen without catching a glimpse of one of 
 them. We were informed, however, that they are fre- 
 quently to be seen leisurely and majestically pacing along 
 the edge of the impending cliffs. 
 
 Having provided ourselves with a good supply of sand- 
 wiches and whisky for our perambulations through the 
 glen, as there was no chance of getting even a bason of 
 milk by the way, we set off for Blair Athole, distant from 
 Braemar about thirty miles. Our Australian brother had 
 made a sketch of the route from instructions obtained from 
 Mr. Fisher, of Braemar, and but for this precaution, I 
 question if we should ever have found our way through 
 some parts of this roadless and pathless region. 
 
 We engaged a waggonet to convey us as far as any 
 vehicle can travel, which put us down at the hunting-box 
 of the Earl of Fife, about twelve miles from Braemar. On 
 our way there we alighted to see Carrymulzee Linn, 
 Mar Lodge, and the beautiful Linn of Dee. The last- 
 mentioned is a spot where the river has worn a long narrow
 
 Crossing the Tarff. 283 
 
 passage, between thirty and forty feet deep, through rocks 
 that have opposed its progress, and forms four small falls. 
 Below the falls the water has scooped out a series of basons, 
 where it sleeps deep, dark, and motionless. We were in- 
 formed that when the water is low, some of the connecting 
 channels are not more than a yard wide, but that it is 
 subject to floods, which sometimes fill the chasm to the 
 brim. Our coachman told us that the daring feat of leap- 
 ing across the Linn has been occasionally performed. 
 
 On leaving our conveyance, we took our way over a 
 bleak and barren moor, through a heavy rain, for about 
 two hours, before reaching the head of the glen. Three 
 hours' walk further brought us to the point of the Tarff, 
 where the bridge formerly stood, and where we had been 
 instructed to cross, as the water was not deep there. The 
 rains had, however, considerably increased the volume of 
 water in the river ; but there was nothing to do but to ford 
 the stream since the ducal owner had removed the bridge. 
 This we at once proceeded to do by removing the lower 
 parts of our dress ; and having packed them up, and placed 
 them on our heads, we slowly commenced the passage in 
 single file. The river was about sixty feet wide at the 
 point we crossed, and we found, before proceeding far, that 
 the water nearly reached the middle of the tallest of ua. 
 We had some fears about our surgical friend, as he was 
 some inches shorter than either of us ; but he was a sturdy 
 little fellow, and not at all wanting in pluck. The stream 
 was so rapid that it was as much as any of us could do to 
 keep our feet. We had not only to be careful to keep 
 our standing, but as we had to hold the bundle of clothes 
 and boots on our heads some of the party let slip their 
 coat-tails into the water. The scene was most ludicrous 
 and amusing, and we laughed heartily at the fun, though 
 we did not forget to bless his grace of Athole for removing 
 the bridge and thus risking the valuable life of our surgical 
 friend, who more than once stumbled ; and had he been 
 carried away by the flood the consequences would have
 
 284 Falls of Bruar. 
 
 been very serious, as just below where we crossed the 
 river narrowed and deepened into a black pool of unknown 
 depth. We were glad, however, to find ourselves safe on 
 the other side, and discover that the only damage done was 
 that the sandwiches had got a wetting. As we put our- 
 selves into marching order, we made the valley ring with 
 roars of laughter at our little adventure. Fording the 
 Tarff would have afforded a good sketch for George 
 Cruikshank, especially if he could have depicted the grave 
 and frightened look of our short brother as he reeled and 
 stumbled in the dark and rapid waters. 
 
 Having demolished the sandwiches and taken a little 
 whisky, we rambled on through a very wildly beautiful 
 scene for some miles. A black deep river below us, and 
 high wooded banks some hundred feet above our heads. 
 The scenery of Glen Tilt, a few miles before reaching Blair 
 Athole, is very beautiful. 
 
 The comforts of a good hotel are never so appreciated 
 as when you have had a long wearisome walk of eighteen 
 or twenty miles : tired, hungry, and footsore, the rest and 
 refreshment to be had in these Highland hotels, after such 
 a pleasurable day, must be enjoyed to be understood. 
 
 The next morning we visited the Falls of Bruar, and 
 loitered about the woods in its vicinity for some hours. 
 Here one of our party, who could sing a good song and 
 spout poetry to almost any extent, finished up by dancing 
 a hornpipe on the road, amid roars of laughter that were 
 echoed again and again from the surrounding hills. 
 
 We returned to Blair Athole to dinner, and then set off 
 leisurely through the Pass of Killiekrankie, and saw the 
 Falls of Tummel scenery which none of us will ever for- 
 get, for " a thing of beauty is a joy for ever." We found 
 ourselves at Pitlochrie by tea-time, slept there, and next 
 day marched on to Dunkeld. 
 
 The entrance to this Scottish city is most imposing. It 
 stands on the banks of the Tay, on a broad plain em- 
 bosomed among wooded hills and sloping mountains.
 
 A Frolicsome Brother. 285 
 
 Rather a fine bridge spans the river, above which stand 
 the ruins of the venerable cathedral : the choir has been 
 restored by a former Duke of Athole, and is now used as 
 a place of worship. 
 
 A little incident occurred here that I may mention. 
 One of our brethren, feeling a little fatigued with the sight- 
 seeing and journeyings of the last few days, retired to bed 
 rather early, but not, alas ! to sleep. A frolicsome brother 
 stole softly into the room, and piled upon the bed, where 
 his friend was resting, the wash-stand and its accompani- 
 ments, a chest of drawers, and almost all the furniture in 
 the room. Having done this he called his brother tourists 
 in to see the wearied friend who had laid him down to rest. 
 A sketch was taken of the scene that our dear ones at 
 home might have the benefit of the fun. The laughing 
 that followed, I fear, sadly disturbed some of our more 
 staid and serious neighbours, who must have been shocked 
 at this breach of decorum at such an unseasonable hour of 
 the night. 
 
 The next day being very wet, we did not explore the Duke 
 of Athole's grounds at Dunkeld, the " policies " of which, 
 we were informed, are upwards of fifty miles, independent 
 of a carriage-drive of thirty. The duke makes a regular 
 charge to visitors desirous of seeing his wide domains ; and 
 as we thought this to be not quite worthy of " a peer of 
 the realm," &c. &c, we turned away from his broad acres 
 to lands where we could wander at " our own sweet will." 
 It would not surprise us to hear that this noble duke had 
 put up a turnstile in Glen Tilt, to take toll of tourists as 
 they do at Waterloo Bridge. I can understand a man 
 being selfish enough to keep his hereditary palace and 
 lands to himself ; but for a duke to take half-a-crown as 
 a fee for admission to his estates does not raise him very 
 high in the estimation of his more plebeian brethren. He 
 seems to be a stranger to the feeling that " good commu- 
 nicated becomes greater good." 
 
 How frequently during my wanderings through the
 
 286 "All things are yours." 
 
 Highlands, and also when passing through some of the 
 ancestral halls of our English nobility, have the beautiful 
 words of Cowper come to my lips as the natural utterances 
 of a Christian heart : 
 
 " He looks abroad into the varied field 
 Of nature, and though poor, perhaps, compared 
 With those whose mansions glitter in his sight, 
 Calls the delightful scenery all his own. 
 His are the mountains, and the valleys his, 
 And the resplendent rivers: his to enjoy 
 With a propriety that none can feel, 
 But who, with filial confidence inspired, 
 Can lift to heaven an unpresumptuous eye, 
 And smile and say 'My Father made them all !' 
 Are they not his by a peculiar right, 
 And by an emphasis of interest his, 
 Whose eye they fill with tears of holy joy, 
 Whose heart with praise, and whose exalted mind 
 With worthy thoughts of that unwearied love 
 That plann'd, and built, and still upholds, a world 
 So clothed with beauty for rebellious man ?" 
 
 This is the crowning joy to all earth's beauties it is our 
 Father's world. 
 
 " There's not a strain to memory dear, 
 
 Nor flower in classic grove, 
 There's not a sweet note warbled here 
 
 But minds us of Thy love. 
 O Lord, our Lord, and spoiler of our foes, 
 There is no light but Thine ; with Thee all beauty glows." 
 
 Our ramblings were drawing now to a close, and as 
 some of the party were desirous of seeing Edinburgh 
 before our return to London, we held a consultation at 
 Dunkeld as to where we should spend the next Sabbath. 
 We looked each other up and down, and came to the con- 
 clusion that we were hardly presentable at Edinburgh on 
 the Sunday. As we carried our wardrobe with us, and 
 looking rather seedy after our hard walking, we determined 
 upon spending the Sunday at Perth. 
 
 Accordingly we took the train from Dunkeld, and found
 
 Perth and Kinnoul Hill 27 
 
 ourselves in " the fair city of Perth " on Saturday after- 
 noon. As our clerical brother was well-known to many 
 of the good people here, he was hailed with a right hearty 
 welcome, and at once solicited to preach on the following 
 day. It was in vain that he pleaded to be excused, both 
 on account of his being holiday-making, and that he had 
 nothing but the grey suit he stood in ; and to appear in 
 such a costume in the pulpit would never be forgiven by 
 his carefully correct countrymen and countrywomen. The 
 difficulty as to costume was surmounted by a proposition 
 that he should preach in the Town Hall, which would hold 
 a far greater number than could be assembled in any of 
 the churches or chapels of the city. In less than a couple 
 of hours the streets of Perth were placarded that our 
 reverend friend would preach on the following evening at 
 the Town Hall. 
 
 The arrangements for this special service having been 
 completed, and " the inner man " refreshed, we set out for 
 a walk through this pretty Highland city. Perth is, in 
 every way, what may be called a handsome and beautifully 
 situated city. Its historical reminiscences render it inte- 
 resting to the antiquary as the scene of the Gowrie con- 
 spiracy ; but to us it was the more interesting as having 
 been the scene of some of the earlier labours of the great 
 Reformer John Knox. 
 
 We concluded our day's ramblings by ascending Kinnoul 
 Hill, and were delighted with one of the richest and most 
 extensive views in Scotland. The view from this point is 
 equal to, if it does not surpass, that from Stirling Castle ; 
 and after giving expression to our feelings in one general 
 burst of admiration, we spent a couple of hours in quietly 
 taking in all the parts of this magnificent and almost 
 boundless panorama. We remained fondly gazing upon 
 this beautiful scene till the sun had gone down, and the 
 shades of evening reminded us that " nought on earth 
 abideth." 
 
 The evening was spent at the hospitable mansion of
 
 288 A Tragical Scene. 
 
 one of the baillies of the city a man of wealth and influ- 
 ence where we met a select circle of friends, to whom we 
 recounted some of our wanderings through their noble 
 land. 
 
 Our appearance may he judged of from the fact that 
 when we called at the " Railway Hotel," to engage beds 
 for the night, the chambermaid conducted us to some 
 attics at the top of the house, as suitable apartments for 
 such a company of pilgrims. It was only when we men- 
 tioned the name of the gentleman at whose house we had 
 spent the evening that we were shown more comfortable 
 rooms. The proprietor of this hotel also came forward 
 with an apology for the very natural mistake of his 
 domestic. 
 
 This rather amusing incident was followed by one, 
 which, though somewhat ludicrous, was likely to have 
 ended in a more tragical story. Some hours after we 
 had retired to our respective rooms for the night, I was 
 awoke by a gentle tap at my door. I found, on opening 
 it, one of our brethren in what appeared to me the last 
 stage of cholera. He had partaken rather freely of the 
 viands at the party of the preceding evening, regardless 
 of the advice of " Thomas Ingoldsby, Esquire," of my 
 native county, who tells of one who 
 
 " Was seized 
 
 With a tiresome complaint, which, in some seasons, 
 People are apt to be seized 
 With, who' re not on their guard against plum-seasons." 
 
 On getting a light I found that my poor friend was in 
 a most woeful plight. The cold perspiration stood on his 
 face and forehead in large drops, and he was literally 
 brought to " death's door." Being alarmed at his pitiable 
 appearance, I found the room of our Australian brother, 
 and got him up to assist in attending to our prostrate 
 patient. By this time his pulse was so feeble, and the 
 exhaustion so great, that we awoke our clerical brother and
 
 Sunday in Perth. 289 
 
 held a council as to what should be done. There was 
 evidently no time to lose, as our sick friend lay across the 
 bed, partly dressed, writhing in agony and looking most 
 ghastly. He pointed to his " Daily Journal of Proceed- 
 ings " that was open on the chimney-piece, in which he 
 had carefully recorded his symptoms from hour to hour, 
 and that in a tone that evidently implied that our little 
 merry friend thought it not at all unlikely that he might 
 " turn up his toes to the daisies." Unfortunately our 
 whisky flask was empty ; but after some delay we roused 
 the house and procured some brandy, that never-failing 
 and invaluable remedy for this " horrid complaint." Having 
 administered a pretty good dose of this domestic remedy 
 to our prostrate friend, and wrapping him well up in the 
 blankets, he began to revive, and before the morning he 
 was so much better that we congratulated both him and 
 ourselves that a doctor was not called in. If medical aid 
 had been summoned, it is most probable that our little 
 friend would have been laid up for some days. On getting 
 him down stairs to breakfast we recommended him for 
 the future, by way of " moral " to this serio-comic ex- 
 hibition, 
 
 " Of stone-fruits in general be shy, 
 
 And reflect, it's a fact beyond question, 
 That grapes, when spelt with an i, 
 
 Promote anything else but digestion." 
 
 We spent a quiet Sunday in Perth, and enjoyed the 
 rest and refreshment of the day with its hallowed services. 
 The meeting in the evening at the Town Hall was a 
 crowded one, and I never heard a more useful sermon than 
 that preached on the occasion by our reverend brother. 
 The platform was filled with the ministers of the various 
 churches and chapels of the city, there being no evening 
 service at Perth. The sun-burnt face of the preacher, in his 
 light tweed suit and blue cravat, contrasted strangely enough 
 with the grave countenances and the ministerial costume 
 of the reverend brethren by whom he was surrounded. 
 u
 
 290 A Hint to Tourists. 
 
 I hope it will be seen elsewhere one day that this " special 
 service " was made useful to not a few. 
 
 We left Perth for Edinburgh, en route for home, by the 
 first train in the morning, and spent the remainder of the 
 day in seeing the principal "lions" of that famous " city 
 set on a hill." A young fellow who resided at Edinburgh, 
 and was known to our clerical brother, took us up Arthur's 
 Seat by what he called a short cut. He led the way and 
 we followed, and instead of going round by St. Catherine's 
 well, and gradually making the ascent by that ordinary and 
 safe route, he took us up the face of the rock, a part of 
 which is nearly perpendicular. What we saved in distance 
 was more than made up in risk ; in fact it was the only 
 really venturesome thing that we did during our ramblings. 
 
 We concluded our very happy Highland tour by having 
 ourselves photographed in a group by one of the best 
 artists in Edinburgh, as a memento of our holiday, and 
 took the train in the evening from the Caledonian Station 
 for King's Cross, where we arrived safely the next 
 morning. 
 
 One who has lately spent " a summer in Skye," and 
 has visited the Highlands,* gives the following good ad- 
 vice, which I transcribe with much pleasure for the in- 
 formation of those of my readers who may be thinking of 
 seeing Scotland for themselves : " The Highlands can be 
 enjoyed in the utmost simplicity ; and the best preparations 
 are, money to a moderate extent in one's pocket, a knap- 
 sack containing a spare shirt and a tooth-brush, and a 
 courage that does not fear to breast the steep of the hill, 
 and to encounter the pelting of a Highland shower. No 
 man knows a country till he has walked through it ; he 
 then tastes the sweets and the bitters of it ; he beholds its 
 grand and important points, and all the subtler and con- 
 cealed beauties that lie out of the beaten track. Then, 
 oh Header ! in the most glorious of the months, the very 
 
 * Alexander Smith.
 
 Upstreet and Chislett. 291 
 
 crown and summit of the fruitful year, hanging in equal 
 poise hetween summer and autumn, leave London or Edin- 
 burgh, or whatever city your lot may happen to be cast in, 
 and accompany me in my wanderings. Our course will 
 lead us by ancient battle-fields, by castles standing in 
 hearing of the surge ; by the bases of mighty mountains, 
 and along the wanderings of hollow glens." I can give 
 my hearty amen to this invitation of the eloquent author of 
 " A Summer in Skye," etc. and would say to all who have 
 the time and the means at their disposal, go and see this 
 glorious land for yourselves. 
 
 I feel that what has been imperfectly said of Scotland, 
 and the scenery of the Highlands, will not come up to what 
 a Scotchman may think of his native country ; but they are 
 the grateful utterances of a son of the south who laments 
 his inability to do more ample justice to such scenes of 
 beauty, grandeur, and magnificence. 
 
 UPSTREET AND CHISLETT. 
 
 the places visited by me not unfre- 
 quently of late years, during my vacations, 
 is a small village in the parish of Chislett, 
 known by the name of Upstreet. That rural 
 and salubrious little place is interesting to me on many 
 accounts. 
 
 For more than half a century an uncle of mine rented 
 a farm under Sir John Bridges, which lies to the right 
 and left of the road leading from Canterbury to the Isle 
 of Thanet. It is situated just below the road leading to 
 Grove-Ferry, which in my early days, before railways 
 were introduced, was one of the most lovely and retired 
 spots in the fair county of Kent. Often, as a boy, have I 
 sat on the stile, at the top of the bank that overlooks the
 
 292 Grove-Ferry, 
 
 river Stour, gazing in silent rapture on the beautiful scene 
 spread out before the eye from that spot. From there 
 may be seen a great part of the Isle of Thanet, and on a 
 clear day the cliffs at Ramsgate. Nearer home the vil- 
 lages of Minster, Sarre, Stourmouth, Preston, Ash, Stod- 
 inarsh, Ickham, Wickham, Wingham, and Littlebourne 
 are seen with the embattled towers and angel-finger spires 
 of the churches, always the crowning features of an English 
 landscape, and, but for a projecting bank, Canterbury 
 Cathedral would add to the interest of the scene. The 
 towers of this noble cathedral may, however, be seen to 
 great advantage by those who will take the footpath by 
 the side of the river, into a park-like meadow at the top, 
 where they will be rewarded by as fine a view of the kind 
 as may be seen in all the county. 
 
 Grove-Ferry is now one of the well-known stations on 
 the South-Eastern Railway, and many are the parties 
 from Margate and Ramsgate, during the summer, who 
 frequent the pretty and attractive " Tea-Gardens " on the 
 other side of the river. 
 
 How a railway alters a scene, and puts to flight much 
 of the poetry of a place ! Of late years I have sat on the 
 stile which I was wont to linger about as a boy, and have 
 watched the thin white line of smoke as the train has made 
 its way from Minster through the Sarre marshes to Grove- 
 Ferry ; and while one cannot but rejoice that the iron road 
 has opened up a way for the tired and used-up Londoners 
 to reach the healthful watering-places of the Isle of Thanet, 
 where they may recruit their wasted powers without a 
 sea voyage, yet the lover of quiet and repose at Grove- 
 Ferry will look upon it as an innovation. 
 
 "What a contrast is presented by the hissing and rattling 
 express-train as it rushes thundering past the station, to 
 " the silent highway " of the river Stour, whose tranquil 
 waters glide softly by its side ! The one is noisy and 
 ostentatious, as are all the works of man ; the other is silent 
 and unobtrusive, as are the works of God, and the tired
 
 An English Homestead. 293 
 
 and wearied mind lingers with loving fondness by its 
 side. 
 
 Every visitor to Canterbury and the Isle of Thanet who 
 loves English scenery, should not omit to spend an after- 
 noon at Grove-Ferry. It can be reached either by rail or 
 coach, as the visitor may desire. The accommodation 
 and civility of the worthy host and hostess at the Ferry 
 "Tea-Gardens," will, lam sure, be appreciated by those who 
 are as fond of good cheer as of beautiful scenery. 
 
 On visiting this pretty place, not long since, I could not 
 help repeating to myself, as I looked lingeringly once more 
 at the winding river, 
 
 " Men may come, and men may go ; 
 But Stour flows on for ever." 
 
 When quite a child, I remember to have been sent to 
 stay with my aunt at Upstreet, for months together, so 
 that almost every tree and blade of grass on my uncle's 
 farm was familiar to me ; and in after years, when I could 
 leave London, and afford the time to take a holiday, no 
 place had so many charms for me. 
 
 The old farm-house and its surroundings are very pic- 
 turesque, and no one who loves English homesteads could 
 pass down the road without admiring it. The house is of 
 red-brick, and literally covered with grape-vine, jessamine, 
 honeysuckle, and ivy. In front was a lawn, soft and 
 yielding as Genoa velvet, and kept during my uncle's 
 time in the most perfect order ; to the left was a large 
 orchard, where once grew some of the choicest apples that 
 my native county could produce. The principal entrance 
 to the house was through a Gothic porch, whei'e roses, 
 honeysuckle, and jessamine were blended with the best 
 taste. A little to the left of the house was the dairy, a 
 semi-detached building, so much resembling an ecclesi- 
 astical structure that we always called it " the Priory." 
 This building is so embosomed in ivy that not a single 
 brick is to be seen. 
 
 Such was the house where I spent many happy months
 
 294 Walmer's-hill. 
 
 of my childhood ; and as a boy I loved to ramble with my 
 uncle through the green pastures and the waving corn- 
 fields, and to assist him at even-tide to take an account 
 of the sheep and cattle. 
 
 I was particularly fond of fetching up the cows in the 
 afternoon for milking, and used to sit and watch the dairy- 
 maid as she drew from them their rich and yielding trea- 
 sures. The way from the marshes where the cows were 
 pastured lay through a small wood, called Walmer's-hill. 
 The pathway was at the bottom of a sandy slope, clothed 
 with hawthorn bushes, the wild rose, and honeysuckle, 
 and with a rich profusion of primroses in the Spring. The 
 rabbits ran about as thick as blackberries, and one evening 
 when I had driven the cows down from milking and was 
 returning home alone, a full-grown fox came out into the 
 pathway within a few yards of me, and stared me in the 
 face. I was a little startled at Reynard's boldness, and 
 we both gazed steadfastly at each other for some moments, 
 when the little fellow looked so fierce and resolute that I 
 put a cow's-horn that was slung at my back to my lips, 
 and blew as loud a blast as I could. This was more than 
 master Eeynard expected, and he cantered off leisurely 
 up the slope to his quarters. My uncle was much amused 
 at this incident, and would have liked to have had the 
 chance of putting a little shot into the gentleman, who 
 had often made too free with my aunt's poultry. 
 
 My uncle was devotedly attached to farming ; but while 
 he was well up in Sir John Sinclair, and freely availed 
 himself of all the practical knowledge of that eminent 
 agriculturist, his library contained not a few choice volumes 
 in general literature. He was " a fine old English gen- 
 tleman, one of the olden time ; " and though by no means 
 wealthy, was known to all the neighbours round as a con- 
 tributor to everything that would add to the comfort and 
 happiness of those who tilled his farm and reaped his 
 harvests. 
 
 My aunt was a very loveable woman, and always treated
 
 A " Maid of Kent." 295 
 
 me as one of her own children. I have stood by her side 
 and watched her many a time moulding the butter into 
 pyramidal pounds and pretty little tempting pats, as she, 
 with upturned sleeve, displayed an arm of finest shape, 
 and a rounded dimpled elbow that would have gratified 
 Peter Paul Rubens, and which charmed me even as a boy. 
 She was married before she was eighteen, and must, when 
 young, have been a lovely '< maid of Kent." 
 
 There were seven cousins in that farm-house, and as 
 most of them were about my own age, many were the 
 pranks and gambols we indulged in. 
 
 I visited this old familiar place not very long since, and 
 how changed is the scene ! My uncle has been for some 
 years gathered to his fathers, and has exchanged a life 
 of toil and labour for a land where " the weary are at 
 rest." My dear old aunt has long since left the farm, and 
 resides at Canterbury, with a daughter who was some 
 years since disappointed in love, and will, in all proba- 
 bility, " remain unmarried till her death." 
 
 The farm-house, once so snug and comfortable, is now 
 little better than a ruin ; the garden, once so carefully 
 tended, has become almost a wilderness ; and the farm- 
 yard, once so trim and neat, is now little cared for. There 
 has come over the whole scene a melancholy change, and 
 as I have gone round and round the old familiar place, 
 endeared to me by a thousand hallowed recollections of 
 early happy days, I have felt the cheek moistened, and 
 the words swell up from my heart 
 
 " It is not now as it hath been of yore ; 
 Turn wheresoe'er I may, 
 
 By night or day, 
 The things which I have seen, I now can see no more." 
 
 Although my uncle is gone, and a stranger now owns 
 the house that once received me as one of its own, I occa- 
 sionally visit this well -remembered spot. A septuagenarian 
 cousin, who is a retired purser in the Royal Navy, resides 
 not far from where my uncle lived, and many happy hours
 
 296 Reculver. 
 
 have I spent of late in his jovial society. He is as full 
 of health and vigour as a man of forty, and is a most 
 genial companion, teeming with ready wit and quiet fun. 
 An old schoolfellow lives within a mile of the place, around 
 whose hospitable board I have met with many old and 
 valued friends. 
 
 The walks about Upstreet are very picturesque. I well 
 remember a ramble across the marshes-to the little village 
 of Reculver, by the sea, to look at the interesting ruins of 
 the old church there. It is a favourite resort of the 
 archaeologist ; but as my study has been man, rather than 
 his surroundings, I leave the antiquities of the place to 
 wiser heads, who find " sermons in stones, and good in 
 everything." On the day referred to, I had a fair cousin 
 for my companion ; and after wandering about among the 
 broken fragments of the old church, and looking out upon 
 the deep blue sea, we sat down, musing upon the past, 
 thinking of those who once worshipped within its sacred 
 walls, and whose dust was beneath our feet. I recollect 
 full well, though many years have passed since then, 
 sending a boy for a flagon of Cobbs' Margate ale, from 
 the "King Ethelbert," and while feasting upon meat 
 patties, my fair cousin read to me some " lines from the 
 bards sublime," which never seemed so sublime before, as 
 the ale and patties were most grateful after the long and 
 pleasant walk. The day was fine, and we were within 
 hearing 
 
 " Of the grand majestic symphonies of ocean." 
 
 A pleasing melancholy pervaded our kindred minds, so 
 that the couple of hours spent at Reculver will ever be a 
 red-letter-day in my vacation rambles.
 
 297 
 
 TUNBRIDGE WELLS AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. 
 
 'UNBEIDGE WELLS was a place where I 
 spent a part of several vacations, not only on 
 account of its attractive scenery, its pure and 
 bracing air, and its health -restoring waters, 
 but that it also afforded me an opportunity of spending a 
 few weeks with an old and valued friend whose society I 
 much enjoyed. 
 
 Perhaps there are few places so near London where the 
 scenery is so diversified and picturesque as at Tunbridge 
 Wells. If you are fond of walking, you may ramble over 
 open downs and through green lanes, where, at almost 
 every turn of the road, you get glimpses of the beautiful 
 country around ; and if the reader is there in the autumn, 
 and is fond of blackberries and nuts, he may be satisfied 
 to his heart's content. " The common " at Tunbridge 
 Wells is a fine open ground, almost always dry, as it is a 
 sandy soil, and where have been placed many rustic seats, 
 from any of which may be obtained a view of the sur- 
 rounding country. Eusthall Common, and " the Happy 
 Valley," will always have its admirers while English 
 scenery has a charm for visitors ; and those who want to 
 see a pretty village must go to Southborough, only three 
 miles from the town, where a man, weary of London and 
 its endless work, may here surround himself with rural 
 beauty such as can rarely be surpassed. 
 
 Bishop's Down, and Hurst Wood, are within an easy 
 walk of the town. Bishop's Down overlooks a wide and 
 fertile landscape, which, when you have enjoyed, you may 
 turn your footsteps to a lane overshadowed with lofty 
 trees to a beautifully secluded retreat called Hurst Wood, 
 where one can be reminded of the poet's words : 
 
 " Header, if thou hast learnt a truth which needs 
 No school of long experience, that the world
 
 298 Frant. 
 
 Is full of guilt and misery, and hast seen 
 
 Enough of all its sorrows, crimes, and cares, 
 
 To tire thee of it enter the wild wood 
 
 And view the haunts of Nature. The calm shade 
 
 Shall bring a kindred calm, and the sweet breeze 
 
 That makes the green leaves dance, shall waft a balm 
 
 To thy sick heart." 
 
 The owner of this wood has kindly placed seats in the 
 most attractive parts of this sylvan retreat, where you may 
 enjoy Tennyson, or Keble, or any other favourite author 
 you happen to have in your pocket, or, what is perhaps 
 hetter, a chat with some loving sympathetic " friend, with 
 whom to whisper, solitude is sweet." 
 
 The pretty village of Frant, about two miles from the 
 " wells," was a favourite resort with me ; and from the tower 
 of its church can be seen, in a clear day, a panorama of 
 great beauty, including the Sussex Downs, the hills of 
 Surrey, and the heights of Kent, and even extending to 
 Dungeness and Beachy Head. The rector of this little 
 church is one of the most aristocratic looking parsons I 
 ever saw. He is, I believe, brother-in-law of Lord 
 Abergavenny, the owner of Eridge Castle, in the imme- 
 diate neighbourhood. I once saw this kingly-looking 
 clergyman bury a pauper, and was not a little pleased 
 with the devout and reverent manner in which he read 
 the beautiful service of the Church of England over the 
 remains of one who had no mourning friends to gather 
 around his grave, but only the workhouse officials to bear 
 him to his last long home. If he had been one of the 
 greatest in the land, the officiating clergyman could not 
 have behaved with greater seriousness and decorum. 
 The rector of Frant will always be embalmed in my 
 memory as one of nature's noblemen for this act, which 
 contrasted so happily with the cold and flippant way 
 which I had sometimes seen a London clergyman of " the 
 poor man's church " perform this last office for a pauper. 
 He is a baronet ; and I found, from inquiries made in the 
 village, that he is a kind-hearted man, ever ready to help
 
 A Morning Galop. 299 
 
 and sympathize with, the wants and necessities of his needy 
 parishioners. 
 
 The invalid at Tunbridge Wells can suit himself with a 
 carriage of any description, from a donkey-chaise to the 
 stylish well-horsed open barouche ; and the many beau- 
 tiful drives in the neighbourhood are probably nowhere to 
 be surpassed in any of the fair counties of our merrie 
 England. If you are a horseman, and have no nag of 
 your own, you can be well mounted at riding-master 
 Cramps, who owns a large stud of well-trained horses; 
 and should you be an early riser you can enter into the 
 joy of one who pencilled the following lines on the crown 
 of his hat : 
 
 " At five on a dewy morning, 
 
 Before the blazing day, 
 To be up and oft' on a high-mettled horse, 
 
 Over the hills away. 
 To drink the sweet breath of the gorse, 
 
 And bathe in the breeze of the Downs. 
 Ha ! man, if you can, match bliss like this 
 
 In all the joys of towns ! 
 
 With glad and grateful tongue to join 
 
 The lark at his matin hymn ; 
 And hence on faith's own wing to spring 
 
 And sing with Cherubim! 
 To pray from a deep and tender heart, 
 
 With all things praying anew, 
 The birds and the bees, and the whispering trees, 
 
 And heather bedropt with dew, 
 To be one with those early worshippers, 
 
 And pour the pa3an too ! 
 
 Then off again with a slacken'd rein, 
 
 And a bounding heart within ; 
 To dash at a gallop over the plain, 
 
 Health's golden cup to win ! 
 This, this is the race for gain and grace, 
 
 Richer than vases and crowns ; 
 And you that boast your pleasures the most, 
 
 Amid the steam of towns, 
 Come, taste true bliss, in a morning like this, 
 
 Galloping over the Downs ! "
 
 300 Bayham Abbey) etc. 
 
 If you make your first attempt at horsemanship, let it 
 be early in the morning, and not in the middle of the day, 
 as was the case with me. My friend with whom I was 
 staying was accustomed to take a couple of hours' ride for 
 the benefit of his health at mid-day, and he prevailed 
 upon me to accompany him, and provided me with a fine, 
 tall, sleek animal, such as would not have disgraced 
 " Eotten Eow." I had not crossed a horse for more than 
 twenty years, and felt a little nervous at first. However, 
 we started through the town at a walking pace, and I 
 began to feel my feet pretty comfortably ; but on getting 
 on the sandy ground of Broadwater Forest, my friend 
 started for a gallop, and my nag followed as a matter of 
 course. I stuck my knees well into the saddle, and held 
 on all right ; but I soon lost my " wide-awake : " and 
 before we pulled up my trousers had worked up over my 
 boots and above my knees, very much to the amusement 
 of my friend, who thoroughly enjoyed this, my first lesson, 
 in riding. Some equestrians were mightily pleased at the 
 figure I cut ; but I congratulated myself at keeping my 
 seat in the saddle, and was quite careless as to the appear- 
 ance I presented. However, with a little instruction 
 from my friend, and a pair of straps to my trousers, I 
 managed to take my daily ride after this with great com- 
 fort, and occasionally was in the saddle soon after break of 
 day. 
 
 Most of the places of interest in the neighbourhood of 
 Tunbridge Wells are within reach of an easy walk, or a 
 short ride. Bayham Abbey, with its beautiful ruins, lies 
 about six miles south-east of the " wells," and is well deserv- 
 ing a visit. Mayfield Place, once a palace of the Arch- 
 bishop of Canterbury, and at a later date the favourite 
 residence of Sir Thomas Gresham, founder of the Eoyal 
 Exchange, and where Queen Elizabeth became his guest, 
 is now in ruins. Here it is tradition affirms that St. 
 Dunstan manifested his miraculous power; and there 
 are still to be seen, by those who are of an antiquarian turn
 
 May f eld Place. 301 
 
 of mind, the sword, hammer, anvil, and tongs with which 
 that hot-headed and redoubtable prelate, according to mo- 
 nastic fables, flattened the nose of a distinguished person- 
 age when he intruded on his meditations. 
 
 " For of course you have read, 
 That St. Dunstan was bred' 
 A goldsmith, and never quite gave up the trade ! 
 The company richest in London, 'tis said 
 Acknowledge him still as their patron and head." 
 
 Near the entrance to the ruins of Mayfield Place is the 
 famous St. Dunstan's Well, said to be more than three 
 hundred feet deep. Crowburgh Beacon, the highest hill 
 in Sussex, is not far distant, where on a fine day can be 
 seen a magnificent prospect, extending many miles on 
 every side. 
 
 The ride, on the top of the coach that runs from Uck- 
 field to Tunbridge Wells, is one of the prettiest pieces of 
 scenery to be met with in Kent or Surrey. There is also 
 Brambletye, which will ever be interesting to all who have 
 read Horace Smith's clever story of " Brambletye House," 
 where you may recal the incidents upon which the novelist 
 founded that charming tale of history and fiction. Lam- 
 berhurst, about two miles south-east of Bayham Abbey, 
 quite comes up to what Cobbett calls it, " one of the most 
 beautiful villages that man ever set his eyes on." 
 
 Knole House, with its invaluable collection of paintings, 
 entitling it to the distinction of the " Picture Gallery of 
 Kent," and the "Louvreof England," will always be an object 
 of great attraction. It is a beautiful drive of about four- 
 teen miles, and near Sevenoaks, one of the healthiest and 
 most picturesque villages in my native county. The noble 
 park at Knole contains some of the finest oaks, elms, and 
 beeches in the kingdom. 
 
 Penshurst, however, to me presented the greatest charms. 
 The walk there, by way of Southborough, and through 
 Bidborough Park, will never be forgotten. My com- 
 panion was one who knew ah 1 the localities well, and
 
 302 Penslmrst. 
 
 pointed out to me the numerous places of interest to be 
 seen on the road. The village of Penshurst is charmingly 
 situated on the banks of the Medway ; and the place, as 
 everybody knows, has been associated for centuries with 
 genius, worth, chivalry, and patriotism. Penshurst, the 
 birthplace and home of the Sidneys, with its noble man- 
 sion, its gardens, and extensive park, is classic ground. 
 Here you may see, in its fine old hall, the sword of Sir 
 Philip Sidney, and a right stalwart hero he must have 
 been to have handled such a weapon. On the walls of 
 the hall are suspended weapons of war and armour that 
 have seen good service on many a hard-fought field, 
 where laurels were gained by the chivalrous and patriotic 
 Sidneys. As I looked round this fine old hall the famous 
 lines of Campbell came to my lips 
 
 " Men of England ! who inherit 
 
 Eights that cost your sires their blood ! 
 Men whose undegenerate spirit 
 
 Has been proved on land and flood ! 
 
 By the foes ye've fought uncounted, 
 
 By the glorious deeds ye've done, 
 Trophies captured, breaches mounted, 
 
 Navies conquer'd, kingdoms won ! 
 
 Yet remember ! England gathers 
 Hence but fruitless wreaths of fame, 
 
 If the virtues of your fathers 
 
 Glow not in your hearts the same. 
 
 Yours are Hampden's, Russell's glory, 
 
 Sidney's matchless shade is yours, 
 Martyrs in heroic story ! 
 
 Worth a thousand Agincourts ! 
 
 We're the sons of sires that baffled 
 
 Crown'd and mitred tyranny ! 
 They defied the field and scaffold, 
 
 For their birthrights ; so will we ! " 
 
 In the ball-room here, tradition relates that the maiden 
 queen opened the ball with Sir Philip Sidney ; " her Philip,"
 
 The Sidneys. 303 
 
 as she used to call him, in contrast to Philip of Spain. 
 All the apartments abound with interesting relics of Eliza- 
 beth and her age, a description of which would fill a volume, 
 and also demand an abler pen than mine. In every room 
 almost may be seen gems of the old masters, including 
 Titian, Vandyck, Guido, Poussin, Teniers, Caracci, and 
 a host of others. The tapestry-room well deserves its 
 name, for it contains some matchless specimens of art. 
 Never did loom moi'e faithfully delineate figures and land- 
 scapes, or weave more brilliant colours colours which 
 time has been unable to fade. 
 
 Of course I visited the beauties of Eridge Park, the 
 princelv seat of the Earl of Abergavenny. Eridge Castle 
 is a magnificent pile, in the castellated style, occupying a 
 bold eminence in a well wooded and watered park of more 
 than two thousand acres. The visitor should enter the 
 park from the Frant road, and he may spend a day very 
 pleasantly in rambling about among its many beauties. 
 
 To go to Tunbridge Wells, and not see the "High 
 Hocks," would be almost impossible. They are highly 
 interesting, and to my humble judgment perfectly inexpli- 
 cable, after all that the learned have theorized about them. 
 There they stand in all their awful grandeur, placed there 
 by One " who weigheth the mountains in scales, and the 
 hills in a balance." Thousands of centuries have rolled 
 on since their formation, and how they came to be placed 
 where they are no one seems to know. 
 
 One place especially retains very much its original 
 appearance, and carries us back a century since. It is the 
 quaint old Parade, the boulevard of Tunbridge Wells. It 
 is still a fashionable promenade, and at certain hours 
 during the summer months a private band performs all 
 the popular music of the day in the orchestra, which bears 
 the appearance of having been erected when the town was 
 the resort of illustrious worthies long since passed away. 
 The old Parade and its accompaniments vividly recal the 
 celebrated personages who once thronged its promenade.
 
 304 "In Memoriam." 
 
 Among them may be mentioned Dr. Johnson, Colley 
 Gibber, the frail and beautiful Miss Chudleigh, afterwards 
 Duchess of Kingston, Garrick, the Earl of Chatham, Mrs. 
 Thrale, and a host of others of inferior name in the annals 
 of that age. 
 
 I fear that I have tired the patience of my readers in 
 lingering so long at Tunbridge Wells ; but it is a place 
 very interesting to me, inasmuch as I have spent many 
 happy weeks there in the society of a valued friend, who 
 has been my companion in many a ramble, and who was cut 
 down in a day, and withered like a flower, save that his 
 memory is cherished by a large circle of friends, who 
 could not but love a man in whom was found so many 
 excellences, and whose Christian character commanded 
 the respect and admiration of all who knew him. Some 
 one has truly said, that 
 
 " To live in hearts we leave behind 
 Is not to die." 
 
 And this is eminently true of him whose mortal remains 
 are laid in a secluded spot of the little cemetery near the 
 town, where he spent the last few years of his short, but 
 happy and useful life, and within a few yards of the last 
 resting-place of the late distinguished physician. Dr. 
 Golding Bird, who was also removed in the meridian of 
 life another martyr to an overworked brain and one 
 who will not soon be forgotten by the many patients that 
 have profited by his great professional skill. The plain 
 simple slab, that bears the name of " Edward Millard,"* 
 covers the remains of a friend that will ever be embalmed 
 in the memory of the writer of these pages. 
 
 * See a useful and elegant funeral Sermon preached by the Rev. 
 W. Landels, on the occasion of the sudden death of this good man, 
 entitled, " In Memoriam. A Tribute to the Memory of Edward 
 Millard. London, 1863. 12mo. Published by Simpkin and Co." 
 Young men would do well to read and ponder this Sermon.
 
 305 
 
 DOKKIXG AND BOX HILL. 
 
 was late in the autumn of the year that I took 
 the train from London Bridge to Dorking, to 
 
 tf^aj pay my first visit to some newly-married 
 xsj& friends. Having spent their honeymoon at 
 Rome, where they remained for three months, they re- 
 turned to England, and had settled down into domestic life 
 in a very pretty villa residence at Dorking. A boy nearly 
 twelve months old, the first fond pledge of their married 
 life, a sweet little fat, chubby fellow, such as Caracci or 
 Raphael would have delighted to have painted, gladdened 
 their home with his infantile crowing and crying. The 
 husband was a man in the prime and vigour of life, who, 
 with ample means, had spent a good deal of time on the 
 Continent, and knew as much of Paris, Rome, Florence, 
 and Naples as of London. 
 
 I found that he had adorned his home with choice pic- 
 tures from " the grand old masters," as well as good 
 copies by Roman and Florentine artists of one or two of 
 the great pictures of Raphael, Caracci, and Domenichino. 
 Three exquisite water-colour views of the Bay of Naples, 
 by a Neapolitan hand, shone upon his drawing-room walls, 
 and a few genuine bronzes were seen in the dining-room, 
 amongst which were the Fawn, the Apollo Belvidere, and 
 the Medici Venus. Photographs of the Transfiguration, 
 Gibson's Venus, and other art favourites, met your eye on 
 every side, and everything in the house manifested most 
 unmistakably that no expense had been spared to make 
 their home a little paragon of comfort and good taste. 
 
 His wife was a fair young creature in her twenty-first 
 year, whom I had known as a school girl. She was pretty 
 and fascinating as a girl of fifteen, but now she had fairly 
 blossomed into womanhood. Rather below the average
 
 306 An "Angel in the House" 
 
 height, she had a form that any sculptor would have been 
 glad to have moulded as a model. Her face was an oval, 
 and with a bloom upon it resembling a peach. Mouth 
 small, and lips as thin as they well could be. Her nose 
 was perhaps what an artist would have deemed rather too 
 small, and the lower part of the face a little too full to be 
 classical. Her hair was light and wavy, and arranged in 
 the simplest manner. She had the tiniest foot for a woman 
 that I ever beheld, and a hand such as a duke would have 
 delighted to kiss. Her conversational powers were bril- 
 liant, and when speaking her face was full of dimples, and 
 such as to fix your gaze admiringly. Her soft blue eyes 
 looked out lovingly upon you like that of an angel, as full 
 of purity as of love. She was an accomplished pianist, 
 and possessed a voice of silvery sweetness. 
 
 I could but congratulate my friend upon having such an 
 " angel in the house ;" and as the first few days of my visit 
 were wet, cold, and uninviting as to out-door exercises, I 
 had ample opportunities of enjoying the society of this 
 charming woman. I fear that some of my more staid and 
 . unromantic readers will smile at the description I have 
 vainly attempted to make of this fair young wife. If so, 
 they can turn over the page and leave it for more congenial 
 readers. For my own part, I have always been a most 
 enthusiastic admirer of fair women ; and in such a prosaic 
 world surely a man who numbers fifty summers may be 
 pardoned for indulging in so innocent a weakness as that 
 which I have been attempting. 
 
 I set out one fine clear morning with this lady for my 
 guide, her husband being unavoidably detained at home, 
 to see some of the beauties in the neighbourhood of Dorking. 
 I gave myself up most unreservedly to her own sweet will, as 
 it was the first time I had visited this picturesque and sur- 
 passingly beautiful locality. We passed through the prin- 
 cipal street of the town, of which the author of " Proverbial 
 Philosophy" says, " Name a third country-town for beauty 
 and cleanliness, and all that makes a place pleasant, worthy
 
 Betchley Park. 307 
 
 to be numbered with Dorking and Guildford," to Betchley 
 Park, and soon found ourselves under the stately beeches 
 there, treading upon the brown broad leaves which lay 
 around us " thick as those in Vallambrosa." Having 
 strolled through this noble park, we passed through a gate 
 and crossed the road into the opposite meadow, to see the 
 famed " Betchley Avenue," justly celebrated as the finest 
 natural cathedral to be seen in all England ; a triple avenue 
 of lime trees resembling the nave of a cathedral, but greatly 
 surpassing in grandeur and beauty any " temple made with 
 hands." If there were nothing else at Dorking but this 
 wondrously beautiful avenue, it would be worth taking a 
 day from London to see it. I am not going to attempt 
 any further description of this grand sight, as it is so well 
 known ; and, moreover, it would require the pen of a 
 Ruskin, and the pencil of a Creswick or Birket Foster, to 
 reproduce such a scene with any credit. 
 
 Returning from this avenue, we took the road to the 
 right of the bridge, from the centre of which a pretty view 
 presents itself. The heavy rains of the preceding days 
 had so swollen the river Mole as to produce quite a flood ; 
 and so wide was it in the vicinity of the bridge, as to re- 
 semble a small lake. You get a fine view of the grounds 
 and mansion at Denbies* from this spot. We passed 
 along, keeping to the right, till we came to two gates, one 
 on either side of the road ; here we paused and rested 
 awhile. The scene was rural and delightful ; a newly- 
 ploughed field was between us and the river, whose swollen 
 waters we could hear murmuring at our feet, though hidden 
 by trees. At a gap to the right we caught a glimpse of 
 the river, with Betchley Park for a background, with its 
 patches of verdure and its thousand golden trees. The 
 
 * The estate of Denbies is now in the possession of George Cubitt, 
 Esq. M.P., who, we are informed, has effected considerable altera- 
 tions in the grounds, as well as having erected a spacious and 
 handsome mansion in place of the small housj that once stood 
 there.
 
 308 Box Hill. 
 
 spire of Dorking church, just pointing above the trees, in 
 the distance, while further to the right was Denbies, with 
 its park and princely mansion, and the pretty steeple of 
 Kanmore church standing like an angel by its side. We 
 lingered here to let the eye wander slowly along the crown 
 of the hill, which is broken to the extreme right by the 
 valley between that and Box Hill, the back of which you 
 see, and terminating with a dark pine plantation, contrast- 
 ing finely with the golden crowns of the surrounding wood- 
 land. Proceeding on the road to Reigate, we continued 
 our walk till we came to two pretty red-brick cottages with 
 rose trees growing up the walls ; passing these we turned 
 up a narrow lane to the left, and crossing the wooden bridge 
 over the railway, we took the road by the chalk pit, and 
 began to ascend the steep and precipitous hill. My young 
 guide tripped along gaily enough ; but it sadly taxed my 
 respiratory organs, and we were obliged to sit down more 
 than once that I might " get my wind." It reminded me, 
 however, that nothing worth having is to be obtained with- 
 out labour, and when you have toiled hard and manfully 
 for something, how great is the enjoyment of fruition. 
 
 Having at length gained the summit of this hill we were 
 rewarded by a magnificent view of the surrounding country, 
 rich and fertile as an English landscape always is. Im- 
 mediately at our feet was a ploughed field, with the 
 husbandman casting in the seed-corn from his basket ; 
 further on the river Mole wandered between its green 
 banks, and in the distance soft undulating hills and slopes, 
 crowned with woodland, stretched out for many a mile as 
 far as the eye could reach. The railway is just below you 
 in the valley ; but as a train passed which in some measure 
 destroyed for a moment the poetry of the scene, it was at 
 such a distance as to make the interruption rather pleasant 
 than otherwise. Passing through a field we gained the 
 road, and, turning to the right, walked on for about half a 
 mile with a plantation on either side ; a little further on 
 there is an opening in the road to the left, so that you can
 
 Burford Bridge Hotel 309 
 
 walk out upon the open Downs. Here we had a glorious 
 view of the country, and as we strolled leisurely along the 
 crown of Box Hill the scene was far more beautiful than 
 any words of mine can describe. The broken bottles, corks, 
 and fragments of paper strewn about, suggested gipsy 
 parties, and young loving couples, who always, for some rea- 
 sons known only to themselves, wander away from the rest of 
 the party to tell to each other, as they walk hand-in-hand, 
 " truths that perish never." The owner of this beautiful 
 domain has not only thrown it open for all the woi'ld to 
 range in, but has also placed seats where the best views 
 can be obtained, so that you may sit down and at your 
 leisure take in the scene before you. In one charming 
 nook is a comfortable seat to hold a dozen, with a round 
 table that would have pleased good King Arthur himself. 
 
 After resting awhile we continued our way along the 
 crown of the hill, and turning into the plantation walked 
 through its darkened pathway till we came to an opening 
 where a view bursts at once upon you that is certainly un- 
 equalled by anything of the kind I have ever beheld. Im- 
 mediately below were clusters of beech, chestnut, and oak 
 trees, crowned with glory ; a little to the left the park and 
 mansion at Denbies. Looking through the valley, hill 
 upon hill in long and varied succession meets the eye, and 
 as you gaze language fails to express the beauty and love- 
 liness of the scene. As I had no guide-book, many of the 
 places in the distance were unknown to me, and also to 
 my fair .conductress ; but I believe St. Paul's and West- 
 minster Abbey can be seen by the naked eye on a clear 
 day, as well as the hills beyond London. 
 
 My fair friend pointed out to me the pretty little Burford 
 Bridge Hotel, at the foot of the hill ; a place not only 
 associated with great names in the literary world, but also 
 a favourite resort for young newly-married couples. I 
 can hardly conceive a more fitting place for beginning 
 wedded life. It is well to surround oneself on such occa- 
 sions with all that is beautiful, so that in after-life, when
 
 310 Denbies. 
 
 trials and sorrows come, we may look back to such green 
 spots with pleasure and delight. 
 
 After remaining on the hill till we had taken our fill of 
 the lovely scene, and had exhausted all our stock of 
 descriptive epithets helped not a little by quotations from 
 many a son of song we descended the steep path leading 
 to the road. Coming down hill, to a man of my years, is 
 even more trying than the going up, as it tries the knees, 
 which are terribly inclined to " bow themselves." The 
 keen air and breezy heights had quickened my appetite, so 
 that I could not resist going into the Burford Bridge 
 Hotel for a glass of stout and a biscuit. It is a most 
 comfortable little hotel a place where young fellows may 
 take their sweethearts, and old fellows their wives. 
 
 Leaving the hotel, we took the road to Dorking, over 
 the bridge, till we came to a turning on the road leading 
 to Mr. Cubitt's. A handsome lodge fronts the road, and 
 a good carriage-way, through a pretty plantation, winds 
 its way to the residence of this wealthy commoner. About 
 half a mile from the entrance you approach the open 
 ground, and before you is a picturesque view of Dorking, 
 with its pretty church, and its many villa residences jotted 
 about in every direction. We pursued our way to within 
 a few yards of the house, when we turned off to the right, 
 by a pathway, to Eanmore church and common. The 
 view from the lodge leading from the park to Eanmore 
 Common is very extensive and beautiful. The church, a 
 modern structure in the Gothic style, is all that an eccle- 
 siologist could desire ; and we were informed that the 
 interior presents an appearance that would satisfy the most 
 careful admirer of church adornments. The church, with 
 its accompaniments, are all the product of Mr. Cubitt's 
 munificence. Nonconformist as I am, I cannot but admire 
 the beautiful structures raised at the present day by private 
 individuals, whom God has prospered in this world's good, 
 and who, I think, make a grateful and graceful acknow- 
 ledgment of the same by erecting a temple to His praise.
 
 Ranmore Common. 311 
 
 Leaving this very pretty little church, with its commo- 
 dious schools, we made our way for a footpath through a 
 small plantation by the side of the road, where again is 
 spread out before you such a view as an artist would be 
 enamoured of, but which no pencil of mine can adequately 
 pourtray. There are the stumps of some trees cut down 
 to make seats large enough for two by sitting rather 
 close, at short intervals, so that you may sit down on 
 these " quiet resting-places," and at your leisure enjoy 
 the fine scene before you. 
 
 The best things must, however, come to a close, and 
 the dinner hour warned us that we must wend our way 
 homewards. Half-an-hour's walk brought us to our 
 friend's house, and a good dinner was doubly good after 
 four hours' walking through such scenery, and in such 
 society, as I have vainly attempted to describe. 
 
 Dorking abounds in varied and beautiful walks, and my 
 only regret was that my brief sojourn there would only 
 allow of my visiting some of the more notable places. 
 
 I hope one day to walk from Keigate to Dorking along 
 the top of the hills ; and from what I saw of the country a 
 great treat is in store for me. How pleasant and healthful 
 it is to make a right use of one's legs. When I have 
 heard sentimentalists quote the words, " Oh, that I had 
 the wings of a dove, that I might fly away and be at 
 peace ! " I have been devoutly thankful that I have the 
 legs of a man, and am contented to wait for the wings till 
 we shall be made " like unto the angels." 
 
 " God made the country and man made the town," 
 
 were the familiar words of one who drank at the fountain 
 of nature, and the sentiments conveyed in these words I 
 have often most heartily endorsed, and have felt that 
 
 " In the wonders all around, 
 Ever is Thy spirit found; 
 And of each good thing we see, 
 All the good is born of Thee.
 
 312 Literary Celebrities. 
 
 Thine the beauteous skill that lurks 
 Everywhere in Nature's works; 
 Thine is art, with all its worth, 
 Thine each master-piece on earth ! 
 
 Tea, and foremost in the van, 
 Springs from Thee the mind of man ; 
 On its light, for this is Thine, 
 Shed abroad the love divine." 
 
 Very frequently, when I have been brought low in body 
 and in mind, have I in wakeful hours of the night derived 
 comfort in my sadness from the grateful recollection of 
 hours and days spent in communion and fellowship with 
 the fair and beautiful scenes of Nature, when my heart 
 sang as gladsomely as the birds in the hawthorn hedge- 
 rows, and my mind was as free and happy as a child's. 
 
 I do not forget that Dorking and its neighbourhood is 
 rich in literary associations, as well as being famous for 
 its lime and fowls. The river Mole has been rendered 
 poetically famous by Spenser, Drayton, Milton, Pope, and 
 Thomson, who, in his " Summer," tells of the 
 
 " Soft windings of the silent Mole." 
 
 I am not unmindful that Daniel Defoe lived some 
 time at Dorking, as well as other distinguished Noncon- 
 formists, such as the Rev. John Mason, the author of 
 " Self Knowledge," who was succeeded in the pastorate 
 by Dr. Kippis, a man of considerable note, and the com- 
 piler of the " Biographia Britannica." Abraham Tucker, 
 author of the " Light of Nature pursued," a favourite 
 book with Robert Hall, the great Baptist preacher, lived 
 here also. 
 
 I was reminded by my accomplished Cicerone that the 
 Burford Bridge Hotel is a spot illustrious as the occasional 
 resort of many of the literary men of our own time. There 
 Keats wrote the latter part of his " Endymion." There 
 we are informed that the hero of Trafalgar and the Nile, 
 spent some days with that frail and beautiful woman Lady
 
 Deepdene, etc. 313 
 
 Hamilton, before leaving England for his last great fight. 
 There also, sitting under the apple-trees, Hazlitt read with 
 delight the " Astronomical Discourses " of Dr. Chalmers ; 
 and it is a spot, too, where many young hearts have retired 
 in the first golden days of matrimony, when the opening 
 promise of the future came to them 
 
 " In whispers, like the whispers of the leaves 
 That tremble round a nightingale." 
 
 One who knows the neighbourhood well says that 
 " Denbies is perhaps the best spot to get a good view of 
 Dorking. The town itself lies clearly before you, with 
 the Glory* in the background, and the Deepdenef a little 
 to the left, beyond which he will see the avenues of Betch- 
 worth Park, nearly a thousand feet in length, and the 
 pretty village church of Brookham, whose white spire 
 with 
 
 ' Silent finger points to heaven.' 
 
 Then the long and straight line of railroad running beneath 
 him, Markland's old house beyond it, easily distinguish- 
 able by the adjacent pond, the hamlet of Westcott on 
 his right, with its picturesque church, to which Birket 
 Foster alone could do justice, the wide expanse of coun- 
 try looming in the distance, and the somewhat faint outline 
 of the Evelyn woods, which have become classic by associ- 
 ation, will give the visitor no vague notion of his ' where- 
 
 * A name given par excellence to a clump of Scotch firs, stand- 
 ing on a rather lofty ascent, and commanding some noble views 
 through the open spaces which have been cut for that purpose in 
 the wood. 
 
 f This beautiful place was in bygone days the favourite resi- 
 dence of Thomas Hope, where he wrote his famous works on the 
 "Costumes of the Ancients and Moderns," and where he gathered 
 around him a collection of sculpture, paintings, books, and Etruscan 
 vases, such as cannot be surpassed by any similar collection in the 
 kingdom. Here also, we understand, Mr. Disraeli wrote his 
 " Coningsby."
 
 314 Green Lanes 
 
 abouts,' and of the pleasant rambles which are in store 
 for him. The Mole pursues a meandering course around 
 the base of Box Hill, whence it proceeds in a sinuous 
 direction through the picturesque vale of Mickleham to 
 Leatherhead on to Guildford." 
 
 One thing must ever be borne in mind by those who want 
 to enjoy such scenery as this, that 
 
 " We receive but what we give, 
 And in our life alone does Nature live." 
 
 Seek to bring with you to such scenes a love of the 
 beautiful, and a heart at peace with God, and I know not 
 a more pure and serene joy than is to be found in such 
 rambles as these 
 
 " To one who has been long in city pent, 
 'Tis very sweet to look into the fair 
 And open face of heaven, to breathe a prayer 
 Full in the smile of the blue firmament." 
 
 The neighbourhood of Dorking, like that of Tunbridge 
 Wells, abounds in green lanes ; and who can wander along 
 an English lane, whose banks are bright with primroses 
 and wild hyacinths, and not feel the gladness which these 
 " flowers of the field " produce? The love of flowers, like 
 all other love, deepens as We advance in years. They have 
 often with me exercised a soothing influence, and they 
 recal the memory of early and happy days, and keep the 
 heart fresh when other influences are calculated to harden 
 and corrode it. Our Lord knew what was in man when 
 He said, " Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow." 
 
 Often, when among " the flowers of the field," have the 
 beautiful lines of Campbell come to my lips 
 
 " Ye field flowers ! the gardens eclipse you, 'tis true, 
 Yet wildings of Nature, I doat upon you, 
 For ye waft me to summers of old, 
 When the earth teem'd around me with fairy delight, 
 And when daisies and buttercups glacldeu'd my sight, 
 Like treasures of silver and gold."
 
 and Field Flowers. 3 1 5 
 
 I look forward at some future day, if life be spared, to 
 visit Dorking and its surroundings again. There are 
 many places there yet in store well worth seeing, such as 
 Norbury Park, Brockham, the Deepdene, Bury Hill, 
 Wotton, Holmswood, and Ockley. I quite long to stand 
 on Leith Hill, and look through the vale at its foot of 
 thirty miles in breadth and sixty miles in length, when 
 
 "Autumn lays his fiery finger on the leaves." 
 
 Pardon me, gentle reader, in detaining you so long at 
 Dorking and its environs and also for attempting to 
 describe scenes that have taxed the eloquent and facile 
 pens of writers from John Evelyn down to the author of 
 " Proverbial Philosophy." 
 
 HEEEFORD AND ITS NEIGHBOURHOOD. 
 
 VISITED the old and interesting city of 
 Hereford many times, not only in my vacations, 
 but also when ill -health obliged me to seek 
 change of air and scene. Hereford stands in 
 the midst of orchards, corn-fields, and pastoral scenes, 
 such as can scarcely be surpassed for rural beauty. The 
 river Wye, in its wandering course, washes the old walls 
 of the city ; which, indeed, for its rich scenery of rock, of 
 wood, and of water, has been generally allowed to be equal, 
 if not superior, to any stream in the kingdom. From its 
 fountain-head to its junction with the Severn, the banks of 
 this classic river present a continuance of views picturesque 
 and magnificent, or, as Gray the poet remarks exultingly, 
 " a succession of endless beauties." 
 
 The principal building in this old city is the cathedral, 
 erected in the time of William the Conqueror. It is one of 
 the finest specimens of the Norman- Saxon and Early- 
 English style to be seen in England.
 
 316 Hereford Cathedral 
 
 The cathedral of Hereford, as representing an Episcopal 
 see, is so ancient as to induce antiquarians to suppose it to 
 have existed before the arrival of St. Augustine. This 
 cathedral, like some others in the land, has suffered, not 
 only from the hand of time, but more, perhaps, from so- 
 called restoration. Wyatt the architect, between the years 
 1788 and 1797, expended, we are informed, 20,000 on 
 this cathedral. He did much to destroy the original cha- 
 racter of the sacred building, and introduced in its place a 
 good deal of his own. It was afterwards taken in hand 
 by Professor Willis, an authority in all matters of this 
 nature, and " restorations " were effected between 1841 and 
 1852 at a cost of nearly 30,000. The architect then 
 employed was Mr. (Nottingham, who carried out his work 
 under the personal superintendence of Dean Merewether, 
 whose zeal for the good work will ever entitle him to the 
 greatest respect. A memorial window of great beauty has 
 been placed in " the house of the Lord " as a fitting ex- 
 pression of gratitude and respect to this good man. 
 
 Since 1858 the final restoration of the cathedral has been 
 placed in the hands of Mr. G. G. Scott, whose plans have 
 been most ably and efficiently carried out by the resident 
 architect of the dean and chapter, Mr. William Chick, a 
 gentleman who was an articled pupil of Mr. Scott. 
 
 Some of the monuments are as old as the eleventh cen- 
 tury, but they have been sadly mutilated. The Parliamen- 
 tary soldiery in 1645 have the credit of removing the fine 
 sepulchral brasses which were once so numerous, as well 
 as having defaced several of the monuments. 
 
 Hereford cathedral is interesting to a " Man of Kent " 
 as the last resting-place of good King Ethelbert, though 
 the magnificent and costly tomb erected to his memory by 
 Offa, king of Mercia, perished by fire at the invasion of 
 the city by one Griffith, a prince of Wales, who, according 
 to chronologists, visited the city in 1055. 
 
 The Cathedral Library contains, we are informed, a 
 goodly number of books and MSS. There are in all about
 
 Old Books and MS S. 317 
 
 2000 volumes, many of great rarity and interest. Among 
 the most remarkable printed books may be named a col- 
 lection of Bibles ranging from 1480 to 1 690 ; Higden's 
 " Polychronicon," by Caxton, 1495; Caxton's " Legenda 
 Aurea," 1483 ; and Lyndewoode's " Super Constitutiones 
 Provinciales," 1475. Of the MSS. may be named an 
 ancient " Antiphonarium," containing the old " Hereford 
 Use." A fine map of the world on vellum is exhibited on 
 the walls of the cathedral, which- is interesting, not only 
 from its great age, but also as having Jerusalem placed in 
 the centre of the world. It is one of the most valuable relics 
 of mediseval geography, and is the work of the latter part 
 of the thirteenth century. 
 
 The magnificent screen of wrought-iron work, executed 
 by Messrs. Skidmore of Coventry, from the designs of Mr. 
 G. G. Scott, is an object of great attraction to every lover 
 of high art, not only for its beauty, but as showing how 
 metal work can be used for the purpose to which it is here 
 applied. As a whole, it may with safety be affirmed that 
 this screen is one of the finest and most complete works of 
 its class that has been produced in modern times ; nor 
 would it be easy to mention any piece of ancient metal- 
 work which will bear comparison with it. 
 
 This sacred and highly interesting building is well de- 
 serving a visit, not only from the antiquarian, but also from 
 everybody who loves old places, and " temples made with 
 hands." The building itself is altogether of a different 
 character to that of my native city ; but I have spent many 
 pleasant and profitable hours under its sacred roof, both in 
 attending the services, as well as looking around at its 
 monuments. The dean and chapter have made an excel- 
 lent arrangement in throwing open the doors of the cathe- 
 dral to the public at a charge of sixpence. This small fee 
 is one that every visitor would gladly pay ; and the pro- 
 ceeds are appropriated to " the building and restoration 
 fund." This fixed charge for admission, when Divine 
 service is not performed, is a much better practice than
 
 318 The Churches, etc. 
 
 that of leaving the attendants to get as much out of visit- 
 ors as they can. How much better it would be if our 
 cathedrals should be thrown open as " a dwelling-place for 
 all generations," where the devout and thoughtful might 
 leave the busy street, and the outside world, and be re- 
 minded that there is a " Father's house " awaiting those 
 who love the " outer sanctuary." Cathedral corporations 
 are rich enough in all conscience without taking toll of 
 visitors ; and surely that which boasts itself as the " Church 
 of the people" should be made as popular as possible. 
 There are always pensioners connected with our cathedrals, 
 and they might be well employed as attendants to see that 
 no injury is done to the sacred buildings, as well as to 
 preserve a proper order and decorum. 
 
 There are three other old churches in the city, All 
 Saints, St. Margaret's, and St. Peter's. The rector of the 
 latter is the Rev. John Venn, whose evangelical and apos- 
 tolic labours have endeared him to the largest and most 
 influential congregation in the ancient city. This excel- 
 lent clergyman is one of the well-known and highly- 
 esteemed secretaries of the Church Missionary Society, 
 and is as "distinguished by the quiet, unobtrusive virtues of 
 his private life as he is for his pulpit labours. He is a 
 bachelor, and gives himself wholly to his spiritual work, 
 and has at the head of his home an accomplished sister, 
 like-minded with himself, whose gentle ministries among 
 the sick and the needy, have made her a welcome visitor in 
 every humble home, as well as an honoured guest in the 
 higher circles of the neighbourhood. 
 
 The other public buildings of note in the city are the 
 Shire Hall, the Bishop's Palace, beautifully situated on 
 the banks of the Wye, the College, and the County 
 Gaol. The theatre seems entirely to have disappeared : 
 it was for many years under the direction of the Kernble 
 family. There are the ruins of a monastery of Black- 
 friars, the pulpit of which, an interesting relic of ancient 
 architecture, has recently been restored by Lord Saye and
 
 The County Gaol 319 
 
 Sele. To this nobleman Hereford is also indebted for 
 the restoration of " the White Cross," about a mile west 
 of the city, erected bj Bishop Charlton at a time when 
 the people of the surrounding places were afraid to 
 approach the city on account of the plague that raged 
 there. It is recorded that there were large reservoirs of 
 vinegar on the east side of the cross, in which were dipped 
 whatever article was deemed infectious brought from the 
 city. This fearful scourge committed great ravages in 
 1347. 
 
 The County Gaol is a prominent building, and occupies, 
 we were informed, the site of an old priory, which was 
 dedicated to Saint Guthlac. The present building was 
 completed in 1797, on Howard's plan of solitary confine- 
 ment, under the superintendence, and from the designs of 
 John Nash, the architect. It is enclosed within a high, 
 red-brick wall, having a handsome rusticated entrance, 
 with Tuscan pillars, over which is the place of execution. 
 The governor's residence was formerly in the centre of 
 the prison ; but a spacious and comfortable house adjoining 
 the prison has recently been erected. It is almost too 
 much to expect that a man possessing the qualifications 
 for such a post should consent to live always in a prison, 
 surrounded by criminals, and with nothing to look out 
 upon but bare walls. The deteriorated health of the 
 present governor, as well as that of his family, induced 
 the. magistrates of the county to erect a suitable house for 
 his residence, so communicating with the prison as to be 
 near at any moment that his presence might be required. 
 The prison itself is spacious, having workshops, inspection 
 rooms, infirmary, chapel, and large exercise-yards for the 
 prisoners. Most of the cells are fitted up in accordance 
 with all the modern " regulation " improvements ; and 
 every possible care is taken, not only for the safe custody 
 of the inmates, but also of their health and well-being. 
 
 Having been rather a frequent inmate of this prison, as 
 a visitor of the governor, I may be allowed to make a few
 
 320 Prison Discipline. 
 
 remarks on the treatment of our criminals, which my 
 observation and thinkings have forced upon me. 
 
 Prison discipline is confessedly a very difficult question, 
 and has been for many yeai's discussed with the earnest- 
 ness and ability that the subject demands. Penal service 
 appears to me to consist in the withdrawal from criminals 
 those privileges which can safely be allowed only to the 
 peaceable and honest members of society, and to cure 
 them, if possible, of their bad habits ; both these objects 
 being subordinate to the more general one of the prevention 
 of crime. 
 
 Our prisons are, with all the improvements that have 
 of late years been introduced, far from attaining these 
 desirable objects in any high degree ; but it is consolatory 
 to know that they have at any i-ate been much impiwed, 
 especially since the establishment of a responsible system 
 of Government inspection. 
 
 It seems to me that the first essential requisite of a good 
 system of imprisonment is, that the condition of the pri- 
 soner should be inferior to that of the honest and industrious 
 labourer. If our criminals are simply to be well fed and 
 housed, and comfortably clothed, they will care little or 
 nothing about being in prison. Whatever care may be 
 taken of the health and habitudes of our criminals, a prison 
 should never be divested of its penal character. The 
 tendency, I fear, has of late years been rather to make 
 prison discipline such as to act rather as a premium to 
 crime than as a terror to evil-doers. 
 
 I cannot help believing that prisons should be made, as 
 much as possible, self-supporting, and that not only in 
 order that the cost of supporting these necessary institu- 
 tions should be made less burdensome to the state and the 
 ratepayers ; but that the criminals should be taught habits 
 of industry, I would make it a rule everywhere, if I 
 could, that " except a man worked neither should he eat." 
 
 The " hard labour " of the crank, or the tread-wheel, 
 which obtains in almost all our prisons, may have its
 
 Productive Prison Labour. 321 
 
 beneficial effect upon some who perhaps could not be made 
 to work in any other way; but it is a cumbersome and 
 profitless part of the machinery of a prison. 
 
 Productive labour is, I think, the thing to be encouraged 
 on all accounts. I was glad to see this to be the case in 
 Hereford County Gaol, and to know that the visiting jus- 
 tices did all in their power to further the very praiseworthy 
 efforts made by the present governor to carry out this 
 principle. The practice has been tried now for some years 
 with the best possible results, not only in diminishing the 
 cost of the maintenance of prisoners, but also in exerting 
 a most salutary influence upon the criminals themselves. 
 Many a man has, to my knowledge, left that gaol able 
 honestly to earn his living, who, before becoming an in- 
 mate of the prison, was not able to work at any trade 
 whatever, except that of picking pockets and similar 
 nefarious practices. 
 
 I cannot see why this productive labour should be con- 
 fined to the walls of the prison. As respects agricultural 
 and out-door labour the objections are obvious the diffi- 
 culty of guarding against escape. This objection might 
 be overcome if the governor were allowed to select such 
 prisoners for employment in out-door work as he might 
 consider safe to be so employed. If land could be attached 
 to our prisons it would be possible to grow all the potatoes 
 and other vegetables needed for consumption in a gaol. 
 
 It is a great mistake to suppose that most of the pri- 
 soners are watching for opportunities to escape. They 
 know well enough that to do so would only be to subject 
 themselves to perpetual banishment from their homes. 
 Generally speaking, it is only wandering offenders, and 
 what are called "tramps," under serious charges, who make 
 any attempt to escape. 
 
 Why should there not be inaugurated a " criminal 
 corps" of convicts, under sentence for penal servitude, 
 who could be employed, under proper surveillance, upon 
 great national undertakings, such as the Thames' embank-
 
 322 Transportation. 
 
 ment, railways, &c. "We have in our Home Secretary a 
 mail of vigour and energy, and I think the thing could be 
 accomplished. 
 
 Of transportation, in the ordinary sense of the term, few 
 can have a lower opinion than myself; in fact, I believe 
 the system has generated some of the most monstrous and 
 terrible evils. The colonists themselves are now fully alive 
 to its baneful effects, and are not only resolutely opposed 
 to a system inconsistent with a high tone of morality, but 
 one that is also dangerous to life and property, and even 
 to the personal honour of the female part of the population . 
 The evils of transportation are not confined to the penal 
 colonies alone, for the convicts soon find their way into 
 other colonies. It appeai-s that most of the crimes in 
 South Australia are committed by released convicts ; and 
 we know full well what " ticket-of-leave men" can do at 
 home. 
 
 The custom of teaching criminals a trade, and making 
 their labour productive, is one that I am sure will be found 
 to work well. The great difficulty is to know what to do 
 with those who will not work, and who by their influence 
 and example upon other prisoners make them most danger- 
 ous. As these form a very small proportion of our criminals, 
 they might be dealt with as exceptional cases ; I would 
 send such worthless and refractory members of the com- 
 munity to Sierra Leone, Bermuda, Cape Castle, and other 
 suitable places, where the climate is such as to exert a 
 salutary check upon their more gross and criminal pro- 
 pensities, and where they might be employed and punished 
 as such refuse require. This may appear to be rather a bar- 
 barous way of disposing of such characters ; but if the well- 
 being of the community is to be considered, there must be 
 a " Norfolk Island " somewhere ; and if reformatory and 
 remedial treatment fail, punishment and severity must in- 
 evitably follow. 
 
 I am conscious that it is a subject difficult to grapple 
 with ; but as we owe much to the great loviug-hearted
 
 Walks about Hereford. 323 
 
 Howard, and the gentle Christ-like Caroline Fry, for their 
 never-to-be-forgotten labours in our prisons, so we may 
 look to such men as Sir Walter Croker, and the late esti- 
 mable Colonel Jebb, for effecting reforms in the treatment 
 of our criminals that shall be crowned with success. Having 
 made these few remarks upon an unpleasant topic, I leave 
 the subject for my readers to think about, and to suggest 
 such remedies for these great evils as their wisdom may 
 dictate. 
 
 The walks about Hereford are very beautiful and pictur- 
 esque ; there is the fashionable promenade, the Castle 
 Green, so named from being on the site of the old castle 
 that once stood here. Very little remains of this once 
 celebrated stronghold but a few broken fragments of the 
 original walls, a part of which has been appropriated to a 
 " Museum ;" a poor miserable affair, with a public reading- 
 room on the basement floor. The river Wye glides by one 
 side of Castle Green, and the views of the surrounding 
 country from the grounds are very fine. There are some 
 splendid trees on Castle Green, of large girth and mag- 
 nificently spreading foliage, such as would gratify Creswick 
 and Birket Foster. 
 
 There are also some fine walks by the side of the winding 
 river, round the Bartonsham meadows, though the stiles 
 and bridges are in too dilapidated and dangerous a state 
 for ladies to make the attempt to walk there. Surely some 
 of the enterprising citizens of Hereford should take such a 
 matter in hand, and see that this very beautiful walk by 
 this classic stream should be passable. The river Wye has 
 been described by Gilpin, Ireland, and many others of in- 
 ferior name. At this point it may be said of it, in the 
 words of the poet of " Grongar Hill," 
 
 " And see the waters how they run 
 Thro' woods and meads, in shade and sun, 
 Sometimes swift, sometimes slow, 
 Wave succeeding wave, they go 
 A hasty journey 'to the deep, 
 Like human life to endless sleep !
 
 324 Dynedor Hill 
 
 Thus in Nature's verdure wrought, 
 
 To instruct our wand'ring thought, 
 
 Thus she dresses green and gay 
 
 To disperse our cares away. 
 
 Ever charming, ever new, 
 
 When will the landscape tire the view?" 
 
 One of the prettiest walks about Hereford is that to 
 Dynedor Hill, once a Roman encampment, and about two 
 miles from the city. The views from the summit are very 
 extensive and beautiful. To the N.E. the Malvern Hills 
 in Worcestershire, and the Glee Hills in Shropshire, ter- 
 minate the view. Towards the N.W. the vale stretches 
 out for many miles, presenting at one view Credenhill 
 Camp, Tillington and Foxley Woods, Lady-Lift, Bishop- 
 stone Hill, Moccas Park, and Merbidge Hill, bounded by 
 the mountains of Radnorshire. To the S.W. the Black 
 Mountains appear as a grand natural boundary to England 
 and Wales. The celebrated St. Michael's Mount, with 
 the Blorinch and Pen-y-Vale Mountains, near Aberga- 
 venny, in Monmouthshire, are the distant objects, and are 
 very beautiful when seen under the favourable effect of an 
 evening sunset. The view to the S.E., though not so 
 extensive, has much to recommend it to the admirers of 
 picturesque scenery. The Wye is here seen nearer than 
 from the opposite side, and makes a graceful sweep through 
 a tract of fine meadow lands, inclosed on one side of the 
 river by the woodlands of Fownhope and Capler Camp, 
 rising above the bed of the river with much grandeur; 
 over all you see May Hill in Gloucestershire. On the 
 opposite side, the park of Holm Lacy, with the mansion 
 half-hidden by the trees, adds to the beauty of the scene. 
 
 Dynedor Hill is the property of Mr. Bodenham, of 
 Rotherwas, to whom the public are indebted for the privi- 
 lege of beholding the charming views to be seen from its 
 summit. This gentleman has not only thrown open these 
 beautiful grounds, but he has placed comfortable seats at 
 all the best points, where you may " rest-and-be-thankful."
 
 The Wye. 325 
 
 I should never think of going to Hereford without visiting 
 Dynedor Hill. 
 
 There are other fine walks and pleasant drives in the 
 vicinity of Hereford, such as Foxley, Credenhill, Sufton, 
 Mordiford, Broomy Hill, and Wareham Wood. Stoke 
 Edith is within an easy walk of a few miles. It is so 
 called because it was to St. Edith that the parish church 
 was dedicated. The church is a very ancient building, 
 dating from the time of Canute. The princely mansion 
 that stands upon this estate was built by Paul Foley in the 
 reign of Charles II. The park is well wooded, and con- 
 tains some fine scenery. 
 
 There is also Holm Lacy, Aconbury Hill, and Belmont, 
 with its fine cathedral, all within reach of an easy walk of 
 a few miles. 
 
 I fear that I am lingering too long in attempting to 
 describe some of the fine scenery of Hereford ; but I have 
 passed many weeks in the neighbourhood, and dearly love 
 rural scenes. I must, however, leave the banks of this 
 beautiful river ; and though I have some knowledge of the 
 " silvery Thames," the " silent Mole," the " meandering 
 Stour," and the dark pools and rapid shallows of Scottish 
 rivers, yet I am compelled to say, with a dash perhaps of 
 romantic rapture 
 
 " No stream boasts such banks as the banks of the Wye." 
 
 Many eminent men have adorned the bishop's office in 
 this diocese. Dr. Hampden, the present bishop, is dis- 
 tinguished for his learning and solid attainments. He is 
 no orator ; and it will be remembered that his orthodoxy 
 was called in question on his promotion to the high office. 
 
 Among the literary celebrities of Hereford may be 
 mentioned Bishop Breton, preferred to the see in 1268, 
 who wrote a work on the " Laws of England," which is 
 yet extant ; Adam de Orlton, also a bishop, and promoted 
 to the see, on account of his literary attainments, in 1316 ; 
 Eoger of Hereford, who lived in the reign of Henry II,
 
 326 Nell Gwynne, etc. 
 
 was the author of two well-known works, the one on 
 " Judicial Astrology," the other on " Mines and Mine- 
 rals." Miles Smith, D.D. who is said to have been one 
 of the most celebrated scholars of his time, was a canon 
 residentiary of Hereford for many years, and was pro- 
 moted to the see of Gloucester in 1612. This eminent 
 man was selected by James I. as one of the translators of 
 the Bible to him and Bilson, Bishop of Winchester, was 
 committed the revisal of the whole translation at its com- 
 pletion. To him we are indebted for the preface to what 
 is called the original edition of the authorized version of 
 the sacred volume, published in 1611. 
 
 Garrick, the player, and the beautiful K"ell Gwynne, 
 were both natives of Hereford, and both famous in their 
 own way. The inimitable actor was born at the Angel 
 Inn, in Widemarsh-street, in 1717. His father was a 
 French refugee, and held a lieutenant's commission in a 
 regiment of horse then quartered in the city. Poor Nelly 
 was unhappily born beautiful, and became the mistress of 
 a monarch, who, with all his weaknesses, was not a bad 
 fellow in many respects. Greenwich Hospital is a noble 
 monument to the memory of this beautiful woman ; and 
 among those who have swayed the regal sceptre in 
 England, have been men far more deserving of execration 
 than " the merry monarch." 
 
 John Philips, the author of " Cyder," etc. calls Here- 
 ford his native soil, though not born in the county. John 
 Gwillim, the celebrated author of " Heraldry Displayed," 
 was born at, or near, Hereford, and died in 1621. Here 
 also was born Humphrey Ely, a Romish exile of eminence, 
 who afterwards became professor of canon and civil law at 
 Lorraine, about 1604. John Davies and Richard Ger- 
 thinge, natives of Hereford, were so proficient in penman- 
 ship, as to be noticed by Fuller in his " British Worthies." 
 Davies was writing-master to Henry Prince of Wales, son 
 of James I. 
 
 William Brome, afterwards famed for his learning, was
 
 A Naval Hero. 327 
 
 born at Ewithington, near Hereford. He formed the 
 plan of compiling the history of his native county ; and, 
 according to all accounts, he was a man eminently quali- 
 fied to do this laborious work, not only on account of his 
 general learning, but also as being a good naturalist and 
 antiquary. Having made considerable progress in this 
 praiseworthy work, he gave up his project, and unhappily 
 destroyed the materials he had collected. 
 
 At Hereford was born also the brave and fearless Cap- 
 tain Cornwall, who fell in the action before Toulon, in 
 1744. He was commander of the " Maryborough," of 
 90 guns, and at the commencement of the engagement 
 had both his legs carried away by a chain-shot. Nothing 
 daunted by this terrible casualty, he remained on deck, 
 and continued his directions for the fight. Soon after his 
 own accident, his nephew, who was First Lieutenant of the 
 ship, lost his arm, and being desired to go below by the 
 surgeon, he refused to do so, alleging that his uncle, 
 who was much more dangerously wounded, still kept on 
 deck. The Captain, hearing the reply of his noble nephew, 
 said to him, " Fred, go down, and be dressed ; you may 
 live and be an honour to the Navy ; as for me, I cannot 
 exist for many hours, but while I live, must, and will, dp 
 my duty." The words had scarcely escaped from his lips, 
 when he received a fatal shot through his breast, which 
 killed him instantly. With such men in our Navies, and 
 happily they are not extinct, what has England to fear ? 
 
 Whatever Hereford may have been in past time, it is 
 not by any means famous for its love of books now. There 
 is not, as far as my observation goes, a single second-hand 
 book-stall in the city ; and there is a sad dearth of intel- 
 lectual society. 
 
 Attempts have been made, on the part of some, to 
 rouse the people to a sense of intellectual life, but without 
 much success. An occasional concert, and a visit from 
 Mr. and Mrs. Howard Paul, call the people together ; but 
 in this age of progress and intellectual activity Hereford
 
 328 Intellectual Dearth. 
 
 should not be left too much to past fame. I speak of the 
 intellectual status of the city as a whole, as of course there 
 are many happy exceptions to this general charge of want 
 of mental culture. 
 
 I would only say, in conclusion, that I have spent many 
 pleasant hours at Hereford, not only in admiring its many 
 beauties, but also have enjoyed the society of not a few of 
 its hospitable citizens.* 
 
 I have already lingered so long over these vacation 
 rambles that I am afraid of having taxed the patience of 
 my readers. I should like to have included some other 
 places I have visited in my holidays, such as the Isle 
 of Wight ; Kochester, Chatham, and Stroud ; Maidstone ; 
 Brighton and its splendid downs, &c ; but I have said 
 already too much, and will therefore resume the thread of 
 my little history. 
 
 * I am indebted to John Price's "Historical Account of the City 
 of Hereford," published in 1796, for some interesting particulars 
 relating to the city ; and to Mr. J. R. King's very able account of 
 the Cathedral in " Murray's Handbook to the Cathedrals of Eng- 
 land."
 
 EEMOVAL TO HAMPSTEAD. 
 
 N 1859 my health had assumed so serious 
 an aspect as to induce my doctor to recom- 
 mend my immediate removal from London, 
 and also to require me to give up everything 
 in the shape of work that I could, so as to 
 reserve what little energy was left for my everyday duties 
 at my place of business. 
 
 I had sometimes gone without sleep for nearly a fort- 
 night ; and as we then lived in a great thoroughfare (in a 
 house built by Braithwaite, the engineer), now known as 
 Euston-road, there was a continuous stream of cabs and 
 carriages passing and repassing all through the weary 
 night. Sometimes, when there was a lull for a few 
 minutes, the silence was the more trying, as I began to 
 listen for the noise again, so as to prevent entirely my 
 getting any sleep. The house stood at the corner of a 
 street which was the principal thoroughfare for Pickford's 
 heavy vans from their Camden Town depot. The passing 
 of these vans would shake the house to its foundations ; 
 and that alone, to one of shattered nervous system, was of 
 itself no small trial. 
 
 It was no easy matter for a man of my slender income 
 to find a house a few miles out of London at a rent such 
 as I could afford, and, at the same time, either within a 
 reasonable walking distance from my office, or where a cheap 
 omnibus would help me in case of bad weather, or increas- 
 ingly failing health.
 
 330 Hampstead Heath. 
 
 I have always found a difficulty in obtaining a house 
 such as one was obliged to live in to keep one's standing 
 in society, at a rent that I could afford. There are plenty 
 of " villa residences," and good substantial houses, in the 
 suburbs for those who have four or five times my income. 
 There are houses also in abundance for mechanics and the 
 labouring classes ; but a man holding the official position 
 of a gentleman could not, if he would, avail himself of 
 them. I am glad to find that a Christian lady of high 
 rank, and possessed of ample means, has, near Highgate, 
 erected some charmingly built villas for those who have 
 worked hard as clerks in her employ, and who would 
 prefer paying a rent from their income for a residence, 
 than be voted into an almshouse. Those who are inte- 
 rested in these matters will probably have seen the houses 
 referred to, in Swane's Lane, Highgate, erected at the 
 expense of Miss Burdett Coutts, a lady who has done so 
 much to benefit her less favoured countrymen and country- 
 women. 
 
 After making many careful inquiries in the neighbour- 
 hood of Hampstead, Hornsey, Highgate, Colney Hatch, 
 Finchley, Muswell-hill, and Pinner, I met with a little 
 house at Holly-hill, Hampstead. 
 
 We removed there in the autumn of 1859, and I soon 
 found the change most beneficial. The bracing air, a 
 ramble over the heath, and the quiet nights, made a 
 marked and visible improvement in my health, aided, 
 doubtless, very much by deep and refreshful sleep, though 
 it rarely or ever lasted beyond the usual hour of four in 
 the morning. 
 
 At the time referred to I was honorary secretary to the 
 church with which I was connected in London, as well as 
 holding the office of an elder in the same church. The 
 responsible duties connected with these offices pressed 
 rather heavily upon my waning powers, and I was very 
 reluctantly compelled to give them up. I was thoroughly 
 persuaded not only by the doctor, bu^ also by my own
 
 Churches and Chapels. 331 
 
 consciousness of failing health, and powers of endurance, 
 that such a step was my bounden duty ; and having once 
 seen it to be so, I had no hesitation in at once carrying it 
 out. 
 
 Though most thoroughly enjoying the rest and healthful 
 invigorating change at Hampstead, we all missed the 
 services of the sanctuary on the Sabbath, and the earnest 
 manly sermons of our reverend friend in London. 
 
 One of the first things I did at my new home was to 
 make myself acquainted with the religious aliment to be 
 found at the churches and chapels of the neighbourhood : 
 for this purpose I visited in succession all the places of 
 worship there. As there was no Independent chapel in 
 the place, it was not unnatural that I should seek out the 
 places occupied by the Baptist denomination. We all, as 
 a rule, go to " our own place," as certainly as Judas 
 Iscariot did to his, though up to this period I was not a 
 Baptist in principle. I enjoyed an occasional visit to my 
 old Episcopalian friends ; but felt far more at home among 
 my Congregational brethren. I found upon inquiry that 
 there were two Baptist churches in the parish, one imme- 
 diately under the shadow of the beautiful spire of Christ 
 Church, and the other only a few doors from my own 
 house, and known as Holly-bush Chapel, though the 
 founder had called it " Ebenezer." The society meeting 
 at "Bethel," near the church, was what are termed 
 " Particular Baptists " of the hyper-Calvinistic school, 
 with close communion. For the information of my Epis- 
 copalian, and other uninitiated readers, I may say that 
 " close communion " means that none but baptized 
 believers are admitted as members of the church. These 
 good people would not do for me at all, as I had never as 
 yet seen it to be right and Scriptural to conform to their 
 requirements. The other was a small society of Christian 
 people, that met in a queer little building erected by the 
 late Mr. Castleden, who used it for a residence, as well as 
 for the more sacred purposes of divine worship. This
 
 332 Holly-bush Chapel 
 
 gentleman, I was infbrmed, was a very remarkable man, 
 and so respected and beloved in the parish that many of 
 the highest Episcopal families of the neighbourhood 
 iuvited him to their houses, and some of them regularly 
 attended the week-night service at his chapel. I regret 
 that I cannot furnish any particulars relating to this good 
 man ; but I found that he had left behind him a name 
 beloved and honoured among the people that he laboured 
 for in holy things. 
 
 The pulpit of this chapel was supplied at the time of 
 my removal to Hampstead by a worthy man who had 
 formerly been a schoolmaster, but who had relinquished 
 that calling, and had passed through a course of prepara- 
 tory training for the ministry at Regent's Park College. 
 He was a jolly -looking, genial man, of middle age, a 
 bachelor, and intelligent and companionable. With an 
 entire absence of what is called " ministerial dignity," 
 there was found in him very much to respect and venerate, 
 and as he was a thorough hater of cant, we soon became 
 great friends, and he was a frequent visitor at our fireside. 
 I have mentioned that, although I had been attending 
 what are called Baptist Churches since removing from 
 Paddington, I was not a Baptist in principle, and had 
 there been a church of the Independent order at Hamp- 
 stead, with a minister that we could have heard with 
 pleasure and profit, we should in all probability have con- 
 nected ourselves with such a church. 
 
 The worthy minister of Holly-bush Chapel did not 
 remain at Hampstead more than about twelve months 
 after my removal there, as the church over which he pre- 
 sided was too poor to maintain a stated minister. I have 
 mentioned that he was a bachelor ; but this was not 
 from choice, but necessity, as he had been courting a lady 
 for seventeen years, who would not marry while her 
 mother lived. Our good friend was waiting in patient 
 hope and joyful anticipation for " a consummation most 
 devoutly to be wished," and has now for some years been
 
 James Harvey. 333 
 
 rewarded for his long probation with a loving, if not a very 
 youthful wife. Happily for him, as well as the lady of 
 his choice, that he had not such a temperament as mine. 
 I have often wondered how Jacob could have served seven 
 years for his lovely Kachel, " though they seemed unto 
 him but a few days, for the love he had to her," for I 
 question if I could have done so, even for an angel from 
 heaven. Long and protracted courtships are, as a rule, I 
 think, to be deprecated. When two young fond hearts 
 are " initiate in love," and circumstances are at all favour- 
 able, the sooner the consummation comes the better. 
 Delays are always dangerous ; and a courtship extending 
 over many years loses much of its poetry and romance. 
 
 Since the time I am writing of, Holly-bush Chapel has 
 been converted into some secular hall, and an elegant and 
 commodious chapel has been erected in Heath-street, 
 principally through the generous and efficient help ren- 
 dered by Mr. James Harvey, a gentleman well known and 
 very highly esteemed at Hampstead. This Church, though 
 professedly Baptist in principle, is composed of persons of 
 all denominations, giving credible evidence of their being 
 Christians, and is presided over by the son of one of our 
 most popular Baptist ministers of the metropolis. This 
 able young minister has much to contend with from his 
 episcopalian neighbours ; but he is labouring with quiet 
 and persistent efforts, and happily not without success. 
 Heath-street Chapel is one of the most comfortable places 
 of worship in the neighbourhood of London, and my heart's 
 desire and prayer for its minister is, that he may be as 
 wise to win souls as his worthy father, who has laboured 
 so long and successfully at " Bloomsbury Chapel." 
 
 It was quite a new thing to feel in attending the Sanc- 
 tuary that I had nothing to think of, and to do, but to 
 enjoy the rest and refreshment of the service. For many 
 years previous to my removal to Hampstead, Sunday had 
 been my most fatiguing day. My duties as secretary and 
 elder of the church to which I had belonged were such as
 
 334 Deacons. 
 
 to tax my energies sometimes to the utmost. How little 
 do those who sit quietly and comfortably in their pews 
 imagine how a hundred things may he passing in the 
 minds of those whose heads and hands are thinking and 
 planning for their comfort and edification. Five years' 
 connection with one of the largest Baptist churches in 
 London qualifies me in some measure to speak of the 
 arduous and responsible duties devolving upon a class of 
 men whose chief and only reward is the approbation of 
 their Master, and the consciousness of doing something 
 to promote the accomplishment of His mission to our lost 
 world. I do not know what are the duties of a church- 
 warden, but I can hardly imagine that our Episcopalian 
 laymen work as do the deacons in our Nonconformist 
 churches. Where the ordinary income of a chapel is 
 derived exclusively from the pew rents, and the expendi- 
 ture is large, the duties and anxieties of those who attend 
 to the adjuncts of Divine worship are both heavy and 
 manifold. It should be remembered that all the secular 
 arrangements of a chapel, such as providing the stipend 
 of the minister, the repairs of the building, coals, gas, 
 taxes, etc. etc. rest entirely with the deacons. The men 
 who mostly are selected to fill this office, are those who 
 have businesses or professional duties, taxing their utmost 
 energies, and absorbing their time during the day ; and 
 these are the men who, to serve their brethren and their 
 Master, forsake their quiet, cheerful fireside and family 
 circle many evenings a week to make arrangements, not 
 only for matters connected with the public worship of 
 Almighty God, but a variety of other things constantly 
 turning up in a large congregation. 
 
 As my failing health has obliged me to retire from all 
 official connection with churches, I am glad of the present 
 opportunity of reminding my lay brethren of their obliga- 
 tion to a class of men who render valuable service in our 
 churches without any remuneration whatever. 
 
 The other religious places at Hampstead, at the time
 
 Christ Church, etc. 335 
 
 referred to, were the Parish Church, with, to a Londoner, 
 its well-known steeple, and its ivy-covered walls, the vicar 
 of which was a man of sound learning, but very " High 
 Church " in his ideas and practices. We not unfrequently 
 attended the services at Christ Church, and much enjoyed 
 the useful and fervent evangelical sermons of the amiable 
 and hard-working clergyman there. This good man has 
 laboured most successfully for many years, both from the 
 pulpit and the press, to correct the High Church tendencies 
 of his neighbour the vicar. He is most indefatigable in his 
 pastoral visitations, and ever to be found at the bed-side of 
 the sick, and among the bereaved. This excellent clergy- 
 man would have delighted good old George Herbert, as he 
 is a poet as well as a preacher and pastor, and always to 
 be found among his people, stirring them up to every good 
 word and work. 
 
 Among other things instituted by this good man, to 
 whom Hampstead owes so much, is what is termed a 
 " Union Prayer-meeting," at which all the religious people 
 in the neighbourhood were invited, irrespective of sectarian 
 differences. These meetings for prayer and praise were 
 at first held in the large schoolroom adjoining the Church ; 
 but as Dissenters as well as Churchmen, both lay and 
 clerical, were called upon to lead the devotions in common 
 with their Episcopal brethren, it was considered rather 
 outre for Nonconformists to pray on consecrated ground ; 
 and to avoid this the good man, who had originated the 
 movement, erected a large lecture-room in his own gar- 
 den, which was subsequently used for the purpose. These 
 meetings were remarkably well attended ; and I should 
 mention that they were presided over by clergymen and 
 laymen in alternation, including the Baptist and Free 
 Church ministers in the parish. The only matter of re- 
 gret in connection with these services was, that our Epis- 
 copal brethren in the ministry could never be persuaded 
 to attend meetings of a similar kind held alternately at 
 Heath-street Chapel and Trinity Free Church. Evan-
 
 336 Well-walk. 
 
 gelical Churchmen are ready enough to receive into their 
 community Dissenting brethren, but they are not so ready 
 to reciprocate these Christian advances of Nonconformists. 
 
 In attending the various places of worship at Hamp- 
 stead, we did not omit that in Well-walk certainly one 
 of the most melancholy and miserable buildings ever used 
 for purposes of Divine service. It was originally, I be- 
 lieve, the " Pump-room," in the palmy days of Hampstead, 
 when fashionable and courtly people went there to drink 
 its mineral waters. After that it was converted into a 
 " Chapel of Ease ;" and when given up by our Episcopal 
 friends for the beautiful church that now stands out so 
 conspicuously in the landscape, on the borders of the 
 heath, was taken by the Free Church. The pews were 
 tall and ugly, and resembled a condemned cell ; and 
 the place altogether presented such a sombre and gloomy 
 appearance that my children begged as a great favour that 
 we might never go again. 
 
 I saw at a glance, however, that the minister of this 
 place was no ordinary man ; and as he has been since cut 
 down in the flower and ripeness of his manhood, and gone 
 to his reward, I shall be pardoned if I record some of the 
 impressions produced upon my mind on first seeing and 
 hearing this highly-gifted man. 
 
 In personal appearance he was tall and slender, with a 
 countenance singularly thoughtful and meditative; a finely- 
 shaped angular nose, dark brilliant eyes, and a mouth that 
 indicated both playfulness and power; dark brown hair, 
 with a good deal of whisker, but carefully shaven, so 
 as to exhibit the mouth and chin. His voice was deep 
 and musical, but gave evidence that his respiratory or- 
 gans were not healthy. His reading was good, and his 
 manner of conducting Divine worship most impressive. 
 The long prayer he offered struck me as one of the most 
 solemn and child-like utterances I had ever listened to and 
 united with. The sermon was far beyond the average 
 quality, and struck me as being calculated to produce great 
 effect upon a select and educated congregation.
 
 James Drummond Burns. 337 
 
 The many empty pews told most unmistakeably that 
 such preaching is not calculated to be popular in the best 
 sense, as it would fail to reach those who would not, from 
 any cause, give the requisite attention. 
 
 In spite of the dingy place and high pews, so distasteful 
 to the young, I was a frequent attendant on the ministry 
 of this gentleman ; and soon after my residence at Hamp- 
 stead, I had the privilege of making his acquaintance. 
 I owe this pleasure to the united prayer-meetings, held at 
 the lecture-room there ; and this is not the only friendship 
 resulting from those hallowed meetings. 
 
 As he was a man of nervous temperament, and had, 
 like most of us that are so constituted, suffered a good 
 deal from depression of spirits, there were many points 
 that brought us into more intimate relationship, and fre- 
 quent were the quiet walks, when we had long talks upon 
 all sorts of subjects. I had the mournful pleasure of spend- 
 ing an hour with him alone, the evening before he left 
 Hampstead for Mentone, never again to return alive. 
 
 All that could die of this good and gifted man lies 
 buried in the cemetery on the neighbouring hill, where the 
 sacred ashes of so many of God's saints repose, watched 
 over by the Eye that never sleeps, and whence the Almighty 
 Voice will one day call them forth to be clothed upon with 
 immortality. 
 
 I was a privileged and delighted listener to the beau- 
 tiful tribute to his memory by his illustrious countryman, 
 Dr. James Hamilton, of the Scotch Church, Eegent- 
 square, a man in every respect able to do justice to the 
 high Christian character and great attainments of the late 
 lamented James Drummond Burns. 
 
 The poems of Mr. Burns, re-published in a collective 
 form, with a biographical notice of the poet, from the ac- 
 complished pen of Dr. Hamilton, as a memorial volume, 
 would be highly valued by the personal friends of the poet, 
 and would moreover extend his fame among all lovers of 
 good poetry.
 
 338 Unitarian Worthies. 
 
 What Mr. Burns was as a poet and preacher was known 
 to many beyond his own denomination ; but only those who 
 knew him in the private walks of life could estimate him 
 as he deserved. His conversational powers were of a high 
 order ; but he was so modest and retiring that he was 
 always more ready to listen than to speak. His removal 
 from his much-loved work, just as an elegant sanctuary 
 had been erected for him by a wealthy and attached con- 
 gregation, was felt to be a great loss ; he has, however, 
 been succeeded by a gentleman well qualified to carry out 
 the work so ably begun by one who will ever be gratefully re- 
 membered at Hampstead. Mr. Burns has left a youngwidow 
 and some dear little ones to mourn his loss, as only those do 
 who have been bereft of such a husband and father. 
 
 As I was desirous of seeing and judging for myself 
 of the various places of worship in the neighbourhood, I 
 went once or twice to the Unitarian Chapel. The minister 
 of this chapel was a man of superior mental attainments, 
 and one highly respected in the parish. There was, how- 
 ever, a coldness and chilliness about the service that was 
 anything but attractive, and which it seems to me is the 
 necessary consequence of excluding from their belief the 
 heart-stirring, and deeply felt want, not only of the sym- 
 pathy and help to be found in the human nature of Christ, 
 but also that which our inner and deeper nature yearns 
 for, His vicarious sacrifice and death. This want has 
 been felt and acknowledged by some of their best writers. 
 A denomination that can number among their ranks such 
 men as Priestley, Channing, Theodore Parker, Martineau, 
 Thorn, and Sadler, will ever command the respect and 
 admiration of their Christian brethren. To all of these 
 writers I gratefully acknowledge my own obligations for 
 many profitable hours spent in perusing their writings. 
 
 I visited our Wesleyan brethren, who met in what was 
 once the Independent Chapel. The congregation was 
 small and uninfluential, and the preaching very ordinary. 
 I have often wondered that the shrewd and active men who
 
 Adoniram Judson. 339 
 
 compose the " Conference" should neglect such a place as 
 Hampstead. My attachment to the Wesleyans is great. 
 I have heard sermons from Robert Newton and Morley 
 Punshon that I shall never forget, and my obligation to 
 John Wesley and Richard Watson, for the pleasure and 
 profit derived from their writings, is greater than I can 
 express. The sermons of Richard Watson, I think, are 
 equal to any that I have ever read ; in times of sickness 
 and sorrow, I have found them a source of never-failing 
 comfort and help. I regret that I never had the oppor- 
 tunity of hearing the living voice of this great preacher. 
 The memoir of his life and writings, by Thomas Jackson, 
 is one of the most interesting and instructive biographies 
 I have ever read. 
 
 About this time, in my ordinary course of reading, I met 
 with " The Life of Adoniram Judson," the American Mis- 
 sionary, by the late Professor Waylaiid, President of Brown 
 University, U.S. ; a book in every respect worthy of perusal, 
 as containing a highly interesting and able account of the 
 life and labours of one of the grandest men and most heroic 
 missionaries of modern times. 
 
 Among many other things, in the life of that extraordinary 
 man, that made a deep impression on me was the account 
 there given of the alteration that took place in his views 
 on baptism. 
 
 When Dr. Judson and his wife left the American shores 
 for the scene of their missionary labours they were Pa3do- 
 Baptists, and were sent out as missionaries to India under 
 the auspices of the American Board for Foreign Missions. 
 At the commencement of the voyage to India it occurred 
 to Dr. Judson and his wife that, as they were going to make 
 known the Gospel of Christ to the heathen, they might 
 reasonably expect to make converts from heathenism to 
 Christianity, and the question naturally arose in their minds 
 as to how they should treat the servants and children of 
 these converts. Was he authorized to baptize the children 
 and servants of converts that might be made to Christianity ?
 
 340 A Baptist Convert. 
 
 And if so, what would be their relation to the Christian 
 Church afterwards ? 
 
 In addition to this, Dr. Judson knew that he was going, 
 in the first instance, to Serampore, to reside for a time with 
 the Baptist missionaries there. He felt, therefore, the ne- 
 cessity for re- examining the subject of baptism, as he thought 
 he might be called upon to defend his position as a Paido- 
 Baptist. In this latter respect, however, he found himself 
 singularly disappointed; the Baptist missionaries at Seram- 
 pore, as might have been expected when such men as Carey, 
 Marshman, and Ward were among that noble band, made 
 it a matter of principle never to introduce the subject of 
 their peculiar belief to any of their brethren of other de- 
 nominations who happened to be their guests. 
 
 Under these circumstances, Dr. Judson and his devoted 
 wife set themselves, during the voyage, to examine, from 
 the Scriptures alone, the question of baptism its subjects 
 and mode. The result of this investigation, extending 
 through several weeks, landed them in the full belief that 
 in apostolic times none but believers were baptized, and 
 that the mode of administering the ordinance was by im- 
 mersion. 
 
 The change thus brought about in the minds of these 
 devoted servants of Christ and His Church, placed them in 
 a most painful position. They had been sent out to India 
 as the Agents of the American Board for Foreign Missions, 
 who were Psedo-Baptists ; and having so entirely changed 
 their views on the important subject of Baptism, they felt 
 that they must at once avow the alteration that had taken 
 place with reference to this point of faith and practice, 
 whatever the consequences might be. 
 
 Dr. Judson and his wife were baptized at Calcutta shortly 
 after their arrival there, and they wrote home to their 
 family connections, as well as to the association under whose 
 auspices they had left their native shores, informing them 
 of their altered views on baptism. 
 
 As may be supposed, Dr. Judson's friends in America,
 
 Force of Example. 341 
 
 as well as the Board of Missions, were not a little sur- 
 prised at the alteration that had taken place in their views. 
 Arrangements were at once made that Dr. and Mrs. 
 Judson should be transferred from the American Board for 
 Foreign Missions to the American Baptist Missionary 
 Society, with whom they continued to work most honour- 
 ably and successfully to the end of their lives. 
 
 The account given in the " Life of Dr. Judson" referred 
 to is highly interesting ; and I was very much struck, not 
 only with the conduct of these devoted and self-denying 
 servants of Christ, but also with the arguments brought 
 forward by Dr. Judson as those which had wrought the 
 change in his views relating to baptism as we find it in the 
 New Testament. 
 
 I pondered the matter a good deal in my own mind, 
 and was induced, without the knowledge of any one, to 
 renew my inquiry into the Scriptures as to the correctness 
 of my own views on this important subject. After a care- 
 ful and thoughtful examination I was led to the conclusion 
 that infant baptism is nowhere to be found in the New 
 Testament, and that only those who believed the Gos- 
 pel, and made a profession of their faith in Christ, were 
 baptized in apostolic times. 
 
 My wife and more intimate friends were astounded at the 
 change that had taken place in my mind, as I had been 
 known to hold very positive views on the opposite side. 
 
 I may here mention the fact that, though the Church of 
 which I was a member was composed of Christians of 
 almost every denomination, I do not remember a single 
 instance where this diversity of sentiment was the means, 
 in any way, of interrupting the Christian intercourse 
 of its members, or of impeding the various associations 
 for Christian work that distinguished that church and 
 congregation. The ordinance of believers' baptism is 
 administered there as often as occasion requires, and the 
 minister is a determined Baptist ; yet all the members of 
 that Christian society, whether Pa3do-Baptist or Baptist,
 
 342 Immersion a 
 
 meet upon a perfect equality in all matters as church 
 members, and work most harmoniously together. 
 
 As I had removed from London on account of my health, 
 I might have been baptized at a church of that order in 
 the neighbourhood where I resided ; but I thought it better, 
 on many accounts, that I should avow the change in my 
 opinions and practice by submitting to the ordinance in the 
 church of which I was an office-bearer, and among the 
 people who had known me as a Psedo-Baptist. 
 
 Now, although I have no doubt whatever as to the fact 
 that baptism was only administered in the days of the 
 apostles to those who heard and accepted the Gospel, I am 
 not so certain that those who were so baptized were im- 
 mersed. The only instance recorded in the New Testa- 
 ment in which parties are said to have gone to the water 
 is that of Philip and the eunuch, (Acts viii. 36-39). In 
 all the other instances the water may have been brought 
 to them for aught that appears to the contrary. Neither 
 Christ nor the apostles, as far as we know, ever gave any di- 
 rections whatever as to how the ordinance of baptism should 
 be administered. At all events, the absence of any definite 
 direction on the mode of baptism proves, I think, that 
 neither our Lord nor his apostles attached much importance 
 to the modus operandi; and it follows that this very 
 silence as to the mode leads me to infer that there must 
 have been a previously-existing custom prevailing, and 
 which, without any direction being given to the contrary, 
 they naturally adopted. 
 
 After thinking a good deal upon the subject, and keep- 
 ing the point in mind when I have been reading the New 
 Testament, the conclusion I have arrived at is, that im- 
 mersion is probably a human invention, originating in a 
 feeling like that which the impetuous Peter was impressed 
 with when he said, " Not my feet only, but also my hands 
 and my head." He very naturally thought that if a little 
 water was good, that more would be better ; but I cannot 
 help thinking that he was mistaken, and so are the im- 
 mersionists.
 
 Human Invention ? 343 
 
 In hazarding this expression of an opinion, contrary to 
 the views of a large and learned body of Christian brethren, 
 I know that I expose myself to the most rigid criticism ; 
 but as my only object is to arrive at the truth, I shall be 
 satisfied if this contrary opinion of mine lead any one more 
 gifted than myself to re-examine the subject. I am not 
 so old, or so bigoted to any opinions that I entertain, as 
 not to be open to conviction ; and I have learned to give 
 up the most cherished practices when my judgment has 
 been convinced that they are unscriptural. However this 
 may be, I think the mode of administering the ordinance 
 in modern times has much about it very un-apostolic, (if I 
 may use such a word) ; and I cannot but think that our 
 churches are open to some improvement in their mode of 
 administering this solemn and significant ordinance of our 
 Lord. 
 
 It is the practice in most of the churches of the Baptist 
 denomination to give a prominence to the administration of 
 the ordinance that I think quite unnecessary and uncalled 
 for ; and also, that in so doing they make an ordinance 
 that is simple in itself a cumbersome and unsightly thing ; 
 and further, I think there is no precedent in the Scripture 
 for its being made so. 
 
 A baptism in most of our churches though, I am glad 
 to say, there are exceptions to this rule is made a separate 
 and distinct service on one evening of the week ; and this is 
 made known by announcement from the pulpit, generally 
 on the preceding Sabbath. This announcement to a large 
 congregation is pretty sure to bring a considerable number 
 of persons together on the evening in question ; not only 
 of the members of the Church, who naturally feel an in- 
 terest in seeing any come forward to make a profession of 
 their faith in the risen Saviour, but it also attracts a class 
 of persons to be found in all our congregations who have a 
 love for anything outre, or unusual, and who would attend 
 the baptism of a believer as they would the execution of a 
 criminal, simply for the gratification of sight-seeing.
 
 344 Apostolic Administration 
 
 Now, with all due deference to the practiceof the Churches, 
 and the opinions of my fathers in the Faith men many 
 of whom I have the greatest possible respect for, yet, 
 nevertheless, I cannot find precedents for these public ex- 
 hibitions, either in the New Testament or in the practice 
 of the early churches, as recorded by ecclesiastical historians. 
 Where is the necessity for our baptistries being placed in 
 front of the pulpit, or that they should be in our chapels or 
 churches at all ? Would it not be much better that they 
 should be provided for in some convenient apartment ad- 
 joining the place of preaching, and so arranged that the 
 ordinance could be administered at the close of the procla- 
 mation of the Gospel, as was the case with the Apostles and 
 Evangelists in the primitive times 1 
 
 The office-bearers of the churches might administer the 
 ordinance (for it is by no means necessary that the preacher 
 should perform this ceremony), in the presence of any friends 
 more immediately interested. Surely this would be far 
 more in accordance with apostolic precedents than the 
 custom in modern times of making this simple and unob- 
 trusive Institute of Christ a " special service," and sounding 
 a trumpet for the purpose of calling together a number of 
 idle people who love excitement ; and whose presence, 
 moreover, upon these sacred occasions goes very far to mar 
 the pleasure, and prevent the profit that would otherwise 
 result from witnessing the baptism of those who have been 
 induced not only to accept the offer of salvation through 
 a crucified Saviour, but who also comply at once with His 
 requirements, that " He that believeth and is baptized 
 shall be saved." 
 
 I feel that I am treading upon very delicate ground by 
 advancing these opinions ; but, as I think that I have Scrip- 
 tural authority for so doing, I am not over careful as to 
 whether what I have stated be in accordance with the 
 opinions and practices of men whose learning I admire and 
 honour, and whose Christian character I revere and love. 
 
 A few examples from the New Testament will, I am
 
 of Christian Baptism. 345 
 
 sure, bear me out in what I have said in relation to this 
 matter ; and I trust that the importance of the subject will 
 be a sufficient apology to any Christian reader who will 
 bear with me in calling his attention to the passages I 
 adduce in support of what I have stated. 
 
 Our Lord, as the Source and Fountain of authority, in 
 His last great commission to His Apostles before His 
 ascension, leads them clearly to understand that baptism 
 should follow immediately on believing : " Go ye, there- 
 fore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of 
 the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost : teach- 
 ing them to observe all things whatsoever I have com- 
 manded you," (Matt, xxviii. 19, 20). It is plain, from this 
 passage, not only that all who are made disciples, or that 
 believe in the Divine mission of Christ, are to be baptized ; 
 but that it is the solemn initiatory rite of admission into the 
 visible Church, and is designed as a public profession of 
 faith in the character of Christ, and the word of God, as 
 revealed in the Scriptures. 
 
 After Peter's address to the multitude on the Day of 
 Pentecost, it is added, " Then they that gladly received 
 his word were baptized: and the same day there were 
 added to them about three thousand souls," (Acts ii. 41). 
 When Philip, one of the colleagues of Stephen the proto- 
 martyr, and a deacon, had preached in Samaria " the 
 things concerning the kingdom of God, and the name of 
 Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women," 
 (Acts viii. 12) ; and again when preaching to the devout 
 Ethiopian, the baptism of that distinguished convert fol- 
 lowed immediately on his conversion, (Acts viii. 36-38). 
 
 When Ananias, " a certain disciple," was sent to Saul 
 to remove his blindness, that he might " be filled with the 
 Holy Ghost ... he received sight forthwith, and arose, 
 and was baptized," (Acts ix. 18). 
 
 Peter, after preaching to Cornelius and those who 
 were assembled with him, said, when many of them had 
 received the message, " Can any man forbid water, that
 
 346 Primitive Precedents. 
 
 these should not be baptized, which have received the 
 Holy Ghost as well as we ? And he commanded them to 
 be baptized in the name of the Lord," (Acts ix. 47, 48). 
 
 Lydia, " whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended 
 unto the things which were spoken of Paul," was " bap- 
 tized, and her household," as soon as they were con- 
 verted, (Acts xvi. 15). 
 
 When the Philippian jailor and his household were 
 converted, the sacred historian tells us that they were 
 " baptized, he and all his, straightway" (Acts xvi. 33). 
 
 When Paul preached at Corinth to the Gentiles, we 
 are told that " Crispus, the chief ruler of the synagogue, 
 believed on the Lord with all his house : and many of the 
 Corinthians hearing believed, and were baptized," (Acts 
 xviii. 8). 
 
 Paul, when preaching at Ephesus to " certain disciples," 
 who had been but imperfectly instructed, revealed the faith 
 unto them more perfectly ; and " when they heard this, 
 they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus," (Acts 
 xix.*5). 
 
 I think any candid reader will, after reading these 
 instances which I have adduced, admit that the Apostles 
 and first preachers of the Gospel never delayed baptism 
 after a person believed in the divine mission of Christ. 
 From these instances, and others that might be men- 
 tioned, I am led to believe that any disciple of Christ, 
 lay or clerical, may preach or make known the Gospel to 
 those who are in ignorance, from any cause, of the great 
 salvation ; and further, that he has the authoi-ity of Christ 
 to baptize all such as believe in His name without any 
 reference whatever to what are termed Church authorities 
 upon the subject. 
 
 There is a superstitious and un scriptural reverence in 
 all our churches for what is denominated an " ordained 
 ministry." 
 
 For my own part I have no great reverence for the 
 sacred office in itself, except when the men who fill it are
 
 Ordination. 347 
 
 deserving of our esteem, and command our respect by 
 their Christian character. I do not find in the New Testa- 
 ment anything at all like the ordination of ministers as 
 practised either in our Congregational Churches, or among 
 those which are known as Episcopalian or Presbyterian. 
 And even if it could be shown from the New Testament 
 that a distinct order of men are to be specially set apart 
 as evangelists and pastors, yet we have the highest 
 authority for refusing to accord to them any submission in 
 matters of faith and conscience. 
 
 The Jewish teachers and there are men among all 
 our Christian churches who have the same feeling were 
 fond of being publicly and loudly hailed by their followers 
 with cries of " Rabbi ! Rabbi ! " but our Lord rebuked 
 them, and said, " Be ye not called Rabbi : for one is your 
 Master, even Christ ; and all ye are brethren," (Matt. 
 xxiii. 8-10). Our Lord here condemns not only vanity, 
 but also all that assumption of superior authority in reli- 
 gious matters which the terms " Teacher," " Father," 
 "Master," or "Reverend" are held to imply; as being 
 derogatory to the claims of our Heavenly Father, and of 
 our Lord and Saviour, and inconsistent with the fraternal 
 relations of Christians as brethren. 
 
 I cannot see, from what I know of the New Testament, 
 that an " ordained minister " is essential to the valid cele- 
 bration either of Baptism or the Lord's Supper. While 
 believing that, in ordinary circumstances, the recognized 
 office-bearers are the natural and proper agents in their 
 celebration, I can see nothing in Scripture restricting 
 either that, or the preaching of the Gospel, to ordained 
 ministers by any absolute necessity. 
 
 Ananias, " a certain disciple," baptized the Apostle 
 Paul, (Acts ix. 10-18). Philip, the Deacon, baptized the 
 Samaritans, and the eunuch, (Acts viii. 12; 36-38). It 
 was not Peter, but the brethren who came with him, that 
 baptized Cornelius and his friends, (Acts x. 23 ; 44-48). 
 To assume that an ordained minister is essential to the
 
 348 The Christian Ministry. 
 
 administration of either of the New Testament ordinances 
 makes virtually a priesthood of the ministry, standing 
 between the body of believers and the Saviour's ordi- 
 nances. 
 
 With reference to all these and similar matters, I 
 verily believe that living attachment to Christ is the only 
 legitimate bond of Church fellowship ; and that gifts from 
 Christ are the only legitimate qualification for ministry of 
 any kind, within the body of which He is the head. 
 
 I may here take occasion to observe that though I am 
 a Baptist, that is to say, a believer in Christian Baptism, 
 as administered to those who have made a confession of 
 their faith in Christ and His Gospel, I by no means adopt 
 all the views held by those who are commonly known as 
 Baptists. 
 
 My brethren of that persuasion will, I trust, bear with 
 me while I mention a few things in which I differ from 
 them. I know their deep and profound reverence for 
 Scripture ; and everything that is really excellent will not 
 only bear examination, but it will even invite it ; and the 
 more narrowly it is surveyed, to the more advantage it 
 wiU appear. 
 
 In the larger proportion of our Baptist Churches none 
 are admitted to the ordinance of baptism whose spiritual 
 state has not first been made known to the members of the 
 particular church they desire to become connected with, 
 and their fitness for baptism been approved by those mem- 
 bers. Now where our brethren find apostolic precedent 
 for such a procedure I am quite at a loss to determine ; 
 certainly they do not find it in the early Christian Churches 
 of which we are informed in the Acts of the Apostles. But 
 this is not the only thing done in churches of the Baptist 
 order that is not in accordance with apostolic precedent. 
 This will be seen by glancing at a few particulars. 
 
 John the Baptist and the Apostles, baptized " unto re- 
 pentance ;" that cannot be done by those who require 
 repentance unto life as a necessary preliminary. Paul and
 
 What saith the Scriptures ? 349 
 
 the three thousand on the day of Pentecost were baptized 
 " for the remission of sins ;" our Baptist brethren generally 
 contend for justifying faith as a qualification. The Apos- 
 tles exhorted people to be baptized, that they might "receive 
 the gift of the Holy Ghost ; our brethren look for proofs 
 of the reception of the Spirit before they administer the 
 ordinance. The Apostles and first Evangelists adminis- 
 tered the right before they taught the peculiarities of the 
 Christian religion ; our brethren require a knowledge of 
 these peculiarities as a qualification for it. The primitive 
 Christians " were baptized into Christ ;" our brethren insist 
 upon our being in Christ preparatory to the ordinance. 
 The Apostles placed baptism before the putting on of Christ, 
 (Gal. iii. 27) ; our brethren the contrary. Baptism, in the 
 Scriptures, stands before sanctification, (1 Cor. vi. 11), 
 and is the appointed means of producing it, (Eph. v. 26) ; 
 our brethren reverse this order. Peter tells us that . . . 
 " Baptism doth save us," (1 Pet. iii. 21); and Paul, to the 
 same purpose, says, " He saved us by the washing of rege- 
 neration, and the renewing of the Holy Ghost," (Titus iii. 
 5) ; our brethren require us to be in a state of salvation 
 prior to baptism : and therefore, according to them, there is 
 no sense in which they can be said to be saved by baptism. 
 
 In commending these few hints to the consideration of 
 my Baptist brethren, I am sure they will receive them in 
 the spirit in which they are offered. I have found, from 
 my own experience, that it has been a wholesome thing to 
 be contradicted sometimes, as it has set me to examine a 
 question again; and this cannot be done in a Christian 
 spirit without advantage. Custom and habit cling to ah 1 
 of us, and we hold most tenaciously opinions that we have 
 received from our ancestors, whose wisdom we do well 
 occasionally to call in question. 
 
 I return from this rather long digression upon a knotty 
 point to my personal history. I have mentioned the re- 
 moval from Hampstead of the minister who officiated at 
 Holly-bush Chapel. As the people were neither numerous
 
 350 A Lay-Preacher. 
 
 nor wealthy, it was found impossible to invite a stated 
 minister to take the oversight of the church. Under these 
 circumstances those who had the management of matters 
 at the chapel made the best arrangement they could in 
 securing the services of students from the Baptist College, 
 and others, to supply the pulpit. Just about this time a 
 gentleman of wealth and influence, from the North of 
 England, came to reside at Hampstead for the benefit of 
 his health. This gentleman had been wont for many 
 years " to teach and preach Jesus Christ," not only from 
 house to house, but wherever he could find opportunity. 
 Hearing of the destitute state of Holly-bush Chapel, he 
 very kindly engaged to take the morning service, and 
 gave them the benefit of his Christian services. The con- 
 gregation, from having no regular pastor, had become 
 very small ; but this good man's preaching put new life 
 into the people, and soon the place was filled with atten- 
 tive and devout worshippers, who could but profit under a 
 ministry fraught with the life and soul of the Gospel. 
 This Christian " brother of high degree " continued his 
 kind services for several months, when the chapel passed 
 out of the hands of the deacons, for the purpose of being 
 appropriated to some other than a sacred use. 
 
 Under these circumstances the gentleman who had so 
 kindly given the people there the benefit of his gratuitous 
 services offered them the use of a large room in " his own 
 hired house," for the purpose of holding their meetings 
 for Divine worship. This offer was most gladly accepted, 
 and by far the larger proportion of the congregation con- 
 tinued for some years to meet in a comfortable room at 
 Montague Grove, where a Christian Church was formed, 
 and where the ordinances of Christ were administered, 
 with the exception of believers' baptism, which, as often 
 as occasion required, and that was not unfrequent, was 
 carried out in some of the Baptist churches in the vicinity. 
 
 There, in Montague Grove, under the hospitable roof of 
 a Christian gentleman, was a " Church in the house," as
 
 Richard Burdon- Sanderson. 351 
 
 nearly resembling as possible those that were assembled 
 in the first days of Christianity, when " they who feared 
 the Lord spake often one to another," (Mai. iii. 16-18). 
 
 As this Christian gentleman's work was of that public 
 character as to be thoroughly known and felt at Hamp- 
 stead, and as he has recently gone to his reward, I may 
 be allowed to mention his name in this humble narrative. 
 
 The late Mr. Richai-d Burdon-Sanderson, of West 
 Jesmond, Northumberland, and lately of Montague Grove, 
 Hampstead, was born 31st March, 1791 ; and married, 
 in 1815, Elizabeth, only daughter of the late Sir James 
 Sanderson, Bart. He was son of the late Sir Thomas 
 Burdon, whose wife was sister of Lords Eldon and Stowell. 
 Mr. Sanderson was intended for the Church, and for this 
 purpose was entered as a student at Oriel College, Oxford, 
 where he was the colleague of the late Archbishop Whately, 
 Mr. Baden Powell, Dean Milman, Professor Keble, and 
 Dr. Pusey. In this galaxy of eminent men Mr. Sanderson 
 was a star of no mean magnitude. He was the author of 
 " Parthenon," the prize poem for 1811 ; and also " A 
 Comparative Estimate of the English Literature of the 
 seventeenth and eighteenth centuries," the prize essay of 
 1814. I possess copies of these interesting compositions 
 of his early life, with his autograph attached, and pre- 
 serve them among my choicest literary treasures. Mr. 
 Sanderson was the author of several works, many of which 
 were published anonymously. One little volume, entitled 
 " The Dew of Hermon, by a Son of Consolation," con- 
 taining a short exposition of a text of Scripture for every 
 day in the year, has had a very wide circulation, and has 
 comforted the hearts of many sorrowful ones, as well as 
 increased the gladness of others. 
 
 On leaving college, Mr. Sanderson was invited by his 
 uncle, Lord Eldon, at that time Lord High Chancellor 
 of England, to act as his private secretary, and undertake 
 the management of the Church patronage attached to that 
 high office. The duties connected with these ecclesiastical
 
 352 Church in the House" 
 
 matters brought of necessity some phases of the Church of 
 England under his notice, and so astounded was he at the 
 anomalous condition in which he found the system of 
 Church promotion, that he determined to examine for him- 
 self the whole system; the result of this investigation 
 led him to resign the appointment conferred upon him by 
 his illustrious uncle, and to renounce, once and for ever, 
 his connection with a Church, in his opinion so opposed to 
 that of the New Testament. His retirement was a source 
 of much sorrow to his uncle ; but his attachment to his 
 Nonconformist nephew continued to the day of his death. 
 
 Mr. Sanderson, on leaving the Church of England, 
 identified himself with the Independents, and afterwards 
 became a Baptist. As a memoir of this distinguished 
 gentleman is preparing, and will shortly be published, there 
 is no occasion to enter more fully into the particulars of 
 his remarkable and eventful life, as that will be done by 
 those who, in every respect, are far better able to perform 
 such a work than the writer of these pages. 
 
 For more than four years this truly apostolic man pro- 
 vided all the accommodation necessary for the purposes of 
 Christian worship, and did himself preach, not only on the 
 morning of the Sabbath, but also on an evening in the week. 
 The Sunday-evening service at the " Church in the 
 House " was taken by Christian brethren in the neigh- 
 bourhood, or by one of the deacons, who occasionally offi- 
 ciated when no other helpers were forthcoming. 
 
 I was privileged, with my family, to attend these services 
 throughout the entire period that they were held, which 
 was up to within a few months of his lamented death ; and 
 I gladly bear testimony to the effects produced both upon 
 myself, and many that were stated attendants upon the 
 ministry of the Word there. 
 
 The whole range of Christian doctrine and practice was 
 brought repeatedly and authoritatively before us with an 
 affectionate earnestness that was irresistible. Our vener- 
 able friend for he was a man nearly seventy came to
 
 A "Son of Consolation" 353 
 
 the sacred work under a deep sense of the responsibility of 
 speaking to his fellow-men on subjects of the most tremen- 
 dous importance. He felt that preaching the Gospel was, 
 as the great Apostle states, (Rom. xvi. 26), " According 
 to the commandment of the everlasting God, to be made 
 known to all nations, for the obedience of faith." I have 
 many times listened to these invitations with the intensest 
 interest, and have seen the effects produced upon others, as 
 well as having experienced them in my own case. No man 
 could go away from such services without feeling that he 
 had had presented to him, and pressed upon him, the offer 
 of salvation, free and immediate, through a crucified and 
 risen Saviour ; and men and women were brought to decide 
 for Christ who had lived for many years borderers, with 
 reference to the claims of the Saviour. These instances of 
 conversion were fervently and perseveringly prayed for ; 
 and when the good work was accomplished, and an open 
 profession of the change that had been wrought by Divine 
 power was made by baptism, the joy of the aged pastor 
 was such as to light up his beaming countenance with a 
 heavenly radiance. 
 
 His preaching was eminently calculated to build up 
 the faith of the believer, and " to comfort those that 
 mourn in Zion ; " and many were the instances in which 
 he was made very helpful to desponding Christians. His 
 prayers were the most fervent I ever heard : they were 
 short, simple, and importunate. His reading of the 
 Scriptures was peculiarly impressive, and brought out 
 " the mind of the Spirit" in a way that I have seldom 
 seen equalled. The Bible was literally " the man of his 
 counsel : " he spent large portions of every day in its 
 perusal, and, as a consequence of this, he was " mighty 
 in the Scriptures." 
 
 About a year after the services were established at the 
 " Church in the House," one of the deacons died, and the 
 writer of this narrative was elected in his stead. I well 
 remember the address that was delivered by the pastor on
 
 354 A Valuable Friend. 
 
 the evening appointed for the election of a new deacon. 
 He selected for his motto, " Show whether of these two 
 thou hast chosen," (Acts i. 24). It was the most lucid 
 statement of the Divine sovereignty in harmony with 
 human agency that I ever heard. 
 
 I endeavoured to excuse myself the duty of acting as a 
 deacon in this little Christian society, on the score of ill- 
 health, but was persuaded by my venerable friend to 
 accept the office, as by so doing I should be able to help 
 him in matters connected with the church, and particularly 
 in the arrangements for the Sunday evening services. I 
 felt it to be no small privilege to be associated with such 
 a man, and entered heartily into the good work. 
 
 My official position as a deacon, and a friendship that 
 had preceded my election to that office, gave me frequent 
 opportunities of enjoying the society of this eminent 
 Christian. I have conversed with him upon all the great 
 subjects in theological science, and was always glad to be 
 a silent listener when he could be prevailed upon to talk 
 upon any theme. 
 
 It was hardly possible to hold frank and friendly inter- 
 course with such a man without benefit : all his learning 
 and attainments were consecrated to the study of the 
 sacred volume, the results of which were apparent in his 
 public expositions, as well as in private and social inter- 
 course. Sometimes he would write to me on subjects that 
 had come under our notice. I have one such letter before 
 me now in reference to an address that I delivered at the 
 service where I had him for one of my hearers. The 
 letter is as follows, and contains some good hints on 
 preaching to those who are desirous of speaking so as to 
 be useful : 
 
 "Montague Grove, December 10th, 1862. 
 
 " MY DEAR FRIEND, There are some persons to 
 whom I can say anything that it is right to be said, 
 because I know they will not take it amiss ; and there
 
 Good Advice. 355 
 
 are others to whom one can say nothing for fear of giving 
 offence. I class you among the first of these characters, 
 of which you have given proof in your construction of my 
 remarks on Sunday last. The fact is, that your address 
 was too much of a finished composition for the purpose of 
 edification. I know of no better rule in this matter than 
 the Apostle's, * And I, brethren, when I came to you, 
 came not with excellence of speech, or of wisdom, declaring 
 unto you the testimony of God.' No, we want nothing 
 but a plain unvarnished tale of Jesus Christ and Him 
 crucified, in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, if 
 we would have the faith of the hearers to stand, not in 
 the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. 
 
 " My plan is to 'meditate closely on a chapter, or two 
 chapters (one in the Old and the other in the New Testa- 
 ment), and endeavour to elicit from them one or more 
 propositions to illustrate by the chapters themselves, 
 leaving the language to look after itself, or rather trusting 
 to the promise in this particular. 
 
 " Yours very truly and affectionately, 
 
 " R. B. SANDERSON." 
 
 Such a letter, from such a man, could not but be valu- 
 able, and I endeavoured in my future attempts to carry 
 out in my public addresses these excellent rules. The 
 late Mr. Sanderson was by far the best lay preacher I 
 ever heard ; and to have such a man as a hearer was 
 enough to intimidate a man who, like myself, had only 
 been accustomed to give an occasional address to a village 
 congregation, or at a meeting of the Young Men's 
 Christian Association. I have always found, however, that 
 the most charitable hearers of sermons are those who 
 preach themselves ; and I derived many valuable hints 
 from this aged and eloquent man. 
 
 It is hardly possible to speak of Mr. Sanderson without 
 also coupling him with his devoted wife. She was " a
 
 356 "Given to Hospitality." 
 
 helpmate" indeed, and was indefatigable in her unobtru- 
 sive efforts to second the Christ-like labours of her devoted 
 husband. The affection subsisting between them was 
 most romantic and beautiful to behold. I believe that 
 for nearly half a century of married life they had never 
 once been separated a single day ; and the attachment, as 
 is always the case when it is genuine, increased with 
 years. 
 
 The sudden and unexpected death of this excellent 
 Christian lady occasioned such a shock to her husband 
 that he never recovered it ; and in a few months he suc- 
 cumbed, and followed her to the final rest. As " they 
 were lovely in their lives," so " in death they were not 
 divided." 
 
 I should not omit to mention, though the best record is 
 on high, that the help afforded to the aged and infirm 
 poor connected with the " Church in the House," at Hamp- 
 stead and elsewhere, was such as ample means and large 
 and loving hearts would minister. 
 
 They made many a widow's heart to sing for joy, as well 
 as gladdened the desolate orphan, and cheered the sick- 
 bed of those who, but for such help, would have been left 
 to die in poverty and want. Oh ! what a luxury is wealth 
 when it is used not to embellish a home, or entertain 
 select circles of intelligent friends only, but where, in ad- 
 dition to this, care is taken to search out cases where a 
 little timely and kindly help comes like a message from 
 Heaven ! 
 
 Occasional social gatherings of the Church and congre- 
 gation were held under the roof of this hospitable man, 
 when the venerable pastor might be seen, surrounded by 
 his family and the people of his charge, looking quite 
 patriarchal. I have known him, more than once, at the 
 close of a week-night service, invite the congregation 
 to his dining-room to take a glass of wine, and partake of 
 some of the choice fruits from his garden. At these social
 
 A Believer's Funeral. 357 
 
 gatherings he would express the pleasure it afforded him 
 to see so many around his table. 
 
 As there were no " pew rents," collections were made 
 for various Christian and benevolent objects, such as the 
 Baptist Missionary Society, the Hartley Colliery cata- 
 strophe, and always for the poorer members of the Church. 
 It was most gratifying to see, in actual working, a Chris- 
 tian society, held together by the bonds of the Gospel, 
 having the ordinances of Christ administered, and disci- 
 pline exercised, without much of the machinery that en- 
 cumbers many of our Christian churches. 
 
 The last illness and death of this good man cast a sad 
 gloom over the little company that were wont to worship 
 at the " Church in the House." It was a mournful day 
 at Hampstead when the remains of this eminent saint were 
 removed from his hospitable mansion to the cemetery at 
 Highgate, followed, not only by his children and relatives, 
 but also by the deacons, and most of those who had so 
 often listened to his earnest and affectionate preaching. 
 As we gathered around the open grave, and took a last, 
 long, lingering look at the coffin that contained all that 
 could perish of this Christian gentleman, we united in 
 singing the well-known hymn 
 
 "For ever with the Lord." 
 
 " We buried him in peace, but his name liveth for ever- 
 more." 
 
 I must again return to my personal history. During my 
 residence at Hampstead I was frequently invited, as an office- 
 bearer in the church, to visit the sick and bereaved. As I 
 had had a good deal of ill health, and had drunk deeply of 
 the cup of sorrow myself, I found my visits always accept- 
 able. These visitations to the house of mourning and the 
 bed of sickness were quite as profitable to me as they were 
 helpful to others. I could record many instances of good
 
 358 A Death-bed Repentance. 
 
 done in this way. It is a time when the mind and heart 
 are both open to Christian influences, and a few kindly 
 words at such a season are sometimes never forgotten. I 
 will mention one instance of this nature, as an illustration 
 of others that might be named. 
 
 In the winter of 1862 I was sent for suddenly to see a 
 person I had known intimately in my early life, who was 
 seriously ill, and had expressed a strong desire to see me. 
 The address given me was to a street on the Surrey side of 
 the Thames. On finding the house I saw that I had been 
 expected, and was immediately ushered into an apart- 
 ment on the first floor. On entering the room the first 
 object that attracted my notice was a woman between forty 
 and fifty, reclining on a bed, supported by a young man 
 whom I knew to be her son. A young woman sat by the 
 bed-side looking on, whom I ascertained to be his wife. I 
 recognized the poor invalid at a glance as one whom I had 
 known thirty years ago, and took her thin, hot, feverish 
 hand in mine, and seated myself by the side of the bed. 
 I could see plain enough, by the great difficulty she had 
 in breathing, and also by her wild and restless eye, that 
 she was near the last great crisis. 
 
 She made several ineffectual attempts to tell me how ill 
 she had been, and what agony of mind she had endured at 
 the thought of dying. She trembled so at this recital that 
 the bed shook under her. I spoke to her at once of Christ 
 of his sacrificial death and his dying love. A Bible lay 
 open upon the bed, and I read to her the 51st Psalm that 
 penitential prayer of millions now in heaven. I could see, 
 by her eagerness to listen, how exactly suited was this 
 inspired prayer of a royal penitent to her agonized mind. 
 After waiting for a few minutes, I read to her the 53rd 
 chapter of Isaiah ; and without any word of explanation on 
 my part, she appeared to see at once the great and com- 
 forting doctrine therein contained, of substitution and 
 sacrifice. 
 
 She then asked me to pray with her. Weknelt around
 
 A Late Conversion. 359 
 
 her bed, and brief, and earnest, and importunate, were the 
 prayers we offered. Those feeble utterances of the heart 
 reached the throne of the Eternal, and entered the listen- 
 ing ear of the Lord of Hosts. 
 
 I said a few brief words to her of the willingness of the 
 Father to receive back an erring but penitent child, of the 
 all-sufficiency of the sacrifice of Christ to atone for the sins 
 of the whole world, and of the readiness of the Holy Spirit 
 to bring these precious truths home to her heart and con- 
 science. 
 
 The great work was done ; the mental eye was opened, 
 and a flood of sacred light flowed in upon her soul, and she 
 could lay hold of the promise of salvation, free and imme- 
 diate. As the afternoon sun streamed in at the window, 
 the countenance of this dying woman shone with a radiance 
 like that of an angel. Turning to her son, and looking 
 upon him as only a mother can, she said, in accents soft and 
 sweet, " Edward, I have now no fear of death ; I know that 
 I am forgiven. My only anxiety is for you and Lizzie," 
 pointing to his wife. She added, in words that I shall 
 never forget, " Oh, mind that you both meet me in 
 heaven !" 
 
 After a short silence she asked me again to read from 
 the Scriptures, and I selected the 23rd Psalm. She said 
 that it was what she herself felt, and that she now could 
 depart in peace. I knelt once again by her side, and com- 
 mended her to God : bade her farewell, and returned to 
 my home. 
 
 She died on the following day, and a note from her 
 son informed me that her departure was peaceful and 
 happy. 
 
 Here was one among many instances that I could recount 
 where the Gospel of Christ has been found equal to any case. 
 This brief interview was to me most memorable, inasmuch 
 as this woman was the person referred to in my early his- 
 tory, the intimacy with whom was the immediate occasion 
 of my leaving Canterbury. How true it is that
 
 360 Hypochondriacism. 
 
 " God moves in a mysterious way, 
 His wonders to perform." 
 
 A death-bed repentance, and a late conversion, are to 
 be deprecated, as far as their practical influence upon the 
 world is concerned, as time is needed to establish the 
 reality of the change : be this as it may, " the Lord know- 
 eth them that are His," and " delighteth in mercy ;" and 
 " He is able to save unto the uttermost" the uttermost 
 point of time, as well as of guilt " all that come unto Him." 
 
 About this time I had another return of physical ex- 
 haustion and mental depression, and many were the reme- 
 dies that were proposed by my friends for its alienation 
 and removal. I thought at one time of entering into some 
 particulars of this distressing depression to which I have been 
 so frequently subjected for the last five or six years ; but it 
 is a dark passage in my life, and perhaps, after all, to re- 
 count my sufferings would only be interesting to the 
 physiologist. Those who are interested in such matters 
 may find a most vivid account given in the " Autobiography 
 of the Eev. William Walford," published in 1851, Letters 
 xviii-xxi, in which the diagnosis of the disease is described 
 with terrible correctness, and the cure effected is most 
 marvellously related. 
 
 Among the many remedies proposed in my case were 
 perfect rest, generous diet, cold water, gymnastics, the 
 Turkish bath, and tobacco. I yielded to the advice of my 
 friends, and tried in succession all these remedies ; rest and 
 good-living were both very grateful, although I am not 
 likely to have occasion to " do Banting." Cold water, ap- 
 plied outwardly, I most thoroughly believe in, and, with 
 few interruptions, I take a cold bath every morning, winter 
 and summer, immediately on getting out of bed. Like 
 some other good habits, it is somewhat difficult to begin ; 
 but having once mastered that difficulty it is easy enough, 
 and is, moreover, most refreshing and invigorating. It 
 promotes cheerfulness and a healthy action of the brain 
 that is very delightful. I tried among the remedial measures
 
 Gymnastics. 361 
 
 a course of gymnastics, for three months, at Professor 
 Georgii's establishment in Wimpole-street, Cavendish- 
 square. The Professor is, both physically and intellec- 
 tually, a little Hercules ; and he is a gentleman by birth 
 and education. The system carried out by the Professor 
 is that of the late Swedish poet and gymnasiarch, Peter 
 Henry Ling. 
 
 Before commencing the exercises the patient is subjected 
 to a rigid and careful medical investigation, so that the 
 mode of treatment to be adopted may accord with the 
 physique of the applicant. I invited the Professor to tell 
 me candidly what he thought of my case, informing him 
 that I should not be alarmed at anything he might say. 
 He told me at the close of the investigation that I had a 
 sound and healthy body, but that it was vitality that I 
 needed. 
 
 I went through a course of the exercises for three 
 months with very much enjoyment, but without deriving 
 any very great benefit from them, as before I had con- 
 cluded the course I had a return of the depression. 
 
 Professor Georgii's establishment is conducted most 
 efficiently, under his own personal superintendence. While 
 taking the exercises I met persons of all ages, from the 
 youth at school to the man at seventy ; among the patients 
 were not a few military men returned from India, who need 
 something of this kind to brace and invigorate the system 
 after a residence in that enervating climate. 
 
 At certain hours of the day the Professor gives his 
 attention to ladies ; in this he is aided by an efficient staff 
 of female assistants, so that there is nothing to offend the 
 most fastidious. 
 
 If men need gymnastic exercises to develope fully the 
 physical part of their being, it is as much needed by 
 women. I am persuaded that if the physical education of 
 woman was more intelligently attended to, it would tend 
 very much to lighten the sad curse pronounced upon our 
 first mother. Will my fair young readers permit me, as a
 
 362 The Turkish Bath. 
 
 brother and a father, to recommend them to learn the full 
 and free use of their limbs in walking and gymnastic ex- 
 ercises ? The latter process, under proper advice, will bring 
 about the happiest results. Gymnastic exercises should, I 
 think, form an important part of the course of discipline in 
 all our schools, both for girls and boys. 
 
 The Turkish bath was recommended to me among other 
 things, and I well remember my first experience of this 
 process. For the information of my country friends I will 
 endeavour to describe, as briefly as I can, my first adventure 
 in the matter of a Turkish bath. 
 
 The particular establishment that had been indicated to 
 me is one well known in the north-west of London, and 
 has been converted from a private dwelling-house to the 
 purpose for which it is now used. Having found my way 
 there one evening, I was introduced into a room with ten 
 or a dozen compartments of about four feet square, separated 
 the one from the other by a red curtain, in one of which I 
 was instructed to divest myself of my clothes. The attend- 
 ant handed me an apron, consisting of a piece of striped 
 calico with strings to tie round my waist. I had pointed 
 out to me a stair-case down which I was to proceed when 
 I had undressed. As nothing was told me to the contrary, 
 I simply tied the apron on, and thought of Uncle Tiff, who 
 wore one behind, as well as in front, to hide his ragged 
 trousers. At the bottom of the stairs I found a door lead- 
 ing into an apartment, with two wooden benches on either 
 side of the room, and the gas burning brightly ; the tem- 
 perature of which was about 120 degrees. Here I found 
 the officiating attendant, a man about thirty years of age, 
 naked as myself, save a towel bound about his loins ; he 
 informed me that I must remain in this apartment until I 
 perspired pretty profusely, and then proceed to an inner 
 room where the temperature was at about 150 degrees. 
 The attendant having retired, I was left alone, and began 
 to want something to do ; the floor was so hot as to be disa- 
 greeable to stand on, and the wooden benches so intolerably
 
 A Sweating. 363 
 
 heated that to have sat long upon them would have haked 
 me. 
 
 I had been in this first sweating-room about a quarter 
 of an hour, when there entered a jolly-looking man of 
 about sixty, short and stout, little hair on his head, and a 
 good deal of beard and whisker. It was this gentleman's 
 first visit to the bath, and he, like myself, had simply tied 
 his apron on in the usual way ; but as he was one, of whom 
 Shakespeare tells us, with 
 
 " Fair, round belly, with good capon lin'd, 
 
 he presented such an odd appearance that I could not 
 refrain from laughing outright. He looked at me, now 
 profusely bathed with perspiration, and was probably 
 as much amused with the figure I cut as I was with him. 
 If our first parents, when "they made themselves aprons," 
 looked half as ludicrous as we did, it must have required 
 no small effort on their part to have preserved a serious 
 countenance. I found afterwards that the apron, though 
 tied in front, should have been passed between the legs, 
 and fastened behind, so as to have presented very much 
 the appearance of the tights worn by an acrobat. 
 
 As there were no others in the room we chatted away 
 pleasantly enough, when by this time the attendant re- 
 turned to conduct me into the second chamber, with a 
 temperature of 150 degrees. 
 
 I could not stand this so well as the first ; but it is ne- 
 cessary, and I thought it better quietly to submit to the 
 process; Pieces of cork were laid down upon the floor to 
 walk upon ; but these were so intolerably hot that I was 
 compelled to move from one to the other as quickly as I 
 could. Ten minutes in such a temperature was quite 
 enough, and I entered a third apartment to undergo the 
 shampooing process. I found the shampooer very intelli- 
 gent; he had originally been educated for the medical 
 profession, and understood his business thoroughly. After 
 a good deal of rubbing, punching, slapping, cracking the
 
 364 "The Hummums:' 
 
 joints, &c, there comes out a pretty considerable coating of 
 dirt. I could not help thinking that a good shampooing 
 would be a cure for self-righteousness. If a man think 
 himself to be clean, the process I have been attempting to 
 describe would demonstrate to him the fact that we cannot 
 make ourselves clean. The lavatory follows upon the sham- 
 pooing, where you are well washed with warm water, and 
 subjected to the gentle friction of a hair glove. 
 
 The cold plunge, or douche, is the culminating process, 
 and this is the crowning luxury. The bath being over, 
 you are furnished with a couple of hot towels, your head is 
 bound up in the eastern style, and you recline upon a 
 couch until you feel disposed to resume your apparel. 
 
 Such, in brief, were my first experiences of a Turkish 
 bath ; and in returning to the street, I could not help feel- 
 ing that I was a cleaner and a wiser, if not a better man. 
 
 The application of caloric, or dry heat, to the human 
 system, by means of the hot-air bath, is beginning to be 
 understood and appreciated in England ; it is a luxury of 
 no small magnitude. 
 
 We are indebted to Mr. Urquhart, not only for the in- 
 troduction of the Turkish bath into England, but also for 
 " the finest Turkish bath in the world," according to the 
 testimony of an Arab sheikh, who was conversant with the 
 baths at Cairo, Jerusalem, Constantinople, and Damascus. 
 This son of the East, on being asked at Stamboul one day, 
 at a dinner-table, by a Frenchman, to tell him where he 
 could find the best Turkish bath, replied, " God is great, 
 and effendis are wise ; but if you ask your servant, he 
 must say the best bath of all is to be found near Piccadilly, 
 in London." 
 
 Some time after I had taken the bath which I have 
 attempted to describe, I ventured one evening to test the 
 accuracy of the eastern testimony, and accordingly paid a 
 visit to "the Hummums" (Turkish bath) in Jermyn- 
 street. 
 Having paid the fee and put off your shoes, you enter an
 
 David Urquhart, Esq. 365 
 
 elegant and spacious hall, beautifully cool and clean, and 
 where there is every convenience for making the necessary 
 preparations for what is to follow. There is a large mar- 
 ble tank of cold water in the centre of the hall, and on 
 either side are oriental couches on which you may recline, 
 and divest yourself of your apparel at your leisure. A boy 
 in Turkish costume waits upon you, with a couple of 
 coloured wrappers, one of which he attaches to your waist, 
 and the other is thrown loosely over the shoulders. Thus 
 habited, you proceed to what is called the tepidarium, 
 where the light is dim, the couches voluptuous, and the heat 
 such as speedily to make you freely perspire. From this 
 apartment you proceed, after staying about twenty minutes 
 or half an hour, to what is termed the sudatorium, where 
 the temperature is considerably higher, and where you 
 have an out-and-out sweating. When you have remained 
 here as long as you can stand it, you return to the tepida- 
 rium, and lie down on a marble slab for the shampooer to 
 commence his operations upon you. This was, in my case, 
 performed by a swarthy son of the Desert, who did his 
 work in the most delicate and efficient manner. Every 
 part of the body in turn came in for its share of rubbing 
 and kneading, and you rise from the operation with no 
 inconsiderable coating of animal matter removable. 
 
 The lavatory follows upon this, with an abundant supply 
 of Castile soap, and a free use of the hair glove ; and in a 
 few minutes you are "clean every whit." This being over, 
 you descend to another chamber, where an icy douche 
 awaits you; and the bath ends by your taking a dive 
 under the plate-glass window that separates between the 
 tepidarium and the great hall. On stepping out of this 
 deliciously cold-plunge-bath, you are enveloped in hot 
 linen, and look as much like a genuine Mussulman as 
 John Bull can be made to appear. 
 
 Such, my country friends, is the sum of the matter ; and 
 when you are in London and can afford the time and will 
 pay the fee, small in comparison for the princely accom-
 
 366 Tobacco. 
 
 modation afforded, I would advise you by all means to 
 indulge in a luxury which when once enjoyed will never be 
 forgotten. If Mr. Urquhart can carry out his truly philan- 
 thropic project of establishing such baths throughout Lon- 
 don and the provinces, as those which are to be had in 
 Jermyn-street, to be used for the fee of a shilling, it 
 would be a national boon, and he would deserve a monu- 
 ment in Westminster Abbey, or St. Paul's. 
 
 The last remedy recommended for my ailments that I 
 shall speak of, is tobacco. In my early Canterbury days I 
 was a great smoker, but broke myself of the habit soon after 
 coming to London, and for thirty years was " a total ab- 
 stainer" from the much-abused weed. However, long 
 attacks of nervous depression, lasting sometimes four or five 
 months, and sleepless nights, made me willing to try almost 
 anything to obtain relief. I have always resolutely avoided 
 the quack remedies, for this and other similar maladies, 
 that meet the eye in all our public prints ; and finding that 
 the medical profession could do little or nothing to alleviate 
 my wearisome symptoms, I tried tobacco. 
 
 Let not my readers be startled at the sound of the sooth- 
 ing plant, for my habit is never to take more than a single 
 pipe of "golden shag," or one "mild Havannah" before 
 going to bed. I have found the happiest results follow upon 
 this simple remedy. My sleep has been sweet and refresh- 
 ful, and I wake at my usual hour with a desire to get up. 
 I have tried what is known as " a nightcap," a tumbler of 
 grog the last thing on going to roost, but not with the " de- 
 sired effect," as my sleep has been disturbed, and a headache 
 invariably followed it in the morning. My pipe has the 
 contrary effect upon me, and I regret that I did not avail 
 myself of its soothing qualities before. I believe that to a 
 man of active brain the moderate use of tobacco is almost 
 indispensable. In seasons of mental activity it will exert 
 a gently-soothing and quieting influence ; and in times of 
 depression, a man may sit and enjoy his pipe in silence, 
 when he is unfitted to take part in conversation. To sit
 
 Smoking. 367 
 
 and do nothing, and feel that you are of no use to any- 
 body, is a terrible feeling ; but a man looks comfortable, if 
 he is not so, with a good old-fashioned " yard of clay" in 
 his mouth. 
 
 It should be remembered that some of the profoundest 
 thinkers have been men addicted to tobacco ; and we know 
 not how much we owe to the influence of this much-abused 
 plant. Some of the mightiest intellectual efforts of the late 
 llobert Hall followed upon a pipe, which was almost as fami- 
 liar to him as the Bible, and his favourite Cicero. It is said 
 that his celebrated sermon on " Modern Infidelity" was 
 prepared and delivered after he had been rolling in agony, 
 on the floor of his vestry, from an internal disease which 
 gave him the most intense agony, and from which his pipe 
 was his best relief. 
 
 The author of " Alton Locke" and " Yeast" is a great 
 smoker ; and I know several eminent preachers who indulge 
 a little in this innocent weakness. Some of the best ser- 
 mons have been meditated in the easy-chair by the fire- 
 side, under the soothing influence of a pipe. Sermonic 
 reveries, if they take no more tangible embodiment, will 
 pass away as poetic imaginings do : the better way is to 
 hold them fast until these bright creations are clothed in 
 suitable presentments for the pulpit. 
 
 I would not have my readers imagine that I recommend 
 the wholesale use of tobacco ; or that I have the smallest 
 sympathy with the half-fledged boys who crowd our streets, 
 with short vulgar pipes stuck in their mouths. All that I 
 go in for is this, that in my own case it has produced the 
 very happiest effects ; and the true enjoyment of tobacco, 
 like all other good things, is to be found in its moderate 
 and temperate use. The only interdict that I know of is to 
 be found in the Apostolic injunction, " Do thyself no harm." 
 
 I should like to say a few words on the part I have 
 taken in politics through my humble career. I have never 
 been afraid of being denominated " a Political Dissenter :" 
 I rather glory in the fact of being so. It is my thought-
 
 368 "A Political Dissenter." 
 
 ful belief that nothing is more consistent than for a Chris- 
 tian man to assert his citizenship, not only in the open and 
 manly support of what is right ; but also, if need be, in 
 resisting to the uttermost, by constitutional measures, any- 
 thing and everything that would retard the progress of the 
 freest inquiry, and the most perfect equality in matters re- 
 ligious, let a man's creed be what it may. As a Christian 
 man and a citizen, I am ready to " render unto Caesar the 
 things that are Caesar's ;" but at the same time I do not 
 forget my obligation to " render unto God the things that 
 are His." 
 
 I have no sympathy with so-called religious men who 
 think that a Christian should not meddle with politics. It 
 has sometimes been my misfortune to come in contact with 
 small-souled, narrow-minded, and bigoted men, calling 
 themselves Christians, that any sect or party in the world 
 would be ashamed of. 
 
 I am old enough to recollect the repeal of the Test and 
 Corporation Acts, and also the removal of the disabilities 
 that oppressed and degraded the Roman Catholics. 
 
 The political state of the country ought always to be a 
 subject of interest to every Christian man. A man who is 
 a Christian should never lose sight of the fact that he is a 
 citizen, and in the best and truest sense of the term, " a 
 man of the world." 
 
 The passing of the Eeform Bill I well remember ; and 
 though too young to see fully the great benefits conferred 
 by that wise measure, yet I was old enough to take 
 no small interest in the subject, and was present at the 
 festival held at Canterbury to commemorate the passing 
 of that Bill. 
 
 I hope to live to see that great measure developed and 
 enlarged by a generous admission to the elective franchise 
 of a great part of the five millions of my fellow-country- 
 men still unrepresented in Parliament. 
 
 With such a man as Earl Russell at the head of the 
 Government, backed by Messrs. Gladstone, Bright,
 
 Working Men. 369 
 
 Baines, and a host of minor names to support him, 
 surely a bill might be introduced and carried that shall be 
 another instalment of what will one day come to every 
 man, not convicted of crime, in England. Education and 
 social training are fast preparing the way for this great 
 boon. 
 
 I have great sympathy with the hard- worked unen- 
 franchised millions of my fellow-countrymen. I know 
 something of their struggles, their narrow scanty means, 
 their sorrows, and the brave and silent way they bear them. 
 
 My humble efforts, while life is spared, and health will 
 permit, shall, as opportunity offers, be given to help on 
 the desirable object of obtaining for them the political 
 position that is their due. It is not the " Lord Dun- 
 drearys " that have made England what she is. Oh no! 
 
 " The noblest men I know on earth 
 
 Are men whose hands are brown with toil ; 
 Who, back'cl by no ancestral birth, 
 
 Hew down the woods, and till the soil ; 
 And thereby win a prouder fame 
 Than crowns a king's or warrior's name. 
 
 The working men, whate'er their task, 
 
 To carve the stone, or bear the hod, 
 They wear upon their honest brows 
 
 The royal stamp and seal of God ! 
 And brighter are their drops of sweat 
 Than diamonds in a coronet. 
 
 God bless the noble working men, 
 
 Who rear the cities of the plain, 
 Who dig the mines and build the ships, 
 
 Who drive the commerce of the main ! 
 God bless them ! for their swarthy hands 
 Have wrought the glory of all lands." 
 
 The working men of England have in William Ewart 
 Gladstone and John Bright two eloquent and true-hearted 
 advocates ; but it is still true, in its best sense, that
 
 370 The House of Commons. 
 
 " Who would be free, 
 Themselves must strike the blow." 
 
 No one can help those, to any purpose, who will not 
 help themselves. Working men should, in public meet- 
 ings and every constitutional manner, show that they are 
 in earnest ; and that being the case, public opinion will 
 become so educated and enlightened upon the subject 
 that their demands must be complied with. In this way 
 all the great national measures for the benefit of the masses 
 have been conceded. Lord Brougham once eloquently 
 remarked, that "the anger of the Deity is sometimes 
 heard in the murmurs of the people." When will the 
 Parliament of England learn that " the voice of the people 
 is the voice of God?" 
 
 In spite, however, of all that may be said of the House 
 of Commons as it is at present constituted, we look around 
 Europe, and to our colonies, and across the Atlantic, and 
 that legislative assembly will honourably[compare with any 
 representative parliament in the world, not only for 
 ability, but also for high moral worth, and all that makes 
 a nation great. 
 
 There are no evils that exist among us as a nation that 
 cannot be removed by the people themselves, and there- 
 fore I look with hope and confidence to the final settle- 
 ment of such vexed questions as the Abolition of Church 
 Rates, the Dissolution of the unrighteous Union subsisting 
 between what is called the National Church and the State ; 
 the fair and just appropriation of national property now 
 absorbed by the Church of England; the equitable ad- 
 justment of the Income Tax ; and the extension of the 
 Elective Franchise to all who may with safety be brought 
 within the pale of the constitution. 
 
 I know the opposition that has been made, and w r ill be 
 continued on the part of some, to oppose these reforms in 
 the body corporate, but courage and persistent effort will 
 attain anything that is really right in itself, and therefore 
 ultimate success is certain.
 
 John Bright, Esq. 371 
 
 I was present at most of the meetings held in London 
 during the agitation and conflict that took place before 
 the Corn Laws were repealed. I recollect the telling 
 speeches that were made by the late revered Richard 
 Cobden, John Bright, and William Johnson Fox. Two 
 of these champions have fought the good fight, saw the 
 victory, and are gone to their reward. One, as able, and 
 more eloquent than either, remains ; and to John Bright 
 the people look as to a standard-bearer, around whom 
 they will rally. I may yet live to see the fondest hopes 
 and intensest yearnings of that great and good man ful- 
 filled, and those who most abuse him now, admit him to be 
 not only one of our best orators, but also a statesman of 
 whom the country may be justly proud. 
 
 Of John Bright it may be said, in the glowing words of 
 one who has passed from among us, " Distinguished merit 
 will ever rise superior to slander, and will draw lustre 
 from reproach. The vapours which gather round the 
 rising sun, and follow it in its course, seldom Jail, at the 
 close of it, to form a magnificent theatre for its reception, 
 and to invest with variegated tints, and with a softened 
 effulgence, the luminary which they cannot hide." 
 
 As preaching and preachers is a subject of interest at 
 the present day, and has been made the theme of discussion 
 in some of the leading organs of public opinion lately, I 
 make no apology for presenting a few thoughts for the 
 consideration of my readers, relating to this interesting 
 and important topic. 
 
 I have been a reader and hearer of sermons for the 
 greater part of my life, and what I have to say is just a 
 few remarks upon a subject that has occupied my mind 
 frequently, and is also the result of some lengthened obser- 
 vation. 
 
 Preaching, in its legitimate sense, is, I presume, dis- 
 coursing publicly on any religious subject. It is as old as 
 the antediluvian era, as we learn that " Enoch prophesied,"
 
 372 Preaching 
 
 (Jude, 14, 15). Noah " was a preacher of righteousness," 
 (1 Peter iii. 19, 20). Moses, " the servant of God," was 
 an eminent preacher, as well as " the prophet of the Lord." 
 Aaron was perhaps the more naturally eloquent of the two, 
 but that they both were preachers we learn from several 
 parts of the sacred writings. Joshua, Solomon, and Amos, 
 " the herdsman of Tekoa," were preachers. They were 
 dark days in the Jewish Church when they were left with- 
 out " a teaching priest." Ezra was a famous preacher. 
 John the Baptist was the most celebrated preacher that 
 arose before the " Great Teacher," who preached " as 
 never man spake." The preaching of the Son of God was 
 such that " the common people heard Him gladly." His 
 style was simple, solemn, and majestic, sometimes terribly 
 severe and vehement ; His imagery natural and beautiful, 
 His deportment graceful and becoming, and, above all, His 
 life was consistent with His teaching. 
 
 The Apostles copied their Divine Master, and Paul and 
 Peter stand out, in bold relief, as men not only " mighty 
 in the Scriptures," but also as grand living illustrations of 
 what preachers ought to be. 
 
 The first centuries of the Christian Church produced 
 some grand preachers: Basil, Bishop of CaBsarea, John 
 Chrysostom, preacher at Antioch, and afterwards Patriarch 
 of Constantinople, with Gregory Nazianzen, were distin- 
 guished preachers in the Greek Church, while Jerome and 
 the great Augustine were foremost preachers in the Latin 
 Church. 
 
 Sermons in those early days were, we are told, always 
 in the " vulgar tongue," and they were short or long, as 
 the audience or the occasion required. Preaching and 
 preachers appear to have degenerated during the " dark 
 ages," but revived again at the Reformation, when the 
 great body of the people gladly thronged together to hear 
 the Scriptures read and expounded. 
 
 The Church of Rome has produced some great preachers, 
 such as Savonarola, Massillon, Bossuet, and Bourdaloue.
 
 and Preachers. 373 
 
 The Church of England can point with just and honest 
 pride to such men as Bishops Latimer and Ridley, Arch- 
 bishop Usher, the protesting Chillingworth, the poetic and 
 imaginative Jeremy Taylor, Isaac Barrow, Tillotson, Sher- 
 lock, South, Baxter, Hoadley, Lowth, and Butler, whose 
 sermons are as deserving of study as is his celebrated 
 "Analogy;" Donne, the Dean of St. Paul's, Bishop 
 Hall, and the good Bishop Jewel, should not be omitted 
 from the muster-roll of preachers, which the National 
 Church can number among her pulpit orators. 
 
 There are the great preachers of the Reformation, of 
 whom Luther and Knox are the most prominent. The 
 Puritan preachers also stand out as demanding our atten- 
 tive study, as, for example, Dr. Owen, John Howe, Grur- 
 nall, and others. 
 
 We come down then to the days of Whitefield, Wesley, 
 Romaine, and John Newton ; as well as Robert Hall, the 
 prince of modern preachers, Andrew Fuller, John Foster, 
 Kinghorn, the great Chalmers, with his overwhelming 
 torrent of eloquence, and his no less distinguished colleague 
 the trumpet-tongued Edward Irving. 
 
 All who want to know anything of preaching and 
 preachers should make themselves acquainted with the 
 sermons of these famous men, and learn how they put the 
 great subjects of the Christian Ministry before their 
 hearers. I should not omit to mention among the list of 
 great preachers James Foster, originally an Independent, 
 but afterwards a Baptist, and one of the most effective 
 preachers of his time. 
 
 Having just glanced at some of the more prominent 
 preachers of ancient and modern times, I trust my readers 
 will bear with me while I say something as to what I 
 humbly consider preaching should be. 
 
 I may say at once that the pulpit is a solemn place, 
 and should never be entered without thoughtfulness and 
 prayer, because preaching has to do with the Eternal God, 
 and with man's everlasting welfare. I look upon the office
 
 374 Preaching 
 
 of the Christian Ministry as one of peculiar responsibility, 
 and of unspeakable importance, as a man's own soul is not 
 only at stake, but also those of many others. An unfaith- 
 ful minister cannot sink alone to the world of woe, but in 
 his fall he will drag others down with him. 
 
 While I do not think that secular professions and trades 
 are inconsistent with the Christian Ministry, it should be 
 looked on as a life-long lesson and service. If an ai'tist, or 
 a surgeon, or an architect need to apply himself wholly to 
 his profession, surely a preacher should, if possible, devote 
 himself exclusively to his sacred work. If freedom from 
 the cares and anxieties of business be desirable for those 
 who are set apart to the work of the Christian Ministry, 
 then a Church is bound to make a liberal and suitable pro- 
 vision for the man who thus serves them ; and if he be a 
 man of the right stamp he will abundantly earn his stipend. 
 
 Prayer is the first duty of a Christian minister, and is 
 essential to spiritual life and growth in grace. Love to 
 God and to the Saviour, benevolence and love to man, 
 elevated piety and self- consecration are undoubted neces- 
 saries in a preacher. An apostolic portrait of what a 
 preacher ought to be is given in 2 Cor. vi. 3-10. 
 
 A cold-hearted preacher will do no good. A preacher 
 without experience and knowledge will not be influen- 
 tial. You must be a heart-preacher, and feel yourself 
 the truths you preach, if you expect your hearers to feel 
 them : you must illustrate their influence in your own life 
 if you would have that influence displayed in the life and 
 deportment of your hearers. A holy and consistent life 
 preaches to the consciences of men as nothing else does, 
 and gives weight and influence to every word the preacher 
 speaks : but if his moral conduct be not exemplary, he may 
 preach with the eloquence of men and of angels, but it 
 will be disregarded. The worst men and women among 
 your hearers, and 
 
 "Oh, what may man within him hide, 
 While angel on the outward side !"
 
 and Preachers. 375 
 
 And men, bad as they sometimes are, 
 
 " At most differ as heaven and earth ; 
 But women, worst and best, as heaven and hell." 
 
 Yet they all feel the force of a consistent and holy life. 
 They may hate the preacher because he reproves their 
 sins, but in their inmost souls they fear and respect him ; 
 and are, moreover, more persuaded of the reality of true 
 religion by one such example than by a thousand argu- 
 ments. Nothing upon earth is so lovely as a holy life. 
 Some men never preach a standard of morality beyond 
 which they have themselves attained to ; but this should 
 never be done. Let the standard be the life of Christ. 
 
 A preacher, in delivering his message, acts as an am- 
 bassador, who entreats men "in Christ's stead to be recon- 
 ciled to God," so that nothing should be substituted in its 
 place. " Preach the Word ;" let nothing else occupy the 
 sacred hour devoted to religious instruction. Amuse not 
 dying men with the refinements of literature or the disco- 
 veries of science. " Preach the Gospel to every creature " 
 is the great commission, and " woe to that man if he 
 preach not the Gospel I" Let every one who hears you 
 know that "he that believeth and is baptized shall be 
 saved, but he that believeth not shall be damned," (Mark 
 xvi. 16). 
 
 He who preaches should do so with deep compassion, of 
 weeping, melting, beseeching pity ; and let your soul burn 
 with that holy ardour for the salvation of the hearers which 
 becomes alike their situation and your own. I recollect 
 having it said to me on one occasion by " an old disciple " 
 of a certain school of theology, when I had been endea- 
 vouring to illustrate this that I am recommending in my 
 own case, " My good brother, you speak as if you could 
 do the work of conversion yourself; God will do His own 
 work without your earnestness." My reply was, " Hear 
 Paul at Athens and Corinth, or Peter on the day of Pen- 
 tecost, or Whitefield in Moorfields, or Spurgeon at the
 
 376 Preaching 
 
 Tabernacle, and if they took God's work out of His hands, 
 so do I." My reply was greeted by a quiet smile from 
 the good old man. Now I know full well that as God 
 alone can create a soul, so He alone can convert one ; but as 
 human instrumentality is called into requisition in the one 
 case, so the other is also brought about by what may be 
 called " the foolishness of preaching," and " the feebleness 
 of prayer." 
 
 Preaching, to be effectual, must be the work of the 
 heart. Mere intellectual preaching will never move the 
 people to do anything to rectify what is wrong in them- 
 selves. I have not unfrequently gone away from hearing 
 sermons of this description, full of admiration both of the 
 preacher and also of his subject-matter ; but it has not set 
 me to work more manfully and determinately to bring my 
 daily life into greater and more perfect conformity and 
 harmony with God's requirements. Heart-preaching is 
 hard work in every way, and it tells as much upon the 
 preacher as the hearer, but it is effectual. We all yield 
 an internal homage to that which is true, and we respect 
 the man who has the courage and the heart to tell out to 
 us the demands that God makes upon us as subjects of His 
 moral government. 
 
 Extempore preaching is by far the most generally ac- 
 ceptable, and one of the strongest arguments in its favour 
 is that the speaker is more likely to feel the truth which 
 he utters than when he sits down to write in his study. 
 Extempore preaching, however, sometimes falls into a 
 round of common-place ideas, or mere generalities, by 
 which the speaker is not affected himself, and as a conse- 
 quence of this, the interest of the hearer flags. There are 
 people who are so attached to extempore preaching that 
 they will not tolerate a written sermon ; and such is their 
 vitiated taste that a man may talk any twaddle he pleases, 
 as long as he does not read it from a manuscript. 
 
 The practice of reading written sermons extensively 
 prevails, and I cannot see the objection to it that some
 
 and Preachers. 377 
 
 affirm. Of course it will very much depend, let the com- 
 position be what it may, upon the mode of delivery. A 
 good reader will make a written composition tell in every 
 word and in every syllable. If a man who knows how to 
 do it will but throw his whole soul into the work, he will 
 move his hearers, be they plebeian or patrician. A preacher, 
 to be in any way effective, must be in earnest, for however 
 he may exert his voice and assume the appearance of ear- 
 nestness, if he feels it not he can never affect the intelligent 
 hearer. 
 
 Though, for my own part, I cannot see any sufficient 
 reasons why sermons should not occasionally be read, I 
 think there can be no question that extempore preaching 
 is by far the most effective. By extempore preaching I do 
 not mean the unpremeditated effusions of a man too idle to 
 study ; but the delivery of an unwritten discourse, the sub- 
 ject of which the preacher has studied till he has it in his 
 mind, and the spirit of which he has imbibed till he feels 
 its impression on his own heart. Who that makes himself 
 familiar with the great subjects about which he would 
 speak, and that deeply feels their influence himself, can 
 long be at a loss to find words expressive of the emotions 
 of his heart, and the truths that he has been meditating ? 
 
 If a man habitually lives under the lively impression of 
 the truths he preaches of the love of Christ, the precious- 
 ness of time, the vanity of all earthly good, the glories of 
 heaven, the nearness of eternity and its tremendously 
 solemn realities let these truths deeply affect his own 
 soul, and they will be manifestly felt and seen in his 
 preaching. Under such feelings a man will never trifle in 
 the presence of God ; he will select no merely amusing 
 and interesting, but comparatively unimportant subjects ; 
 he will not fill up sermons with dry, hard discussions, or 
 cold, metaphysical speculations: but will solemnly and 
 affectionately utter truths of eternal importance, and as an 
 ambassador of Christ, will deliver his weighty message, 
 " whether men will hear, or whether they will forbear."
 
 378 PreacJiing 
 
 The glory of Christ, and the eternal welfare of his hearers 
 should be the ruling passion in the mind of a preacher, and 
 never let him seek to please the refined and wealthy few 
 while the poor and illiterate are uninstructed. 
 
 Dr. Owen remarked, that it would be worth preaching 
 to a whole nation, for many years, to secure the salvation 
 of one soul; and Robert Hall, the prince of modern preach- 
 ers, has said, " that to a mind that rightly estimates the 
 weight of eternal things, it will appear a greater honour to 
 have been instrumental in converting one sinner from the 
 error of his ways than to have wielded the thunder of a 
 Demosthenes, or to have lighted up the fire of a Cicero." 
 
 Having said thus much of preaching and the preachers 
 of the past, let me, for the information of those who, with 
 myself, are fond of good sermons, indicate a few of the 
 published discourses of some of the preachers of our own 
 day that I have read and studied with advantage. I am 
 well aware that as a general rule a volume of sermons is 
 about as good a sedative as anything that can be taken. 
 Sydney Smith recommends it as an invaluable soporific, 
 though in my case it has often proved unavailing. The 
 thousands of volumes of printed sermons, most of them 
 " published by particular request," that repose quietly on 
 the shelves of the National Library, uncut and undisturbed, 
 save for the purposes of airing and dusting, sufficiently 
 attest the interest generally felt for this class of literature. 
 Still there are, happily, some noble exceptions to this rule, 
 and among the volumes most in demand, both at the read- 
 ing-room of the National Library as well as at " Mudie's," 
 are good sermons. 
 
 One of the truest tests of the readable merits of a book 
 is its appearance at a public library; and I have had from 
 Mudie's volumes of sermons that had been so read as to be 
 in anything but a presentable condition as to the binding 
 and general appearance. 
 
 Among the best published sermons by clergymen of the 
 Church of England of the present day may be mentioned
 
 and Preachers. 379 
 
 those by the late Mr. Kobertson of Brighton, though some 
 of them are terribly heretical ; but they are thoughtful, 
 bold, and suggestive ; Melvill's Sermons, even those that 
 are taken in short-hand, and published in the " Pulpit" as 
 the " Golden Lectures," are a great treat ; would that this 
 distinguished preacher could be persuaded to prepare a se- 
 lection of his sermons for the press, as a legacy to the 
 Church and his many admirers. Dean Alford's " Quebec 
 Sermons" are full of interest and intelligent criticism. A 
 series of " Lenten Sermons," published under the auspices 
 of the Bishop of Oxford, are many of them of great power 
 and eloquence. Those by the late Archbishop Whately, and 
 his worthy successor Dr. Trench, are also deserving of atten- 
 tive perusal. Then there are volumes by Archdeacon Hare, 
 Dean Stanley, Dr. Pusey, Christopher Wordsworth, Dr. 
 Vaughan of Doncaster,and Charles Kingsley, that will repay 
 a careful study. As orators, these men are by no means 
 conspicuous, except Robertson and Melvill, who will ever 
 take high rank. Dr. M'Neile, the late Hugh Stowell, and 
 Sanderson Robins ; Capel Molyneux, and the Bishop of 
 Oxford, would bear away the palm in the pulpit, though 
 these men are not so distinguished in their published 
 writings. 
 
 Among the Independents there have been some noble 
 preachers, in such men as the late Stephen M'All of Man- 
 chester, Winter Hamilton of Leeds, Dr. Raffles of Liver- 
 pool, Dr. Wardlaw of Glasgow, William Jay of Bath, 
 Angell James of Birmingham, and Dr. Leifchild of Craven 
 Chapel. These eminent preachers have gone to their re- 
 ward ; but there still remains in that denomination some 
 worthy successors in such men as Parsons of Leeds, 
 Thomas Binney, Samuel Martin, Dr. Raleigh, Thomas 
 Jones, and Newman Hall. 
 
 The Baptists have had some great preachers among 
 them, as Robert Hall and Andrew Fuller ; and they have 
 now a goodly band of living pulpit orators, with the in- 
 imitable and incomparable Spurgeon at their head, who, I
 
 380 Preaching 
 
 rejoice to say, has falsified all his defamers, and is as fresh 
 and as popular as ever. Let any one, fond of sermons, 
 take the ten volumes of this justly celebrated preacher, and 
 read them as productions taken down weekly from his lips, 
 without a note to help him, and they will be astounded 
 at the noble series of volumes even as a literary produc- 
 tion, as well as for the amount of sound theology they 
 contain. 
 
 Our Free-Church brethren can point to Dr. Guthrie as 
 a host in himself, though, from ill-health, obliged to re- 
 linquish his pulpit labours, and is now only heard of through 
 the press ; his " Gospel in Ezekiel," and " Speaking to 
 the Heart," contain sermons that cannot fail to be useful, 
 and may be read over and over again as an intellectual 
 treat. Drs. Candlish of Edinburgh, and James Hamilton 
 of London, still hold foremost places, in their denomination, 
 as first-class preachers ; while Dr. Gumming and Norman 
 Macleod may be said to stand at the head of their brethren 
 in the " Establishment." 
 
 The Wesleyans have had among them, as eloquent 
 preachers, Kichard Watson, Eobert Newton, and Dr. 
 Beaumont. The published sermons of the late Kichard 
 Watson are among the best I have ever read ; and, ac- 
 cording to the testimony of James Montgomery the poet, 
 and others, he was a most commanding preacher. Mr. 
 Morley Punshon is perhaps the foremost living orator among 
 the Wesleyans of the present day ; I have listened with 
 the greatest delight to some of his famous lectures, and 
 occasional sermons, and have no hesitation in pronouncing 
 him to be an orator of a high order. 
 
 I fear that I may have wearied my readers with this 
 somewhat lengthy digression upon preaching and preachers, 
 and I can only plead in excuse that I have always had a 
 great liking for good sermons and earnest eloquent preach- 
 ing; and this must be my apology for saying so much 
 upon the subject. I would rather be a good preacher than 
 the owner of a thousand acres, as to move men and women
 
 and Preachers. 381 
 
 to attend to eternal realities, and to be the means of bring- 
 ing them to the knowledge of Christ and His salvation, is, 
 I think, the noblest and the most glorious office that a 
 man can fill : " They that be wise (to win souls) shall 
 shine as the light ; and they that turn many to righteous- 
 ness as the stars for ever and ever." 
 
 The Bard of Olney has told us what a Preacher should 
 be ; and with his graphic description I close : 
 
 " Would I describe a Preacher, such as Paul, 
 Were he on earth, would hear, approve, and own, 
 Paul should himself direct me. I would trace 
 His master-strokes, and draw from his design. 
 I would express him simple, grave, sincere ; 
 In doctrine uncorrupt ; in language plain, 
 And plain in manner ; decent, solemn, chaste, 
 And natural in gesture; much impress'd 
 Himself, as conscious of his awful charge, 
 And anxious mainly, that the flock he feeds, 
 May feel it too ; affectionate in look, 
 And tender in address, as well becomes 
 A messenger of grace to guilty man. 
 
 # * * * 
 
 In man, or woman, but far most in man, 
 And most of all in man that ministers, 
 And serves the altar, in my soul I loath 
 All affectation. "Pis my perfect scorn ; 
 Object of my implacable disgust. 
 
 * * # 
 Therefore, avaunt all attitude, and stare, 
 And start theatric, practised at the glass ! 
 I seek divine simplicity in him, 
 
 Who handles things divine; and all besides, 
 Though learn'd with labour, and though much admired 
 By curious eyes, and judgments ill inform' d, 
 To me is odious."
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 ' Beyond the grave there doubtless is a sphere, 
 Where all will be right which so puzzles us here; 
 Where the false glare, the glitter, and tinsel of time 
 Fade and die, in the light of that region sublime; 
 Where the soul, disenchanted of flesh and of sense, 
 Undeceived by its happiness, its show, and pretence, 
 Will be clothed for the life and the service above, 
 With purity, truth, faith, meekness, and love!" 
 
 " I would not live always, 
 
 I would not if I could ; 
 But, I need not fret about it, 
 'Cause I couldn't if I would." 
 
 HERE is something very solemn and affect- 
 ing in leaving the work and the places which 
 you have been accustomed to frequent for 
 many years. The house of business, the 
 well-known office, the desk at which you 
 have worked for many a weary hour, the people you have 
 been daily in the habit of meeting, all your surroundings 
 become, after many years, a part of yourself. 
 
 And yet it must be so, whether you are a strong robust 
 man of iron frame and full of nervous power and energy ; 
 or one with a more fragile and delicately-adjusted organi- 
 zation, upon whose mental and physical system contact with 
 the world has done its sure work, the time must come when 
 you must relinquish it all. Under these fixed and unalter- 
 able circumstances he is wise who, with calmness and com-
 
 Declining Health. 383 
 
 posure, addresses himself to the duty of not only leaving 
 that which has occupied and filled his hands and his head, 
 it may be for a long series of years, but who also thinks 
 soberly and thoughtfully of the great work of preparing to 
 die. 
 
 I can understand, in some measure, the feelings of one 
 in advanced life, and full of years and honours, contem- 
 plating his departure with serenity and even satisfaction ; 
 but to be compelled, through ill health and declining powers, 
 to give up, at a time of life which may be regarded as the 
 palmy state of man, and when, from the greater maturity 
 of the judgment and his more accumulated experience, he 
 is fitted for greater usefulness and more tranquil enjoyment, 
 this is indeed no small trial. It is only when we regard 
 sickness and health, and life and death, as being at the dis- 
 posal of an infinitely wise and good Being that we can 
 cheerfully acquiesce in such a procedure. 
 
 Except in cases of sudden death, the day must inevitably 
 come to the most busy when he must formally resign and 
 give up all public business. It is an interesting study to 
 witness a thoughtful man endeavouring to make this re- 
 tirement from public life a prelude and preparation for the 
 still more important and momentous fact that he must 
 shortly enter upon all the awful realities of death and eter- 
 nity. 
 
 Every Christian man should make the necessary arrange- 
 ment as to his affairs and his family, so that no needless 
 hurry and unbecoming bustle should be allowed to inter- 
 fere with the calmness and composure that should be the 
 attendants of his last hours. 
 
 My declining health and impaired mental powers have 
 continually reminded me that the day cannot be very 
 far distant when the work which I have engaged in must 
 be given up, and the subjects I have thought of and mused 
 over for many years will no longer be seen fl as through 
 a glass darkly," but they will break in upon my mental
 
 384: Mental Weariness. 
 
 vision as a great and tremendous reality. Eepeated attacks 
 of mental depression and nervous exhaustion have much 
 impaired any intellectual strength and vigour I may have 
 once possessed. I have known, not unfrequently, the ter- 
 rible languor and complete prostration of a wearied and 
 exhausted mind, and the weaknesses incident to a feeble 
 and sickly body, and sometimes the feelings arising from 
 this state of things have been so atrong as almost to over- 
 come the natural desire to live. Frequently this has so 
 pressed upon my spirit as to prompt me to give expression 
 to thoughts and longings that have thrown sadness and 
 gloom over those around me, whose tenderest sympathies 
 I possessed. 
 
 To borrow the eloquent words of one who has truthfully 
 and beautifully spoken of this state of things " The strong 
 men bow themselves : the years will draw nigh " when 
 the firmest fibre slackens, and the fullest well-spring of 
 human energy sinks below the brim. The process of de- 
 clining health is humbling to sense though not to faith. 
 Weak points are felt in the frame which were never felt 
 before. The active mind discovers with surprise that the 
 body cannot answer all its wonted demands, and it is apt 
 to chide and urge its worn servant. When the truth can 
 no longer be concealed, a certain gravity shades the beam- 
 ing countenance, and withdraws a few shades of light from 
 the full-orbed eye. Yet that conscious weakness gives ma- 
 turity to wisdom. Humility throws its graceful mantle 
 over goodness. By how much man's stout-heartedness is 
 subdued, by so much are the lines of his character mel- 
 lowed. Laden with fruit, and clothed with rich autumnal 
 tints, he is most admired as he enters on the last stage of 
 life ; but as his sap recedes towards the root, and leaf 
 falls after leaf, he naturally seeks retirement from the 
 public eye. Not willing to relinquish his loved activity and 
 usefulness, he gradually withdraws from being the actor, 
 and becomes the counsellor. Happy the man who can 
 walk calmly down into the vale of years, lay aside his
 
 Bodily Infirmities. 385 
 
 labours and honours with modest dignity, and humbly await 
 his rest." * 
 
 This touching passage, from one of the most interesting 
 biographies of modern times, is appropriately descriptive 
 of that which precedes the departure of a man who had 
 been for many years extensively useful in his generation ; 
 but it does seem hard for one just arriving at the meridian 
 of life to feel in himself unmistakeable indications that he 
 must no longer engage in many things that once were 
 pleasurable and exhilarating. The mind, once capable of 
 revelling in questions and subjects that taxed its utmost 
 powers, is now weary, and is, at best, as " a wild bird hope- 
 lessly straining its broken wing ;" the step that was once 
 elastic and firm is slow and measured ; and though the pro- 
 cess of decay be with silent and stealthy approaches, so that 
 one may say with the poet, that 
 
 "Time has laid his hand 
 Upon my heart, gently, not smiting it, 
 But as a harper lays his open palm 
 Upon his harp to deaden its vibrations," 
 
 yet I cannot but feel that with me " the day is far spent, and 
 the night is at hand ;" and though we naturally cling the 
 closer to those we love when the shades of eternity are 
 falling upon us, " until the day break and the shadows flee 
 away," the prominent and uppermost feeling of my mind 
 is that which a great and profound thinker of our own 
 day has given expression to in writing to a bereaved and 
 sorrowing friend. f He says, " I congratulate you and 
 myself that life is passing away. What a superlatively 
 grand and consoling idea is that of death ! Without this 
 radiant idea, this delightful morning-star, indicating that 
 the luminary of eternity is going to rise, life would, to 
 
 * Life of Edward Baines, by his son, E. Baines, Esq. M. P. 
 3vo. London, 1851. 
 f John Foster. 
 
 C C
 
 386 A Divine Prospect. 
 
 my view, darken into midnight melancholy. Oh ! the 
 expectation of living here, and living thus, always, would 
 be indeed a prospect of overwhelming despair ! But thanks 
 to that fatal decree that dooms us to die, thanks 
 to that Gospel which opens the vision of an endless life, 
 and thanks, above all, to that Saviour Friend who has pro- 
 mised to conduct all the faithful through the sacred trance 
 of death into scenes of paradise and everlasting delight ! 
 Shall not this divine prospect console you for all you have 
 lost and suffered, and animate you to triumph over every 
 desolate feeling by which you are environed ? If you are 
 fatigued in life's journey, if the scenes and the persons 
 through which you pass are inhospitable see yonder, the 
 palace divine, the angel-friends, and the ever-blooming 
 flowers are nigh. It is not far to go ; be patient, go on, 
 and live for ever !" 
 
 In bringing these brief memorials to a close, I feel 
 that some apology is due from me to my readers for hav- 
 ing had so much of their time and attention in these rough- 
 and-ready sketches of my life and history. It has been, 
 however, with me a labour of love, and has pleasantly oc- 
 cupied my morning hours through many years, and inter- 
 vals of leisure when more pressing duties have not engaged 
 my hands and head, in jotting down for my many friends 
 some few particulars of a somewhat chequered and event- 
 ful career. 
 
 The composition of this " story of my life " has been a 
 good deal interrupted by ill health, and at other times by 
 hard work. This will, I trust, in some way account for 
 the occasional broken and disconnected character of the 
 book ; and also for other defects, for which the kind for- 
 bearance of the reader is requested. The writer disclaims 
 every other pretension to merit but that of drawing his 
 materials either from personal observation or from the most 
 reliable sources. How far he has succeeded he must leave 
 to the judgment of his friends and readers. He can only 
 say that
 
 Books and Authors. 387 
 
 " Whoever thinks a faultless piece to see, 
 Thinks what ne'er was, nor is, nor e'er shall be. 
 In every work regard the writer's end, 
 Since none can compass more than they intend." 
 
 I fear that I have sometimes inadvertently made use of 
 that which others have written, inasmuch as I have been 
 accustomed in my reading to make extracts of particular 
 passages that have pleased me, with comments of my own, 
 without in many cases stating the source from whence they 
 were obtained. These extracts have been accumulating for 
 more than a quarter of a century, and often in stumbling 
 over some of them I have been not a little puzzled to dis- 
 tinguish my own compositions from those of others, as, 
 when they were written, I had not the most remote inten- 
 tion of giving them publicity. Should this be the case, I 
 ask to be forgiven, as I am fully and gratefully conscious 
 that I owe very much to books. I have no claim to origin- 
 ality, and am glad of the opportunity thus afforded me of 
 publicly acknowledging my obligations, not only to the 
 great and illustrious dead, but also to many living authors 
 for having enriched my mind with treasures that are 
 priceless. 
 
 I can never fully express the delight and gratification 
 that I have derived from reading. My stammering tongue 
 drove me into solitude as a youth, from a feeling of ner- 
 vous sensitive shame, and I found in books the friends and 
 companionship that I could not hope for in society. At the 
 time referred to I could truly say 
 
 " That I can never with unmingled joy 
 Meet a long-loved, and long-expected friend, 
 Because I feel, but cannot vent my feelings, 
 Because I know I ought, but must not speak, 
 Because I mark his quick, impatient eye 
 Striving in kindness to anticipate 
 The word of welcome, strangled in its birth ! 
 Is it not sorrow, while I truly love 
 Sweet social converse, to be forced to shun 
 The happy circle, from a nervous sense, 
 An agonizing, poignant consciousness
 
 388 The Bible. 
 
 That I must stand aloof, nor mingle with 
 The wise and good, in rational argument, 
 The young in brilliant quickness of reply, 
 Friendship's ingenuous interchange of mind, 
 Affection's open-hearted sympathies, 
 But feel myself an isolated being, 
 A very wilderness of widow'd thought !" 
 
 I have made acquaintances with men in books that I 
 shall hope to meet elsewhere, there to tell them how much 
 I loved them here, and tried hard to tread in their foot- 
 prints. What a world of worthies is thrown open to the 
 man or woman that will read. And among books, there is 
 first and foremost the grand old volume of sacred story 
 the wonderful book that we learnt to reverence at our 
 mother's knee ; and let me say, that no man or woman, 
 learned or unlearned, be they of noble birth and lofty 
 lineage, can boast to be well-informed if they have never 
 read and studied the Scriptures. I can hardly imagine 
 that these pages will meet the eye of one who has not 
 made himself acquainted with the Bible; but if there 
 should be even one among my readers of whom this is 
 true, let me entreat him to read at once this hitherto neg- 
 lected volume, which, even as a literary production, is 
 intensely interesting, and which, by God's grace, may 
 make him " wise unto salvation." 
 
 For my own part, I can say, with the great Scotch 
 divine,* " I do think that, without disparagement to human 
 authorship which in many instances is in the highest 
 degree helpful to the inquirer still, the main road to 
 light and comfort, and a solid establishment in the way 
 that leadeth to life everlasting, is the reading the Scrip- 
 tures with prayer." 
 
 What should we have known of our first great pro- 
 genitor and his beauteous helpmeet, fresh and fair from 
 the hand of their Maker, but for the Bible ? How often 
 have I gazed upon them in their primal glory, when all 
 
 * Dr. Chalmers.
 
 Scripture Worthies. 389 
 
 around was bathed in beauty, and have joined them in 
 their orisons, as 
 
 " Lowly they bow'd adoring." 
 And when they had partaken of 
 
 "The fruit 
 
 Of that forbidden tree, whose mortal taste 
 Brought death into the world, and all our woe," 
 
 my sympathies have been so stirred that I would almost 
 have left even the garden of the Lord to have gone with 
 them, as 
 
 " They hand in hand, with wandering steps and slow, 
 Through Eden took their solitary way." 
 
 What should we have known of Xoah, " faithful among 
 the faithless," when " all flesh had corrupted his way upon 
 the earth," and when he stood unmoved at the sneers and 
 derision of a ribald and godless multitude, if the sacred 
 historian had not informed us ? 
 
 To the same sacred source are we indebted for what we 
 know of Abraham, the father of a great multitude. His 
 personal history, as therein recorded, is intensely interest- 
 ing, as also are the typical circumstances connected with 
 it. The Divine command to offer up Isaac as " a burnt 
 offering," is to my mind the most staggering fact recorded 
 in the Bible. It has been to me the greatest moral diffi- 
 culty in the whole range of revelation, and I have turned 
 to commentators in vain for any satisfactory exposition. 
 The immolation of human victims, particularly of that 
 which was the most precious, the first-born child, appears 
 to have been a common usage among many early nations, 
 and more especially by the tribes by which Abraham 
 was surrounded. But it must be remembered that the 
 Mosaic religion held human sacrifices in abhorrence, and 
 the God of the Patriarchs had hitherto imposed no duties 
 which were repugnant to the better feelings of our nature. 
 For these reasons the trial was the more severe to
 
 390 Abraham's Trial 
 
 Abraham's faith. He must, therefore, have not only been 
 fully assured of the Divine command, but he must have, 
 at the same time, believed in the Divine rectitude. The 
 only conclusion that I can arrive at is that his was a 
 simple and sublime act of unhesitating obedience to the 
 command of God. To see the real and terrible difficulties 
 of the good old man is to place yourself in his stead, and 
 as the conflicting feelings of the father on the one hand, 
 and the desire to obey God on the other, are struggling 
 in his heaving bosom, we shall see the last proof of perfect 
 reliance on the Divine rectitude, and the certain accom- 
 plishment of the Divine promises. The father of the 
 faithful believed that Isaac, so miraculously bestowed, 
 could be as miraculously restored. 
 
 Who can think of Isaac but with admiration, as he 
 stands before his father, in the prime and strength of his 
 manhood, the willing victim to parental requirements, 
 when, from his age, he might have resisted his aged 
 father? How strikingly calculated this remarkable history 
 to direct our thoughts to a more exalted personage whom 
 Isaac prefigured, and to a more astounding transaction 
 represented by that on Mount Moriah ! 
 
 Who among us that is familiar with sacred story has 
 not gone out with the thoughtful and meditative Isaac at 
 even-tide as he mused in his mind relating to the wife 
 to be selected for him by his father's faithful servant, 
 although there are few among us in these days that would 
 render such a proof of their filial attachment ? 
 
 But for the Bible, what should we have known of the 
 interesting and chequered life of Jacob ? 
 
 To the same old book are we indebted for the full- 
 length portraiture of the illustrious legislator of the 
 Israelites, Moses, a prince among the nobles of the earth, 
 and second only to Him of whom he wrote. There also 
 we read of his successor, Joshua, the son of Nun ; and 
 who can follow him in his wanderings with the ancient 
 Israelites and not admire the piety, courage, and dis-
 
 The Shepherd King. 391 
 
 interested integrity which are so conspicuous throughout 
 the whole history of that great general ? 
 
 Then there is Elijah the Tishbite, one of the most 
 eminent of the Jewish prophets, who set himself like a 
 wall of brass in opposition to the idolatry of the times ; 
 and afterwards his disciple and successor in the prophetic 
 office, Elisha, a worthy follower of one of the heroes of 
 sacred story. 
 
 We come on to David, the shepherd king, who, in 
 addition to his regal qualities, was the " sweet singer of 
 Israel," a singularly valiant man, of a comely person, 
 and one favoured of the Lord. Who can listen to his 
 sacred harp without getting some of its melodies into his 
 own heart ? Who can go out with him, when he was but 
 a mere stripling, to fight with the gigantic champion who 
 defied the armies of Israel, and hear him saying with the 
 confidence of a child, " The Lord that delivered me out of 
 the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, 
 lie will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine ? " 
 And yet, with all this trust in God, we see David's wisdom 
 in selecting the best means to bring about the giant's 
 destruction. Where is the Christian who has not had his 
 inner life fed and cherished by the hymns of David, which 
 excel no less in sublimity and tenderness of expression, 
 than in loftiness and purity of religious sentiment? In 
 comparison with these inspired productions the sacred 
 poetry of all time sinks into mediocrity. The songs 
 which cheered the solitude of the desert caves of Engedi, 
 or resounded from the united voices of the Hebrew people 
 as they wandered through the glens, and climbed the 
 hill-sides of Judsea, have been repeated for ages in almost 
 every part of the habitable world ; in the remotest islands 
 of the ocean ; among the primeval forests of America, and 
 the scorching sands of Africa. How many human hearts 
 have these inspired songs softened, purified, and exalted ! 
 Of how many wretched beings have they been the sacred 
 consolation.
 
 392 Solomon, Daniel, etc. 
 
 Who can read of Solomon, at once the wisest and the 
 weakest of men, the builder of the first temple made with 
 hands., where dwelt the miraculous cloud of the Divine 
 presence, so that the priests could no longer stand to 
 perform the functions of their ministry, without seeing in 
 him the type of one who was greater than Solomon and 
 the temple also ? It is from the Bible that we learn that 
 he exceeded in riches and wisdom all the kings of the 
 earth, and from the same impartial source we see how, 
 with all his wisdom and wealth, that he was weak as 
 water, when, in his declining years, his wives and concu- 
 bines perverted his heart, so that he worshipped Ashtoreth, 
 Molech, and Chemosh, for whom he built temples in 
 Jerusalem, and thus openly insulted the Majesty he had 
 once adored. 
 
 In the Bible we learn how the princely Daniel was 
 faithful to the God of Heaven, in the midst of the idolatries 
 and wickednesses of the courts of Babylon and Persia. 
 
 Passing over many others that might be named, who 
 may be denominated " the lesser lights " of sacred story, 
 we come into the New Testament, and are confronted at 
 once with Incarnate Wisdom and Almighty Love, and are 
 introduced to all the great and illustrious names recorded 
 for our imitation in those sacred writings. 
 
 And what shall I more say ? for the time would fail me 
 to tell of the muster-roll of worthies, " who through faith 
 subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained pro- 
 mises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence 
 of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were 
 made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the 
 armies of the aliens. Women received their dead raised 
 to life again ; and others were tortured, not accepting de- 
 liverance ; and others had trial of cruel mockings and 
 scourgings, yea, -moreover, of bonds and imprisonment ; 
 they were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, 
 were slain with the sword ; they wandered about in sheep- 
 skins and goatskins ; being destitute, afflicted, tormented ;
 
 Authorship and Critics. 393 
 
 (of whom the world was not worthy) ; they wandered in 
 deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the 
 earth." 
 
 And now my work is done. These pages that have for 
 many years been the companions of my solitude, that have 
 wooed me to record my thoughts and feelings, whether they 
 have been joyous or sad, will be placed in other hands, and 
 looked at and read not only by kind and loving friends, 
 for whose entertainment they were at first written, but to 
 be scrutinized and conned by the critic whose office it is to 
 pronounce judgment upon those who, for any reason, claim 
 the right of authorship. 
 
 Be it so, " what I have written I have written." I 
 know there are many blunders, both of style and compo- 
 sition, that I would fain have corrected, but which must 
 now stand as they are. My book is, like myself, a strange 
 mixture of good and evil ; of mirth and sadness, of some 
 follies that are hardly becoming in a man who has long 
 since passed the meridian of his days, and whose thoughts 
 do now take a more sober colouring as the shadows of life 
 darken and deepen. But judge not harshly of my early 
 follies, gentle reader, 
 
 " The cold in heart are cold in blood, 
 
 Their love can scarce deserve the name ; 
 But mine was like a lava flood 
 
 That boils in ^Etna's breast of flame. 
 * * * 
 
 'Tis true, I could not whine, nor sigh, 
 I knew but to obtain or die." 
 
 I fear that some of my Kentish friends will think that 
 I have not said very much of my native county. I left it 
 for the " Great Metropolis" when I was a youth, and since 
 then my time has been so occupied that, until lately, I have 
 only been able to spend parts of my vacation amid its 
 beauties. 
 
 I go back to Kent always as to my first love ; and if I 
 have said little of the county where I first saw the light, I
 
 394 Kent. 
 
 am glad to find that our great Shakespeare has worthily 
 embalmed it in his wondrous pages, as, 
 
 " Kent, in the Commentaries Caesar writ, 
 Is term'd the civil'st place of all this Isle ; 
 Sweet is the country, because full of riches ; 
 The people liberal, valiant, active, wealthy." 
 
 I am writing these concluding pages where I spent 
 some years of my early life ; and as I look round with 
 never-wearying eye upon the brown and golden autumnal 
 woods, and see on every hand the ripened and mellowed 
 fruits carefully gathered, I am reminded not only that we 
 " fade as the leaf," but that we also fall as they do ; and 
 that as the fruits of the earth are gathered into garners, so 
 we also must wait patiently till the Great Husbandman shall 
 beckon us away. And although such scenes and reflections 
 awaken within us a chastened and pensive feeling as the 
 truth comes home to each heart that " it is appointed unto 
 men once to die," yet wherefore should we fear ? The 
 many assurances from the Book of the Lord that He who 
 made this beautiful world for man's enjoyment here, and 
 has surrounded him with all the loving ministries that 
 sweeten life, has provided another place, " our Father's 
 house," where there are joys that " eye hath not seen, ear 
 hath not heard, neither has the heart of man conceived." 
 
 And not only so, but when man had fallen hopelessly 
 from his ancestral glory, " God so loved the world, that 
 He gave His only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth 
 in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." This 
 knowledge of salvation through a crucified Saviour must 
 come, not only to the outward ear, and be read by the na- 
 tural eye, but must, by God's grace, be received into the 
 heart, and have an abiding-place there, so that we may 
 say, not with hypocritical cant and self-delusion, but in 
 sober thoughtfulness " He loved me, and gave Himself 
 for me." 
 
 Let us give ourselves to Christ and His salvation, and 
 our fears to the wind. When we came into this world
 
 Natural Partings. 395 
 
 there were loving hearts and tender hands to minister to 
 our helplessness, and to enfold us in their bosom ; and 
 when our eyes are closed in death, and we cease to recog- 
 nize the dear familiar faces that gather around our bed, 
 and are unable to return the gentle pressure of the trem- 
 bling hand that holds ours, and hear no longer the melody 
 of voices we have long loved, then shall angel-hands bear 
 our freed and ransomed spirit from ah 1 the trammels of 
 earth " through the portals of praise, to the temple of 
 light," and there, before the eternal throne, at our Father's 
 feet cast our blood-bought crowns of victory, and, as the 
 waving palm-branch is given to us, hear in soft and thril- 
 ling accents, from the lips of Him who once was crucified, 
 the welcome and transporting words " Well done, good 
 and faithful servant, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord." 
 These, gentle reader, are my concluding thoughts ; and 
 yet when I gaze around me upon the fair and beautiful 
 face of nature, and think of those I love, I weep 
 
 " Tears, idle tears, I know not what they mean, 
 Tears from the depth of some divine despair 
 Rise in the heart and gather to the eyes. 
 In looking on the happy autumn fields, 
 And thinking of the days that are no more." 
 
 In parting with my book, and with my readers, I am 
 reminded of other partings. Natural partings are painful 
 and tear asunder our hearts, but spiritual partings are far 
 more distressing. The writer of these pages was once 
 witness to a scene on the platform of one of our railways 
 that he will never forget. It was early morning, and there 
 was all the bustle going on of the necessary preparations 
 for the departure of a train. Aside from the crowd stood a 
 little group consisting of a father and mother, and a young 
 girl of about nineteen, who was leaving her native land 
 with two friends, who were returning to one of our distant 
 colonies. The time for the train to start had expired, and 
 this little group moved towards the carriage that was to bear 
 away a first-born darling child to the ship
 
 396 Spiritual Partings. 
 
 " That sinks with all we love below the western wave." 
 
 Oh, what a parting was that, where the lines were veri- 
 fied with terrible faithfulness 
 
 " When eyes are beaming, 
 
 What never tongue might tell ; 
 When tears are streaming 
 
 From their crystal cell; 
 When hands are link'd, that dread to part, 
 
 And heart is press'd to throbbing heart ; 
 Oh ! bitter bitter is the smart, 
 
 Of those that say farewell !" 
 
 Never shall I forget that mother's countenance, and the 
 dumb agonized look of the father, who struggled to master 
 the strong emotions that made him stagger like a drunken 
 man, as the train moved slowly out of the station, and they 
 stood silently gazing up the line, long after the carriages 
 were out of sight. 
 
 This was a scene that will long be remembered ; but 
 there are spiritual partings that are even more solemn and 
 affecting. To take leave of those we have talked with 
 upon the great matter of the soul's salvation, and whom 
 we have tenderly and affectionately warned " to flee from 
 the wrath to come," is intensely painful, and is also fraught 
 with consequences of the greatest possible moment. Oh ! 
 that I could hope and believe that some who have read my 
 humble pages, and who have hitherto neglected their eter- 
 nal welfare, have been led by anything I have written to 
 moral thoughtfulness, and to yield themselves to God, our 
 Father. If so, let the following beautiful lines of one of 
 the " sweetest singers of Israel" be the expression of your 
 heart 
 
 " God, mine inmost soul convert, 
 And deeply on my thoughtful heart 
 
 Eternal things impress ; 
 Give me to feel their solemn weight, 
 And tremble on the brink of fate, 
 
 And wake to righteousness.
 
 Farewell. 397 
 
 Before me place, in dread array, 
 The pomp of that tremendous day, 
 
 When Thou with clouds shalt come 
 To judge the nations at Thy bar; 
 And tell me, Lord, shall I be there, 
 
 To meet a joyful doom ? 
 
 Be this my one great business here, 
 With serious industry and fear, 
 
 Eternal bliss to ensure ; 
 Thine utmost counsel to fulfil, 
 And suffer all Thy righteous will, 
 
 And to the end endure. 
 
 Then, Saviour, then my soul receive, 
 Transported from this vale, to live 
 
 And reign with Thee above; 
 Where faith is sweetly lost in sight, 
 And hope in full supreme delight, 
 
 And everlasting love." 
 
 We must now separate, my kind and patient reader, 
 you to take upon yourself the responsibility of having heard 
 again and again the offer made to you from God's Word 
 of pardon, sanctification, and eternal life, through Jesus 
 Christ our Lord and Saviour, and I to render an account 
 of what I have written. We shall meet again. May it 
 be in heaven ! 
 
 As I take a parting glance at these pages I say from 
 my heart 
 
 " Go forth, book ! baptized with tears ; 
 Tremble no more with modest fears ; 
 
 With love thou shalt be blest. 
 If any greet thee with disdain, 
 Suffer, but not parade thy pain, 
 
 And meekly do thy best. 
 
 O book ! if any show thee slight, 
 
 Thou knowest with pain and with delight 
 
 Thou of the heart wast born ; 
 Hast in thee life of shade and shower, 
 Of sunny and of starry hour, 
 
 Of evening and of dawn.
 
 398 Last Words. 
 
 A little while and he who writes, 
 With silent voice and pen laid down, 
 In quiet earth shall lie. 
 
 Inspiring Saviour, unto Thee 
 My work 1 give in fealty, 
 
 Thy life I have, and seek : 
 Accept this sacrifice, Lord ; 
 Weak am I, but if therefore strong, 
 
 O keep me ever weak !" 
 
 One more word, and I have done. I hope I have not 
 written a line in these pages that shall leave a stain he- 
 hind, or shall be a matter of regret in my last hours. I 
 have put my pen through many a passage which, though 
 true, too true, might nevertheless lead many a youth to 
 do what I would fain have him avoid. And, finally, let 
 me remind all who have glanced over these brief reminis- 
 cences of my chequered and eventful life, that 
 
 " We live in deeds, not years ; in thoughts, not breaths ; 
 In feelings, not in figures on a dial. 
 We should count time by heart-throbs. He most lives 
 Who thinks most -feels the noblest ACTS THE BEST."
 
 INDEX. 
 
 (BERDEEN, 278. 
 Abergeldie Castle, 
 
 278. 
 Achray, Loch, 246, 
 
 247. 
 
 Ainslie, Rev. R. 
 202, 203. 
 
 Argyle, Duke of, 255-257. 
 Ashfbrd, 20. 
 
 Athole, Duke of, 242, 282-284. 
 Augustine, Saint, Monastery of, 
 
 48-50. 
 Awe, Loch, 257-259. 
 
 BAINES, Edw. M.P. 384, 385. 
 Balmoral, 278-280. 
 Bannavie, 263, 265. 
 Baptism and Baptists, 339-350. 
 Bay ham Abbey, 300. 
 Baylee, Rev. Mr. 187, 188. 
 Betchley Park, 307. 
 Bible, biographies of the, 388- 
 
 393. 
 Bible, inspiration of the, 186- 
 
 192. 
 
 Blair Athole, 240, 242. 
 " Boar Shields," 66. 
 Bolton, Tom, 31. 
 Box Hill, 308-310. 
 Bradner, Pass of, 258, 259. 
 Braemar, 242, 279-282. 
 Brent, Mr. J. junior, 8, 9. 
 Bright, John, Esq. 369, 371. 
 Bruar, Falls of, 284. 
 Buchael Etive, 261, 262. 
 
 Burford Bridge Hotel, 309, 
 
 310, 312. 
 
 Burns, Rev. J. D. 336-338. 
 Byron, Lord, 179, 220, 232, 
 
 280. 
 
 CALEDONIAN Canal, 266-269. 
 
 Canterbury, 8-71. 
 
 Cazalet, Rev. W. W. 185, 213, 
 
 216. 
 Chalmers, Dr. 231, 233, 248, 
 
 373, 388. 
 Channing's, Dr." Self-Culture," 
 
 122. 
 
 Chick, Mr. Wm. 316. 
 " Church in the House," 352. 
 Clements, Fred. 30, 31. 
 Cobden, Richard, Esq. 371. 
 Conder, Josiah, 92. 
 Congregationalism, 286. 
 Cornwall, Captain, 327. 
 Courtenay, Sir Wm. 62-65. 
 Coutts, Miss Burdett, 330. 
 Crofton, Sir W. 323. 
 Cromwell, Oliver, 270. 
 Cruacban, Ben, 257, 258. 
 
 DISSENTER, a " political," 367, 
 
 368. 
 
 Dorking, 305-315. 
 Dublin Young Men's Christian 
 
 Association, 32. 
 Dynedor Hill, 324, 325. 
 
 EDINBURGH, 231-234. 
 Elliott, Bill, 66.
 
 400 
 
 Index. 
 
 Etive, Glen, 259-261. 
 
 FLOGGING, 15. 
 Foster, John, 1,385. 
 Foss, Pastor of, 241, 242. 
 Fountain Hotel, 30. 
 Powers, Falls of, 269. 
 Frankfort, 229, 230. 
 Fry, Caroline, 323. 
 
 GALLAWAY, Rev. J. C. 152. 
 Garrawalt, Falls of, 279. 
 Georgii, Professor, 361. 
 Gibbon, Edward, 205. 
 Gladstone, Rt. Hon. W. E. 369. 
 Glencoe, 261, 262. 
 Glencroe, 250. 
 Goethe, 230. 
 Grove-Ferry, 291-293. 
 Gwynne, IS 1 ell, 326. 
 
 HALL, Rev. Newman, 207. 
 Hall, Rev. Robert, 129, 130, 
 
 367. 
 
 Hamilton, Rev. J. D.D. 337. 
 Hamilton, Dr. Winter, 154, 155. 
 Hampden, Bishop, 325. 
 Harvey, James, Esq. 333. 
 Hawthornden, 234, 235. 
 Hereford Cathedral, 315-318. 
 Hereford county gaol, 319-323. 
 Herne Bay, 53. 
 Highlands, the, 235-243, 291. 
 Hope, A. J. B. Esq. 49. 
 Howard, John, 322, 323. 
 Howley, Archbishop, 54-56. 
 "Hummums, The, 364-366. 
 
 IRVING, Edward, 231, 233. 
 Italian Opera, 77-79. 
 
 JUDSON, Dr. A. 339-341. 
 
 KENT, 8-71, 291-296, 393, 394. 
 Kent, Man of, 8, 9. 
 Kentish Chronicle, 5. 
 Kentish Men, 8, 9. 
 Killiecrankie, Pass of, 242, 284. 
 King's School, Canterbury, 14. 
 Kingsley, Rev. Charles, 367. 
 Kinnoul Hill, 287. 
 Knatchbull, Sir E. 65-67. 
 
 LANDELS, Rev. W. 123, 158, 159. 
 
 Ling, Peter Henry, 361, 362. 
 Loch-na-Garr, 280. 
 Lomond, Ben, 235, 248. 
 Lomond, Loch, 235, 236. 
 Lusbington, Dr. 144. 
 Lynch, Rev. T. T. " The Rivu- 
 let," 110. 
 
 MACAULAY, Lord, 115, 116. 
 Marshall, Sir Chapman, 75. 
 Millard, Edward, 304. 
 Milton, John, 115, 116. 
 "Mountain Pecker Club," 35,36. 
 
 NAPOLEON I, 37. 
 
 Nevis, Ben, 263, 264. 
 
 Nevis, Glen, 264, 265. 
 
 Nonconformist, reasons for be- 
 coming a, 143-149. 
 
 Nonconformists, literature of, 
 92. 
 
 PALMERSTON, Lord, 251. 
 Panizzi, A. Esq. 170, 171, 199, 
 
 218. 
 
 Penshurst, 301-303. 
 Perth, 287-290. 
 Preaching and preachers, 371- 
 
 381. 
 Prince Consort, H. R. H. the, 
 
 279. 
 
 Price, John, 328. 
 Punshon, Rev. W. Morley,339, 
 
 380. 
 Puritan Divines, 115. 
 
 QUEEN, H. M. THE, 279, 280. 
 
 RECULVER, 296. 
 
 Regent's Park Chapel, 201, 202. 
 
 Repentance, a death bed, 358- 
 
 360. 
 
 Rousseau, 226. 
 Royal Artillery, 69, 81-83. 
 Rubens, Peter Paul, 295. 
 Russell, Earl, 251, 252. 
 
 SANDERSON, the late R. B. Esq. 
 
 351-357. 
 
 Scott, Mr. G. G. 316, 317. 
 Scott, Sir W. 231, 233, 235, 246, 
 
 247.
 
 Index. 
 
 401 
 
 Shaftesbury, Earl of, 137. 
 Shakespeare, 230, 270. 
 Shuttleworth, Sir J. P. Kay, 
 
 203, 204. 
 Smith, Alex. 290. 
 Smith, Rev. Sydney, 171. 
 Smoking, 366, 367. 
 Southey's, Robert, tribute to 
 
 Telford, 267. 
 
 Spurgeon, Rev. C. H. 271, 379. 
 Stammering, 16, 104-107, 128, 
 
 129, 156, 157, 211-220. 
 Stirling and Stirling Castle, 245, 
 
 246. 
 
 Stour, River, 292, 293. 
 Straiten, Rev. J. 193-196. 
 
 TALLY Ho ! COACHES, 30, 31. 
 Tay, Loch, 238. 
 Taymouth Castle, 238-240, 278. 
 Telford, Thomas, 53, 266-268. 
 Thurlow, Lord, 14. 
 Tilt, Glen, 282-285. 
 Tobacco, 366, 367. 
 Trossachs, 236, 246. 
 Trossachs' Hotel, 237. 
 Tuileries, Palace of the, 224. 
 Tummel, Falls of, 84. 
 
 Turkish Bath, 362-366. 
 Tussaud, Madame, 37. 
 
 UNITARIAN Worthies, 338. 
 
 Upstreet, 291, 296. 
 
 Urquhart, David, Esq. 364, 365. 
 
 VENN, Rev. John, 318. 
 Versailles, 227. 
 Voltaire, 226. 
 
 WALFORD, Rev. W. 360. 
 Walpole, Sir Robert, 164. 
 Watson, Rev. Richard, 339. 
 Wayland, Professor, Life of 
 
 Judson, 339. 
 Wesley, John, 339. 
 Westminster Abbey, 76. 
 Whately, Archbishop, 32, 97, 
 
 98, 205, 206. 
 Whitstable Railway, 52. 
 Wilson, Mr. Thomas, 89. 
 Wright, Mr. Samuel, 30. 
 Wye, River, 323, 325. 
 
 Young Men's Christian Associ- 
 ation, 32.
 
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 TOOKS COURT, CHANCERY LANK.
 
 BY THE SAME AUTHOR. 
 
 Preparing for immediate publication, printed by 
 
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 A CENTURY OE GLEANINGS Fh,OM 
 KENTISH NEWSPAPERS, 
 
 HISTOKICAL, BIOGRAPHICAL, ANECDOTAL, 
 POLITICAL, AND DOMESTIC. 
 
 RELATING TO THE COUNTY OF KENT. 
 
 17361836. 
 
 ' Kent, in the Commentaries Csesar writ, 
 Is term'd the civil'st place of all this Isle. 
 Sweet is the country, because full of riches ; 
 The people liberal, valiant, active, wealthy." 
 
 SHAKESPEARE. 
 
 EDITED BY 
 
 REGINALD FITZ-ROY STANLEY, M.A. 
 
 As only a limited number of copies will be printed, tbose 
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 the editor, 3, Bickerton-terrace, Maitland-park, London, 
 N.W.
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY 
 
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 A 000 035 405 o 
 
 145 [Cowtan (R.)] Passages from 
 .utobiography of a " Man of Kent j to- 
 ther with a Few Rough Pen-and-ink 
 cetches by the same hand of some of the 
 People he has met ... . 1817-65, 1865 8s 6d