John Edward Acland

“ A large room was set apart purposely for the work, and called “the Concordance room,” which was all coloured over p. 39with green, pleasant colour, varnished for the more pleasure to their eyes, and round the upper part of the walls were sentences written, suggested by each person of the family and some good friends, such as “Glory be to God on high,” “Prosper Thou, O Lord, the work of our hands,” “Innocency is never better lodged than at the sign of labour,” “The industrious man hath no leisure to sin; and the idle man hath no power to avoid sin.” ”

“ The younger children first assembled in the great hall, where was always a good warm fire in the winter. Here they found Nicholas Ferrar awaiting them, to whom they repeated such chapters or Psalms as they had been given to learn. After this they returned to their rooms to make themselves “more comely in their best attires.” Breakfast, and private reading or conversation in their own rooms, went on till nine o’clock, when the bell called them together again. They all met in the great hall, and, having sung a hymn, proceeded in decent order to the church. ”

“ The house at Little Gidding contained two married families, the boys and girls all growing up together. The girls were purposely trained in such domestic matters as would fit them for good wives, and five of them did eventually marry. The two eldest alone, having reached the ages of thirty and thirty-two, resolved to remain unmarried, but in no way took vows. Nicholas Ferrar himself was once taxed with having started a “nunnery,” and replied that the name of “nuns” was odious, and declared himself against such vows of single life with great earnestness. ”

“ To do this without confusion was no easy task, for every word of all four Evangelists is in the Harmony, and yet in reading them as one connected story there is no repetition. The whole of the Gospel history is divided for this purpose into one hundred and fifty heads or chapters, each chapter containing some special subject, and being made complete by the bringing together the words of each Evangelist treating of that subject. ”

“ Every hour of the day had some special employment, some of the children sitting in the great hall watched by Mrs. Ferrar, some in the new school-house with the masters. Their occupations were as varied as possible: English, Latin, and other languages, writing and ciphering, and learning by heart being interspersed with singing, playing the organ, and other instruments, making the Concordances, bookbinding and gilding, and embroidery. At stated times the boys were encouraged in active outdoor exercises, running, leaping, and archery. ”

“ Prince Charles asked the King to give him the first Harmony, but was met with the reply “that he might not part with it, as he used it daily.” A request was therefore sent to Gidding that a Harmony might be prepared for the Prince, and Mr. Ferrar being dead, the Miss Colletts and their cousin, Nicholas Ferrar (junior) , decided to complete a Concordance similar to the first, but in four languages, English, Latin, French, and Italian. ”

“ Analogous to this, and no doubt a development of it, were “The maiden-sisters exercises.” These were conversations or dialogues recited by the Miss Colletts, illustrative of some special virtue, and always enforced by examples taken from history.
The sisters, for this purpose, were known by such titles as The Patient, The Cheerful, The Affectionate, etc., and formed themselves into what they called “The Little Academy,” of which Mary Collett was “The Chief,” Mrs. Collett was called “The Moderator,” John Ferrar “The Guardian,” and Nicholas Ferrar “The Visitor.” ”

“ At eight o’clock there was more singing to the organ, followed by prayers, and then the children, after asking the “old gentlewoman’s” blessing, all bid each good night.
Mr. Ferrar also made it his special care that no p. 16work in the house should prevent the servants attending church; there were none left behind; and on the Sundays when the Holy Communion was administered, “the servants that had feasted with them in the church were not thought unworthy to eat with them in the parlour,” sitting at the end of the same table. ”

“ The notoriety attaching to the Concordances can be easily accounted for by the great interest shown in the work by King Charles I. There does not appear to be any evidence to show that the King knew Nicholas Ferrar personally, before he first heard of the Concordance which was in daily use at Gidding. The family had settled there the very year King Charles I. began to reign, but in Ferrar’s early life, as already stated, he was a distinguished public servant and Member of Parliament, and had, moreover, travelled in the suite of the King’s sister ”

“ The writer can vouch for the fact that it is quite as much as a man can do to carry it comfortably across a room. It is magnificently bound in purple velvet, with the usual gilt stamping, chiefly in patterns made of small crowns. The measurements are 2 feet 5 inches by 1 foot 8 inches, and there are nearly 450 pages of the thickest paper, besides which every page is profusely illustrated by the pasting on of engravings, in the same manner as the other Gidding works. ”

“ In former sickness I have had a strong desire to live, and an earnestness to pray to my God to spare me, which He hath to this day done, when all hopes of life were past by the judgments of the most skilful physicians ”

“ The work was promptly executed, and may now be seen in the British Museum.
The careful study of the Harmonies or Concordances is most interesting, and even in these modern times one at least is used daily as a means of instruction for the children of the family where the book has an honoured home, in much the same manner as the children at Little Gidding used it two hundred and fifty years ago. ”

“ In the library of Magdalen College, Cambridge, p. 60may be seen all the materials for a Concordance similar to that at St. John’s, Oxford, viz. “The Five Books of Moses.” There are two big bundles of folio sheets, designed and plotted out for engravings and letterpress; but no progress had been made with the work, except (curiously enough) the title-page, which was completed, and finishes with the words, “Done at Little Gidding, a.d. 1641.” ”

“ On other occasions the following subjects were selected: “Humility towards God, and moderation to equals and enemies is most beneficial,” illustrated by stories of Charles V.; “We must overcome evil with good,” illustration, John of Alexandria, etc., etc. ”

“ There is still another way in which the value of the Harmony may be tested. It is of course well-known that the historical sequence of events varies p. 45greatly in the records of the different Evangelists. To reconcile these discrepancies, is often a very difficult matter, and when combined with the other principles on which the Harmonies were constructed must have caused a great deal of trouble, and required much skilful adaptation. This part of the work can be tested by examining some one chapter of the Authorized Version, and we can then discover how the subjects are treated. ”

“ And, besides the letterpress, every page is supplied with engravings, relating to the subject in hand; and when, as often happened, they could not find an engraving to suit exactly, parts of different prints were combined, so as to make a suitable illustration; and so cleverly is this “splicing” carried out, that it is almost impossible to be sure where the pictures join.
It will give some idea of the work if a few details are given from the volume under consideration. In one place the narrative is composed of five verses from St. Matthew, seven from St. Mark, and four from St. Luke ”

“ They purposely selected a quiet part of the country to live in, that they might not be interrupted in their manifold employments; but they appear to have been always ready to receive visitors, and to treat them with hospitality. ”

“ At first it seems that the recitations were given on five festivals, which days naturally provided p. 21suitable subjects, and afterwards it was decided to increase the number to twelve days, and they pass the following resolution: “Every day must handle a new matter, that’s the injunction; and because the days afford not any special occasion, the particular names imposed on us shall be the subjects successively of our several exercises.” ”

“ The Concordances are all bound in velvet or leather, and are nearly all stamped with designs in gold, on much the same plan. The stamps chiefly p. 24used are fleurs-de-lis, acorns, sprigs of oak, etc., and the amount of ornamentation appears to depend upon the rank of the person for whom the book was intended, and also partly upon the date when the book was made, the earlier copies being much less elaborate than the later volumes. ”

“ The subjects and the substance of the exercises were supplied by Nicholas Ferrar himself, but the sisters were left to compile them in their own words. They were prepared some time beforehand, and after they had been recited were transcribed into books kept for the purpose.
p. 20Four folio volumes of these “conversations” are still in existence, and are, no doubt, in the handwriting of Mary and Ann Collett. They are bound in black leather, stamped with gilt lines, and with gilt edges, and have been passed on from one member of the family to another to the present owner, a Mr. ”

“ Their art and ability is excellent. Let them know I will not forget them. God’s blessing on their hearts, and painful hands.”
Such were the words and opinions of King Charles I., when speaking of the happy and industrious family whose life and labours at Little Gidding are described in the following pages, a family entirely devoted to good works, under the p. 6able direction of Mr. Nicholas Ferrar, whose history has happily been preserved for us with great accuracy, and which can hardly fail to be attractive. ”

“ It must not be thought that in the Concordance these extracts are printed straight off, as they read here. If that were the case, it would be open to objection that something like a new Gospel history was being compiled; but in every case, without exception, wherever words are introduced from another Evangelist, a space is left, a fresh line commenced, and the distinguishing letter placed p. ”