G. A. Birmingham

Name: Minnie's Bishop and Other Stories — IX. The Child of Our Hope
Author: G. A. Birmingham

Minnie's Bishop and Other Stories… (1915)

Summary

“Minnie's Bishop and Other Stories — IX. The Child of Our Hope”, published in 1915, is a work by G. A. Birmingham. It explores elements such as the Child of our Hope, chicken and halo.

Quotes from Minnie's Bishop and Other Stories… (G. A. Birmingham)

G. A. Birmingham, Minnie's Bishop and Other Stories… (1915)

“ I suppose this is because I do not love them much, never having had any child of my own. But I loved this child for the sake of the great hope that was in me. So I knelt beside her, and prayed for his life. Quickly, as it seemed to me, the daylight faded away, and it came to be evening and then night. Still I prayed, and I could hear her singing softly and rocking him to and fro in her arms. It grew very dark. I did not think that any night was so dark as that one was. I could see nothing except the shine of the blue halo moving gently from side to side as she swayed the child. ”

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Source: Wikisource

G. A. Birmingham, Minnie's Bishop and Other Stories… (1915)

“ IX.—THE CHILD OF OUR HOPE CHARLIE FETHERSTON was a barrister, a man with good manners, a man of brains, and he possessed, though he concealed the fact, a soul. Most people in Dublin, that is to say in Dublin society, liked him for his good manners, admired him for his brains, and did not distrust him, because they were ignorant of the existence of his soul. On the other hand, his aunt, Lady Honoria Burke, loved him for the sake of his soul. She discovered it in spite of his good manners and his brains. She had a curious power of recognising hidden possibilities in unlikely people. ”

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Source: Wikisource

G. A. Birmingham, Minnie's Bishop and Other Stories… (1915)

“ I made up my mind that I myself must kill the chicken, and I asked her for a knife.
"'Now, my dear, you are a young woman, and I am an old one. You must catch the chicken, and then you may go into the kitchen.'
"I will not tell you how I did it, though the recollection will always be with me and haunt me in my dreams at night. It was a very terrible thing for me to do, because I am a lover of all things that live, and I never willingly eat of food got by the sacrifice of life. Yet I made my heart hard and did it, thinking of the Child of our Hope, and that I had heard him cry. ”

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Source: Wikisource

G. A. Birmingham, Minnie's Bishop and Other Stories… (1915)

“ Then a young woman came near me, bearing a child in her arms. I noticed that she was shabbily dressed, and that she did not look like one of our country-women. Then I saw her no more, for my whole attention was fixed on the child she was carrying. He was a big child, perhaps four years old, too big for a woman to have in her arms; but he looked ill, and that, no doubt, was her reason for carrying him. I saw, faintly indicated, a blue halo round his head. I strained myself to the uttermost to reach the vision perfectly, and by degrees the halo became clear to me. ”

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Source: Wikisource

G. A. Birmingham, Minnie's Bishop and Other Stories… (1915)

“ Afterwards she made the broth, while I sat beside the child's cot and tried to soothe him. The beautiful blue halo was always round his head, and the figure, the glorious blazing figure, poised over him. It made me brave and patient to see it there. When the mother came in, we tried to make him take the broth; but he would not. He fought against us, and for all that we could do he would not take it. After a while we gave it up and she took him in her arms and held him, singing little French songs to quiet him. I was not able to help her because I have no skill with little children. ”

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Source: Wikisource

G. A. Birmingham, Minnie's Bishop and Other Stories… (1915)

“ In the evening I am often asked to tell fortunes from the hands of giggling girls. For a long time after a return from Dunrigh, I am unable to recover the faculty. I mention these things to you to show that on my way back to Dublin I was in no way predisposed to see visions and dream dreams.
"I reached Athlone; and there I was obliged to get out in order to change into another train. I waited on the platform, and mused on the faces of the people around me, wondering that they were all so commonplace. There was not one that had the capacity for spiritual life written on it. ”

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Source: Wikisource

G. A. Birmingham, Minnie's Bishop and Other Stories… (1915)

“ Is there no servant?'
"'I had one,' she said, 'but she went away from me last week. She would not stay, because——'
"She stopped, seeming to think that I would guess the reason. I did not wish to try, because the thing most in my mind was the need of getting the chicken killed. I asked:
"'Where is your husband?' knowing that there must be a husband somewhere because she had a gun. ”

G. A. Birmingham

Summary

Quotes from Minnie's Bishop and Other Stories… (G. A. Birmingham)

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