Marianne Farningham

“ Let those who are, on the whole, on the side of Christ join those who are whole-hearted; let them swell the numbers of the heroes and heroines, for there are hosts of them. Above all, let the Church universal come together, and forgetting, at least for awhile, the dividing lines, swear in the name of Christ to wipe out the dark red blots that lie upon Christian England. Oh! believe me, we have been too long and too utterly living for self instead of God. We have thought that Christianity was a creed only, instead of life and service. ”

“ Margaret, I am doing what I have always known I ought to do. I am at work on my own plans in this terrible London, and, God helping me, I will make a few of my own sex better and happier before I die. It makes me sick to see how wretched and wicked they are. Please be my friend, and do not let my dear father and mother, whom I love with all my heart, be more miserable than they need be. Of course, I know they are angry with me, and I deserve that they should be; it is very hard for them that they could not have a daughter like other people’s girls. ”

“ The brave knight of France has become my dear friend, and therefore there is no enmity, but only love to each other in our hearts this morning; and our friendship is none the less strong because one of us will certainly kill the other. We are both more willing to-day than ever to sacrifice our lives in the cause of peace and in the interests of our country. I am for England with all my heart, and to the very backbone—brave, heroic, Christian England. ”

“ She hoped to prove that one young woman was capable of making one young man a good wife—when the time came. Her pleasantest occupations had to do with economical housekeeping, and her imaginings were of a bright little home where hands that love made clever were instead of gold. But in that home, in her dreams, there was always a seat for John’s mother, who had at last taken to her arms the Margaret whom she once despised and hated, and a pang shot through the girl’s heart as she acknowledged that this dream was as far from realisation as ever. ”

“ We ask of our leaders that they will prove their power by making England better. We love our country, and, if necessary, we will fight for her; but we want a Hercules to clean out all the dark places and lead the people into the light. Help us, for we are not all strong, by removing from us the temptations which might cause us to fall. Send men to Parliament everywhere who will care more for the good name of England and the future well-being of her sons than for their own riches. ”

“ Have we not the right to hope that many giddy young things, who would otherwise rush into married life quite unprepared for its duties, may, under the influences of love and happiness, be brought to take more serious views of their responsibilities? I cannot imagine any better way of serving our country than by helping to raise the character of the young mothers among the people. I am casting no slur on the women of England as a whole; no one has anything but praise for the hosts of loyal, loving, enlightened, working mothers who are training their sons and daughters for high and noble futures ”

“ At this juncture, I am sorry to say that Tom Whitwell disgraced herself by beginning to cry, and John Dallington was genuinely distressed.
“Oh! pray don’t do that, Tom. Try to be your own sensible self. Why, you would never respect me again if I did this thing; and I should be sorry indeed to forfeit your good opinion. Try to look at this matter from a man’s point of view, dear. Your kindness to me has blinded you; but suppose I were William Hunter instead of John Dallington, what would you think? I shall get over my difficulties. ”

“ It is only natural that there should be sorrow when a good man dies; the world cannot afford to lose him, and the people feel in a sense orphaned. At Darentdale they had never seen such a day in the memory of the oldest inhabitant as that of the funeral of Henry Harris. Every shop was closed, every window had its blind down. No arrangement was made for a public funeral; but the people obeyed the impulses of their own hearts, and the highest and the lowest showed their sorrow in every possible way. The whole village stood around the grave, and sobbed forth its grief. ”

“ You must marry John now, Margaret. You cannot do otherwise if you have a woman’s heart, or indeed a heart of any sort.”
289“How can I? We have only just commenced our home in Yorkshire, and the man, whoever he is, will hold me to my agreement. Not that I am necessary there, for the real, moving spirit of the thing is Miss Wentworth. And as for that Andromeda Jones, whom Mary sent, she is invaluable. She will make a most clever woman; she can influence those girls as none of us can; she knows them and their ways so thoroughly; and she loves them, and they love her.” ”

“ Macdonald could not talk with any one for ten minutes without bringing in the subject of personal consecration. Tom felt sometimes as if her soul were bared before him, and he knew all about her. He was a good guide—for there was nothing of the priest about him—and he had an intense realisation—as all must have who can arouse others—of the power of the living Christ; so that his visit to Darentdale was the means of lasting good.
“It is as if the very house has been consecrated by his prayers,” said Mrs. Whitwell. “We have never had as good a man within the walls before.” ”

“ Christian brothers, let us be heroic for Christ’s sake! Let us join our forces and work together. We have our differences and divisions, and these are the things that weaken us. How long shall we ourselves hinder the fulfilment of our Lord’s prayer, ‘That they all may be one, that the world may believe that Thou hast sent Me.’ If we were to lift up the white flag of truce and fight under it, every Christian man, shoulder to shoulder, the battle of peace and righteousness could be won. These things that you deplore need not exist another year. England is so small, and, therefore, so manageable. ”

“ England will soon cease to be a corn-growing country.”
“Never mind; let England grow men,” said Dallington, “and all the other lands grow corn for them to eat. You know the English-speaking race is destined to dominate the world.”
“Say the worlds, while you are about it, John. You are a true Englishman in conceit of your country. I think the dominant race might be improved,” remarked Tom.
“So do I; but we are getting on all the same. The real aristocracy—that of character—is realising its power a little, and before you are many years older, Tom, you will see a change.” ”

“ Knight? Do let me call my wife. Kate, come here! This is news, indeed. Mr. Knight really had not any ill-feeling toward me, after all.”
“Oh! I am very glad,” said Mrs. Hancourt. “Mr. Arthur, my husband, ever since Mr. Knight’s illness, has been wondering if he had not been harsh and wrong.”
“But, Kate, you would never guess the rest. Mr. Knight has left us a legacy.”
“It is nothing to make a fuss about,” said Knight. “It is only a hundred pounds. Here is a cheque for the amount.”
“A hundred pounds?” It was all that Hancourt could say. He changed colour, and struggled for composure. ”

“ The time is surely come for us to choose sides afresh—and there are only two sides from which to choose, that of Christ, and that of unrighteousness. I call upon you to divest yourselves of all encumbrances. (Think of the man with the muck-rake calling himself a Christian!) Come and arrange yourselves under the Flag of Truce. Do you not know yet, after all these years, what our Lord has been teaching all along, that the world will never believe that God sent Jesus until His disciples are one? It is the Church, and not the world that hinders the coming of His Kingdom. ”

“ But all the pain went from him, and when he turned and walked back with her, and the sweet summer sun kissed them both, while the birds sang as if in sympathy with their joy, he felt strong enough and brave enough to do everything. And he took her at once into his confidence. Every one else did the same; it was wonderful how many secrets of sorrow had been given to Margaret to keep, young as she was; but it was no wonder that Dallington felt the comfort and strength of her sympathy. ”

“ Let me tell the ladies who have spoken that there are hosts of us quite ready to form a new army of Volunteer Crusaders. But we want a little help and encouragement; we are so cowardly, afraid and ashamed of appearing as good as we are. Could not another word for good be invented? We would rather face a lion than the stigma of being called goody-goody; but let nobody on that account suppose that our hatred of wrong, and our indignation against the wrong-doer, is any less hot in us than in our fathers. We have been born with consciences, and we have energy enough to battle with anything. ”

“ It was evening, and Ann Johnson had gone to visit some friends, so that Margaret was left in the house alone. Her thoughts were very sad ones. She was trying to face her future and arrange her course of action, but it was very difficult. She shrank from a lonely lot, as every woman does. And what was she to do? The new work that was waiting for her seemed less attractive now. The poor girls who needed care and love and training became less interesting to her mind as she thought of her own position, and felt that she was herself a poor girl, needing everything. ”

“ John’s happiness ought to be of far more consequence to you than his mother’s good opinion. The one you can insure; the other you may deserve, but it is doubtful if you will get it.”
“You are not very encouraging, Tom; but I do not despair, notwithstanding all that you say, and I know, of Mrs. Hunter. She will, perhaps, receive me yet as a daughter some day, if I am patient. My grandfather often says that all things come to those who wait, and I am only in a hurry for John’s sake.”
Margaret spoke the last three words with such tender emphasis that the colour came into Tom’s face. ”

“ Sirs, we are the masters in England; why, then, do we allow the things which shame us to exist? Only because we are craven and selfish, and small when we ought to be great; only because we care more for our denominations, and our party, and our own personal ease than for Christ and righteousness. Shall we change all this? You are able. Are you willing and ready? Will you, sons of Wesley, who occupy the middle position between the Church of England and Nonconformity, lead the way?”
Cries of “Yes, yes!” greeted this appeal, and when Knight sat down many rose to their feet to echo his words. ”

“ You will never be a rich woman, though, Margaret; and I hope you will be content to let Mr. Dallington fight this battle of limited means himself. I am an old man now, and I have learnt a few things in my life, and one is that if a battle be fought nobly, even though one’s antagonist be ignoble, the result is beneficial to a real, true man. John Dallington’s great trouble is that he wants more money than he has. He must learn either to do without it or to get it. That is the daily worry which is spoiling many men’s lives; but John is made of stuff too good surely to let it spoil his. ”

“ All the earth doth worship Thee, the Father everlasting.” Then dark forms were seen coming quietly towards them; and presently Dallington said to Knight, “They are the people from the village; they have come over the hill to wish you a Happy New Year. Ah! the thousands who would like to do the same thing! How well they sing!” And indeed they did sing, joining in the anthem, as if every one was contrasting the joy of this New Year with the sorrows of past days, and feeling such joy and thankfulness as could only be expressed in praise to the Great Father. ”

“ Is it not sad that, besides these, the only other places to which they have the entrée are the ‘sing-song’ rooms connected with the larger public-houses—snares and traps of the evil one to ruin both body and soul? The haunts of vice and folly are open nightly to our factory girls, but should the Church of Christ leave it to the world, the flesh, and the devil to care for them? ”

“ No provision has been made here for three institutions, which we all admit to be good where they are necessary; but which, I hope, will not be necessary in our own village of Craighelbyl—they are the poor-house, the hospital, and the Sunday-school. There is no poor-house, because we do not mean to have any poor. There is to be a compulsory system of insurance, by which an income for the sick and the aged will be provided, and which will be supplemented by a scale of pensions to be paid out of the profits of the business. I want every one to enjoy the blessings of independence. ”

“ He is the finest boy, handsome to look at, and grand to trust in. There was a scene to be remembered the other day. Felix told the lad of his trouble, and he at once seemed to comprehend it all. He told his mother and his sisters more than they had guessed before, and then—it was the strangest thing—he knelt down and prayed to God to give them all courage to do the right. I would have called him a prig, but he isn’t one; he is a real, frank, manly Christian, such as we all ought to be. It seems a pity that the young are so much better than the old. But Ernest Stapleton is splendid. ”

“ And what would your mother do if there were no longer any little Sissie? I shall be afraid to keep you in my house unless you promise me to be good. When you are put to bed you must lie still, and go to sleep, as other little girls do, because, you know, you say your prayers, and ask God to bless you; but how can you expect Him to do it if you are so naughty? He looks at you all the time, and takes notice of what you do; so you must always try to be good and obedient. And you will in future, won’t you, Sissie? ”

“ It is such a beautiful land, ‘a land of hills and valleys, that drink water of the rain of heaven, a land which the Lord seeketh and careth for, and His eyes are always upon it from the beginning of the year even unto the end of the year.’ But in this land—this land of blessing, this little land—and because it is little so manageable—there are scarcely unchecked powers of evil lifting their brazen faces to our blue skies and pure air—greed, cruelty, lust, drunkenness, slavery, hypocrisy, fraud. ”