Various

“ For six or seven hours daily she was at the prison, and converted that which at the best would have been vicious idleness into a hive of industry and order, and a good preparation for a more useful and happy life when that in the prison ended.
There is not on record a single instance of failure in this life of complete self-devotion. Those who at first were stubborn and saucy, shallow and self-conceited, full of cavils and objections, as time went on and her influence made itself felt, became anxious to learn, to be allowed to work, and to share in the busy life around. ”

“ Lucy reflected. She did not see how that would help her. If there was anything unsound in the matter, more written testimonials would thicken the plot rather than clear it. Yet how natural and inevitable the circumstances seemed! How wrong it would be to let this nice woman slip through her fingers merely for the sake of a mere convention!
“Is there nobody within reach who can say a word for you?” she suggested.
“Well, ma’am,” said Jessie Morison anxiously, “of course, there’s my cousins; but I didn’t like to mention them, because most ladies would think relations don’t count for much. ”

“ It amuses him by the hour to watch the child at play. And then Ronald has been so good, doing everything indoors and out, so that nobody, I hope, has suffered from the absence of the master’s eye. I think it is quite beautiful, the love between Guy and Ronald! They are more than brothers. Oh, yes, Aunt Mary, I have a great deal to be thankful for!”
“And the summer is before Guy too,” said Miss Adene. “He will make great strides, you will see.”
“Yes, I think so truly; but there is one thing that lies before us—all the doctors say that he must not try another winter in England just yet. ”

“ Jessie Morison pondered.
“That will suit me nicely,” she said. “Did the girl do the washing, ma’am?”
“Yes,” answered Lucy; “but——”
“I’m a capital washer,” said Jessie Morison, “and I dress well, too. I shouldn’t need help, ma’am—no, not for such a small family. I don’t like strangers coming about my kitchen, they make more work than they do.”
“We dine early,” said Lucy. “There are but few visitors. But you would have everything to do in the house; and while my husband is away, I shall not be able to give much help, as I am busy otherwise.” ”

“ I fear you have had an anxious winter. But Guy is better, is he not?”
“Oh, yes, much better! He is about again now,” answered young Lady Dumaresq, with a smile in her sweet hazel eyes. “Sit down by the fire, Aunt Mary, and let me take your wraps. Now we will be cosy together over our cup of tea. I want to talk to you about Guy before he comes down. He will never be talked of when he is present. He will tell you he is perfectly well. ”

“ Space forbids, or it would be possible to write pages on the delights of Greek literature. But to any girl who has leisure and inclination, the study of the Greek language itself is most strongly recommended. Translations abound, and are excellent, but the best translation cannot give the beauty of the original. The study of the lovely, flexible language is in itself an education; it is surely an inducement that the New Testament is written in comparatively easy Greek; and the wealth of literature to which Greek constitutes a title-deed may well repay hard labour. ”

“ Who is in the kitchen and who is in the parlour does not alter that.”
“No servant gets her name prefixed with ‘Mistress’ except housekeepers in great mansions,” asserted Mrs. Brand.
Lucy laughed in her turn. “Then, instead of her being general servant of my house,” she said, “we will say she is the housekeeper in my little mansion.”
Mrs. Brand took no notice of her sister’s words, but went on: “And those housekeepers themselves are called ‘mistress’ only by convention, not because they have been married. They are generally really ‘miss.’”
“I know that quite well!” cried Lucy. ”

“ In an instant Sir John Moore half raised himself, gazing still with concentrated earnestness, as if nothing had happened, towards the Highland regiment now hotly engaged. Not a sigh was heard. Not a muscle in his face quivered.
Hardinge had sprung down, and Moore’s right hand grasped his firmly. When Hardinge, seeing his anxiety as to the 42nd, exclaimed, “They are advancing!” a flash of joy lighted up Moore’s features. ”

“ And Guy will probably look forward with pleasure to the thought of the flowers, and sunshine, and blue skies, when he is a little stronger. You know how much I have travelled, and how I enjoy it! I declare I will go with you myself, if you will only ask me, when the time comes!”
Lady Dumaresq clasped her hands in a pretty gesture of delight. Her eyes were bright and sparkling.
“Oh, Aunt Mary, do you really mean it? That would be just delightful! You would be like a tower of strength to us.”
“Only you must go to a nice place,” Miss Adene went on, quite pleased and interested by the idea. ”

“ She may not run upstairs as quickly as a girl, but she must have sense and experience, and can be safely left in charge of the house, which is most important when I have outdoor engagements.”
“You being so determined to have her, and she so eager to come,” remarked Florence, “I think you might have brought down the wages a little.”
“Why, you told me I should have to offer more!” said Lucy, aghast.
“Yes; but people don’t care for servants with grey hair. If she’d an ounce of savoir faire, she’d have dyed it.”
“Oh, horrid, horrid, Florence!” exclaimed Lucy. “I can’t bear to hear you talk so. ”

“ If he can be brought to like it that will be a great step.”
“Oh, we will make him like it!” cried Miss Adene brightly. “I will tell him things about Madeira that will make his mouth water. Such rainbows hanging over the hills—such sunsets! And everything so curious and semi-barbaric in the town; and yet every English comfort within doors. Oh, we will make him take to the plan! And it’s a fine place for children; they thrive amazingly there! We can take little Guy with us. But it will leave Ronald rather lonely.”
“I expect Ronald will come with us—for a month or two, at least.” ”

“ The fresh sea air outside those locked and barred doors inspired health and brightness to the busy population, but within, instead of the rush of the waves, the happy sounds of passing people and children, the rattle of coach and cart, and the cries of hawkers—within, there were sounds indeed, but the vile language of criminals, oaths and curses, whose time was given to gaming, fighting, and quarrelling—unemployed, uncontrolled, without schoolmaster or clergyman, or any attempt at reformation—without any divine worship ”

“ If any girl with an average amount of intelligence can get Butcher and Lang’s translation of the Odyssey, she will doubtless be charmed, and any such ideas of repulsion as we have mentioned will be swept quite out of her mind. This translation reads like a romance or fairy tale of old. Jebb’s Primer of Greek Literature, published at one shilling, will be a help to its full comprehension, and a Greek History may also be useful. Smith’s Smaller History of Greece is very good.
The Iliad and the Odyssey are probably at least twenty-seven centuries old; and they still appeal to the human heart. ”

“ Well, Ronald used to go there regularly every morning all through that time, to the little short eight o’clock service. I never heard about it till long afterwards; but he never missed unless he were taking my place just then in Guy’s room. I don’t think it would be many young men who would do that. He has never said a word, and I don’t think he knows we know. But there he was.”
“That is very nice,” said Miss Adene softly. “I sometimes think, my dear, that, if we had more real lively faith, there would be less sickness and trouble in the world.” ”

“ The Edinburgh Review, in an eloquent article on the Life and Poems of Sarah Martin, closes with the following words:
“It is the business of literature to make such a life stand out from the masses of ordinary existences with something of the distinctness with which a lofty building uprears itself in the confusion of a distant view. It should be made to attract all eyes, and to excite the hearts of all persons who think the welfare of their fellow mortals an object of interest or duty ”

“ The influence of Bible study upon the character, even in the way of culture, is very wonderful. Take, for instance, the Scotch peasantry of a generation or two ago. Devout, versed in the Scriptures and probably little else, what a fine mental type many of their children have exhibited! One could name novelists, philosophers, divines, who have traced their power of thought and charm of diction to the influence of the home where riches were not, but a sturdy, simple, religious faith, based upon a daily study of the Bible, prevailed. ”

“ Yet Lucy feared that Florence would make a sad fuss if Lucy chose to sit at home alone—but for little Hugh—while a place at her sister’s table was ready to welcome her.
Of late years the Challoners had kept Christmas after their own fashion. They had often been joined by one or two stray young people, teachers or students, who were living in lodgings. ”

“ He keeps so weak, in spite of all we do for him, and he has still a great deal of pain, though he never complains. His heart was affected, you know; it is so often the case in rheumatic fever. The doctors think he will get over it in time; but it is so hard to be patient!”
“Poor children!” said Miss Adene softly. “I have been grieved for you. But the little fellow is well, is he not? You have no anxiety on that score?”
The mother’s face brightened with a soft, sweet smile.
“Oh, the little rogue is as well as possible, and Guy’s great resource when he is ailing! ”

“ Apart from the Bible, there are two books of which you should know something: the Iliad and the Odyssey of Homer.
This possibly sounds far too learned to many girls who read this page. They have a vague idea that they must know Greek before they can approach what their schoolboy brothers regard as a task. And if they never hear of these names in the daily run of life, they feel all the more reluctant to attack what sounds repellent and incomprehensible. ”

“ Still, if Guy gets back his health again, and can take up his own work for himself, it would really be better for Ronald to marry and settle down on his own property. But he has never shown any disposition to fall in love.”
“He would have no difficulty in getting a wife,” said Miss Adene with a little laugh. “He is a fascinating boy, and very good company, as well as so good-looking.”
“I’m afraid that’s partly it,” said Lady Dumaresq, laughing. “The girls are all too willing and ready. He is quite the catch of the county; and perhaps they court him a little too much. ”

“ She knew well enough how the Brands kept Christmas, for she and Charlie had dined with them on one or two Christmas days when they were first married. There would be a great dinner-party—a chef hired for the occasion. With the exception of one or two fawning familiars of the Brand household—and especially obnoxious to Lucy—the guests would be anybody who was in special favour at the time, many of them financial or fashionable acquaintances of the last twelve months. These people would pick over and waste the delicious food placed before them, they would drink much costly wine. ”

“ It bores him, and, though he always makes himself universally agreeable and popular, he takes very good care not to be ‘hooked,’ or ‘booked,’ or whatever you call it. He treats all the girls alike in a provoking sort of way—provokingly equal and friendly. It would do him good, I think, to fall in love and feel a little qualm of anxiety as to his fate. He’s wonderfully unspoiled, all things considering; but it’s never quite good for a young man to feel he has only to throw the handkerchief. ”

“ At last it was wisely intimated (as the Edinburgh Review writes) to this high-souled woman, “If we permit you to visit the prison, you must submit to our terms” (in spite of her earnest appeal, and her urging that her work, being known to be a voluntary work, had greater influence) . And so these worshipful gentlemen, who were then making use of Sarah Martin as a substitute for the schoolmaster and the chaplain, whom it was by law their bounden duty to have appointed, converted her into their salaried servant by the munificent grant of £12 per annum. ”

“ The subject is so vast, it is impossible to deal with it here, and it would be absurd to suppose that one brief article could be a comprehensive guide to Greek literature. But that is not needful, or intended. This point alone we wish to emphasise: that culture is altogether impossible without some idea of the mighty Past. And even the busy and the poor may in the present day obtain a glimpse into its beauty and wonder, by means of the translations we have mentioned. One such glimpse will lead on to another. ”

“ It treats of the Scandinavian mythology in a very attractive form, telling of Baldur the Beautiful, of Loki, Thor, and many other names that should be familiar. No one can plead ignorance of ancient lore, when the stories that embody its mythology are within the mental compass even of a child.
One benefit of the study of olden literature is this; that the mental prospect receives a background as it were. The thoughts found in Greek literature are the thoughts that now influence society; the eternal longings and aspirations of the heart of man were expressed in those days of old ”