Beckwith

“ Beckwith would make her only punishment.
But it was not Beatrice’s habit to acknowledge herself worsted till compelled; and she dashed into the little parlor of their flat crying, as gayly as she could: “Fairy gifts, Motherkin! I’ve discovered the secret of transmuting posies into pounds, petals into pennies, and chrysanthemums into oysters! Behold—and believe!” ”

“ He was the compiler of a small book for children, known as “Bond’s Catechism,” which was published by Jarrold, and for many years extensively used in all parts of the country.
5.—Died at the residence of his son, Belmont House, Newport, Essex, Zachariah Buck, Mus. Doc. He was born at Norwich on September 19th, 1798, and at an early age attracted the attention of Dr. Beckwith, the then organist of the Cathedral, who took him into the choir. Dr. Beckwith died in 1809, and was succeeded as organist by his son, Mr. John Beckwith, with whom young Buck continued, and to whom he was articled. ”

“ He, William Beckwith, had killed Conway with his bare hands, and now resided openly in the city of Bahia del Toro. He would defy the police to punish him, and expose the duplicity of the commissioner of police, who had concealed the crime for no less than two weeks.
The steamer date arrived, but Beckwith was no longer impatient. He was calmly confident that there would be no mention of the crime in the newspapers of this week. Wells might prevent the news from ever becoming public. ”

“ We will all work the better for the lesson.”
“Motherkin! you are the dearest, wisest body in the world. Here’s your chair—right up front. And say! let’s every one tell what she or he sees in the flowers. I suppose that present represents something different to each; don’t you?”
[23] “I suppose with all your practical sense you are still a fanciful child!” responded Mrs. Beckwith, smiling fondly upon the active Beatrice, who was, indeed, her mother’s “right hand” of dependence in their every-day life. ”

“ When the next mail came, in seven days more, the newspapers would spread the news of Conway’s death and Wells’s humiliation, with Beckwith’s triumph as their principal theme. A man who so defiantly flouted the law, who sneered at the police to the extent of giving them his address, would surely be made much of by the press, even if they denounced him. ”

“ His incisive style, his permeating humour, his wide information, his keen insight, render his writing and his speaking alike powerful. A man of immense energy, he has done much to mould the thought and guide the work of his church already, and bids fair to remain one of her most influential leaders for years to come. In May, 1879, the University of Victoria College conferred upon him the well deserved degree of Doctor in Divinity.
Beckwith, Hon. John Adolphus. The late Hon. Mr. Beckwith was born at Fredericton, New Brunswick, on December 1st, 1800, and died November 23rd, 1880. ”

“ So coming back from a journey, or after an illness, before habits had spun themselves across the surface, one felt that same unreality, which was so startling; felt something emerge. Life was most vivid then. One could be at one’s ease. Mercifully one need not say, very briskly, crossing the lawn to greet old Mrs. Beckwith, who would be coming out to find a corner to sit in, “Oh, good-morning, Mrs. Beckwith! What a lovely day! Are you going to be so bold as to sit in the sun? Jasper’s hidden the chairs. Do let me find you one!” and all the rest of the usual chatter. One need not speak at all. ”

“ Those who called upon her once, invariably did so the second time; and before the end of her “first season,” as Bonny teasingly called her sister’s early experiments, Miss Beckwith had become the fashion, but, fortunately, a “fashion” so thoroughly useful and agreeable that she was destined to outlive the common existence of “fads” and to be looked upon as a necessity in New Windsor festivities.
Now three years had slipped away. “Almost imperceptibly, isn’t it, Motherkin? We have been, we always are, so busy that it doesn’t seem any time from one spring to another;” ”

“ The conventional phrases of the newspaper reporter, “Mr. Conway refused to be interviewed.” “At his home it was said that Mr. Conway did not wish to add anything to the statement of his attorneys, who have completed the arrangements for the gift.” All the evasions and artifices of men who have failed to see an important man were used.
Through the mist of incredulous amazement, Beckwith could gather only one impression. Conway had not been seen. No one had looked upon his living form to write of him recently. Beckwith knew why, of course. Conway was dead. ”

“ Freedom! It used to seem to Rankin, before he knew Myra Beckwith, that freedom was all he wanted in life. This shy, awkward, longlimbed fellow had desired nothing so much as room enough, and he had wrested it from Fate.
He wondered, as he stood out under the stars, why Mrs. Rumpety and her children did not run away. The world was big enough and to spare. They would probably starve, to be sure; but starvation was infinitely better than bondage. ”

“ Narrative of the Negotiations between England and Spain, 57.
[356] Lord Dorchester to Major Beckwith, Quebec, June 27, 1790 (Can. Arch., 1890, p. 143) ; and same to same on same day (Id., 144) . Very little is known of Beckwith besides his being sent on this mission. Douglas Brymner, in his introduction to this volume of the Canadian Archives, p. xl, gives a brief sketch. He says that the records at Washington reveal nothing regarding Beckwith or his mission.
[357] Dorchester to Grenville, Quebec, July 7, 1790. ”

“ Lord Wellington's despatch on this occasion did ample justice to Sir Sidney Beckwith and his brave brigade. Never were troops more judiciously or more gallantly led. Never was a leader more devotedly followed. ”

“ She is yours, if you claim her; but her heart cannot be yours awhile, though you may win it yet. It is true that both knights and maidens have wedded, loving another; yet they have learned to love each other, and have lived comfortably and happily; but whether, knowing what I have been forced to tell you, you can be content that things should be as before, I know not."
Then the Lady Beckwith made a pause, and beat her hands together, watching Paul's face; Paul sate very still and pale, all the light gone out of his eyes, with his lips pressed close together. ”

“ When the day began to fall, and the shadows of the trees out of the forest began to draw nearer across the lawn, Paul rose and said, "Come, I will sing you a song of farewell and thanks for this day of pleasure," and he made them a cheerful ditty; and so took his leave, the Lady Beckwith saying that they would speak of his visit for many days—and that she hoped that if his fancy led him again through the wood, he would come to them; "For you will find an open door, and a warm hearth, and friends who look for you." ”

“ Their owners O. K.’d the scheme and the murder was kept absolutely secret from the public and the press.
“We gave you two weeks to get worried, and then announced Conway’s bequest to charities—it was really in his will—and printed a picture or so of him. You rose to the bait, all right. We couldn’t touch you in Nueva Bolivia, but as soon as you boarded the steamer, we had you. We let you come on to New York alone, though, to save trouble. We’re much obliged to you, I’m sure.”
Beckwith suddenly understood. He had not won his revenge and freedom after all. ”

“ April 11th.—Marched again for the neighbourhood of Ciudad Rodrigo, with the long-accustomed sounds of cannon and musketry ringing in my fanciful ears as merrily as if the instruments themselves were still playing.
Sir Sidney Beckwith, one of the fathers of the rifles, was, at this time, obliged to proceed to England for the recovery of health, and did not again return to the Peninsula. In his departure, (p. 142) that army lost one of the ablest of its outpost generals. Few officers knew so well how to make the most of a small force. ”

“ Sir William Erskine, with some of his horsemen, joined us there, and I heard him say to the commander-in-chief that he claimed no merit for the victory, as it belonged alone to Sidney Beckwith! I believe his lordship wanted no conjurer to tell him so, and did ample justice to the combatants, by stating in his dispatch that "this was one of the most glorious actions that British troops were ever engaged in."
To those accustomed to the vicissitudes of warfare it is no less curious to remark the many miraculous escapes from wounds than the recovery from them. ”

“ Rankin persisted. "It feels to me as though it was me that done it."
The judge and the lookers-on were puzzled by this persistency. It did not seem in character. For the first time in his life, Rankin felt the need of words. The moral perplexity was too great for him to deal with; he was reaching out for something to take hold of, a thing which his self-contained, crudely disciplined nature had never craved before.
"It's an awful thing to send a soul to hell," he muttered.
Then, in his extremity, he felt a soft touch upon his arm. Myra Beckwith stood beside him. ”

“ There came a day when Paul, finding himself alone with the Lady Beckwith, opened his heart suddenly to her; but he was checked, as it were, by a sudden hand, for there came into her face a sad and troubled look, as though she blamed herself for something. Then she said to him, faltering, that she knew not what to say, for she could not read her daughter's heart—"and I think, Sir Paul," she added, "that she hath no thought of love—love of the sort of which you speak. Nay, the maiden loves you well, like a dear brother ”

“ Aurora did not throw off her night-cap at the usual hour, and when she could no longer delay the ceremony she shed such an abundance of dewy tears that Sabugal, with its steel-clad heights, remained invisible to the naked eye at the distance of a few hundred yards, which interfered materially with that punctuality in the combined movements so necessary to ensure the complete success of our enterprize. Leaving, therefore, to those concerned to account for their delays, my object in renewing this battle is to pay a last tribute to the memory of Sir Sidney Beckwith, the hero of that day. ”

“ If there was one object in the world of the old fellow’s special detestation, it was the average small boy. He was always ready to ascribe to [68] them all the sins of the decalogue with many original additions; and he now suspected the little brother of Beatrice of having caused Mr. Brook’s detention for some evil purpose of his own. He was not even convinced otherwise when presently his master recovered sufficiently from the astonishment Bonny’s words had caused to explain: “These are Conrad Beckwith’s grandchildren, Dolloway.” ”

“ Man no 'peak. "To-morrow I come back see you, an' I see you need servant an' I going to bring one of me daughter." No 'peak.
De nex' day say, "Wife, I go in Dead country an' buck up Brar Dead. Have plenty of meat. Gwine a carry me daughter down to country to work for him an' cook for him." Daughter name Sindy. When he go again, Dead sit down got him comb combing hair, long hair cover him face. Say, "Brar Dead, I promise bring a servant for you, but him hungry so me going to tak me eat." Dead no 'peak. ”

“ Beaton, cardinal, notice of, 708. Beaus, comb their wigs in public, 1263. Beauclerc, Topham, a collector of mysteries, 746. Becket, the bookseller, and Garrick, 328. Beckwith, Mr., his account of twelfth-eve at Leeds, 43. Bed, love of it, 17; sleeping out of one’s own, 1591; beds at Stourbridge fair, 1308. Bede, Venerable, May 27; notice of him, 706. Bees, swarming, 647, 682; on a man’s head, 963. Beggars, their patron, 1149. Behnes, Mr. W., sculptor, his bust of West, 346; of Mrs. Gent, 638; he calls a man “no conjuror,” 1458; his pupils gain the Royal Academy prize, 1651. ”

“ The nearest approach to a match was when Lord Beccles, the lunatic heir of the Marquis of Norwich, became perfectly manageable if he was allowed to drive with Bella in Hyde Park, chaperoned by his nurse and watched by a footman who held a certificate from one of the largest private asylums in England. If Lord Beccles was a congenital idiot, there were three other sons of Lord Norwich who were sane enough, the eldest of whom, Lord Alistair Gay, agreed with Dorothy that, if Lady Arabella was willing, the marriage would be a kindness to his poor brother. ”

“ Becket had hitherto been faithful to Henry in all things, but he now felt that his first duty was to the Church, and he resolved to defend its rights, even though he should displease the king. He changed entirely the manner of his life. Instead of his splendid clothes, he wore a monk's dress and a hair shirt next to his skin. He tried, as people understood it in those times, to carry out the teachings of his Lord and Master; and every day [Pg 185] he waited upon a number of poor men and washed their feet. Instead of gay knights only good and pious men sat at his table. ”

“ They sent messengers to complain to Becket, that he came not in peace, but in fire and flame, trampling his brother bishops under his feet, and making their necks his footstool; that he had condemned them uncited, [214] unheard, unjudged. "There is no peace," Becket sternly replied, "but to men of good will."202 It was said that London was disposed to humble himself before Becket; but York,203 trusting in his wealth, boasted that he had in his power the Pope, the King, and all their courts. ”