Steeples

“ PAGE 47, LINE 12.
‘The glitter of the steeples on the hills.’
Every one who has made the passage of the St Lawrence, will remember the beautiful effect of the steeples on the shore. Occupying almost every swell on the low interval, and tiled universally with tin, they glisten in the moonlight like turrets of silver. It is even in [Pg 96] that majestic scenery an impressive and delightful feature.
PAGE 84, LINE 4.
‘Child of the sunny brow.’
Perhaps my book will be forgotten before the child, to whom these lines are addressed, is old enough to understand them ”

“ Only to the eyes of a Kennicott was it exceptional. The huddled low wooden houses broke the plains scarcely more than would a hazel thicket. The fields swept up to it, past it. It was unprotected and unprotecting; there was no dignity in it nor any hope of greatness. Only the tall red grain-elevator and a few tinny church-steeples rose from the mass. It was a frontier camp. It was not a place to live in, not possibly, not conceivably.
The people—they'd be as drab as their houses, as flat as their fields. She couldn't stay here. She would have to wrench loose from this man, and flee. ”

“ To the southward is old Eccles steeple, ready to be snatched into the briny ocean; at its foot, towards the sea, is the remaining portion of the sacred edifice, with other foundations, indicating where once had existed the humming noise of human beings, exercising their vocation for individual and collective benefit. On either side of the old steeple are capacious banks, where the marram grows spontaneously, whose long tufts conceal the wily rabbit and the timid hare. ”

“ It is not merely a scanty vegetation that springs up, but a corresponding manifold fulness of stately, fragrant, and shady trees; so that the steppe, where neither foot nor eye could find a resting-place, is changed, as by a stroke of magic, into a large, dense, well-watered forest, and shines with sevenfold glory - an image of the many-sided manifestations of divine grace which are experienced by those who are comforted now. ”

“ Yes, a droll fellow, but a sad thief; it is not safe to leave a gold chain, or a ring, or a silver spoon in his way; up into the old church steeple it is sure to go, if it is not buried in some out-of-the-way corner, all among the moss, and dead leaves, and decayed wood, which have accumulated there for centuries. ”

“ This is the Serpent’s meat, and if grace does not prevent it, they must have the Serpent’s portion—a fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the Adversaries.
Pharisees.—These are of different kinds, and under various orders—some in a profession of gospel truth, sit under its sound, obey its external precepts as far as it relates to bodily exercise; others are inimical to the very sound of it altogether, yet pride themselves upon following the religion they were brought up in; that they are as good as they wish to be, and not half so bad as their neighbours. ”

“ When he came to the place where the serpent had been, he cried out: ‘O serpent, come here one moment, I want to ask thee something.’ The serpent came. The man told his grief. The serpent said: ‘If thou givest me half of what the king gives thee, I shall tell thee.’ He promised and swore. The serpent said: ‘This is a sign that now everywhere peace falls on all, the people are become like quiet, gentle sheep.’
The peasant thanked it, and went his way. When he came to the king, he spoke as the serpent had instructed him. The king was exceedingly pleased, and gave him greater presents. ”

“ In France and Germany there are many remarkable leaded spires, but we can only stay to mention the steeple at Chalons-sur-Marne, the central flèche at Amiens, and the belfry at Calais. The steeple at Chalons is a most interesting work, large and well-designed, with faint and fascinating remains of a gorgeous scheme of colour decoration patterning the whole surface of the lead with figures and canopies resembling the drawing on stained glass, the lead rolls passing across the design like the iron glazing bars. ”

“ There will be time enough to trace out the analogy while waiting the summons to breakfast. Seen through the clear portion of the glass, where the silvery mountain peaks of the frost scenery do not ascend, the most conspicuous object is the steeple, the white spire of which directs you to the wintry luster of the firmament. ”

“ At one point a dark, strong steeple lifts itself like a huge gravestone above the surrounding houses, terminating in a square top or a blunt dome; and yonder is another, more ideal in its look, rising slight and fine, and with many ascents and alternating pauses, to reach a delicate pinnacle at great height in the air. ”

“ But we find in every place a steward, and in each town the king's reeve or the lord's reeve. These acted for the overlord, whoever he was, and saw that the villeins and cottiers did their proper proportion of work at the right time; they saw that the lord's tolls at the markets, fairs, and ferries, were properly enforced. The steward was a most important officer in every town and village, and a great deal of power was in his hands. ”

“ Theophilus, as he was called, stand out in my memory as ones of almost unruffled happiness. The two great jars of calomel and quinine on the mantelpiece became like faces of familiar, beneficent friends; and the dusty bookcases, with their shining rows of old English bindings, formed an appropriate background for the flight of my wildest dreams. To this day those adolescent fancies have never detached themselves from the little office, the scattered bricks of which are now lying in the ruined garden between the blighted yew tree and the uprooted box. ”

“ Beds of thistles, in which the cattle completely hide themselves, stretch away for leagues and leagues, and present an almost unbroken sheet of purple flowers. So vast are these thistle-beds that a day's ride through them only leaves the traveller with the same purple forest stretching away to the horizon. ”

“ Every one knows that expedient of the sleepless, the counting of sheep.
You lie quite still, you breathe regularly, you imagine sheep jumping over a gate, one after another, you count them quietly and slowly until you count yourself off through a fading string of phantom numbers to number Nod....
But sheep, alas! suggest an episcopal crook.
And presently a black sheep had got into the succession and was struggling violently with the crook about its leg, a hawk-nosed black sheep full of reproof, with disordered hair and a pointing finger. ”

“ Verses 5-8Verses 5-8 Job 24:5-8 5 Behold, as wild asses in the desert,
They go forth in their work seeking for prey,
The steppe is food to them for the children. 6 In the field they reap the fodder for his cattle,
And they glean the vineyard of the evil-doer. 7 They pass the night in nakedness without a garment,
And have no covering in the cold. 8 They are wet with the torrents of rain upon the mountains,
And they hug the rocks for want of shelter. ”

“ It is with a feeling of intense pleasure and relief that one leaves such a village and rides out upon the wide, clean, breezy steppe where the air is filled with the fragrance of clover and the singing of birds, and where the eye is constantly delighted with great sweeps of smooth, velvety turf, or vast undulating expanses of high steppe grass sprinkled in the foreground with millions of wild roses, white marguerites, delicate five-angled harebells, and dark-red tiger-lilies. ”

“ A little way off, on the broken edges of the basin opposite, a serpent, glittering in all its native splendor of burnished green, and red and gold, raises its crest, and looks on him with its glittering eyes. Man and reptile alike had tasted the waters. The one steals slowly away, rustling on its winding trail—a thing of fear, but innocent in its desires ”

“ All the sins, infirmities, temptations, and troubles, of God’s dear people—these are the dust he feeds on. And as it is with the father Serpent, it is with his seed; his offspring a generation of Vipers and Serpents, they have their portion of dust to eat, and they can feed on nothing else—and this every believer has seen to his grief. What in one scripture is called the seed of the Serpent, is in another called the children of the wicked one. First, Because as sinners, they are his offspring. ”

“ Do you think sects would last now for an hour, if there was not in the heart of each of them a witness for a fellowship, which combinations and shibboleths did not create, and which, thanks be to God, they cannot destroy? The true Shepherd makes His voice to be heard, through all the noise and clatter of earthly shepherds; the sheep hear that voice, and know that it is calling them to follow Him into a common fold where all may rest and dwell together. ”

“ The vegetation of the steppe, where men and flocks can hide themselves as in a forest, is often five, six, and even eight feet high. This monotonous steppe, unbroken except by the barrows that cover the bones of early races,—this steppe, which is an ocean of verdure in spring, but russet and burnt up in the autumn, is very dear to her children. ”

“ Nay, even, in some parts of your empire, the hogs and the cows join the group, and form a most audible respiration from their noses, getting vent through the hole in the roof intended for a chimney, or spreading throughout the clay built edifice with odorific sweetness, though perhaps not so fragrant and refreshing as was the precious oil poured on the venerable head of Aaron, which Sternhold and Hopkins tell us filled the room with pleasure. ”

“ The Lady's Thistle, which some believe to be the true Scotch thistle, is one of the many plants associated with the Virgin. The tradition, according to Brand, is that the white spots on the leaves are due to the falling of some drops of the Holy Mother's milk, a legend we have seen to be attached also to the lily. Then the great Emperor Charlemagne's name is blended with that of the Carline Thistle, the story being that during the prevalence of an epidemic among his troops he prayed to God for help. An angel appeared, and indicated, by firing an arrow, a plant which would allay the disease. ”

“ The Norse called me Midgaard and built their galleys
Like a sea-serpent.
The Egyptians and the Indians called me Ysis
And the Phoenecians Baal.
I am the sea that girdles the world.
I am the first and I shall be the last.
I am the Serpent of the Ages. ”

“ And he went into the forest and wilderness, till he went and met with a rhinoceros, asleep under a great tree. And he said to his slaves, "To-day we have seen the nunda." "Where, master?" "That under the tree." "Eh! what are we to do, master?" And he said, "Now let us eat our fill, that we may go and smite it, we have found it well; if it kills us, so it must be." And they said, "Come on, master." And they took out their bumundas, and ate till they were satisfied. And he said, "Let every one take two guns; let one lie on the ground and one in his hand." ”

“ It is probable, says this German physician, that the Serpent had his cavern under or about the tree of knowledge, and this tree became scientifical by way of transplantation from the Serpent, that is, this tree and its fruit had both the spiritual essence and the spiritual virtue of the Serpent Communicated to them, and impressed in them, by virtue of the Serpent's cohabitation with them. For in nature we find that many bodies do not only by their qualities affect their adjacents, but also infuse their virtue into them, and endue them with the same faculty. ”

“ And his horse—I never saw a better."
"But what is all this to me?" asked the steward. "If he is trespassing in the forest, it is your duty to bring him before the duke."
"Ah! it is hard for you to understand," answered the forester. "Methinks that if our master had the boar, the sword, and the horn, he would let me keep the clothing, and you the horse, and would trouble us with but few questions."
"Thou art indeed wise," answered the steward. And he at once called six men, whom he knew he could trust to any evil deed, and told them to go with the forester. ”

“ According to the dame, I was only a bastard, good either for the gibbet or the priest's frock, while my father left to my brother Theobald the post of steward of the palace; hereditary in our family.... And so it happened that my brother, then only eleven, became the steward of the palace of the then king, who was only ten, and who became the grandfather of this little Childeric, who is a prisoner in this convent. That king and steward could exercise no rivalry over each other except at tops or huckle-bones. ”

“ If both the sects bear some relation to the signs which signify the begetting of children, there will be losses among the children given, either of all of them or of a few, depending upon the superiority of the planets of either sect that bear witness, whichever we find to be more in number, or greater in power, because they are further to the east, or are closer to the angles, or are superior, or are succedant. ”

“ Romeo. Nay, good goose, bite not.”
“Good liquor will make a cat speak.” So, in the “Tempest” (ii. 2) , Stephano says: “Come on your ways: open your mouth; here is that which will give language to you, cat; open your mouth.”
“Good wine needs no bush.” This old proverb, which is quoted by Shakespeare in “As You Like It” (v. 4, “Epilogue”) —“If it be true that good wine needs no bush, ’tis true that a good play needs no epilogue”—refers to the custom of hanging up a bunch of twigs, or a wisp of hay, at a roadside inn, as a sign that drink may be had within. ”

“ Here we have the serpent omitted, which is the principal animal to be considered, for really the serpent is the owner of the stone that grows in its head. This idea is very general—that the carbuncle is to be found in a serpent's head. Pliny has this notion; indeed it is found everywhere. [15] The origin of this myth is that the great serpent is the heaven-god—and on the gnostic seals we have the Demiurge so represented as a crowned or nimbed serpent. In the head of this great heaven-god is the sun, the glorious stone that gives life and light and gladness and plenty. ”