登陆注册
4714100000047

第47章

As I have said, the congregation,--although docile and timid, and little able, as units, to hold their own against their minister--behind his back were faintly hostile to this plan. None of their own children had ever been so much as suggested for membership, and each of themselves, in ripe years, had been subjected to severe cross-examination. I think it was rather a bitter pill for some of them to swallow that a pert little boy of ten should be admitted, as a grown-up person, to all the hard-won privileges of their order. Mary Grace Burmington came back from her visits to the cottagers, reporting disaffection here and there, grumblings in the rank and file. But quite as many, especially of the women, enthusiastically supported my Father's wish, gloried aloud in the manifestations of my early piety, and professed to see in it something of miraculous promise. The expression 'another Infant Samuel' was widely used. I became quite a subject of contention.

A war of the sexes threatened to break out over me; I was a disturbing element at cottage breakfasts. I was mentioned at public prayer-meetings, not indeed by name but, in the extraordinary allusive way customary in our devotions, as 'one amongst us of tender years' or as 'a sapling in the Lord's vineyard'.

To all this my Father put a stop in his own high-handed fashion.

After the morning meeting, one Sunday in the autumn of 1859, he desired the attention of the Saints to a personal matter which was, perhaps, not unfamiliar to them by rumour. That was, he explained, the question of the admission of his, beloved little son to the communion of saints in the breaking of bread. He allowed--and I sat there in evidence, palely smiling at the audience, my feet scarcely touching the ground--that I was not what is styled adult; I was not, he frankly admitted, a grown-up person. But I was adult in a knowledge of the Lord; I possessed an insight into the plan of salvation which many a hoary head might envy for its fullness, its clearness, its conformity with Scripture doctrine. This was a palpable hit at more than one stumbler and fumbler after the truth, and several hoary heads were bowed.

My Father then went on to explain very fully the position which Ihave already attempted to define. He admitted the absence in my case of a sudden, apparent act of conversion resulting upon conviction of sin. But he stated the grounds of his belief that Ihad, in still earlier infancy, been converted, and he declared that if so, I ought no longer to be excluded from the privileges of communion. He said, moreover, that he was willing on this occasion to waive his own privilege as a minister, and that he would rather call on Brother Fawkes and Brother Bere, the leading elders, to examine the candidate in his stead. This was a master-stroke, for Brothers Fawkes and Bere had been suspected of leading the disaffection, and this threw all the burden of responsibility on them. The meeting broke up in great amiability, and my Father and I went home together in the very highest of spirits. I, indeed, in my pride, crossed the verge of indiscretion by saying: 'When I have been admitted to fellowship, Papa, shall I be allowed to call you "beloved Brother"?' My Father was too well pleased with the morning's work to be critical. He laughed, and answered: ' That, my Love, though strictly correct, would hardly, I fear, be thought judicious!'

It was suggested that my tenth birthday, which followed this public announcement by a few days, would be a capital occasion for me to go through the ordeal. Accordingly, after dark (for our new lamp was lighted for the first time in honour of the event), I withdrew alone into our drawing-room, which had just, at length, been furnished, and which looked, I thought, very smart.

Hither came to me, first Brother Fawkes, by himself; then Brother Bere, by himself; and then both together, so that you may say, if you are pedanticaly inclined, that I underwent three successive interviews. My Father, out of sight somewhere, was, of course, playing the part of stage manager.

I felt not at all shy, but so highly strung that my whole nature seemed to throb with excitement. My first examiner, on the other hand, was extremely confused. Fawkes, who was a builder in a small business of his own, was short and fat; his complexion, which wore a deeper and more uniform rose-colour than usual, Iobserved to be starred with dew-drops of nervous emotion, which he wiped away at intervals with a large bandana handkerchief. He was so long in coming to the point, that I was obliged to lead him to it myself, and I sat up on the sofa in the full lamplight, and testified my faith in the atonement with a fluency that surprised myself. Before I had done, Fawkes, a middle-aged man with the reputation of being a very stiff employer of labour, was weeping like a child.

Bere, the carpenter, a long, thin and dry man, with a curiously immobile eye, did not fall so easily a prey to my fascinations.

He put me through my paces very sharply, for he had something of the temper of an attorney mingled with his religiousness.

However, I was equal to him, and he, too, though he held his own head higher, was not less impressed than Fawkes had been, by the surroundings of the occasion. Neither of them had ever been in our drawing-room since it was furnished, and I thought that each of them noticed how smart the wallpaper was. Indeed, I believe Idrew their attention to it. After the two solitary examinations were over, the elders came in again, as I have said, and they prayed for a long time. We all three knelt at the sofa, I between them. But by this time, to my great exaltation of spirits there had succeeded an equally dismal depression. It was my turn now to weep, and I dimly remember any Father coming into the room, and my being carried up to bed, in a state of collapse and fatigue, by the silent and kindly Miss Marks.

同类推荐
热门推荐
  • 楼兰新娘

    楼兰新娘

    穿越千年的时空,追寻千年的遗梦,饱含胭脂的泪水,记录了楼兰多少尘封的往事。如烟的历史,漂泊的湖水,黄沙下掩埋的古老传说,这一切都在‘紫荆日月坠’的安排下一一开启。在一次罗布泊的考古中,我离奇的穿越千年,在大漠中历经了刻骨的爱恋。温柔如春日阳光的李恂,肩负家国使命风流潇洒的慕容羽,默默守侯在我身旁的楼兰王子莫桑,驰骋沙场狂傲自负的周楠,谁才是我前世的最爱,历史在战火硝烟中继续,而我的爱却掩埋在了大漠浩瀚的黄沙中,爱恨难了的往事,带着诀别的誓言在战火硝烟中我回到了千年后的楼兰,我带着相约罗布泊的约定寻找着千年前的爱人,可是我的梦中人究竟是否千年后还在原地等我相遇?月月新建了一个读者交流群,喜欢月月小说的亲们可以加,密码就是月的任意一小说书名和书中任意一人物的名字.群号:62092568各位大大本书的灵感是来自于前段时间我看过的中央台<探索发现>中的一期考古节目<风棺迷情>和席慕容女士的诗歌<漂泊的湖><楼兰新娘>.希望大家多多支持!同时也感谢大大们对我第一部作品<红笺记>长期以来的支持!现在<红笺记>已接近尾声,更新会慢一些,还望大大们谅解!我新作的《楼兰新娘》的视频,亲亲们如果感兴趣可以去看一下:视频地址:梧桐夜月的博客http://m.wkkk.net梧桐夜月新浪的博客http://m.wkkk.net/wutongyeyue我老师著名中文教授张老的博客,喜欢古典文学的朋友可以去看看http://m.wkkk.net/zqcd168各位亲亲从今天开始<胭脂泪.楼兰遗梦>正式改名为<楼兰新娘>推荐好友作品:丁丁的<惑世红颜之蝶舞>冰隐的<后妃天下>我亲家潘家大小姐的<后宫复仇-王朝邪爱>
  • 穿越之拐了弯的世界

    穿越之拐了弯的世界

    一个地痞流氓,一不小心就穿越了,还好还在地球上,只是这已经与他所知的历史完全不一样了。。。。。
  • 新国学(第七卷)

    新国学(第七卷)

    本书是第7卷《新国学》,书中具体收录了:《蔡琰的号啕,美杜莎的笑——蔡琰研究的性别反思》、《“儿女情”与“风云气”——论张华文学及其玄儒思想》、《唐代华亭德诚禅师《拨棹歌》所呈现的意涵》、《林希逸诗学思想的特色及其学术基础简论》等研究文章。
  • 在狮身人面像的脚下

    在狮身人面像的脚下

    屹立千年的文明古迹,隐藏着怎样的历史奥秘?流淌万年的文明河流,述说着怎样的智慧心语?林丹环编著的这本书精选的文章,有的追忆文明古迹,有的针砭社会时弊,有的思索文明走向,让您跨越东西方文化,纵横寰宇,俯仰天地,从整体视角品悟“文明与文化”这部大书。
  • 躲在衣柜里的时光

    躲在衣柜里的时光

    该怎么和你说呢,这日子会像是无数的日子在同一时刻聚拢在一起。而所有我想说和已说的、未曾言尽的岁月都在里面。我羡慕会歌唱、懂得乐器的人,羡慕在心中就可以种植一切的人,我们靠着在心底那点种植的东西存活,在阳光以外,我每和这大地上的任何一个人相逢,和他们的目光碰撞,我就遇见了你。我所能用的只有这字,我用它奏乐,用它渗入你所不认识的目光,用它闭上双眼,不断在记忆和现实之间散步。有时我从未预料过的东西会在一瞬间用它全部的力量跑出来,那是比杀戮更恐怖的事件。
  • 大宋起航

    大宋起航

    大宋新立,叛乱四起,群狼环伺,内忧外患。赵匡胤这位行伍出身的帝王,却制定了文治的国策。宋鼻涕的雅号,也许连穿越之神,都难以接受。于是一个倒霉蛋,便跨越了千年的时光,来到了这中古大宋。历史的车轮,命运的齿轮,天命的转轮.......等等,许多的轮子,都开始改变了方向。至于会驶向何方,现在连作者都不知道........我们还是一起见证吧!
  • 迟爱

    迟爱

    一觉醒来,莫名多了一个有洁癖的豪门老公,因为她没有落红就要离婚。她:总裁有猫病,惹不起我还躲不起吗?谁知,她签了离婚协议,他又追上来玩壁咚。她:猫总,我们离婚了,你这是犯法的。男人斜她一眼,“嗯,我们复婚吧,我不介意你离过婚。”她:不介意泥煤。
  • 仙蛊殊途

    仙蛊殊途

    元夕曾以为,世上不会有比重生到一具骷髅身上更凄惨的事了……直到后来,她终于获得人身,然后发现比起她玲珑有致的新身体……她男人似乎更青睐啥也干不了的骷髅?!
  • 星战末世

    星战末世

    一款名为《无限末世》的游戏发售,立即在世界游戏圈中引起巨大的轰动,这款以末世和星辰大海为背景的跨时代意识连接游戏的出现,再次在世界范围内引起一波电竞热潮……无论是电视,还是报纸都被这一超时代科技游戏占据头条,各大游戏公会和俱乐部都蠢蠢欲动……洛天幻,一个"普通"超市职员,曾经因为手速原因被迫放弃梦想,而他将在这个游戏时代,创造出属于自己的辉煌……(QQ群645664831)
  • 答大学堂校长蔡鹤卿太史书

    答大学堂校长蔡鹤卿太史书

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。