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154 CONSTANCY MISPLACED.
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Transcript
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
» Herself With Eijise Its Had With Preci...
passed a crying" child , however dirty it might be , without stopping to dry its tearsto fasten its little shawland to restore it to good
humour . Besides , , she possessed a thoroug , h acquaintance with the affairs of all the families in the village , and never hesitated to
interrupt the deepest discussion about the welfare of the _fatherland , with such entirely prosaic questions as " What would you think ,
father , of advancing Michael money enough to buy a new cart ? he would soon make up the price in cartage . " But in all her prose f
there lay so much unselfishness and kindness of heart , that it was- not difficult to excuse her indifference to the deeper questions of
life . She was not in the least affected _hy doubts on religious subjects ,
and those struggles of the spirit , which then , as in every age , excited the religious world , came not nigh her . With the humble
faith of a child she applied herself to her Bible , took from thepreached word the portion which her soul neededand never
con-, ceived the possibility of doubting . The young man , who was even then wrestling with the waves through which at times theology
must struggle before the little vessel can be brought into the safe current which leads to the haven , had never imagined what an
influence the sight of such clear undoubting faith can have over a perplexed spirit ; for the first time the words were clear to him ,
" If ye become not as a little child , ye have no part in Me . " And Julie ? There were certainly no symptoms of secret
heartsorrow in her , no silent melancholy , no dreamy distraction ; only it was remarkable how often the favourite dishes of the Vicar appeared
at table since her mother had committed the superintendence of the kitchen to Julie . When she went to fetch her father for a
walk , she would often look round at the Vicar ' s door , and linger a little on the staircase . If he did not appear at once , the father
would say , " Are you looking for anything ? " and receive for * answer , " Oh no ! I only thought your door was not quite shut . "
If the father continued , " The Vicar will probably follow us , " Julie would answer with great indifference , " Oh indeed , I had
forgotten about him ; " but if the mother had had the eyes of a mother , she might have seen at such times , how deep the
blushesbecame . It required no long winter to convince the Vicar that it would be
a great shame to leave so bright a flower to dry up in this joyless home , and that though Julie might not be the " lady e-love" of a
poet ' s dream , she would certainly make a very dear and loving wife , but then the time was as yet far off when he was likely to need a wife ,
and his parents had often warned him against a long engagement . Besides Julie was yet very young , quite young enough to wait ; in *
the meantime he had no idea in whafc light she regarded him ; that
was The not spring very easy of this to discover year seemed . to come very early ; even in
154 Constancy Misplaced.
154 CONSTANCY MISPLACED .
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Citation
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English Woman’s Journal (1858-1864), May 1, 1863, page 154, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ewj/issues/ewj_01051863/page/10/
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