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March 30, 1850.] ©|je &£&&$?* 17 — r — —...
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^ ^^ a jv rf ? jtfb li t* II HIT It* I
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We should do our utmost, to encourage th...
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THE APPRENTICESHIP OF LIFE. Y * AUTHOR O...
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FIRST EPISODE : THE INITIATION OF FAIT H...
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Chap I THE YOUNG SCEPTIC. It was a storm...
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Transcript
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
March 30, 1850.] ©|Je &£&&$?* 17 — R — —...
March 30 , 1850 . ] _©| je & _£ _&& $ ?* 17 — r — — r ~ in mi i _mii ,, , mt , _M _,, - _ _... __¦¦
^ ^^ A Jv Rf ? Jtfb Li T* Ii Hit It* I
_^ _^^ a _jv _rf ? _jtfb li t * II HIT It * I
We Should Do Our Utmost, To Encourage Th...
We should do our utmost , to encourage the Beautiful , for the Useful encourages itself .- Goethe ,
The Apprenticeship Of Life. Y * Author O...
THE APPRENTICESHIP OF LIFE . Y * AUTHOR OF " _BA-NTHORPE , " " ROSE , BLANCHE , AND VIOLET , " & c . ?
First Episode : The Initiation Of Fait H...
FIRST EPISODE : THE INITIATION OF FAIT H .
Chap I The Young Sceptic. It Was A Storm...
Chap I THE YOUNG SCEPTIC . It was a stormy night in June : the rain was driven by fierce and fitful gusts against the windows of an old and gloomy chateau , which stood , a little removed from the seashore , at about a league distance from the small town of Brieuc , on the coast of Brittany . Wild and desolate was the aspect of this chateau . It stood between an almost endless expanse of heath on the one side , and the restless ocean on the other . Travellers as they passed under its shadow felt a strange and ghostly awe steal over them . The peasants dared not approach it after sun- set ; for they looked upon it as the abode of accursed spirits . „ ., .,,,,, _-j . _1 • _i , . , ,, If without it looked cheerless , within it presented a scene which would have arrested the eye of a Rembrandt and engaged the profoundest attention of a moralist . In a vast ; saloon , which ran the whole length of the habitable „ . , _* , ,, _i , , K , ,. , portion of the chateau , three persons were assembled A log blazed upon the hearth , and sent a reddish glare into the centre of the room , which , for the most part , was steeped in dark massive shadows Ihe single lamp on a small table beside the hearth , only served to light up a few yards of vast s P ace * As well as the glare of the fire and the pale glimmer of the lamp enabled objects to be distinguished , the room bore an aspect of faded grandeur inex- _pressibly saddening to look upon . The furniture was in the style of Louis XIII ., and had once been sumptuous . It now wore an a P pearance of forlorn splendour , its remains of beauty and of costliness plainly speak- ing of the indigence which permitted its faded condition . The frames of the glasses , the ornaments of the mantelpieces , the style of the old tapestry , — every detail bespoke ancient luxury ; while their present broken , discoloured state bespoke either pinching poverty or fanatical reverence for every vestige of the past . Seated by that small table beside the hearth was an aged lady , whose ap- pearance arrested the eye by the grandeur and * mildness with which she wore her eighty years . Much exceeding the ordinary stature of woman , and scarcely bent by age , her grey hair , simply banded over her brow , heighten- ing the serenity which smiled upon her face , it was impossible to gaze at her without feeling that reverence we instinctively accord to the majesty of age . Old age is always hideous or grand : a sublimity or a deformity . Here it assumed all its grandeur . By the aid of the lamp and her spectacles she was reading with rapt devo- tion that Bible of the Catholics—the " Imitation of Jesus Christ . " It was a volume which had been treasured in the family for upwards of a century ; and was now giving strength and consolation to her , as in her youth she had seen it give strength in hours of weakness , and consolation in hours of trouble , to her mother and her grandmother before her . How calm and placid her face as she reads ! Is it a mask ? The soul be- neath , is it—or has it been—turbulent with remorse ? Have sorrows tor- tured , have passions stained , has sin disgraced the youth of that woman now bo calm ; and is she , in her age , seeking with repentant piety the consola- tion she had disdained in the high-flushed insolence , of youth ? Eighty sum- mers have sunned it ; the storms and turmoils of eighty years , —some of which were turbulent with the Revolution , the Reign of Terror , the Direc- tory , the Consulate and the Empire , —these have passed over her head , and have not altered the serenity of her brow . She has loved , been loved ; wived , borne children , and bravely played her part through life . Sorrows she has had ; but none which were not free from that most galling P oint in sorrow—remorse ! Never has she swerved from the path of duty . Never has she poured into a confessor ' s ear the agitated avowal of a single fall into temptation . Her head has been unmolested by doubts , her heart untroubled hy guilty passions . Her course has been a straight one . It has not , indeed been splendid with triumphs , for it has not been agitated with passions ; it has excited little envy , no malice ; it has been a _rjuiet and beautiful existence in the eye of Ciocl and man : a life of duty , _j _> lacid and happy as the moun- tain rivulet that creeps its unnoticed route amidst falling avalanches and impending crags . La Baronne de Fayol has led an unostentatious life , and a happy one . In an ago of gallantry her heart never wandered from her husband ; in an age of infidelity her inind had never listened to a doubt . Seeing the misery others drew down upon their heads , she rejoiced daily , she said , " that she
Chap I The Young Sceptic. It Was A Storm...
had always been strong enough to walk in the ways of Him whose ways are pleasantness , and all whose paths are peace . " And yet this pure , serene , blameless woman sought for strength and consolation in " _^ 'Imitation ! " Let it not seem strange . Every step was , she knew , a step towards her tomb ; and , although awaiting death with the calmness of faith , still her innocent conscience would whisper that she had not lived so P ure an ( _* _l" £ _k alu ? e as s _^ le might have lived . Just as the timid girl whispers her childish sins into her confessor ' s ear , terrified at their enormity , so did this pure and simple creature imagine herself as sinful as the rest of the world Opposite the baronne sat a quiet , dreamy boy , with eager eyes and thoughtful face . lie was about fifteen . His hands were folded in his lap 3 his eyes were fixed upon his grandmother in mingled reverence and curiosity . He was puzzled at the effect of that book upon her ; and was speculating as to the cause . Occasionally he stole a glance at his uncle , who , with measured military tread , paced up and down the whole length of the saloon caressing his moustache by way of occupation , and now arid then pausing to listen to the rush of rain against the windows . The Baron de Fayol , eldest son of the old lady sitting beside the hearth , was a type of the Breton nobility in all respects save one , and that was his infidelity . An infidel Breton is almost a greater rarity than a Republican Breton ; but the baron had adopted in his youth the philosophy then in ™ 8 _" e > and > ado P tih S it more as a prejudice than as a conviction , threw into _ifc a 11 that _, obstinacy for which his countrymen are famous This it was which made his chateau a terror to the _peasant * ! The baron had served in the army ; but never _under a Republican standard His religion was fidelityto the throne and to _, hls caste _l _^ Even the lustr _* r of _Napoleon ' s deeds , which dazzled Europe and bewildered France , extorted from him no word of th andj although he had now ceased to combat the emperor _openly' _^ _^ combated him in the Chouan warfare—he steadily refused his . . . n i . r lo ( f . lc ,, T . _ lo i . « assistance to tne usurper _, _fcon was an infidel > Do not se he looked at aU Kke ft tllinkin < r man . In fact , his appearance was heavy , somewhat clownish . With & r _^^ t soldier . like face , large hands covered with hair , and a voice which geemed _^ . f he laboured under a p _6 rpetual hoarseness , he did not strike you as a brilliant disciple of Voltaire ; but he made up in steady obstinacy what _be might want in wit . j . _j e paced up and down the room , his figure now emerging frdm the darkness into the light , and then again passing into the shadows , and his heavy tread falling with the regularity of a clock ; while Charlemagne _* a noble hound stretched before the hearth , watched with calm eye the movem _g nts of his master ; _j _^ ot a word was spoken . For boy and man the old lady silently prayed : prayed that their hearts m _j ght be opened to the Word , and that , before she passed away from this earth , she might have the bliss of seeing them rescued from the slough o ; unbelief . The sullen roaring of the waves , the lashing of the rain , mingled with the crackling of the logs on the fire , and the regular tread of the baron passing to and fro , were the orchestral accompaniments to this scene strangely affecting the silent wondering boy . At last the clock struck ten . Without waiting to finish his promenade across the room , the baron suddenly swerved and walked up to the table _, He there lighted a bed-candle , as if he had been wearily _expecting the clock to strike , and , placing it beside the baronne , said , " Good night , mother . " She paused in the middle of her chapter , aft he had paused in the middle of his walk , and , leisurely putting Up her spectacles , closed the book , and pressed her lips oh the forehead of her son , who stooped to receive the salute . The boy sprang into her arms and covered her with kisses . Charlemagne thrust his head into her hand , and was patted gently lalung the candle , she led the way ; and in half an hour the eyes of the household were closed in sleep—except those of the young Armand , who , lying on his back , now contemplated the moon , which shone m through the window _, » The storm had passed over , and the moon was " shining with a quiet light . ' * The roar of the tumbling waves was still audible , mingled with the sighing of the wind round the tower where he slept . Nature was solemnly forced upon the boy ' s attention , and ho was speculating on the unfathomable mysteries of creation . His condition was singular . He had reached the age of fifteen , without having received the _slightest religious instruction ; nay , with having , from infancy upwards , received a decidedly antagonistic and irreligious education _, He had been brought up amongst the followers of the Encyclopedists : philosophers who , without the earnestness and ability of their masters , pushed their doctrines to extravagant extremes ; teachers who dethroned Cod to put a phrase in his place ; thinkers to whom this universe was no mystery at all , as everything could bo explained by " Matter and Motion "; men who , disrcgarding the instincts of their souls , declared religion to be a fraud—the invent ion of crafty priests , supported only by the terrors and prejudices of the credulous , and not the spontaneous product of the human hohI—the instinct imperiously moving the whole being of man . From his childhood upwards , Armand heard the name of priest as synonymous with hypocrisy ; and religion as the most desolating of earthly A
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), March 30, 1850, page 17, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/ldr_30031850/page/17/
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