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    blessed assurance our friends here will bear me out ; and so might some of those -who have gone before you by that unhappy experience ia finding Englishmen not around theja . Sir , the strength and , truth of battle at Crecy lay not in , the . clothyacd shaft , and lieth not in your petranels ,, though , they , be- , of the . beat , but in the English heart ; and woe to the Prince that mistruatetb . that heart , far if he be no * the enemy , he ia the traitor of England . " " Prince , ! ' cried the Fairy ,. " that is your second lesson . But now you must go on your quest ; but I tell you that you . shall receive it here -whence you . started , and these are the hands that shall give it you—the hands of the Lady of Salisbury . " So she said , and yet she was : alone with the Prince . The young Edward kneeling , very devoutly kissed her hand to take leave ; and then set forth on his > pilgrimage . Scarcely had the Prince however , moved away ere he remembered himself , and . running back , asked the lady if she would tell him the way . " There are many ways , " she answered ; " seek and vou will find . "

    II . The Prince walked on ,, ever delighted by the beauty of all around him ; and even . when , the scene grew less beautifial , still he loved the air that brought strength and happiness to . his breast , and he liked the change because it was change . At last he came to a great town , where everybody was so . busy that no one could attend to him ; aad by this time he felt very hungry . So he stopped one man who looked rather more good-natured than the- rest , and told him how hungry he was , and asked for some food . " Pood ! " cried the man , " none can eat that do network ; least of all

    likely lads like you . " "I ana on a long journey ,. " said the youth . " Well then , you must walk and fast , " answered the man ; " travellers must take care of themselves . " " But I am in search of something that will be of great benefit to my country . " The man laughed very loud at that , and said that people who were in search of something for the good of th « ir country always starved , and were too useless to be rescued from starving . So the Prince saw that he must have a harder search than he thought , for he must travel and work too . " Thai ; , " he said to himself after the fairy ' s way , " is your third lesson , Edward . But perhaps , " ! he thought , " I shall find it

    where I work ; for who can tell where the gifts of God lie hidden ?" So he followed the man , into a great building , where the rooms were lar » e and the walls bare , and the air clogged with oily vapours , and the people pale and ; saddened in face ; in short * a : place as unlike the dear earth as if one had set himself to create a world exactly the reverse of God ' s own ; and the . Prince began to fear that « he was in the devil ' s house . The room was full of ingeniousl y-contrived machines , each one spinning ; as many threads as fifty women ; and the man set him to one of these machines , to watch the threads that they did « ot break . " But , " said the Prince , " that is women's Workit is

    ; , indeed , less , sine * the machine does half . " " Well , " cried the man , " do as you like ; work or starve ; but see bow many as good as , you are content and glad to do half woman ' s work . " Perforce then , the Prince did as be was bidden , and he worked many days . But when he had done * he had let so many threads be broken , and had so little Tvages left after the fines , that he knew he should not be able for years and years to fill his purse to travel with ; and it is a sad thing to work on through daylight and dark , trying ^ to reach what makes life intelligible and independent , and only to reach it or see it in the distance when life fades and expires . So taking his leave of his master , who was not the devil ' s steward , he knew , for he meant no ill , the Prince set out again and left the town .

    " Aye , " he exclaimed , as lie once more faced the air , " it is better to be hungry , and feed on this . " And when he had got away , he thought sadly of those he had left behind , and who had no motive given to them by a good fairy to leave that hopeless life and come away ; but lived there crowding , poisoning' each other , barely feeding , striving bravely to learn without time to learn in , dooming their progeny to their own death-life , and reproached by the master for the inborn hopes that would not die out and sometimes spoke forth . Hunger is not the worst fiend that dogs the man that travellefch , but after hunger comes faintness , which stops even the journey to food ; and the Prince- felt that coming on , when he met a stout fanner . " Stout farmer , " he cried , " give me to eat , and— " he continued , stopping the word in the

    ma-ftB mouth— "I will work for it . " " Say you so , my lad ; thou shaLt have a day ' s wage . " u And perhaps , " thought the Prince , " I may dig up what I seek . " Ho he worked hard all that day , and the man gave him some money . Yet when he had paid for his food and his bed , he found that he bad nothing left ; but he had to begin again at dnwn . Now the fanner -was a kindhearted man , so the Prince told him what he told the master spinner ; and the farmer did not laugh : but ho did not understand . "A likely lad like thee , " be said , " may do what none of these poor folks do , and may get to be a faffinei' ; but thou must work for ' t , lad . So just go on as thou art . " " It is tho same , " thought the Prince ; "I may get the means of finding when it is too late-. "

    And beyond food , or comfort , or safety , or life , ho loved his search ; and , therefore , he left the ^ farm and walked on , until lie cumo to a port . ^ There ho saw a large bilL , telling everybody that a good ship ¦ was sailing to tho country -wliora all man s desires were satisfied ; so ho went to the captain , and asked him for a voyage . Tho captain held out his Land for the money , and when tho Prince said that he had none , the man told him that he could not go > , unless ho worked . "Gladly , " answered tho Prince 5 and he stepped on board . Ho had to assist the men in helping the people and gooda on board ; but he was , strong , and the mon were

    struck him a smart blow with a rope ' s end , and told him , aot to skulk * Edward did not mind the blow , but h-e did miud tha beino- thought a skulker ; so . he stopped on deck , altliough he was nearly washed *^ and felt so wet with salt water that he thought he was a sponge or a piece of bread soaking in salt- broth .. Some time after the master said he mi « ht as welL begin to go aloft , and thea lue learned how a shi p looks from the top of a pole making a . sweep of scores of yards . It must fall , he thought ; . but it didn't . Nor did he . Afterwards one day he -was told that he . must go out on the yard—must crawl along that round , wet , slippery spar waving and jerking over the waves that now rose up and tried to reach him and uow

    , opened to let Max in as he fell . " It will be my death , " thought the Prinee " and I shall never find what I seek . " But it wasn ' t his death . He was not worse off , poor Prince , than many a bold fellow . At last they passed the Cape of Storms , and here th « y felt safe ; but then came the worst storm they ever had had , and the ship , alter straining , and groaning , and beating the waves , was dashed upon the rocks , and went to pieces . " Well , " cried the good Prince , as he felt himself sinking , "if it is God ' s law that I seek no more but in the other world , it is best so ; but who can tell till he tries ?" So he struck out bravely , and for all his boots he managed to crawl on shore .

    He scrambled over the rocks , and walked on into the country , again faint and hungry . At last he saw something coaning over the plain , which might be a host ; bui he found that it was a great herd of cattle , with long horns , walking , trotting , galloping , tossing their heads , and lifting their noses wildly into the air . Few trees were there near , but he got behind one to let the herd pass without trampling him down ; and behind the beasts he found a man on horseback , with a rifle at his saddle and a great whip , and he told the man what had befallen him . " You shall tend my herd , " said the man ; and so the Prince did , not only driving it , but helping the drovers of other herds to keep watch against the black thieves of the border . " The rascals

    had been better since the Queen ' s Generals had thrashed them instead of pettingj" said the farmer . " But why did "they pet them before ? " asked the Prince . " Ob . ! I never could , tell . I think they learned how to treat black savages , by studying dame schools . But we soon taught them better ;" " How did you do that ? " asked the Prince . " Why , you see , we struck out ; and , young man , I will tell you one thing that may serve you as a settler— - for you will be a settler before you are old—that when kings govern badly , the shortest way for the people to get righted is just— " " To do what ?" said the Prince , for that was coming close to his study . "To rebel , " said the farmer stoutly . ' * Are not fair words better—a mild answer , you know- ——" "Mild answer be - ! No ; deputations only get gracious replies . " "Have you tried ? " "Tried both , young man . They told us not to beat

    those thieves on the border , and we petitioned , and much good did it . The Dutchmen went over the border ; and for all the King sent orders to bring them back , there they are—free . They sent us thieves home-made ; we sent our Governor to Coventry , and they sent the thieves away again . Finding us so stout to take care of ourselves , they began to take care of us , and gave us a free constitution as they call it ; and free enough we are—for 1 have a voice in my own laws , I have a good rifle to protect myself ; , and now , if our good Queen wants it , that same rifle is at her service—to * the death , my boy ; and can any man say more than that ? " But , although it ¦ was a fine life , the Prince did not fill his purse for travel ; so he went down to the town , and took ship again with stout heart , and went on to the Land of Promise .

    A fine town did he land in , and a pleasant . Everybody looked happy , so everybody was kind ; and bare as he was , , the youth , being well educated , had his choice of work . Every man was free , every man could make way in life , every man could have a voice in tie laws , every man had his aifle , and every man offered it for the service of his Queen . The Princemi ^ ht sit in the bank and write , he might tend 11 vineyard , keep a waggon , work on a farm , mind a store ; and all under a gay sun . He tried them all , « ach after the other ; . and found there , as at home , that whatever the gain , that labour is the sweetest which comes closest to tbc working of God ' s own laws in his own free air and under his own broad sun . " But , " he asked , * where is thai which man most wants ? " " Oh ! " cried these happy people , " that is in the desert behind , us . " So the Prince went on into the tawny desert .

    And . faint enough he was with hunger , toiling over the bard ground under the broiling sun of Christmas . At last he came up with a man wbo was huay about jthc ground , —a rough-looking fellow , dressed in a leather-shirt over bis trousers ; and again the Prince asked for food , oll ' ering to work fox it . " You won ' t get much fuod out of tbis ground , " answered the man , " though we must all work for what we eat . Thou caust buy some at the store yonder or stay , here ia a biscuit which 1 will sell thce for n piece of silver , and that ia cheap in this land . " " But 1 have no inonoy , " said the Prince . " Gud ! s life ! lad , why didst not say so at firstV Here , tnku the biscuit , and another too , for Bob Oldham will novor see a comrade starve while he has a biscuit in his pocket . " When he had appeased bis hunger somewhat , the Pitnce asked the man what thuy wore working there for . " What for ? " asked tho man , " why for this ; " and ho took up a large lump of something which . hx » gave to tho Prince . " What is itV asked tho young man . " Canatnofc tell it ? Maybap thou hast not often seen it so large or so pure . It is gold ,

    lad ; what every man longs for—what thousands of us come here to dig , and when we come , we find that it will satisfy neither hunger nor tuirsfc . Thou'lt grow no fatter lu these diggings ; and if thou wisheat to buy , thou caust work longer than thou wouklat at loom or plough to get a bellyful . " ( Setting tho man so fail' a comrade , and feeling th « j want of converse hi that d ' eaort , the Prince frankly told him his whole story . " Wliufcf thuu art thou a Prince ? " cried the man ; " a real Prince ? VVoll , wit down , lad ; thau'lt find a seat with more gold in it thau thy mother ' s throne , thouyh thou aiUiiat upon the ground . " The Piinuu told the uiim what ho was in souroli of . u Well , " cried Oldham , " thou ' st come to the other uido of tho world ,, -with , thy feet right oppoajite to those ut homo , and thou ' at not found it yet ; biiA I don ' t think thou canst be fur wrong ; . It in not this , tit nil uvents , " ho cxiod , tossing tho gold in his luuid ; " we know whut thuL ia worth und what it iau ' t ; but when thou and 1 cumo tojLjolucr ut ttio opposite sido of the uurth , tmd

    kind , aiud at last it was all done ; and then they sailed . The Prince had often been on , bis mother ' s favourite ship , and full half at homo , and tvlmoafc a sailor . " At all events , " ho said , thinking of the factory and tho farm , and remembering how much sweoter hunger wua when ho tended tho beasts ai » d tho corn , growing aftur God ' s good laws , tluin a full boll y in a poisoned air , " I . BhuU have to face nothing worse than God has uiado . " But tho ship whs not his mother ' tt fuvouritu ship , and tho captain was uot the lady his mother . One night it came on to rain and blow , and ho was on deck ; but ho had nothing particular to do , and ho thought ho would go down into his cabin , close us it was . Just us . hu begun to doscuud , a sailor

    Untitled Article

    December 23 , 1854 . ] THE LEADER . 1219

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Dec. 23, 1854, page 1219, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2070/page/19/