A KNIGHT OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY by Edward Payson Roe (red seas under red skies .TXT) π
Read free book Β«A KNIGHT OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY by Edward Payson Roe (red seas under red skies .TXT) πΒ» - read online or download for free at americanlibrarybooks.com
- Author: Edward Payson Roe
Read book online Β«A KNIGHT OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY by Edward Payson Roe (red seas under red skies .TXT) πΒ». Author - Edward Payson Roe
Furnished the Laws Of His Action, And The Wish To Curb His Desires
Because They Were Wrong Scarcely Ever Crossed his Mind. To Avoid Trouble
With His Mother, Therefore, He Began Slyly And Secretly To Taste The
Forbidden Fruits Which Her Lavish Supplies Of Money Always Kept Within
His Reach. In this Manner That Most Hopeless And Vitiating Of Elements,
Deceitfulness, Entered into His Character. He Denied to His Mother, And
Sought To Conceal From Her, The Truth That While Still In his Teens He
Was Learning The Gambler'S Infatuation And Forming The Inebriate'S
Appetite. He Tried to Prevent Her From Knowing That Many Of His Most
Intimate Associates Were Such As He Would Not Introduce To Her Or To His
Sisters.
He Had Received, However, A Few Counter-Balancing advantages In his
Early Life. With All Her Weaknesses, His Mother Was A Lady, And Order,
Refinement, And Elegance Characterized his Home. Though Not A Gentleman
At Heart, On Approaching Manhood He Habitually Maintained the Outward
Bearing That Society Demands. The Report That He Was A Little Fast Was
More Than Neutralized by The Fact Of His Wealth. Indeed, Society
Concluded that It Had Much More Occasion To Smile Than To Frown Upon
Him, And His Increasing Fondness For Society And Its Approval In some
Degree Curbed his Tendencies To Dissipation.
It Might Also Prove To His Advantage That So Much Christian And Ethical
Truth Had Been Lodged in his Memory During Early Years. His Mother Had
Really Taken Pains To Acquaint Him With The Divine Man Who "Pleased not
Himself," Even While She Was Practically Teaching Him To Reverse This
Trait In his Own Character. Thus, While The Youth'S Heart Was Sadly
Erratic, His Head Was Tolerably Orthodox, And He Knew Theoreticaly The
Chief Principles Of Right Action. Though His Conscience Had Never Been
Truly Awakened, It Often Told Him That His Action Was Unmanly, To Say
The Least; And That Was As Far As Any Self-Censure Could Reach At This
Time. But It Might Prove A Fortunate Thing That Although Thorns And
Thistles Had Been Planted chiefly, Some Good Seed had Been Scattered
Also, And That He Had Received some Idea Of A Life The Reverse Of That
Which He Was Leading.
But Thus Far It Might Be Said With Almost Literal Truth, That Young
Haldane'S Acquaintance With Christian Ethics Had Had No More Practical
Effect Upon His Habitual Action And Thought Than His Knowledge Of
Algebra. When His Mother Permitted him To Snatch His Sisters' Playthings
And Keep Them, When She Took Him From The School Where He Had Received
Well-Merited punishment, When She Enslaved herself And Her Household To
Him Instead Of Teaching Considerate And Loyal Devotion To Her, She
Nullified all The Christian Instruction That She Or Any One Else Had
Given.
The Boy Had One Very Marked trait, Which Might Promise Well For The
Future, Or Otherwise, According To Circumstances, And That Was A Certain
Wilful Persistence, Which Often Degenerated into Downright Obstinacy.
Frequently, When His Mother Thought That She Had Coaxed or Wheedled him
Into Giving Up Something Of Which She Did Not Approve, He Would Quietly
Approach His Object In some Other Way, And Gain His Point, Or Sulk Till
He Did. When He Set His Heart Upon Anything He Was Not As "Unstable As
Water." While But An Indifferent And Superficial Student, Who Had
Habitually Escaped lessons And Skipped difficulties, He Occasionally
Became Nettled by A Perplexing Problem Or Task, And Would Work At It
With A Sort Of Vindictive, Unrelenting Earnestness, As If He Were
Subduing an Enemy. Having Put His Foot On The Obstacle, And Mastered the
Difficulty That Piqued him, He Would Cast The Book Aside, Indifferent To
The Study Or Science Of Which It Formed but A Small Fraction.
After All, Perhaps The Best That Could Be Said Of Him Was That He
Possessed fair Abilities, And Was Still Subject To The Good And Generous
Impulses Of Youth. His Traits And Tendencies Were, In the Main, All
Wrong; But He Had Not As Yet Become Confirmed and Hardened in them.
Contact With The World, Which Sooner Or Later Tells A Man The Truth
About Himself, However Unwelcome, Might Dissipate The Illusion, Gained
From His Mother'S Idolatry, That In some Indefinite Way He Was
Remarkable In himself, And That He Was Destined to Great Things From A
Vague And Innate Superiority, Which It Had Never Occurred to Him To
Analyze.
But As The Young Man Approached his Majority His Growing Habits Of
Dissipation Became So Pronounced that Even His Willingly Blind Mother
Was Compelled to Recognize Them. Rumor Of His Fast And Foolish Behavior
Took Such Definite Shape As To Penetrate The Widow'S Aristocratic
Retirement, And To Pass The Barriers Created by The Reserve Which She
Ever Maintained in regard To Personal And Family Matters. More Than Once
Her Son Came Home In a Condition So Nearly Resembling Intoxication That
She Was Compelled to Recognize The Cause, And She Was Greatly Shocked
And Alarmed. Again And Again She Said To Herself:
"I Cannot Understand How A Boy Brought Up In the Careful Christian
Manner That He Has Been Can Show Such Unnatural Depravity. It Is A Dark,
Mysterious Providence, To Which I Feel I Cannot Submit."
Though Young Haldane Was Aware Of His Mother'S Intolerance Of
Disreputable Vices And Follies, He Was Not Prepared for Her Strong And
Even Bitter Condemnation Of His Action. Having Never Been Taught To
Endure From Her Nor From Any One The Language Of Rebuke, He Retorted as
A Son Never Should Do In any Circumstances, And Stormy Scenes Followed.
Thus The Mother Was At Last Rudely Awakened to The Fact That Her Son Was
Not A Model Youth, And That Something Must Be Done Speedily, Or Else He
Might Go To Destruction, And In the Meantime Disgrace Both Himself And
Her--An Event Almost Equally To Be Dreaded.
In Her Distress And Perplexity She Summoned her Pastor, And Took Counsel
With Him. At Her Request The Venerable Man Readily Agreed to "Talk To"
The Wayward Subject, And Thought That His Folly And Its Consequences
Could Be Placed before The Young Man In such A Strong And Logical
Statement That It Would Convince Him At Once That He Must "Repent And
Walk In the Ways Of Righteousness." If Haldane'S Errors Had Been Those
Of Doctrine, Dr. Marks Would Have Been An Admirable Guide; But The
Trouble Was That, While The Good Doctor Was Familiar With All The
Readings Of Obscure Greek And Hebrew Texts, And All The Shades Of
Opinions Resulting, He Was Unacquainted with Even The Alphabet Of Human
Nature. In approaching "A Sinner," He Had One Formal And Unvarying
Method, And He Chose His Course Not From The Bearing Of The Subject
Himself, But From Certain General Theological Truths Which He Believed
Applied to The "Unrenewed heart Of Man As A Fallen Race." He Rather
Prided himself Upon Calling a Sinner A Sinner, And All Things Else By
Their Right Names; And Thus It Is Evident That He Often Had But Little
Of The Pauline Guile, Which Enabled the Great Apostle To Entangle The
Wayward Feet Of Jew, Greek And Roman, Bond And Free, In heavenly Snares.
The Youth Whom He Was To Convince And Convert By A Single Broadside Of
Truth, As It Were, Moved in such An Eccentric Orbit, That The Doctor
Could Never Bring His Heavy Artillery To Bear Upon Him. Neither Coaxing
Nor Scolding On The Part Of The Mother Could Bring about The Formal
Interview. At Last, However, It Was Secured by An Accident, And His
Mother Felt Thereafter, With A Certain Sense Of Consolation, That "All
Had Been Done That Could Be Done."
Entering The Parlor Unexpectedly One Afternoon, Haldane Stumbled
Directly Upon Dr. Marks, Who Opened fire At Once, By Saying:
"My Young Friend, This Is Quite Providential, As I Have Long Been
Wishing For An Interview. Please Be Seated, For I Have Certain Things To
Say Which Relate To Your Spiritual And Temporal Well-Being, Although The
Latter Is A Very Secondary Matter."
Haldane Was Too Well Bred to Break Rudely And Abruptly Away, And Yet It
Must Be Admitted that He Complied with Very Much The Feeling and Grace
With Which He Would Take A Dentist'S Chair.
"My Young Friend, If You Ever Wish To Be A Saint You Must First Have A
Profound Conviction That You Are A Sinner. I Hope That You Realize That
You Are A Sinner."
"I Am Quite Content To Be A Gentleman," Was The Brusque Reply.
"But As Long As You Remain An Impenitent Sinner You Can Never Be Even A
True Gentleman," Responded the Clergyman Somewhat Warmly.
Haldane Had Caught A Shocked and Warning Look From His Mother, And So
Did Not Reply. He Saw That He Was "In For It," As He Would Express
Himself, And Surmised that The Less He Said The Sooner The Ordeal Would
Be Over. He Therefore Took Refuge In a Silence That Was Both Sullen And
Resentful. He Was Too Young And Uncurbed to Maintain A Cold And
Impassive Face, And His Dark Eyes Occasionally Shot Vindictive Gleams At
Both His Mother And Her Ally, Who Had So Unexpectedly Caged him Against
His Will. Fortunately The Doctor Was Content, After He Had Got Under
Way, To Talk At, Instead Of To, His Listener, And Thus Was Saved the
Mortification Of Asking Questions Of One Who Would Not Have Answered.
After The Last Sonorous Period Had Been Rounded, The Youth Arose, Bowed
Stiffly, And Withdrew, But With A Heart Overflowing With A Malicious
Desire To Retaliate. At The Angle Of The House Stood The Clergyman'S
Steady-Going Mare, And His Low, Old-Fashioned buggy. It Was But The Work
Of A Moment To Slip Part Of The Shuck Of A Horse-Chestnut, With Its
Sharp Spines, Under The Collar, So That When The Traces Drew Upon It The
Spines Would Be Driven Into The Poor Beast'S Neck. Then, Going Down To
The Main Street Of The Town, Through Which He Knew The Doctor Must Pass
On His Way Home, He Took His Post Of Observation.
Chapter II (Both Apologize)
Haldane'S Hopes Were Realized beyond His Anticipations, For The Doctor'S
Old Mare--At First Surprised and Restless From The Wounds Made By The
Sharp Spines--Speedily Became Indignant And Fractious, And At Last, Half
Frantic With Pain, Started on A Gallop Down The Street, Setting all The
Town Agog With Excitement And Alarm.
With Grim Satisfaction Haldane Saw The Doctor'S Immaculate Silk Hat Fly
Into The Mud, His Wig, Blown Comically Awry, Fall Over His Eyes, And His
Spectacles Joggle Down Until They Sat Astride The Tip Of A Rather
Prominent Nose.
Having Had His Revenge He At Once Relented, And Rushing Out In advance
Of Some Others Who Were Coming To The Rescue, He Caught The Poor Beast,
And Stopped her So Suddenly That The Doctor Was Nearly Precipitated over
The Dashboard. Then, Pretending To Examine The Harness To See That
Nothing Was Broken, He Quietly Removed the Cause Of Irritation, And The
Naturally Sedate Beast At Once Became Far More Composed than Her Master,
For, As A Bystander Remarked, The Venerable Doctor Was "Dreadfully Shuck
Up." It Was Quite In keeping With Haldane'S Disingenuous Nature To
Accept The Old Gentleman'S Profuse Thanks For The Rescue. The Impulse To
Carry His Mischief Still Further Was At Once Acted upon, And He Offered
To See The Doctor Safely Home.
His Services Were Eagerly Accepted, For The Poor Man Was Much Too
Unnerved to Take The Reins Again, Though, Had He Known It, The Mare
Would Now Have Gone To The Parsonage Quietly, And Of Her Own Accord.
The Doctor Was Gradually Righted up And Composed. His Wig, Which Had
Covered his Left Eye, Was Arranged decorously In its Proper Place, And
The Gold-Rimmed spectacles Pressed back So That The Good Man Could Beam
Mildly And Gratefully Upon His Supposed preserver. The Clerical Hat,
However, Had Lost Its Character Beyond Recovery, And Though Its Owner
Was Obliged to Wear It Home, It Must Be Confessed that It Did Not At All
Comport With The Doctor'S Dignity And Calling.
Young Haldane Took The Reins With A Great Show Of Solicitude And
Vigilance, Appearing To Dread Another Display
Comments (0)