Litchfield enquirer., 1869-02-18
From !" Every Saturday STEPHEN ARCHER. a @
BY GEORGE MACDONALD.

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 .s4 STEPHEN ARCHER. s4 ' | SA5 lA AtsssAlb ~ s7l EG [iftt5tsfss7 1T q BY GEORGE MACDONALD. ,3s4 l Stephen Archer was stationer, book.
 seller. and newsmonger in one of the sub.
 urbs of London. The newspapers hung
 in Q sort of rack at his door, as if for. the convenience of the public to help them. selves in passing. On his counter lay penny weeklies and books coming out ln parts, among which the Family Herald was in force, and the London Journal not to be feund., had occasion once to try the extent of his stock, for required a good many copies of one of lShakespeare's plays --at 8 penny, if could find such., He shook his head, and told me he could not encourage the sale of such productions. This pleased me; for although it was 1oi 7 little consequence what he thought con. corning Shakespeare, it was of the utmost import that he should prefer principle to pence. So Iloitered in the shop looking for somethiug to buy; but there was noth. ing in the way of literature; his whole stock, as far as I could see, consisted o1 little religious volumes of gay binding and inferior print: he had nothing even from the Halifax press. He was good looking
 fellow, about thirty, with dark eyes, over.
 hanging brows that indicatel thought,
 mouth of character, and no smile. I was interested in him. s . .zr -.at t9 s,.*azaE>. ! I asked him, if he would mind getting
 the plays I wanted. He said he would
 would rather not. bade him good morn ing. ias% 'ia@ef odj-1. fs-tSsifa&:d ;,
 More than year. after, saw him again.
 had passed his shop many times, but I snn | ~u6~ n could hardly recall the former appearance
 of the man, so was it swallowed up in a
 new expression. His face was alive, and
 his behaviour courteous A similar change
 had passed upon hIs stock. There was
 Punch and Fun amongst the papers, and i iten-penny Shakespeares upon the coun.
 ter, printed on straw paper, with ugly
 wood cuts. The former class of publica.
 tions had not vanished, but, was mingled
 with cheap editions of some worthy of be- ing called books. .,ae, I;., t,fsg.ft..s. .....s
 I see you have changed your mind since
 saw you last I said. .-..7'L~1l zi' 1.''' ~"'
 You have the advantage of me, sir, he returned. I did not know you were a customer as-E EtaeirGo raI veu.>Y .sl Not much of that. r I replied; only in intention. I wanted you to get me some penny Shakespeares, and you would not take the order.I 2a's,; aa 'a,s.a@5s .a!1i41 'Ohl I think I remember, he answered, with just trace of confusion; adding, I'm married now" and I fancied could read Q sort of triumph over his former self. r. [ q R-G
 laughed, of cause.-the best express ion of sympathy at hand-and after little talk left the shop, resolved to look in again
 soon. Before Q month was over. I had made the acquaintance of his wife too, and between them learned so much of their history as to be able to give the fol- lowing particulars concerning it. Af ts
 stephen Archer was one of the deacons, rather young one, perhaps, of dissent ing congregation. The chapel was one of the oldest in the neighborhood. quite tri. umphant in ugliness, but possessed his- tory which gave it high rank with those who frequented it. The sacred odor of the names of pastors who had occupied it's pulpit, fingered about its walls-names un. known beyond its precincts. but starry in
 the eyes of those whose world lay within its tabernacle. People generally do not know what c power some of these small c0's0enticles are in the education of the world. If only an outlet for the energies of men of lowly education and position, who, in connection with most of the church ss of the Establishment, would find no employment. they gre of inestimable value. To stephen Archer, for instance, when I out of the common world into the infinite. When he entered, as certainly did tho awe and the hush of the sacred place over- shadow his spirit, as if it had been gor- geous cathedral-house borne aloft upon the joined palms of its Gothic arches. The Master is truer than men think, and the power of His presence, as Browning has 30 we'll set forth in his "Christmas Eve, " is where two or three are gathered in His name. And inasmuch as Stephen was not man of imagination, he had the greater need of the undefned, influences of tho place. s.fHdozo1a. .Ha0 2 4al1 ri s2 He had been chief in establishing a small mission amongst the poor in the nsighborhood, with the working of which
 he occupied the greater part of his spare time. I will not venture to assert that his mind was pure from the ambition of gath ering from these to swell the flock at the little chapel; nay, I will not even assert that there never arose suggestion of the enemy that the pence of these rescued
 brands might alleviate the burden upon stkS AcssuS 0Au buOuIQ0TS OI tQ0 poorly prosperous caryatids of his church; but do say thatStephen was ano honest man, ever ready, to grow honester; and, who can demand more? One evening, as he was putting up the shutters of his window, his attention was arrested by . shafaing be- hind him. Glancing round. sheI set down
 the shutter, and the next instant boxed a
 boys ears, who ran away bowling and
 mildly excavating his eyeballs,, while .
 young pale-faced woman, with the 1arges,
 black eyes he had ever seen, expostulated
 with him on the proceeding. .r
 f 70 siri' she said, he wasn't troubling
 you. There was touch of indignation
 m the tone. 22 LooH ,sasJlsaa b sn I I'm sorry I can't return the seompli. ment. said Stephen, rather illogically. II I'd ha' known you liked to have your shins
 kicked, I might ha' let the young rascal
 alone. But you see didn't know it. wo3
 l He's my brother said, the young wo-
 man, conclusively.. .s. :. " v s4 Il The more shame to him, returned Ste. tphen. If he'd been your husband, now, there might ha' been more harm than rood
 in interferin, cause he'd only give it you the worse after; but brothemlg We'll, I'm lsure it's pity interfered.
 I I don't see the difference. she retorted, RA4 fl- - = t A-tz N