The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1881-10-12

rents, and one of large family of broth
ers and sisters. He said to his mother,
with heavy heart, must not be a
burden any longer upon father and you
/ shall set out and find work of some
kind or other elsewhere. and support my
self"
So he babe farewell to his father and
his brothers and sisters, and, with little
bundle in his hand, he left his home. His
mother went with him two or three miles
of the way. When at length she was
obliged to turn back, she knelt down
with him at the roadside and asked God
to bless him and go with him and keep
him from every evil way. Then she took
out some money and gave it to him for
the journey. Then the two kissed each
other, and weeping, parted.
By and by he arrived at the city of
Exeter. He went to the cathedral; he
wandered about the streets he called at
the shops but of all, to whom he had
applied that day, no one had work for
him. At last, he found himself standing
at the window of bookshop, looking at
the rows of books on the shelves within.
At that moment, happening to lift his
eyes, he caught glimpse of the cathe-
dral and the thoug ht suddenly shot into
his mind that there was connection be-
tween these books and the cathedral. If
he, poor though he was, could become
learned in books, he might be worthy of
a place some day in the cathedral.
1t was a mere thought and it soon
passed away from his mind. He left
Exeter and travelled on and on, till he
found himself in Oxford. He knew no.
body there. But, having passed through
Exeter, and knowing that Exeter Col
lege was the one to which Devonshire
students went, he knocked at the gates
of that college and asked if they wanted
lad like him, for any work he could do.
They did want such lad as he. And
in short time he was employed to scour
pans, to clean knives, to brush shoes, and
in other ways help in the kitchen.
John was faithful servant, and soon
became favorite with everybody about
the college. And, as he had good many
hours of leisure he set himself to learn
Latin and Greek. And by and by the
dons going past saw the kitchen boy
porting over loose leaves of grammars,
and would ask him jokingly if he was
reading Homer and the Latin poets.
But after awhile one and then another
gave up joking at the lad and went near
to him, and saw that by himself alone he
had come very near to the reading of.
both Homer and the Latin poets. And
then the dons took him away from the
kitchen and made room for him in the
classes of their college, and he became
one of their foremost scholars, and one in
whom they all felt pride.
And by and by John was made a f" fell
low" and then professor of divinity,
and for twenty-seven years he labored
in that college as a professor and writer
of books, where he had served as kitchen
boy. And at the end of that time he was
made a Bishop of Worcester, and therein
proved the truth of the thought, shot
through his mind, at the window of the
book shopin Exeter, that there was way
through books to place in the cathe-
dral.
Bishop Prideaux was never ashamed of
his early trials. He kept the leathern
clothes, in which he set out from his faith
er's house, to his old age. He loved to
revisit the village in which he was born
He greatly loved his parents. In his
kindness he would plan surprise visits.
He would bring his doctors scarlet gown
and put it on to please them. He never
tired of showing them reverence. Often he
would say, eff l had got the clerks
place in Ugborough, I should never have
been Bishop in Worcester"
He loved to think that his mothers
prayer had been answered in the hap
piest events of his life. And he did not
think differently when the happy years
came to an end, and years of disgrace and
war came in their stead. Those who
triumphed in that war drove him from
Worcester, but he still felt and said that
all his life had been planned out for him
by God.-Sumday Magazine.