Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1881-02-26


Father Benwell persisted.
Penrose admitted it with pleasing
smile.
my spirits are not very lively" he
said.
Father Benwell shook his head In
gentle disapproval of depressed state
of spirits in young man.
"This must be corrected" he re-
marked. Cultivate cheerfulness,
Arthur. I am myself, thank God, .
naturally cheerful man. My mind re-
fleets, in some degree land reflects
gratefully the brightness and beauty
which are part of the great scheme oi
creation. A similar disposition is to be
cultivated. great trust is about to be
placed in you. Be socially agreeable.
or you will fail to justify the trust.
This is Father BenwelPs little sermon.
I think it has merit, Arthur-it is Q
sermon soon over"
Penrose looked up at his superior,
eager to hear more.
He was very young man. His large,
thoughtful, well-opened gray eyes, and
his habitual refinement and modesty o1
manner, gave a certain attraction to his
personal appearance, Of which it stood
in some need. In stature no was little
and lean; his hair had become pro.
maturely thin over his broad forehead;
there were hollows already in his
cheeks, and marks on either side of his
thin delicate lips. He looked like q
person who had passed many miserable
hours in neeilessly despairing Of him.
self and his prospects. With all this
there was something in him SO irresisti.
bly, truthful and sincere 80 suggestive.
even where he might be wrong, OF q
purely conscientious belief in his own
errors--that he attached PEOPLE to him
without an effort, and without being
aware of it himself. What would his
friends have said ii they had been told
that the religious enthusiasm of this
gentle, self-distrustful, melancholy mnu
might, in its very innocence of sus-
picion and self-seeking, be perverted to
dangerous Uses in unscrupulous hands:
His friends would, one and all, have re-
ceived the sc.ndalous assertion with
contempt; and Penrose himself, if he
had heard of it, might have failed to
control his temper for the first time in
his life.
"May I ask question, without Civ
ing offense?" h. said, timidly.
Father Benwell took his hand. "N[y
dear y thar, let us open our minds to
each her without reserve. What il
your question:"
"You have spoken, Father, Of grea!
trust that is about to be placed in me-
"Yes. You are anxious, no doubt,
to near what it is !"
"f am anXiouN to know, in the first
plo"n II. f,,Ijlrs me to go back tc
Oxford.
Father Benwell dropped his young
friends hand. "Do you dislike Ok
ord ?" he asked, observing Penrose, at.
tcntively.
Bear with me, Father, if speak toe
confidently. l dislike the deception
which has obliged me to conceal that
am Catholic and priest"
Father Benwell set this little difficult,
right, with the air of man who could
make benevolent allowance Tor unrea
sonahln s"ruples. 81 think, Arthur
.op t'r.ct two important co,ri idera
tions," he said "ln the first place
you have dispensation from YOU
superiors which absclves you of all re
sponsibility in respect of the conceal
ment that you have pncticed. In the
seconi place we could only obtain in.
formation of the progress which our
church is silently making at the uni
veisity b. employing you in the capa-
ci,y Of let me say-an independent
| observer However, ii il will contrib
IRE to your ease OF mind, I see no OBJ
| lection to informing you that you will
not he instructed to return to Oxford.
Do relieve yolt?"
There could be no question Of it.
Penrose breathed more freely in every
sense Of the word.
"At the same time" Father Benwell
continued, "let Ills not misunderstood
each other. In the new sphere of action
which We design for you, you will moi
only be at liberty to acknowledge that
you are Catholic, it will be absolutely
necessary that you should do so. But
yau will continue to wear the ordinary
dress of an English gentleman, and to
preserve the strictest secrecy on the
subject of your admission to the priest.
hood until you are further advised by
myself. Now, dear Arthur, read thu!
paper 1t is the necessary preface to all
that l have yet to soy to you"
The "paper' contained a few pages
of manuscript relating the early history
Of Vange Abbey in the days of the
monks, aid the circumstances under
which the property was confscated to
lay uses in the time of Henry tho