The Memphis appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1886-1890, 1888-11-18

new school buildings, she was the helper,
gossip and conidant OF half the parish. Her
vast hats, strange In fashion and inordi-
nate in brim, her shawls Of many colors,
hitched now to this side, now to that; her
swaying gait, looped up skirts, and her spccta-
Giles were the outward signs Of personality
familiar to all. For under those checked
shawls which few women passed without re-
| mark, there beat one OF the warmest hearts
that ever animated mortal clay, and the pre-
maturely wrinkled face, with its small quick
eyes and shrewd, indulgent mouth, bespoke
a nature as responsive as 1t was vigorous.
"Life was delightful TO her. Action, energy,
influence. were delightful TO her. She could
only breathe freely in the very thick Of the
stirring, many-colored tumult OF existence.
| Whether it was pauper In the workhouse
or boys from school, or girl caught in the
tangle of love affair, II was all the same to
Mrs. Elsmere. Everything moved her,
everything appealed to her. Her life was a
perpetual giving forth, and such was the in
herent nobilityand soundness of her nature
that in spite OF her curious Irish fondness
for the vehement, romantic sides of expert
ence, she did little harm and much good.
| IitT tonBut nilBnt DC ever Ttduy anu ncr
championships indiscreet, but her hands
were helpful and her heart was true. There
was something contagious in her enjoyment
OF life, and with all her strong religious faith
the thought of death, Of any final pause
and silence in the whirl of the great social
machine, was TO her thought OF greater
chill and horror than to many q less frail and
spiritual soul"
| Nothing could be sweeter or more ex-
quisitely tender than the home picture OF
Robert and his mother, which onlya woman
with heart full Of sympathy could paint.
In after years, when Robert looked back
upon his childhood, he was often reminded
Of the stories OF Gocthe's bringing up. Gle
could recall exactly the same scenes as
Goethe describes-mother and child sitting
together in the cleaning, the mothers dark
eyes dancing with fun or kindling with dra-
matte fire rs she carried an imaginary hero
or heroine through a series of adven-
lures the child all eagerness and sympathy,
now clapping his little hands at the fall OF
the giant or the defeat of the sorcerer, and
now arguing and suggesting in ways which
gave perpetnally fresh stimulus TO the
| HlNAAi'A iiANNAlNANNHNa1s llt toNu ott
dressing up with him on wet days,
recitlng King Henry TO his Prince
Hal, or Prospero to his Ariel, or
simply giving free vent 10 her own exuber.
ant Irish fun, till both he and she would
sink exhausted into each others arms and
end the evening with a long Groom, sitting
curlcd up together In big armchair In
front OF the ere. When she asks
herself had she loved him enough2 Had
she sc Gar fulfilled the wish her dead hus-
band had imposed upon herr Would her
boy love her in the new life as he had loved
her Ia the old2 And could her poor craving
heart bear TO see him absorbed by fresh in
teresis and passions, In which her share could
be only at the best secondary and indircctY'
And then followed the proud moment
when Robert, In his cxhibitioners gown,
took her TO service In the chapel on Sunday.
A personality 30 strong could scarcely fail
e. leave its imprint on the sons susceptible
responsive nnture.
Robert inherited his mothor'ssunny, elastic
temperament, and was an optiinist His early
association with his tutor, Langham the
restless. pessimisiic dreamer, was an impor.
tant factor in bringing about the speculative
Effectiveness which finally ended IN the
frank avowal Of his changed religious views.
Iansham Is a psychological study, and
more interesting, probably on that account.
perhaps. than almost any other chamc-
ter In tho novel. Tho reaction from
strict, bigoted, provincial rearing drove
him 20 the other extreme, till he
became the restless morbid, pcssemistic
dreamer We find him. The germs Of ali
this hopclcssness in life must have existed
In him rs a child the day he put this question
TO his Calyinist mother: How is Il dislike
the things dislike 10 much mora than
like the things likcg' An cpitome Of the
whole thing. Sensitive, shrinking and
gloomy, the only bit Of brightness left in his
disappointed "cui bono nature was his love
Of music and the thcatcr II Is easy TO see
why Rose attSactcd him-how, after reycling
for a moment in the great JOY at the thought
Of union with her, he could become dis.
trustful Of his own power 10 make her
happy, aud begged at the last moment 10 be
released from his promise TO marry her.
Robert Elsmerc's death makes n fitting
though a sad ending Of the book. In no
NNhNi way Nohn1'his WIN Aht tnA uAh
aim In view, could the writer have rounded
out life 10 full Of noble purpose, honesty,
sincerity aud manhood.
The work has been criticised from the or.
thodox point Of view rs n dangerous one,
but Ms we think. unjuslly. Mrs Ward does
not merely create the character Of Robert
Elsmerc, one 10 supcrbly equipped for n
sacred vocation. She, In him, gives us the
counterpart Of living man. who In the pur.
suit OF that sacred vocation. with high In.
tegrity and great resolution 10 do n work nc.
ccptablc 20 God. found, after 70 long time
that his mind was no longer In oonsonancc
with the theology OF his student days
though his heart was fuller OF sympathy
than ever with the noble purposes which arc
: inseparable from 80 lofty calling when
, honorably pursued. Robert Elsmerc
thus passes into the literature OF
the English speaking people, we'll
rounded and complete character. His want
Of orthodoxy may be condemned or Endorsed
as suits Mr. Wards readers. but that II Is a
, truthful characterization none can doubt
II Is strong, yet symmetrical. lie Is char
actor that aside from his opinions l. Iowa
, bic 10 women. His mother made him aud
. his wife ut last yields To him. Not because
she Surrendered anythingof her love for her
Lord and Master Jesus Christ, but that real
i. izng through the divine example Of that
, Christ that Roberts work was no less Christ