spoke, uttering little ejaculations of surprise and
amusement at what was said; if there was a place vacant
in the carriage, she drove out. If there was not,
she stopped at home. She amused herself by going
about in the village, talking to the old women and
the children, who half loved and half despised her
for being so very unimportant, and for having nothing
she could give away. But I do not think the little
lady ever had a thought except of gratitude for her
blessings, and admiration for the robustness and efficiency
of her relations. She claimed nothing from life
and expected nothing. It seemed a little frail
and vanquished existence, and there was not an atom
of what is called proper pride about her; but it was
fine, for all that! An infinite sweetness looked
out of her eyes; she suffered a good deal, but never
complained. She was glad to live, found the world
a beautiful and interesting place, and never quarrelled
with her slender share of its more potent pleasures.
And she will slip silently out of life some day in
her attic room; and be strangely mourned and missed.
I do not consider that a failure in life, and I am
not sure that it is not something much more like a
triumph. I know that as I watched her one evening
knitting in the corner, following what was said with
intense enjoyment, uttering her little bird-like cries,
I thought how few of the things that could afflict
me had power to wound her, and how little she had
to fear. I do not think she wanted to take flight,
but yet I am sure she had no dread of death; and when
she goes thitherward, leaving the little tired and
withered frame behind, it will be just as when the
crested lark springs up from the dust of the roadway,
and wings his way into the heart of the dewy upland.
XVII
SIMPLICITY
If we are to avoid the dark onset of fear, we must
at all costs simplify life, because the more complicated
and intricate our life is, and the more we multiply
our defences, the more gates and posterns there are
by which the enemy can creep upon us. Property,
comforts, habits, conveniences, these are the vantage-grounds
from which fears can organise their invasions.
The more that we need excitement, distraction, diversion,
the more helpless we become without them. All
this is very clearly recognised and stated in the
Gospel. Our Saviour does not seem to regard the
abandonment of wealth as a necessary condition of
the Christian life, but He does very distinctly say
that rich men are beset with great difficulties owing
to their wealth, and He indicates that a man who trusts
complacently in his possessions is tempted into a disastrous
security. He speaks of laying up treasure in heaven
as opposed to the treasures which men store up on
earth; and He points out that whenever things are
put aside unused, in order that the owner may comfort
himself by the thought that they are there if he wants
them, decay and corruption begin at once to undermine