Nineteen hundred? A forecast and a storyFarningham, Marianne
General
Nineteen hundred? A forecast and a story
Farningham, Marianne
Christian life -- Fiction; England -- Social conditions -- Fiction; Reformers -- Fiction
“Oh! surely you have not been abroad to learn Socialism. We English
people are afraid of that,” said Miss Wentworth.
“And yet many are dissatisfied with things as they are.”
“Certainly, and they have need to be. Side by side with all the good
there are evils of which every decent person is utterly ashamed.”
“Then why do the decent people allow them to exist?”
“I suppose they cannot help it.”
“But they could if they would. They have the power and the influence, if
they only had the will. Very much of the wealth, too, is in the hands of
religious people, and if only they cared, as I think they ought, the
great evils which are a disgrace to England might be stamped out in a
year.”
“Do you really think so?”
“I feel sure of it. Englishmen do but need to know God’s greatness and
their own, and then they could lift our country up to its name as a
Christian land.”
Miss Wentworth laughed a little. “That would bring the Millennium much
sooner than it is expected,” she said.
“Another Wesley is wanted, or even a non-political Gladstone, that is
all. The people are ready for the man who has an understanding of the
times.”
It was early in the morning, just after daybreak, that the
long-looked-for homeland appeared in sight. Nobody had slept much that
night, for the thoughts of the passengers had gone on before their eyes
to the green heights of Plymouth Hoe. Yet it was not so much because of
its historical associations that it so haunted them, but because it
would give them the first glimpse of the old country. A cheer arose from
the throats of the watchers as soon as it first came in sight, and
preparations for disembarking were so rapidly completed that every one
was ready long before the land was reached.
Arthur Knight stood with folded arms and glowing eyes looking at the
land. How he had dreamed of that moment, and prayed, “Here am I, send
me.” It was strange for a modern young man to be thinking of St. Paul
and of Peter the Hermit, but he was. He believed, as they did, that he
had received a God-inspired impulse, and that he had a message to
deliver for which there were hundreds of thousands of people waiting in
this dear native land of his. He was in a state of exaltation, tempered,
however, with deep humility. “I am not worthy, yet send me,” he said.
“Let me go to the crowded towns and the lonely villages, and tell the
people what Thou hast told me.”
He uttered the words aloud, for no one was quite close, and the next
moment he stepped ashore, and a man came forward to greet him. “Welcome
home, Mr. Arthur. I am very glad to see you.”
“How do you do, Hancourt? How is my father?”
“Mr. Knight is well, sir; so am I, only I am much worried. As you said
you wished to talk to me I have taken the liberty to engage a private
compartment for the journey to London,” said the man.
“Very good. When does the train start?”
“Almost immediately. Can I look after your luggage?”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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