altar and all the fittings of a church. Part of the money was applied to this use, and with the remainder a chaplaincy was founded in the church at Hermannsburg, which at that time was the only church in the whole Oerze valley, with the stipulation that the chaplain should come every Sunday to Dageförde and hold divine service in the chapel there. A servant, with a led horse, must go to fetch him every time from Hermannsburg, and bring him back thither again. This service at Dageförde lasted till the Reformation. But when the evangelical faith was preached in Hermannsburg by the valiant Pastor Grünhagen, who, as I told you awhile ago in Tiefenthal, was converted to the pure Lutheran doctrine by an artisan fellow who read him the little Lutheran catechism, then this service at Dageförde ceased, because the possessors of Dageförde held stiffly and firmly by the Catholic faith, and obstinately rejected the pure doctrine. But now for a long time there have been lords of Dageförde no more. The race died out; and when one only of the family was left, he entered a Catholic cloister, where, in the year 1616, he died. Then the reigning Duke gave the manor of Dageförde to the lords of Lüneburg, and they again sold it to some peasants, after they had divided the farm into two. So these farms have again become what they were originally--peasant farms. God grant to the present owners that they may stand firm and true to the pure faith of our beloved church, that they may earnestly strive to be genuine Christians and genuine Saxon peasants; then will it go well with them and with those that come after them.'" CHAPTER XII. Meredith paused, half closed his book, was evidently pondering for a minute, and then exclaimed, "I have learned something!" "Why, so have we all," said his sister. "What now particularly?" "I have got a hint." "What about? There is no fortress for you to storm, and you do not want the treasure." "I think I should like to have lived in those times," Meredith went on. "People were in earnest, Mr. Murray." "Yes. So are some people in these times." "But not the world generally; or only about making money. _Then_ people were in earnest about things worth the while." "It does seem so from these stories," said Mr. Murray; "but, dear Meredith, you may be equally in earnest about the same things now, and with as good reason." "Isn't it more difficult, sir, when nobody else, or only a few here and there, think and feel with you?" "Yes, more difficult; or rather, more easy to go to sleep; but so much the greater need of men who are not asleep. What is your hint? I am curious, with Miss Flora." "The way that fellow spent his treasure, sir. I was thinking, wouldn't a chapel--that is, a little church--a little free church, at Meadow Park be a good thing? The nearest church is two miles off; we can drive to it, but the people who have no horses cannot, and the poor people"----