"It seems as if infinity came back to us in a new way. For the infinite spaces of night, we have the infinite numbers of day. Instead of the heavy masses of foliage waving an hour or two dimly since against the sky, there is a countless multitude of leaves fluttering in and out of the sunlight, a countless multitude of birds singing, chirping, twittering, among the branches, a countless throng of insects hovering, wheeling, darting in and out among the leaves; there are the infinite varieties of colour on every blade of grass, on every blossom, on every insect's wing. "It is a wonderful joy to be here again. Every creature seems to welcome me. I seem to long to speak to every one of them, and just add a little drop of happiness to the happiness of them all. I want to take all of them, in some way, like little children, to my heart and kiss them. "Olive said that feeling was really the longing to be folded to the Heart which is at the heart of all; but nearer us than any other creature. "'_He fell on his neck and kissed him_.' "She thought it meant something like that. "Leaning out of my window, looking down from the slopes of the Wolds, as we do across the long space of fens which stretches before us like a sea, I see the gables of Netherby. "Olive is there asleep. "Olive, and Mistress Dorothy and Mistress Gretel. "And here, my mother and I. "Fathers and brothers all at the war. In sight, yet how sadly out of reach! This terrible war that seems as if it would never end. Things have not been going on quite so prosperously with us lately; although many strong places in the North are still loyal; and all the West is ours, and much of Wales. A new vigour seems to have come into the rebel councils. They say the soul of them all is this Oliver Cromwell, that he and his friends have brought in some new regulation, called by some of their unpleasant Parliament names. They call everything a covenant or an ordinance, as if it were all out of the Bible. They call this the Self-Denying Ordinance. The meaning of it seems to be that they are all to deny themselves to give Mr. Cromwell the real command. At least, Harry thinks so. And he looks gloomily on our affairs. He was at home before we came, to make the place ready for us. And he only left yesterday morning to rejoin the king's army, which is in Leicestershire. Not so very far off. "I wonder, if there were a battle, if we should hear the sound of it! "A few days since the troops stormed Leicester, and sacked it. Harry would not tell us much about it. He said it was too much after the fashion of those dreadful German wars of religion, which Prince Rupert has taught our men to imitate too well. "Poor wretched city! We could not hear anything of that. Groans and even helpless cries for pity do not reach far. At least, not on earth. I suppose nothing reaches heaven sooner.