LITERATURE.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 6436, 4 January 1889, Page 1

LITERATURE.

WAS MAR R i AGE A F AI L U RE? . Arnold Edwards was a young man of etrong imjnlses. What other persons Ofcc^EftaJjlj dreamed of at night over- tbrnr W/gEs^ud thought very ridicnKras > next iday, herwas disposed to iitfandpt to carry into execution. • ■'- When at Oxford, he 1 devoted- hie r spare Kme to studying medicine,, and the.<short -vacation to walking the hospitals, not with the view of becoming a doctor, but -of travelling over the globe and 'healing the: diseases of nations. His brother was, Sir 3L Edwards— not, of course, the great Sir H.— but Sir Heneage Edwards, a baronet in the Midland counties. : - > . And there was a family living : and when. Arnold had left Oxford, and was tempora-r lily looking round him, it Buddenly struck him that to be evangelist and physician in one, like St Luke, would be productive of great advantages. Sir Heneage gladly promised tie living after the death- of the then incumbent, who, as he was ;, past eighty, might be reasonably expected to succumb in a year : or two ; . though sometimes old men so situated don't and -won't. And Arnold, burning with. enthusiasm, took orders. Of course he had to be a curate whilst the poor old vicarial body wore out; and in the village where his unripe ministrations were performed, there was a pretty girl in charge of the school, whose name was Mona Wiggins. Thumbnail novelettes like the present have not much space for love-making, and, indeed, in this case there was not much love-mak-ing, for Arnold had set his fancy on the girl, and she was flattered ; and the fantastic youth thought it bad xorm'.'to enquire about lier relations, and cowardice to consult his own, and nothing would.do but to marry her— off-hand. "You cannot," he said, "take" the advice of a better counsellor than your own heart." And so it turned out that at sir-and-twenty Arnold Edwards found. he waa ia a profession for which he was not suited; expected to preach tenets he had not considered; and married to the daughter of a blacksmith, who, though she was well; .up in spelling and geography, was no eompauion for him atall. Add to this, that his connections shunned him, hia contemporaries (still worse !) pitied him, and it will be admitted that he had got himself into a serious blind alley : walla to right of him, walls to left of him, and an especially blank wall — the f uturej— directly in front. It is now some years since " The Missing Clergyman" formed a telling heading in the daily papers. He disappeared one winter in London; His hat was found in a lane, but he himself 'was not found;, and. it was generally supposed that he had been made away with. The dangers of .our ; streets were of course discussed in great detail j and statistics were gloomily produced to prove that the number of the unrecognised dead was greatly in excesa of what was generally supposed. . . The strange thing was, that not only "were the darkest: views on public safety put seriously forward in good faith, but quite sane and sober people lost their heads in a surprising manner.. One gentleman described Ma narrow escape froiu' assaaaination at midday. He. had taken a cab at Charing Cross; it presently turned into a side street, and an, unknown and suspiciously dressed, person got on the box. The vehicle wao.juab about to proceed when its 'Occupant, with. great presence of mind, opened the door and^ BUpped out,thereby disappointing the driver not only of his prey, but also of the sixpence which was clearly his due. .. It occurs to one sometimes that it would be a great nuisance being murdered whilst a popular Lefroy or Lampson -case was going on, because you would get no attention whatever. - It wiU be remembered that the missing clergyman turned upon the coast, dressed as a drover, and a very thrilling history ended in complete farce. So when, in;, due ctrarse, ; poor Arnold Edwards came to be mipsing, aud he, top, in orders, the papers found there' could not be two lost clergymen in the sanvj, journalistic epoch, and, ..being unwilling that another lion should give, another roar, threw ridicule on" the whole affair. . ; , o . He would doubtless, turn" up when con■venient. Jt was understood he had married in haste, and was seeking a place for repentance— the long repentance of fatal mistakes. And so on. , ;i But the years rolled by, and no news • «ame of Arnold Edwards. His wife, the Mona of the parish school, had 'been commended, in a parting letter, to the care of-, Sir Heneage by her, vanishing huS)andr. and the baronet had faithfully attended to the injunctions; and had Buppli&d the quasi-widow with money and what comforts she required. ■•;. ■ , -. Mona was really fond of Arnold, and mourned hia loss. She -did not beli&ve either in hia ; murder , or his suicide, but gradually ; came .to thiak it probable thafc the accidents, of^life had ended a career, exposed, perhaps intentionally, to the dangers of travel and adventure. She. considered it unlikely that, if her husband could have turned up again, he would not have done; so. ;He would grow as tired of escaping from his , fate as. he had been of enduring it. Eight years passed, and Mona ■was still under thirty; without family, aud in possession of -considerable personal charms.: -And when she fell in withrfcrrioh". gentleman from Australia, with what' she' thought a beautiful red beard, and manners quite free from reserve, there was no harm whatever in her' consulting competent friends'abOut'her position. She wished to dolright, and they told her they thought Bhe might 1 consider" herself unencumbered;" She would be running no risk, legal or other, in marrying the Australian, and she determined to do so." She yaa afraid of the Edwards family, and co had no oommuni cation, "with' them on the topic, till she wrote "finally to Sir Heneage, to" say she was most grateful for his kindness; but she should Tequire\no further sid, as she had the prosiie'ctvqf a provision of her own, ancl was thinking of going abroad. A marriage like hers wste'riot put in the papers : nobodycared a straw what became of her, and, aa the French'' "papers remark, [ rt the incident ■Ahendosed." '"" . ' ' " '■".' V .". < ' W^Bat wliere was Arnold Edwards 'sul this * while'? Lln a ' vei-y strapge place; indeed.. Varied Eastern wanderings had led hiitf^t' last to' "a Moravian mission .'. nisiv r Leh, "in Ladakh. 1 -Not preaching 'or promulgating • opinions of any sort; but helping ffie poor,' tending the 1 infirm, healing, .the sick, and" adding alitfclfl to^the pecuniary resources of the Stiffc, r? by. anoccdßiotial '"deal in. "Badakhakhshaiitionies.' And this Simple service of niani-'^r<>TOfed^.^%'' Ithi9/..iiimbus.Vpf1 thi9/..iiimbus.Vpf a sacred" Name," side by ,with the stately ritual, the sorrdwful. philosophy, and the gentle, milpleßsSioralfi of the ancient creed of Melchized'ek ! a creed so venerable as to be able t6 sustain the ridicule of a preposv" teroua caricaturepf.it, presented in modern days by cbnjurers and mooncalves, though mixed, perhaps, with a| few sincerely credulous disciples?" '. r , ",-..'. In the s phadow of the old m^asterieg, in; the serene ' climate— balmy 'in ' ■■■'suxnmer. bracing in winter, cloudless, rainleas— life went actually to Bleep,j with Arnold, and nothing .remained of the .world bub a passing dream oS Mndly /actions. > ; Such news as arrived, /through German religious newspapers manyjmontha; old, was too ; meagre a^id inaccurate to detain attention. It is .impoßsible;,to say that, Arnold, would, ever have left these lofty regions of-,ozone and restj if he had preserved his, health. But an iUnesscams, and with it a longing; for hqmer—;that;§tirange .desire tha.t.spriaga , Up when .death seem^UkeJy to... ptrike-i©ia v , ■ v - - \£&it*&:.;-^;. : . ::_;-.:. ..__

must be no iiiore "ffcriaii tbat,©f the old " 'country. And so, ten years after hia landing or. tlie shore^' of India, Arnold was leaving t&em*aga4ii, and soon found himselkoafcbepaverjientsof London, amonget policemen vho Ikd ifever heard of Boodha 4-and lads and' lasses who had neither felt nor trie! to criro, the Wdtschmere. The f«nil ; ai Jaoea "irera changed«r departed; tratEfX family were glad tosee him^and Eainim.iße!ilaß fat as^oulcl t» theperplexity of his absence— the wonder of hia re-; turn...... - v ißut. r Aradld could make, out- nothing' -abbuibhis wife. ■ Sii- Heheage believed she Hadleft EnglandVtnat rraa a Very alight clue. was: iktiah. in life to begin anything new ; but the Baronet's interest-was strong enough to get Arnold a amali Government post. It had become available in thia wayrnnder cover of retrenoh- ' ment, an office worth £SOO a year had, 'been abolished and its occupant per sioned. ■ Then it was found out tiuktthe office ought •jtoitto have been abolished, and it waßreiißtituted, and Arnold appointed to it on a salaty^pf MOO a year. No questiona- weve ' asked about hia torn surplice, and he pasr^d for a layman. " And after tiie long celibacy 1 of!Ladakh, he fell in love with a pretty girl — an Emily this time — and would gladly have proposed to her, but he had no proof that hia wife was dead, and too great ' a regard for his new friend, to expose her to any risks. He told her hisHtory, and though she was disappointed and distressed, she respected bis scruples. •• Arnold .had not meanB 1 enough/^^for' marriage, to speak the truth, and perhaps it -was as well there were other . obstacles in the way of the im--prudent step. ' How do ants know where sugar or oil hasbeen spilled P How do kites learn when a camel has dropped on tiie sand? How do particular lawyers find out that there are good things awaiting certain persons, if they could only be discovered ? How did Mr v Sampson Brass, solicitor, hear that Edward Briscoe of 'Adelaide had died, and left all; his property, to Mona, his widow; and that one short year, afterwards herself had died, havingexeccted a curious will? She was absolute mistress of her wealth, and could bequeath, it to whom she pleased. She left everytHing to one. Arnold Edwards, if he could befound within five ' years, and waa unmarried. After five years .or in' case of the marriage- of Edwards, tHe money was to "go to the new hospital at Adelaide. There is no answer to the quene¥7ib6uttheantsVor the kites, or the lawyers. • ■ ' • Mr-Braes sold hia discovery for a handsome sum 5j but Arnoldwastoo Joyful over the treasure trove to dispute his charges, and, of. course, it ended in his marrying Emily. ■ ...,•.'■ < ;This; veracious" narrative is deficient,4t. will be seen, in poetic justice. 1 The Church: was a failure with Arnold; his j marriage broke down, he deserted his wife, of course he behaved very badly j and as Dr. Johnson said, "he is dismiesed to happiness.-" But he would not have enjoyed hiß Becond marriage if he had not remained' faithful to his i first. Wheels within wheels. Exceptional cases', cannot be peered into too closely, and large questidns.should be viewed in the gross.