Marcus Warwick, Atheist

Front matter

NEW FICTION. THE FORGE IN THE FOREST. By Professor Charles G. D. Roberts. With seven full-page Illustrations by Henry Sandham, R.C.A. Crown 8vo, 5s. A historical novel of which the scene is laid in Acadia. MARCUS WARWICK— ATHEIST. By Alice M. Dale. Post 8vo, 6s. Deals with English Criminal Law. A MAN OF THE MOORS. By Halliwell Sutcliffe, Author of "The Eleventh Commandment." Post 8vo, 6s. A Story of the Haworth Country. DOWN BY THE SUWANEE RIVER. By Aubrev Ho h wood. Post 8vo, 6s. A Florida Romance. London : KEGAN PAUL, TRENCH, TRUBNER & Co., Ltd- HY ALICE M. DALE AUTHOR OF "WITH FEET OF CLAY," ETC. LONDON KEGAN PAUL, TRENCH, TRUBNER & CO., Ltd. PATERNOSTER HOUSE, CHARING CROSS ROAD CONTENTS

Part I The Sowing Of The Seed Chap

PAGE I. "Thou shalt not Kill" .... 3 II. Retrospection . . . . . .11 III. What is an Atheist Like? . . .23 IV. Dr Thornbury's Whist Party . . . .29 V. An Awakening Soul . ■ ■ ■ • 37 VI. "The Lime-trees by the River" . . .42 VII. " Where the Brook and River Meet " . . 51 VIII. Marcus' Lecture ...... 57 IX. Lady Adela ...... 62 X. Hildegarde Gives Trouble . . . .70 XI. Cecil Digby . . _. . . . -77 XII. Marcus is Dismissed ..... 83 XIII. Mrs Digby's " Best-laid Schemes" . . .89 XIV. " He Jests at Scars who never Felt a Wound" . 96 XV. "I Wonder who Adela is !" .... 102 XVI. A Proposal of Marriage .... 109 XVII. "But, ah! He's left the Thorn wi' Me ! " . . 114 v CONTENTS VI

Part II The Full Corn In The Ear Chap

PA<™ I. " Uncertain, Coy, and Hard to Please " . . 123 II. "That Way Madness Lies" . . ■ '32 III. The First Warning ..... '44 IV. The Making of the Match . . 152 V. Married Life '57 VI. The Truth at Last . . . . .164 VII. Mrs Digby Reaps as she has Sown . . . 169 VIII. Lilian's Accident ..... 178 IX. Marcus Comes ...... 184 X. The Second Warning . . . . .188 XL " Guardian Angel ! " ..... 197 XII. Despair ....... 202 XIII. Forgiven ...... 206 XIV. The Giver of the Pearls . . . .211 XV. Mrs Digby's Harvest Thrives Apace . " . 215 XVI. "Once Again" ...... 222 XVII. "Don't Go Back !" . . . -231 XVIII. The Last Warning . . . . .236 CONTENTS vii CHAP. TAGK XIX. "The Air Grows Chill: The Mists are Falling Heavy "...... 245 XX. Marcus' Love-story ..... 254 XXI. Dating from Eternity .... 260 XXII. With Wary Tread . . . . .267 XXIII.

The Inquest and Verdict .... 280 XXIV. "Go to Sleep!" ..... 285 XXV. " Breathe no more these Vows Unholy ! " . 292 XXVI. The Full Corn in the Ear . . . .302

Part III

"HARVEST, HOME!" I. The Fog-horn . . . . -3" II. Marcus is Alarmed ..... 318 III. Alec ....... 327 IV. " Be Still ; and Know that I am God " . . 331 V. The Sins of the Father . . . -338 VI. " I Know that I Love Thee, Whatever Thou Art ! " . ■ • ■ • -343 VII. Darker ....... 35° CONTENTS CHAP. PAGE VIII. Hildegarde's Answer .... 357 IX. No Alternative ...... 361 X. The "Fixed Idea" ..... 365 XI. "Peace, Peace ! when there is no Peace !" . . 372 XII. The End of the Struggle .... 380 XIII. "Behold! My Staff doth Bud and Bloom ! " .

Chapter I

" THOU shalt not kill " A murder had been committed in Barnsborough — a fair sized country town in a midland county. The murder has so little to do with this story that its details are not necessary, and will not be given. At the inquest a verdict of wilful murder was returned against the accused, who was committed to take his trial at the next assizes. The case for the prosecu tion was in the hands of a Barnsborough firm of solicitors — North and Stapleton — and on the morning following the inquest, Mr North, having got an idea into his head, sat considering it for a long time ; then rang the bell for the junior partner. " Anything particular this morning ? " the new-comer asked, with a glance at the letters on the table. " No," answered Mr North ; " but I have been wondering whom we are to employ as counsel in this murder case, and I am thinking we might engage young Marcus Warwick."

" I never heard of him," remarked his partner, after a pause of reflection. " Very likely not," answered Mr North, " for you are a stranger here. Still, you will have heard of his father — Alexander Warwick — the atheist?" " Oh yes, I have heard of him ! Was he a Barnsborough man?" " Yes ; and a very old friend of mine. Of course I was not entirely at one with him in his opinions ; but he had a keen tongue, and could put a religious difficulty before you in its most staggering form. Most people thought him too savage in his utterances, but no one could deny his ability, and I believe his son inherits a good share of it ; anyhow, he had a highly successful career at college. He has just been called to the bar, and I should like to give him his first brief." " Is he an atheist ? " " I don't know ; but as Alexander Warwick's son I should think it very likely."

" Well," remarked Mr Stapleton, after a moment's con sideration, "he cannot do any harm in this case — it is too clear to admit of doubt, and however great a hash he makes of it, the man is sure to be hung." " He will not make a hash of it ; and if we had been for the defence, and the subtlest skill was required, I should still have been in favour of retaining him, for I know what his father was, and what the young man gave promise of being." " Has he any relations in Barnsborough ? " asked Mr Stapleton. "No; his eldest sister — who is now Lady Wyndham — inherited Lambert Hall, but she very seldom lives there, and Marcus has not been to Barnsborough once, I believe, since his father died. Still he has many old friends who have not forgotten him. He was a remarkably handsome lad, and I should like to see him again."

" How old is he ? " " About seven-and-twenty, I should think. He was two and-twenty when his father died. They were travelling in Egypt at the time, and his father's death was such a grief and shock to Marcus; that, as I was told, he nearly died too. He and his father had always been the closest friends and most inseparable companions." " Well, there can be no objection to engaging him," repeated Mr Stapleton ; " he can do neither good nor harm." Thus the matter was settled, and in the course of the day " THOU SHALT NOT KILL " 5 Mr North wrote to Marcus Warwick and offered him his first brief. In a couple of days he received the following reply : — '• Dear Sir, — I have to thank you for your very kind intention of giving me my first brief. But I am unable to accept it. If it had been for the defence I would gladly have taken it; but I cannot accept a brief for the prosecution.

To show you, however, that I am not ungrateful for your kindness I will come down to Barnsborough on Saturday morning and have a talk with you. I happen to have other business there. — Yours faithfully, Marcus Warwick." " Humph ! " quoth Mr North when he had read this letter, " then he has got some of his father's maggots into his brain already ! And he evidently thinks that briefs will be as plentiful as blackberries, since he declines the first one offered him ! " and he tossed the letter to his partner. "What does he mean by it?" enquired Mr Stapleton in mild surprise. " I am sure I don't know. His father was full of the most remarkable crotchets, and I suppose he has trained Marcus to follow in his footsteps. Perhaps the young man will explain when he comes." Punctually on Saturday morning Marcus Warwick presented himself at the office, and Mr North's welcome, warm and cordial, was mixed with a pleasant astonishment; for, in appearance at least, the young man had more than fulfilled the best promise of his youth.

Broad-shouldered and well built, he stood over six feet in height, and yet carried himself with a quietness that gave him an air of the greatest distinction and power. His hair was light brown and curly ; he had a short moustache of the same colour, and his eyes were very light blue, with a keen, steely glitter that gave him, in conjunction with a firm-set mouth and resolute chin, a look of determination and power. In contrast to this singular impression of power — expressed in form and face alike — which was the characteristic that always struck people most on first seeing him — he had, when speaking, a winning smile and an attractive manner of which he was entirely un conscious. It belied the cold expression of his face when in repose, and was so unexpected that it won all hearts by its very strangeness.

To a certain extent it belied his char acter too, yet not entirely ; for he possessed a natural good ness and tenderness of heart, underlying, and quite apart from the strong determination of his will. Under a quieter exterior he was as resolute and unyielding as his father had been, and he might be capable of carrying mistaken notions to disastrous ends. He replied with frank friendliness to Mr North's greeting. " You need not have come all the way to Barnsborough just to thank me," said Mr North, as they seated themselves. " I was wanting to come ; and I was afraid you might think me churlish in refusing your kindness," answered Marcus. " How could I ? when your explanation was so eminently clear and satisfactory," said Mr North with a smile. " Now you are laughing at me," answered Marcus, with his native good humour, " but, you see, if you convict a man of murder you hang him, and I never intend to have a hand in that."

" Ah ! now the case looks simpler," remarked Mr North, " but I thought you had very likely got some of your father's fads into your head and might not approve of crime being punished at all." " Well, Mr North, I do not," replied the young man gravely. " That there should be a deterrent from crime, as you call it, is certain ; but it should not be punishment, nor should it be called so." "And, pray, why not?" asked Mr North. " Because there is no such thing as crime — as it is commonly regarded — to need it." " Murder not a crime !" ejaculated the lawyer. " It is an undesirable deed," admitted Marcus, " but the man committing it is not to blame. The blame lies further " THOU SHALT NOT KIIL " 7 back, sometimes in the conditions of society that mankind has made, — always in circumstances beyond the murderer's control."

" Well, I never ! " exclaimed Mr North. " And why should the line be drawn at murder ? Your rule must apply to every other crime — I beg your pardon — every other 'undesirable deed.' " " Of course it does." " Then, to be consistent, you ought never to prosecute a man for anything ? " " I never shall. That is, never while the law presumes to punish. When it tries simply to reform transgressors ; when it educates them — I mean morally as well as otherwise — and sends them out of prison better men than they entered it, and ceases to render them degraded and debased — then I will prosecute. Till then — never ! " " All this won't be in our time, I am afraid," remarked Mr North, drily. " I mean it to be in mine," answered Marcus ; '■ I would willingly give all my life and all my energies to the furthering of such a cause."

"Well, Mr Warwick, I don't believe in any such high flown notions ; crime is crime, and must be punished." "Still I think you must admit that hanging a man is quite indefensible? In thus killing him the law commits the very deed for which it is punishing him." " That is justice. An eye for an eye, you know " Don't quote the Bible to me, Mr North ! I am my father's son ! " Mr North smiled. "That is clear enough," he said, "and, of course, opinions are divided about this hanging business. But to descend to the practicalities of life, do you think these singular notions of yours will help you to bread and butter?" Marcus smiled now. "My father left me my bread and butter, Mr North." " But, tell me," — asked the lawyer, with a keen glance at the face before him, " will you be contented with bread and butter?"

Marcus met his glance undauntedly. " Yes, Mr North, so long as convicts have bread alone." " Well, we shall see how you get on. You will always have a friend in me — firstly for your father's sake, — and now for your own." " And I am sure I shall always remember your kindness," answered Marcus, cordially, as he rose to take his departure. " One moment," said Mr North, detaining him. " How long do you remain in Barnsborough ? " " Well, to-night I am going to pay a visit to the night-school that my father established; you know it, I daresay. Then I intend to take the late train back to London." " Could you stay until Monday afternoon ? " "Yes, if there is anything you want me for." " I am thinking — -but of course I cannot promise — that I can get you engaged for the defence. You would accept that brief, you say ?

" " Indeed I would ! " cried Marcus, with a flash in his eyes and an eagerness in his manner that showed him to be as anxious for employment as any young man, despite his refusal to accept the brief for the prosecution. Such sincerity im pressed Mr North considerably. "Very well, then; be here again at eleven o'clock on Monday," he said, "and you shall meet Mr Graham, the solici tor for the defence. And, by the way, why not take up your quarters with me until Monday ? I should be pleased to have you." " I shall be very happy to do so, Mr North," answered Marcus, readily; "and I am sure I thank you heartily for your kindness." "You have plenty of friends in Barnsborough," went on Mr North, " who will be as ready to welcome you as I am. Do you remember Dr Thornbury ? " " Indeed I do. He attended us in every illness."

" He has retired from practice now, having had a small " THOU SHALT NOT KILL" 9 fortune left him, but he still lives at Cedar Lodge — the big red house at the top of High Street. I was there last night, and we were talking about you. He said he would like to see you again, so I said I would try to bring you to one of his Friday night whist parties." " I'll come with pleasure," answered Marcus. " I seem to have been ungrateful in staying away so long. I had no idea I should be remembered, — it must be quite eight years since I was in Barnsborough. I have not been here since my father died." " And your sister, Lady Wyndham ? She does not often come to Lambert Hall ? " " She does not like it. It is not gay enough for her. She would be glad to let it if she could." " And your youngest sister ?

I have not heard of her marriage yet, I think ? " "She is not married. Eva is ambitious, and Lilian is to have a coronet, I suppose," answered Marcus, laughing. " Unlikelier things have happened," returned Mr North, slowly, the thought crossing his mind that Marcus, with his aristocratic connections and his own high ability, was, after all, in no need of help from his father's old friends in Barns borough. Indeed, his readiness to receive it, and his quick sense of their friendliness prepossessed the lawyer very strongly in his favour. After dinner they went together to the night-school. The superintendent, who had been forewarned of Marcus' in tended visit, received him cordially, and led the way to the school-room, where about a hundred men and boys were seated at the desks, some of the older men using the in stitution merely as a reading-room and library, others writing and receiving lessons under teachers, of whom four out of the six were working men.

As a boy Marcus had often been to the school with his father, and as the men looked up on his entrance, he saw that some of the older ones half-divined who he was, and that a look of interest and expectation flashed into their faces. " My friends," said the superintendent, " I have a gentle man to introduce to you to-night, whom, I am sure, you will be really glad to see. I think some of you recognise him already — Mr Marcus Warwick, the son of our oldest friend, and founder of the school." As he ceased speaking there was complete silence for a little while ; but all eyes were fixed earnestly on Marcus. It was himself who kept them silent ; for his handsome face, with eyes that met theirs in such friendly yet resolute fashion, his distinguished looks, his quietude that was yet so command ing, held them spell-bound.

He was so different from his father, with his flashing dark eyes, fierce gestures, and misshapen form, that they found it difficult to believe he was really the son of their well-remembered friend. But suddenly one old man rose up and hobbled towards him, and shook his hand — shook it, and shook it yet again. " God bless you, my lad ! " he cried, in a husky voice ; " God bless you if you are really a worthy son of your father ! " " I am sure I hope I am," answered Marcus, returning his handshake with warmth ; " and I am sure I will try to be ! But isn't ' God bless you ' rather a curious greeting from a pupil of my father's ? " " Why, so it is, to be sure ! I never thought of that afore ! And here I've been a-saying ' God bless you ' all the twenty years sin' I gave up believing in Um ! What ought a body to say, now you come to think of it?"

" Say, ' God bless you,' " answered Marcus. " What ? Then you ain't a chip of the old block, after all?" " But, indeed, I am. My God is the same as my father's. Hadn't my father a God ? " " To be sure he had. He said his God was Humanity." " And Humanity is my God. So go on saying, ' God bless you ! ' " Others now crowded up, and Marcus was deeply moved by their remembrance of his father, no less than by their expres- RETROSPECTION 11 sions of affection towards him ; and before he left the school, he promised to come down every month or so to talk to them and to deliver lectures. " I thank you heartily for your kind welcome to-night," he said, when he was going ; " and I appreciate it all the more because I know that it really belongs to my father. In the future I will try to deserve it myself."

So, among these rough men, as elsewhere, his quiet courtesy, his unobtrusive sincerity and kindliness of heart, won them to him in ardent admiration, and proved how great a power he possessed for influencing his fellow-men. " Then you mean to give these lectures ? " asked Mr North, as they walked homewards. " Yes, Mr North, I certainly do. It is the very opportunity I want." " Why, what are you going to lecture about ? " " The present treatment of criminals ; for, seriously, Mr North, I do intend to devote all my energies to the alleviation of that ill-treated class. Their disease has been misunder stood for generations, and so it continues to propagate its seeds. It is time for more enlightened measures now." " Well, I shall attend your lectures," answered Mr North ; " so I hope you will succeed in enlightening me, as well.

I am certainly in need of it at present." Thus they reached home, and on the following Monday Marcus met Mr Graham, and was retained for the defence in the murder case.

Chapter II Retrospection

During the earlier years of his life Alexander Warwick had been an atheist of an embittered and vindictive type; and though in later life he became milder and his speech more tolerant, he never changed his opinions, but died as he had lived, an absolute unbeliever in any life but this. He was a strong power on the side of atheism and against Christianity, for he had a subtle keenness of intellect and tongue that enabled him to detect the weakness in an argument, and to ex pose it in logical and forcible terms which certainly appealed strongly to the intellect, whether they touched the heart, or not. He was a clever man ; his father had been a bookseller and stationer in Barnsborough, and being in comfortable circumstances, and ambitious that his son should attain a higher position than his own, he had given him a liberal education.

But in early boyhood Alexander met with an accident which resulted in deformity, and this, with intermittent illness and pain, unfitted him for any public career. A morbid sensitive ness to these personal defects, and a feeling of bitter dis appointment soured his character, and on his father's death he took upon himself the management of the bookshop and never admitted any higher ambition to enter his thoughts. Under his capable hands the shop grew to be one of the largest in the provinces, while he himself became known for his aggressive, uncompromising atheism. His courage and ferocity in this respect won many friends to his side, who, while they shared his opinions, lacked courage or ability to declare them, and so he became a recognised leader of free thought. He established a magazine called The Advance Guard, in which atheistical views were strongly expressed.

He also founded a night-school for men and boys, where, in con junction with useful and scientific knowledge, he inculcated his own beliefs — or unbeliefs — and waged a ceaseless war against the established religion of his land. He was an un mitigated thorn in the side of the clergymen of Barnsborough ; his disappointed energies had found in this theological war a vent that exactly suited him ; and he challenged the clergy and met them on public platforms in many a stormy debate. So fierce were his denunciations, so subtle his arguments, that a great ferment was created in the town — opinions were divided, and atheism spread. There was bitter ness on both sides, and the war, now waxing, now waning in RETROSPECTION 13 intensity, continued for many years, and did not actually end until Alexander's death.

When he was about thirty years old, a disappointment in love added to his natural bitterness. Marie Graeme be longed to an old but impoverished family, of strictly orthodox views ; she was clever, and wrote well and wisely on various subjects in some of the leading reviews. She was often in the bookshop, and constantly indebted to Alexander for advice and guidance in the course of her reading and study. Their ideas were the same on many subjects, but theology was avoided between them — in courtesy on his part, in fear on hers. Then it came to pass that he asked her to marry him. Such a proposal was entirely unexpected by Marie ; she was startled, and asked for a few days' consideration. She naturally consulted her father, with unfortunate results. All her aristocratic relations joined with him in a storm of indignation too vehement for her to withstand.

And the final answer sent to Alexander was a negative. Marie never again went to the bookshop, and in about a year she married into a titled family who owned estates near Barnsborough. This was the time when the theological de bates were so stormy, Alexander so unquenchably vehement, and the town so sharply riven by opposing creeds and opinions. In seven years Marie was left a widow with one little daughter ; she was not rich, for neither estates nor title had passed to her husband, and would now go to a distant branch of the family. She had only her marriage settlement and Lambert Hall, a small but pleasant estate near Barnsborough. As time went on Marie sent her orders to the bookshop again, though she never entered it herself. One day Alex ander glanced over the list her servant brought.

" I cannot make up this order now," he said to the man, " for we shall have to send for some of the books ; therefore, tell Mrs Lambert I will bring the parcel myself when it is ready." The rest was easily foretold. Marie was her own mistress now, with no need to consult anyone ; and she married Alex ander Warwick, After this he sold the bookshop and joined Marie at Lambert Hall, for he had a sufficient income to enable him to do so without encroaching upon Marie's exiguous means. And he grew more tolerant towards his opponents; not because his opinions had changed, but because they were no longer tinged with the rancour of a disappointed life ; and also be cause, with his interests centred and satisfied in a happy home, he grew indifferent to public warfare, and no longer made it the field of his activity.

His constant attendance with his wife at church even gave rise to a rumour that he was " converted," but those who approached him in this belief were soon made aware of their mistake.' That Marie was not bigoted was proved by the fact of her marrying the well-known atheist ; but she had been brought up in the ordinary fashion to believe the tenets of the Church of England, and while liberal in regard to the beliefs of others in general, she was anxious that her suture children should not be taught atheism. So before her marriage she made an attempt to obtain an assurance to this effect, and one of her relatives interviewed Alexander in regard to the matter, the agreement arrived at being that the father should not teach the children atheism, and the mother should not teach them Christianity — they were to be left unbiased, until they reached an age to judge and choose for themselves.

Not being entirely satisfied with this, Marie obtained a further concession that the children should be allowed to accompany her to church until they were twelve years old, but that no private religious instruction should be given them. Alexander much repented of this, however, when the marriage had taken place, and his son and daughter were born. Out of affection for his wife he had always attended public worship; and when little Marcus was old enough to go, and he saw the child's face turned to the preacher with an innocent and holy look, a grievous pain smote his heart. For he was as sincere in his atheism as a Christian is in his Christianity ; and he genuinely believed that the doctrines of Christianity must, if sincerely received, RETROSPECTION 15 have a pernicious and stultifying effect on intellectual life and progress.

So he took blame to himself that he had not sufficiently protected his son from an influence that, in his opinion, could only make for detriment. He was too honourable to think of repudiating the promise he had made to his wife. It could only be given back by Marie herself, and to this end he began a system of mild argument against her beliefs and in favour of his own. Marie did not like it, and avoided these discussions, whenever possible ; but Alex ander was persistent, and the matter progressed little by little. Marie was no foeman worthy of her husband's steel, and one by one she gave up the fundamental and most vital dogmas of orthodoxy, until she was left at last — by her own confession — no more orthodox than himself; and he gently summed up and represented to her her real position.

" Yes," she faltered tearfully, " I see it, Alexander." "And there shall be no more church-going," he concluded triumphantly. But victory was not with him yet. " Oh, I cannot give up going to church ! " she pleaded earnestly ; " it is too wicked, and I cannot do it ! " Indignation struggled with amazement in her husband's mind. To have given up the kernel and yet to cling so persistently to the shell ! Yet, he asked himself, was not this the true attitude of thousands and thousands who at tended church with the utmost regularity? He thought it was ; and, as he watched his devout-looking wife and children when Sunday again came round, he could not help a smile. " If this is the sort of soldier of which the Church Militant is composed," he said to himself, " no wonder there is a complaint of a want of warlike strength and energy !