we
know to be true. We KNOW that man has ascended, not descended; so what
is the value of a scheme of thought which depends upon the supposition
of his fall? We KNOW that the world was not made in six days, that the
sun could never be stopped since it was never moving, and that no man
ever lived three days in a fish; so what becomes of the inspiration of a
book which contains such statements? "Truth, though it crush me!"

There, now, you see what comes of waving the red rag! Let me make
a concession to appease you. I do believe that Christianity in its
different forms has been the very best thing for the world during all
this long barbarous epoch. Of course, it has been the best thing, else
Providence would not have permitted it. The engineer knows best what
tools to use in strengthening his own machine. But when you say that
this is the best and last tool which will be used, you are laying down
the law a little too much.

Now, first of all, I want to tell you about how the practice has been
going on. The week after I wrote last showed a slight relapse. I only
took two pounds. But on the next I took a sudden jump up to three pounds
seven shillings, and this last week I took three pounds ten. So it was
steadily creeping up; and I really thought that I saw my road clear
in front of me, when the bolt suddenly fell from the blue. There were
reasons, however, which prevented my being very disappointed when it did
come down; and these I must make clear to you.

I think that I mentioned, when I gave you a short sketch of my dear old
mother, that she has a very high standard of family honour. She really
tries to live up to the Percy-Plantagenet blend which is said to flow
in our veins; and it is only our empty pockets which prevent her
from sailing through life, like the grande dame that she is, throwing
largesse to right and left, with her head in the air and her soul in the
clouds. I have often heard her say (and I am quite convinced that she
meant it) that she would far rather see any one of us in our graves
than know that we had committed a dishonourable action. Yes; for all her
softness and femininity, she could freeze iron-hard at the suspicion of
baseness; and I have seen the blood flush from her white cap to her lace
collar when she has heard of an act of meanness.

Well, she had heard some details about the Cullingworths which
displeased her when I first knew them. Then came the smash-up at
Avonmouth, and my mothe