“I can credit it, Joyce,” saith Father.
Note 1. The English hand was the running hand of the old black letter, and was a very crabbed and tedious piece of work. The Italian hand, which came in about this time, has lasted until the present day, though its latest variety has lost much of the old clearness and beauty. It was at its best in the reign of James the First, of which period some specimens of writing have been preserved, exquisitely beautiful, and as legible as copper-plate. Most lovely is the youthful hand of his eldest daughter: the cacography of her later years is, alas! something horrible. Queen Elizabeth could write the Italian hand (and did it to perfection), but she has left on record that she did not like doing it.
Note 2. These were the last words of Francesco Spira, an Italian lawyer and a pervert, whose terrible death, in the agonies of remorse and despair, made a deep and lasting impression on the Protestants of England.
Chapter Eight.
How Two went in at the Gate.
“All the foolish work
Of fancy, and the bitter close of all.”
Tennyson.
“On all the sweet smile falleth
Of Him who loveth so,
But to one the sweet voice calleth,
‘Arise, and let us go;
They wait to welcome thee,
This night, at Home, with Me.’”
“B.M.”
(In Milisent’s handwriting.)