“I believe,” said my uncle, “that they have been variously explained. By some they are supposed to allude to that period, when the Messiah will again dwell on the earth, and when wickedness and misery shall finally cease. Others apply them to the universal diffusion of the gospel; when all nations will become the people of Christ; and when his kingdom may therefore be truly said to extend over the whole world.
“But besides these general, and I fear, distant applications of the expression, there is another, and a simpler one, which more immediately directs itself to our present feelings and actions: when the influence of Christ has overcome all our sordid and selfish motives; when his humility is the example we endeavour to follow; when our passions are controlled by the purity of his precepts; when our actions are subjected to the dominion of his will; in short, when our love, gratitude, and obedience to him, form the governing principle of our lives: then, indeed, it may be literally said, that his reign has been established in our hearts, and that his kingdom has come.
“We may certainly interpret these words as relating either to the future kingdom of the Messiah on earth, or to the progress of Christian knowledge in humanising the savage and enlightening the heathen; but we are scarcely authorised to suppose that our prayers can be of any avail in hastening the time appointed by immutable Wisdom for those important events. When, therefore, in using this sublime and concise prayer, we mean to express either of these significations, we must perceive that they do not possess that second quality which seems to me to be essentially necessary in every prayer proceeding from man—namely, that while we address our petitions to God, they, at the same time, should convey an admonition to ourselves, and instruct us how to do our part towards attaining those objects for which we supplicate.
“But if, on the other hand, we apply those words to the dominion of Christian principles in ourselves, we are given reason to hope that the petition may be granted, because we pledge our own humble, but earnest efforts, as the requisite condition on which we presume to pray for it; and for these reasons I am inclined to consider that this is the most important meaning of the words, Thy kingdom come.”
12th.—Hertford’s letters have, of late, been very frequent. I think the following extract will amuse you.
“The Druidical monuments of the island of Lewis are remarkable. Scotland possesses many specimens of those structures; but, except in Lewis, they are rare among the Western islands. In the neighbourhood of Loch Bernera, several of them are comprised in a comparatively small space: a square mile would include the whole. They are situated in an open, fertile tract, on the borders of an inlet of the sea; and if they were really temples, dedicated to Druidical worship, so many being collected together would almost imply that this spot was the seat of a college. Next to Stonehenge, they are, perhaps, the most interesting remains which have been found in Great Britain.
“The largest of these structures has the form of a cross, with a circle at the intersection, and a large central stone. Its total length, at present, is 588 feet, but other stones are found, in the same direction, for above 90 feet farther; so that we may suppose the whole length to have been nearly 700 feet. The cross line, which intersects that one at right angles, measures 204 feet, but it probably was much greater; and the diameter of the circle that occupies the interior of the cross, is 63 feet. The stone which marks the centre is 12 feet in height; the other stones rarely reach beyond 4 feet, though a few of 7 or 8 feet high are to be found, and one reaching to 13 is seen near the extremity of the long line. The intervals between them vary from 2 to 10 feet; and the whole number of stones, either erect or recently fallen, is forty-seven. The aspect of the whole work is very striking, as it occupies the top of a gentle eminence of moorland, and as there is no other object, not even a rock or a stone, to divert the attention, or diminish the impression which it makes.
“There are some circles of stones to be seen in the neighbourhood, but they are less perfect; and several large solitary stones, apparently of a monumental nature, are found in other parts of Lewis; but the cruciform shape of the structure which I have described is a remarkable and peculiar circumstance. No ruin, of that form, has been traced beyond the introduction of Christianity; and I believe it is agreed, that where the figure of the Cross is found carved on buildings of higher antiquity, it has been done by Christians, who have converted the monuments of ancient superstition to their own purposes. But such attempts cannot be supposed to apply to such an assemblage of large rude stones; while the circular parts, and the general resemblance of the whole to other Druidical structures, seem to prove its ancient origin.”
13th.—My uncle is so kind as to permit me to sit in the library whenever I like; and though he studies a great deal, he says my being there does not disturb him. He seems pleased whenever we young people go there, and very often lays aside what he is engaged in, to converse with us, or shew us something curious. Sometimes he takes that opportunity of giving a little gentle reproof; for he is so considerate of our small feelings, that he seldom exposes any one publicly in the family circle, knowing that half the good is destroyed by the mortification.
I was up remarkably early this morning, and went to the library before breakfast, expecting to be commended a little for my improvement in early rising. After our morning greetings, my uncle did commend me very kindly, and said that the pleasure of seeing me in the library was doubled by the satisfaction it gave him to find that I had such power over myself. I was beginning to exult a little inwardly at this, when he added, “But now, Bertha, as there are few pleasures without alloy, I must cloud this praise a little by doing what I dislike—by finding fault.”