ce in the bigotry and
persecution to which they have been exposed, since it has led them by a
way they knew not, to become the champions of a broader creed and a more
general right than that of which their fathers dreamed. It is easy to
swim with the stream; it requires a strong man to swim against it. Two
hundred years of such swimming had made the Bungay Nonconformists strong,
and gave to the world two such exceptionally sturdy and strengthful men
as John and Charles Childs. I was proud to know them as a boy; in
advancing years I am prouder still to be permitted to bear this humble
testimony to their honest worth. It is because Nonconformity has raised
up such men in all parts of the land, that a higher tone has been given
to our public life, that politics mean something more than a struggle
between the ins and the outs, and that 'Onward' is our battle-cry.

Of the young men more or less coming under the influence of the Childs's,
perhaps one of the most successful was the late Bernard Bolingbroke
Woodward, Librarian to her Majesty. When I first knew him he was in a
bank at Norwich. Thence he passed to Highbury College, and in due time,
after he had taken his B.A. degree, settled as the Independent minister
at Wortwell, near Harleston, in Norfolk. There he became connected with
John Childs, and, amidst much hard work, edited for the firm a new
edition of 'Barclay's Universal English Dictionary.' In 1860, on the
death of Mr. Glover, who had for many years filled the post of Librarian
to the Queen at Windsor Castle, Mr. Woodward's name was mentioned to the
Prince, in reply to inquiries for a competent successor. Acting on the
advice of a friend at head-quarters, Mr. Woodward forwarded to Prince
Albert the same printed testimonials which he had sent in when he was a
candidate for the vacant secretaryship of a large and popular society,
and to those alone he owed his appointment to the office of Librarian to
the Queen. An interview took place at Windsor Castle, which was highly
satisfactory; but before the appointment was finally made, Mr. Woodward
informed Her Majesty and the Prince that there was one circumstance which
he had omitted to mention, and which might disqualify him for the post.
'Pray, what is that disqualification?' asked the Prince. 'It is,'
replied Mr. Woodward, 'that I have been educated for, and have actually
conducted the services of an Independent congregation in the country.'
'And why should