nd tried to join in
the hymn, and wished that I were not so small or the pew not so lofty;
it seemed so strange to be joining in singing with people of whom no
single individual could be seen--it had never struck me before, with my
own dear parents always at my side. Presently the clerk appeared opening
the door of the pulpit--that at all events I could see--to the strange
clergyman, who seemed to me to look with a searching glance of inquiry
straight down into my solitary domain, as if he meant to call me to
account for being there all alone.

Having nobody to look at as an example, I sat myself timidly upon a
corner of one of the chairs after the hymn was over, and then, suddenly
remembering I had made a mistake, knelt down with the colour mounting to
the very roots of my hair, and a terrible sense of the congregation all
looking at me and taking notes of my behaviour.

We smile at our childish embarrassments as we look back upon them, but
they are very serious and real troubles whilst they last.

When I rose from my knees, I was far too shy to place myself
comfortably, but sat, as before, upon a little corner of a chair, and
hoped the congregation wouldn't take any notice, whilst mentally I
prepared myself for unrestrained meditation on the all-engrossing
subject of my thoughts, in place of the many speculations with which I
was wont to beguile sermon-time in general.

For here I must pause to observe that Mr. Morton's sermons were usually
entirely beyond my childish understanding, and attention to them on my
part was practically in vain; so that after learning the text by heart,
which I was always expected to repeat perfectly afterwards, I used to
spend a great part of the time remaining to me in a minute survey of all
objects falling within the limited range of my observation, including
especially the monumental tablets, of which there were many on the
church walls; those on the right being for the most part to the memory
of the Grants of Braycombe; those on the left to the successive rectors
of Braycombe parish, who had lived and died after what seemed to me
boundless periods of ministry amongst their attached flock.

Two of these tablets in particular had supplied much food for
consideration in my early days.--I used to look back upon early days
even at ten years old with a sort of affectionate patronage.--These
tablets exactly corresponded with each other in size and position, and
were both beyond the range