Micah Clarke | Page 5

the angels and the
archangels in their might and their glory. At the third hour shall He
come-that very third hour which is now drawing upon us.'
'Dear Joe,' said my mother, in soothing tones, 'thou art scaring thyself
and the children to no avail. If the Son of Man be indeed coming, what
matters it whether we be abed or afoot?'
'Peace, woman,' he answered sternly; 'has He not said that He will
come like a thief in the night, and that it is for us to await Him? Join
with me, then, in prayerful outpourings that we may he found as those
in bridal array. Let us offer up thanks that He has graciously

vouchsafed to warn us through the words of His servant. Oh, great Lord,
look down upon this small flock and lead it to the sheep fold! Mix not
the little wheat with the great world of chaff. Oh, merciful Father! look
graciously upon my wife, and forgive her the sin of Erastianism, she
being but a woman and little fitted to cast off the bonds of antichrist
wherein she was born. And these too, my little ones, Micah and Hosea,
Ephraim and Ruth, all named after Thy faithful servants of old, oh let
them stand upon Thy right hand this night!' Thus he prayed on in a wild
rush of burning, pleading words, writhing prostrate upon the floor in
the vehemence of his supplication, while we, poor trembling mites,
huddled round our mother's skirts and gazed with terror at the contorted
figure seen by the dim light of the simple oil lamp. On a sudden the
clang of the new church clock told that the hour had come. My father
sprang from the floor, and rushing to the casement, stared up with wild
expectant eyes at the starry heavens. Whether he conjured up some
vision in his excited brain, or whether the rush of feeling on finding
that his expectations were in vain, was too much for him, it is certain
that he threw his long arms upwards, uttered a hoarse scream, and
tumbled backwards with foaming lips and twitching limbs upon the
ground. For an hour or more my poor mother and I did what we could
to soothe him, while the children whimpered in a corner, until at last he
staggered slowly to his feet, and in brief broken words ordered us to
our rooms. From that time I have never heard him allude to the matter,
nor did he ever give us any reason why he should so confidently have
expected the second coming upon that particular night. I have learned
since, however, that the preacher who visited us was what was called in
those days a fifth-monarchy man, and that this particular sect was very
liable to these premonitions. I have no doubt that something which he
had said had put the thought into my father's head, and that the fiery
nature of the man had done the rest.
So much for your great-grandfather, Ironside Joe. I have preferred to
put these passages before you, for on the principle that actions speak
louder than words, I find that in describing a man's character it is better
to give examples of his ways than to speak in broad and general terms.
Had I said that he was fierce in ins religion and subject to strange fits of
piety, the words might have made little impression upon you; but when

I tell you of his attack upon the officers in the tanning-yard, and his
summoning us down in the dead of the night to await the second
coming, you can judge for yourselves the lengths to which his belief
would carry him. For the rest, he was an excellent man of business, fair
and even generous in his dealings, respected by all and loved by few,
for his nature was too self-contained to admit of much affection. To us
he was a stern and rigid father, punishing us heavily for whatever he
regarded as amiss in our conduct. He bad a store of such proverbs as
'Give a child its will and a whelp its fill, and neither will strive,' or
'Children are certain cares and uncertain comforts,' wherewith he would
temper my mother's more kindly impulses. He could not bear that we
should play trick-track upon the green, or dance with the other children
upon the Saturday night.
As to my mother, dear soul, it was her calm, peaceful influence which
kept my father within bounds, and softened his austere rule. Seldom
indeed, even in his darkest moods, did the touch of her gentle hand and
the sound of her voice fail to soothe his fiery spirit. She came of a
Church stock, and held to her religion with a quiet grip which