Wilfrid Cumbermede

Wilfrid Cumbermede

The Project Gutenberg EBook of Wilfrid Cumbermede, by George
MacDonald Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to
check the copyright laws for your country before downloading or
redistributing this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook.
This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project
Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the
header without written permission.
Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the
eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is
important information about your specific rights and restrictions in how
the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a
donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved.
**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts**
**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since
1971**
*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of
Volunteers!*****
Title: Wilfrid Cumbermede
Author: George MacDonald
Release Date: October, 2005 [EBook #9183] [Yes, we are more than
one year ahead of schedule] [This file was first posted on September 12,
2003]

Edition: 10
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WILFRID
CUMBERMEDE ***

Produced by Jonathan Ingram, Charlie Kirschner and Online
Proofreaders

WILFRID CUMBERMEDE.
[Illustration: ONE DAY, AS WE WERE WALKING OVER THE
FIELDS, I TOLD HIM THE WHOLE STORY OF THE LOSS OF
THE WEAPON AT MOLDWARP HALL.]

WILFRID CUMBERMEDE
BY
GEORGE MACDONALD
_WITH 14 FULL PAGE BLACK-AND-WHITE ILLUSTRATIONS
BY F.A. FRASER._

CONTENTS.
CHAP.
INTRODUCTION.

I. WHERE I FIND MYSELF. II. MY UNCLE AND AUNT. III. AT
THE TOP OF THE CHIMNEY-STAIR. IV. THE PENDULUM. V. I
HAVE LESSONS. VI. I COBBLE. VII. THE SWORD ON THE
WALL. VIII. I GO TO SCHOOL, AND GRANNIE LEAVES IT. IX. I
SIN AND REPENT. X. I BUILD CASTLES. XI. A TALK WITH MY
UNCLE. XII. THE HOUSE-STEWARD. XIII. THE LEADS. XIV.
THE GHOST. XV. AWAY. XVI. THE ICE-CAVE. XVII. AMONG
THE MOUNTAINS. XVIII. AGAIN THE ICE-CAVE. XIX.
CHARLEY NURSES ME. XX. A DREAM. XXI. THE FROZEN
STREAM. XXII. AN EXPLOSION XXIII. ONLY A LINK XXIV.
CHARLEY AT OXFORD XXV. MY WHITE MARE XXVI. A
RIDING LESSON XXVII. A DISAPPOINTMENT XXVIII. IN
LONDON XXIX. CHANGES XXX. PROPOSALS XXXI.
ARRANGEMENTS XXXII. PREPARATIONS XXXIII.
ASSISTANCE XXXIV. AN EXPOSTULATION XXXV. A TALK
WITH CHARLEY XXXVI. TAPESTRY XXXVII. THE OLD CHEST
XXXVIII. MARY OSBORNE XXXIX. A STORM XL. A DREAM
XLI. A WAKING XLII. A TALK ABOUT SUICIDE XLIII. THE
SWORD IN THE SCALE XLIV. I PART WITH MY SWORD XLV.
UMBERDEN CHURCH XLVI. MY FOLIO XLVII. THE LETTERS
AND THEIR STORY XLVIII. ONLY A LINK XLIX. A
DISCLOSURE L. THE DATES LI. CHARLEY AND CLARA LII.
LILITH MEETS WITH A MISFORTUNE LIII. TOO LATE LIV.
ISOLATION LV. ATTEMPTS AND COINCIDENCES LVI. THE
LAST VISION LVII. ANOTHER DREAM LVIII. THE DARKEST
HOUR LIX. THE DAWN LX. MY GREAT-GRANDMOTHER LXI.
THE PARISH REGISTER LXII. A FOOLISH TRIUMPH LXIII. A
COLLISION LXIV. YET ONCE LXV. CONCLUSION

WILFRID CUMBERMEDE.

INTRODUCTION.
I am--I will not say how old, but well past middle age. This much I feel
compelled to mention, because it has long been my opinion that no man

should attempt a history of himself until he has set foot upon the border
land where the past and the future begin to blend in a consciousness
somewhat independent of both, and hence interpreting both. Looking
westward, from this vantage-ground, the setting sun is not the less
lovely to him that he recalls a merrier time when the shadows fell the
other way. Then they sped westward before him, as if to vanish, chased
by his advancing footsteps, over the verge of the world. Now they
come creeping towards him, lengthening as they come. And they are
welcome. Can it be that he would ever have chosen a world without
shadows? Was not the trouble of the shadowless noon the dreariest of
all? Did he not then long for the curtained queen--the all-shadowy night?
And shall he now regard with dismay the setting sun of his earthly life?
When he looks back, he sees the farthest cloud of the sun-deserted east
alive with a rosy hue. It is the prophecy of the sunset concerning the
dawn. For the sun itself is ever a rising sun, and the morning will come
though the night should be dark.
In this 'season of calm weather,' when the past has receded so far that
he can behold it as in a picture, and his share in it as the history of a
man who had lived and would soon die; when he can confess his faults
without the bitterness of shame, both because he is humble, and
because the faults themselves have dropped from him; when his good
deeds