remember rightly are
once put into the mouth of the catechist - and which after all carry an asper
sound with them. The general impression it leaves upon the mind of the young is
that their wickedness at birth was but very imperfectly wiped out at baptism and
that the mere fact of being young at all has something with it that savours more
or less distinctly of the nature of sin.
    If a new edition of the work is ever required I should like to introduce a
few words insisting on the duty of seeking all reasonable pleasure, and avoiding
all pain that can be honourably avoided. I should like to see children taught
that they should not say they like things which they do not like, merely because
certain other people say they like them, and how foolish it is to say they
believe this or that when they understand nothing about it. If it be urged that
these additions would make the catechism too long, I would curtail the remarks
upon our duty towards our neighbour, and upon the sacraments. In the place of
the paragraph beginning »I desire my Lord God our Heavenly Father« I would - but
perhaps I had better return to Theobald and leave the recasting of the catechism
to abler hands.
 

                                   Chapter 8

Mr. Pontifex had set his heart on his son's becoming a fellow of a college
before he became a clergyman. This would provide for him at once, and would
ensure his getting a living if none of his father's ecclesiastical friends gave
him one. The boy had done just well enough at school to render this possible, so
he was sent to one of the smaller colleges at Cambridge and was at once set to
read with the best private tutors that could be found. A system of examination
had been adopted a year or so before Theobald took his degree which had improved
his chances of a fellowship, for whatever ability he had was classical rather
than mathematical, and this system gave more encouragement to classical studies
than had been given hitherto.
    Theobald had the sense to see that he had a chance of independence if he
worked hard, and he liked the notion of becoming a fellow. He therefore applied
himself, and in the end took a degree which made his getting a fellowship in all
probability a mere question of time. For a while Mr. Pontifex senior was really
pleased and told his son he would present him with the works of any standard
writer whom he might select. The young man chose the works of Bacon, and Bacon
accordingly made his appearance in ten nicely bound volumes; a little
inspection, however, shewed that the copy was a second-