Part 105 (2/2)

”....to have and to hold from this day forward--

”--_for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health_--

”....in sickness and in health--

”--_to love, cherish, and obey, till death us do part_--

”....till death us do part----

”....AMEN!”

_AUTHOR'S NOTE_.

_It will be seen that in writing this book I have sometimes used the diaries, letters, memoirs, sermons, and speeches of recognisable persons, living and dead. Also, it will be seen that I have frequently employed fact for the purposes of fiction. In doing so, I think I am true to the principles of art, and I know I am following the precedent of great writers. But being conscious of the grievous: danger of giving personal offence, I would wish to say that I have not intended to paint anybody's portrait, or to describe the life of any known Society or to indicate the management of any particular Inst.i.tution. To do any of these things would be to wrong the theory of fiction as I understand it, which is not to offer mock history or a subst.i.tute for fact, but to present a thought in the form of a story, with as much realism as the requirements of idealism will permit. In presenting the thought which is the motive of ”The Christian” my desire has been to depict, however imperfectly, the types of mind and character, of creed and culture, of social effort and religious purpose which I think I see in the life of England and America at the close of the nineteenth century. For such a task my own observation and reflection could not be enough, and so I am conscious that in many pa.s.sages of this book I have often been merely as the mould through which the metal has pa.s.sed from the fires kept burning round about._

_HALL CAINE_.

_Greeba Castle, Isle of Man, 1897_.

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