It should be said at once that “Plymouth Brethren” is only the name by which the world at large knows that body of Christians, who, like the “Friends,” whom the world styles “Quakers,” do by no means label themselves with any specific title. They are among themselves just “Brethren,” and their places of worship are merely the “Brethren’s” meeting-rooms. The “Plymouth Brethren,” who more closely than any other sect4 resemble the Quakers, follow the practice of the early Christians, insomuch that all are brothers in Christ; and no dogma made of man, nor any official hierarchy5 or pastorate, has yet been suffered to obscure that essential fraternity.
[100]
The “Plymouth Brethren”—to speak of them by the style which the world has agreed to use—took their origin about 1827, in the workings of conscience of John Nelson Darby and A. N. Groves6, who, independently of one another, had arrived at the conclusion that no existing church was firmly based upon the Gospel. Darby, who was at that time twenty-seven years of age, had been educated for the law, but had entered the Church, and was a curate in Ireland when the light that came to him led to his resigning. He was brought into communication with Groves, and in 1830 the first meeting of the “Brethren” was opened, in Dublin. That same year, on a visit to Oxford7, Darby was asked to open a meeting at Plymouth, whither he forthwith proceeded and took “Providence Chapel,” thus, with the spread of the movement from that town, unwittingly giving a topographical name to the new religious body.
The tenets of the “Brethren” are simple. They rely upon the teaching and the promises of the Gospel, and reject all ecclesiastical forms. Like the Quakers, they have no ministers and no prayer-books. Prayer at meeting is extempore, and offered up when the Spirit moves, by members of the meeting. It is thus, it will be seen, essentially8 a democratic body, but in practice those whose natural vocation9 is preaching, missioning and district-visiting become more prominent, and, if they feel they have a call, will obey that call by giving up all worldly occupations. Those with a sufficiency of means of their own, will give themselves[101] and their wealth to the work of the Master, and those others who have nothing will devote their lives to the work of spreading the Gospel, visiting the sick, and in general performing the salaried work of a clergyman of the Endowed Church; all without stipend10, without fee or reward asked, suggested, or hinted, except in secret to that One whose work they do. This it is to “live by faith,” as they term it. Nor is that faith misplaced. Shall I not, although a sinner, speak of that which I know, and testify to the miracles I have seen wrought11 in my own generation, by which I am assured of the love of the living God for His servants?
Those who have once fallen under the spell of Teignmouth are never likely to be freed from it.[102] You leave, after perhaps the fifth or sixth visit, declaring you have exhausted12 the place, but you inevitably13 return, if not next year, in the near future. There is, in fact, something in Teignmouth to please all tastes, and custom never stales it. It enjoys that inestimable advantage in a seaside resort, a tidal estuary14; and round by the sandspit, over against the bold red cliff of the Ness, you come from the somewhat artificial front and its pier15 and its seats for visitors, to the harbour, where the Teign flows out at the ebb16 and the sea comes swirling17 in at the flood, across the shifting sand-bar that from time immemorial has afforded a living for Teignmouth pilots and tug-boats, bringing the craft of strange skippers, ignorant of the state of the channel, safely into the haven18. There are no seats, or other such concessions19 to visitors, in the harbour, but there are boats innumerable for sailing or rowing upon the Teign, and in the deep midstream anchorage to one side of the sandbank called “the Salty,” there is generally a tier of foreign barques that have brought deals from Norway, or are to take china-clay to the uttermost parts of the earth. And there are ropes and anchors and much waterside litter, and a fragrant20 scent21 of what the sailors call “Stockhollum” tar22 about the harbour; and if the visitor does not promptly23 succeed in tripping over the ropes and chains and anchors, why then he is an exceptional visitor indeed. Fragrant sail-lofts look down upon the water, and old superannuated24 buoys25 and other buoys that only want a lick of paint, are drawn26 up on the sand, and from the open windows of sailors’ homes come the voices of parrots, mingled27 not unmusically with a midstream yo-hoing.
The trade of Teignmouth harbour, after a long period of decay, is in these times looking up, for the South Devon Trading Company has built new quays29 and sheds, which, like all new things, do not add to the picturesqueness30 of the spot; but the casual lanes and odd slips remain, with the old quay28, and that unconventional inn, “Newbery’s Old Quay Hotel,” that with every flood-tide dabbles31 its feet in the water, and with every ebb stands once more upon dry ground, much to the amazement32 and delight of children. Did I not myself once think the “Old Quay” inn the most desirable of all possible homes!
There is a homeliness33 in the harbour that draws the visitor away from the exotic front, and it is to the harbour he first resorts when he revisits Teignmouth, for it seems almost to welcome him back. There, up stream, is that hoary34 old landmark35, the long bridge that spans the Teign, which is 1,671 feet in length, and was built in 1827, and is the longest wooden bridge in England. “Further on,” as the guide-book says, “are the gas-works.” It is only too true, and they might, with advantage to the scenery, be still further on; but in that case they would not get their coal barged cheaply up to the very walls, which everybody knows to be a greater consideration than the preservation36 of mere3 scenic37 amenities38.
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Away in the misty39 distance are the tors of Dartmoor, prominent among them Rippon Tor and Heytor Rocks, grey-bearded—as you know when you have visited them—with sage-green lichen40, and altogether very reverend and inscrutable. They seem with a grave benevolence41 to welcome you back.
Above Teignmouth is Haldon, that vast expanse of tableland whose heights we first saw from Exmouth, and whose range—marked on maps “Great Haldon” and “Little”—extends across the whole of the back country between Exe and Teign. He who, in search of fresh air and vigour42 on some stewing43 day in the Teign valley, essays to climb from Teignmouth to Little Haldon, comes, very soon after he has set out, and very[105] long before he has arrived, to the conclusion that the “littleness” of Little Haldon is a misnomer44; for the way is long and the road steep. But once there, you are in another and more bracing45 climate, where the air is keen and charged with the scent of the bracken and the heather that clothe the wild moorland. From Haldon you look one way to the Exe and the other to the Teign, and, standing46 in one and the selfsame spot, can see both, for it is an exceeding high place. The solitude47 of it is perhaps intensified48 to some by the fact of Teignmouth’s cemetery49 being here; but it is a large and a populous50 place, and to those of us who knew in life many who lie here, this is no solitude. God rest them. The summer sun that shines on Haldon shines no more for them, nor winter storms blow.
Although Teignmouth has its literary and artistic51 associations, it does by no means obtrude52 them upon the stranger, who, indeed, only discovers them after some considerable pains, and is perhaps regarded as a little eccentric, for his trouble. Two poets—Winthrop Mackworth Praed, and John Keats—have described the town, and although Praed was not actually born here, the connection with the family was close, the Bitton property belonging to his father, who lies in the churchyard of West Teignmouth. Bitton, in fact, only passed from the Praeds in 1863. The poet was born in 1802 and died in 1839, when member of Parliament for Aylesbury.
There are reasons all-sufficient why Teignmouth’s[106] poetic53 associations should not be flaunted54. Too great insistence55 upon Praed would advertise more fully56 the brutal57 vandalism permitted of late years at Bitton, when no finger was stirred to save that lovely wooded riverside park from being cut up and demolished58, to build cheap houses upon. Bitton was one of the loveliest places upon the Teign. In the words of Praed himself:
“There beamed upon the river side
A shady dwelling-place
Most beautiful! Upon that spot,
Beside the echoing wave,
A fairy might have built her grot,
An anchorite his grave.
The river with its constant fall
Came close up to the garden wall,
As if it longed, but thought it sin,
To look into the charms within.
And dark, rich groves were all around.”
The “dark, rich groves,” were no mere poetic imagery. They were largely ilex, or “evergreen oak,” for which streets of the flimsiest houses in close-packed ranks are the sorriest exchange.
Keats, of course, no self-respecting Devonian would mention. He came, himself consumptive, to Teignmouth in 1818, to cheer the last hours of his brother Tom, dying of that disease. Here, lodging60 at No. 35, Strand61, he completed Endymion and wrote Isabella; but it was winter and spring at the time of his sojourn62, and although spring[107] and winter in South Devon are preferable to those seasons elsewhere, he found the moist humours of the rainy West anything but pleasant:
“You may say what you will of Devonshire: the truth is, it is a splashy, rainy, misty, snowy, foggy, haily, floody, muddy, slipshod county. The hills are very beautiful, when you get a sight of ’em; the primroses63 are out, but you are in; the cliffs are of a fine deep colour, but then the clouds are continually vieing with them. … The flowers here wait as naturally for the rain twice a day as mussels do for the tide. This Devonshire is like Lydia Languish64, very entertaining when it smiles, but cursedly subject to sympathetic moisture.”
But occasionally the weather was kinder. It does not rain all day and every day in Devon, even in winter; and during these dry interludes[108] Keats discovered some of those amazingly many villages that owe their name to the Teign:
“There’s Bishop’s Teign,
And King’s Teign,
And Coombe at the clear Teignhead—
Where close by the stream
You may have your cream
With its spear-grass harsh,
A pleasant summer level
Of the Market Street
A poet en deshabille. Reduced from poetry to the matter-of-fact nomenclature of the ordnance69 maps, those places are Bishopsteignton, Kingsteignton, and Coombe-in-Teignhead—the “Cumeintinny” of local speech. The poet who might wish to know all the “Teign” villages and hamlets, would need to make acquaintance with Teignharvey and Stokeinteignhead, on the salt estuary; and thence find his way inland, to the back of Newton Abbot, where, beside the freshwater stream that comes prattling70 down from Dartmoor he shall find Teigngrace, Canonteign, and Drewsteignton.
For six miles above Teignmouth the Teign runs up salt: a broad estuary at high water: above the bridge an oozy71 expanse of mingled sand and mud flats at low; and “Newton Marsh,” the water-logged meadows just below the market[109] town and important railway junction72 of Newton Abbot. Midway is Coombe Cellars, a waterside offshoot of Coombe-in-Teignhead; a place, you perceive, even in Keats’ time, it was the recognised thing to visit and—
“… have your cream
All spread upon barley bread.”
It was then a highly rustic73 spot; the oddest little promontory74 jutting75 out into the stream, and on it the “Ferry Boat” inn, built behind stout76 sea walls, and itself built of whitewashed77 cob, and heavily thatched. The “Cellars” were fish cellars, and the place was, and is, oddly amphibious; the inn being half farmhouse79 and half fisherman’s tavern80, the landlord himself a[110] farmer down to the waist, and a fisherman as to the legs and the sea-boots. At night you would find him out with the trawl-nets, to sea; at low tide in the morning cockling on the mud-flats off his inn; and in the afternoon milking the cows or urging the plough in his hillside fields. To take boat from Teignmouth Harbour, and row up on the flood to tea at Coombe Cellars, returning with the ebb, was once a delightful81 thing, and, with a difference, is so still; but you must not expect to be the only party there—no, not by a very long way, and you must by no means expect to get your tea, with or without Devonshire junket, strawberries and cream, or cockles, in quite so rustic a fashion or at such moderate prices as once obtained. And, although the house remains82 very much the same as of yore, the thatch78 has given place to a something less rural.
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1
dissent
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| n./v.不同意，持异议 | |
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Christians
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| n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 ) | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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sect
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| n.派别，宗教，学派，派系 | |
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hierarchy
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| n.等级制度；统治集团，领导层 | |
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groves
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| 树丛，小树林( grove的名词复数 ) | |
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Oxford
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| n.牛津（英国城市） | |
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essentially
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| adv.本质上，实质上，基本上 | |
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vocation
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| n.职业，行业 | |
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stipend
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| n.薪贴；奖学金；养老金 | |
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wrought
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| v.引起；以…原料制作；运转；adj.制造的 | |
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exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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inevitably
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| adv.不可避免地；必然发生地 | |
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estuary
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| n.河口，江口 | |
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pier
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| n.码头；桥墩，桥柱；[建]窗间壁，支柱 | |
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ebb
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| vi.衰退，减退；n.处于低潮，处于衰退状态 | |
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swirling
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| v.旋转，打旋( swirl的现在分词 ) | |
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haven
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| n.安全的地方，避难所，庇护所 | |
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concessions
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| n.（尤指由政府或雇主给予的）特许权( concession的名词复数 )；承认；减价；（在某地的）特许经营权 | |
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fragrant
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| adj.芬香的，馥郁的，愉快的 | |
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scent
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| n.气味，香味，香水，线索，嗅觉；v.嗅，发觉 | |
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tar
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| n.柏油，焦油；vt.涂或浇柏油/焦油于 | |
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promptly
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| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
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superannuated
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| adj.老朽的，退休的；v.因落后于时代而废除，勒令退学 | |
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buoys
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| n.浮标( buoy的名词复数 )；航标；救生圈；救生衣v.使浮起( buoy的第三人称单数 )；支持；为…设浮标；振奋…的精神 | |
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drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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mingled
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| 混合，混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 )； 混进，与…交往[联系] | |
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quay
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| n.码头，靠岸处 | |
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quays
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| 码头( quay的名词复数 ) | |
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30
picturesqueness
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31
dabbles
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| v.涉猎( dabble的第三人称单数 )；涉足；浅尝；少量投资 | |
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32
amazement
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| n.惊奇，惊讶 | |
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33
homeliness
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| n.简朴，朴实；相貌平平 | |
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34
hoary
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| adj.古老的；鬓发斑白的 | |
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35
landmark
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| n.陆标，划时代的事，地界标 | |
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36
preservation
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| n.保护，维护，保存，保留，保持 | |
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37
scenic
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| adj.自然景色的，景色优美的 | |
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38
amenities
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| n.令人愉快的事物；礼仪；礼节；便利设施；礼仪( amenity的名词复数 )；便利设施；（环境等的）舒适；（性情等的）愉快 | |
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39
misty
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| adj.雾蒙蒙的，有雾的 | |
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40
lichen
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| n.地衣, 青苔 | |
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41
benevolence
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| n.慈悲，捐助 | |
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42
vigour
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| （=vigor）n.智力，体力，精力 | |
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43
stewing
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| 炖 | |
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misnomer
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| n.误称 | |
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bracing
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| adj.令人振奋的 | |
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standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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solitude
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| n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方 | |
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48
intensified
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| v.（使）增强， （使）加剧( intensify的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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49
cemetery
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| n.坟墓，墓地，坟场 | |
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50
populous
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| adj.人口稠密的，人口众多的 | |
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51
artistic
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| adj.艺术(家)的，美术(家)的；善于艺术创作的 | |
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52
obtrude
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| v.闯入；侵入；打扰 | |
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poetic
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| adj.富有诗意的，有诗人气质的，善于抒情的 | |
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54
flaunted
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| v.炫耀，夸耀( flaunt的过去式和过去分词 )；有什么能耐就施展出来 | |
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55
insistence
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| n.坚持；强调；坚决主张 | |
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56
fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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57
brutal
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| adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的 | |
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58
demolished
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| v.摧毁( demolish的过去式和过去分词 )；推翻；拆毁（尤指大建筑物）；吃光 | |
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59
majestic
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| adj.雄伟的，壮丽的，庄严的，威严的，崇高的 | |
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60
lodging
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| n.寄宿，住所；(大学生的)校外宿舍 | |
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61
strand
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| vt.使（船）搁浅，使（某人）困于（某地） | |
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sojourn
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| v./n.旅居，寄居；逗留 | |
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63
primroses
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| n.报春花( primrose的名词复数 )；淡黄色；追求享乐（招至恶果） | |
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64
languish
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| vi.变得衰弱无力，失去活力，（植物等）凋萎 | |
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65
barley
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| n.大麦，大麦粒 | |
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66
marsh
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| n.沼泽，湿地 | |
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67
maidens
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| 处女( maiden的名词复数 )； 少女； 未婚女子； （板球运动）未得分的一轮投球 | |
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68
revel
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| vi.狂欢作乐，陶醉；n.作乐，狂欢 | |
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ordnance
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| n.大炮，军械 | |
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70
prattling
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| v.（小孩般）天真无邪地说话( prattle的现在分词 )；发出连续而无意义的声音；闲扯；东拉西扯 | |
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71
oozy
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| adj.软泥的 | |
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72
junction
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| n.连接，接合；交叉点，接合处，枢纽站 | |
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73
rustic
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| adj.乡村的，有乡村特色的；n.乡下人，乡巴佬 | |
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74
promontory
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| n.海角；岬 | |
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75
jutting
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| v.（使）突出( jut的现在分词 )；伸出；（从…）突出；高出 | |
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whitewashed
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| 粉饰，美化，掩饰( whitewash的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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thatch
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| vt.用茅草覆盖…的顶部；n.茅草(屋) | |
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79
farmhouse
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| n.农场住宅（尤指主要住房） | |
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80
tavern
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| n.小旅馆，客栈；小酒店 | |
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81
delightful
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| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
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82
remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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