Early after the Restoration the English Quakers represented to Charles II . that a `` vein of blood was open in his dominions , '' but , though the displeasure of the voluptuous king was roused , his interference was not prompt . And now the tale must stride forward over many months , leaving Pearson to encounter ignominy and misfortune ; his wife , to a firm endurance of a thousand sorrows ; poor Ilbrahim , to pine and droop like a cankered rose-bud ; his mother , to wander on a mistaken errand , neglectful of the holiest trust which can be committed to a woman . * * * * * A winter evening , a night of storm , had darkened over Pearson 's habitation , and there were no cheerful faces to drive the gloom from his broad hearth . The fire , it is true , sent forth a glowing heat and a ruddy light , and large logs dripping with half-melted snow lay ready to cast upon the embers . But the apartment was saddened in its aspect by the absence of much of the homely wealth which had once adorned it , for the exaction of repeated fines and his own neglect of temporal affairs had greatly impoverished the owner . And with the furniture of peace the implements of war had likewise disappeared ; the sword was broken , the helm and cuirass were cast away for ever : the soldier had done with battles , and might not lift so much as his naked hand to guard his head . But the Holy Book remained , and the table on which it rested was drawn before the fire , while two of the persecuted sect sought comfort from its pages . He who listened while the other read was the master of the house , now emaciated in form and altered as to the expression and healthiness of his countenance , for his mind had dwelt too long among visionary thoughts and his body had been worn by imprisonment and stripes . The hale and weatherbeaten old man who sat beside him had sustained less injury from a far longer course of the same mode of life . In person he was tall and dignified , and , which alone would have made him hateful to the Puritans , his gray locks fell from beneath the broad-brimmed hat and rested on his shoulders . As the old man read the sacred page the snow drifted against the windows or eddied in at the crevices of the door , while a blast kept laughing in the chimney and the blaze leaped fiercely up to seek it . And sometimes , when the wind struck the hill at a certain angle and swept down by the cottage across the wintry plain , its voice was the most doleful that can be conceived ; it came as if the past were speaking , as if the dead had contributed each a whisper , as if the desolation of ages were breathed in that one lamenting sound . The Quaker at length closed the book , retaining , however , his hand between the pages which he had been reading , while he looked steadfastly at Pearson . The attitude and features of the latter might have indicated the endurance of bodily pain ; he leaned his forehead on his hands , his teeth were firmly closed and his frame was tremulous at intervals with a nervous agitation . `` Friend Tobias , '' inquired the old man , compassionately , `` hast thou found no comfort in these many blessed passages of Scripture ? '' `` Thy voice has fallen on my ear like a sound afar off and indistinct , '' replied Pearson , without lifting his eyes . `` Yea ; and when I have hearkened carefully , the words seemed cold and lifeless and intended for another and a lesser grief than mine . Remove the book , '' he added , in a tone of sullen bitterness ; `` I have no part in its consolations , and they do but fret my sorrow the more . '' `` Nay , feeble brother ; be not as one who hath never known the light , '' said the elder Quaker , earnestly , but with mildness .
`` Art thou he that wouldst be content XXXXX give all and endure all for conscience ' sake , desiring even peculiar trials that thy faith might be purified and thy heart weaned from worldly desires ?
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