?Well, your children needn?t,? said StClare, ?but mine may; if Eva could have been spoiled, it would have been done years ago Topsy was at first despised and contemned by the upper servantsThey soon found reason to alter their opinionIt was very soon discovered that whoever cast an indignity on Topsy was sure to meet with some inconvenient accident shortly after;?either a pair of ear-rings or some cherished trinket would be missing, or an article of dress would be suddenly found utterly ruined, or the person would stumble accidently into a pail of hot water, or a libation of dirty slop would unaccountably deluge them from above when in full gala dress;-and on all these occasions, when investigation was made, there was nobody found to stand sponsor for the indignityTopsy was cited, and had up before all the domestic judicatories, time and again; but always sustained her examinations with most edifying innocence and gravity of appearanceNobody in the world ever doubted who did the things; but not a scrap of any direct evidence could be found to establish the suppositions, and Miss Ophelia was too just to feel at liberty to proceed to any length without it The mischiefs done were always so nicely timed, also, as further to shelter the aggressorThus, the times for revenge on Rosa and Jane, the two chamber maids, were always chosen in those seasons when (as not unfrequently happened) they were in disgrace with their mistress, when any complaint from them would of course meet with no sympathyIn short, Topsy soon made the household understand the propriety of letting her alone; and she was let alone, accordingly Topsy was smart and energetic in all manual operations, learning everything that was taught her with surprising quicknessWith a few lessons, she had learned to do the proprieties of Miss Ophelia?s chamber in a way with which even that particular lady could find no faultMortal hands could not lay spread smoother, adjust pillows more accurately, sweep and dust and arrange more perfectly, than Topsy, when she chose,?but she didn?t very often chooseIf Miss Ophelia, after three or four days of careful patient supervision, was so sanguine as to suppose that Topsy had at last fallen into her way, could do without over-looking, and so go off and busy herself about something else, Topsy would hold a perfect carnival of confusion, for some one or two hoursInstead of making the bed, she would amuse herself with pulling off the pillowcases, butting her woolly head among the pillows, till it would sometimes be grotesquely ornamented with feathers sticking out in various directions; she would climb the posts, and hang head downward from the tops; flourish the sheets and spreads all over the apartment; dress the bolster up in Miss Ophelia?s night-clothes, and enact various performances with that,?singing and whistling, and making grimaces at herself in the looking-glass; in short, as Miss Ophelia phrased it, ?raising Cain? generally On one occasion, Miss Ophelia found Topsy with her very best scarlet India Canton crape shawl wound round her head for a turban, going on with her rehearsals before the glass in great style,?Miss Ophelia having, with carelessness most unheard-of in her, left the key for once in her drawer ?Topsy!? she would say, when at the end of all patience, ?what does make you act so?? ?Dunno, Missis,?I spects cause I ?s so wicked!? ?I don?t know anything what I shall do with you, Topsy ?Law, Missis, you must whip me; my old Missis allers whipped meI an?t used to workin? unless I gets whipped ?Why, Topsy, I don?t want to whip youYou can do well, if you?ve a mind to; what is the reason you won?t?? ?Laws, Missis, I ?s used to whippin?; I spects it?s good for me Miss Ophelia tried the recipe, and Topsy invariably made a terrible commotion, screaming, groaning and imploring, though half an hour afterwards, when roosted on some projection of the balcony, and surrounded by a flock of admiring ?young uns,? she would express the utmost contempt of the whole affair ?Law, Miss Feely whip!?wouldn?t kill a skeeter, her whippinsOughter see how old Mas?r made the flesh fly; old Mas?r know?d how!? Topsy always made great capital of her own sins and enormities, evidently considering them as something peculiarly distinguishing ?Law, you niggers,? she would say to some of her auditors, ?does you know you ?s all sinners? Well, you is?everybody isWhite folks is sinners too,?Miss Feely says so; but I spects niggers is the biggest ones; but lor! ye an?t any on ye up to meI ?s so awful wicked there can?t nobody do nothin? with meI used to keep old Missis a swarin? at me half de timeI spects I ?s the wickedest critter in the world;? and Topsy would cut a summerset, and come up brisk and shining on to a higher perch, and evidently plume herself on the distinction Miss Ophelia busied herself very earnestly on Sundays, teaching Topsy the catechismTopsy had an uncommon verbal memory, and committed with a fluency that greatly encouraged her instructress ?What good do you expect it is going to do her?? said St ?Why, it always has done children goodIt?s what children always have to learn, you know,? said Miss Ophelia ?Understand it or not,? said St ?O, children never understand it at the time; but, after they are grown up, it?ll come to them ?Mine hasn?t come to me yet,? said StClare, ?though I?ll bear testimony that you put it into me pretty thoroughly when I was a boy? ?Ah, you were always good at learning, AugustineI used to have great hopes of you,? said Miss shop Ophelia

"Jonathan will be here at half-past eleven, and you must come to lunch with us and see him thenYou could catch the quick 3:34 train, which will leave you at Paddington before eight He was surprised at my knowledge of the trains offhand, but he does not know that I have made up all the trains to and from Exeter, so that I may help Jonathan in case he is in a hurry So he took the papers with him and went away, and I sit here thinking, thinking I don't know what LETTER (by hand), VAN HELSING TO MRSHARKER 25 September, 6 o'clock "Dear Madam Mina, "I have read your husband's so wonderful diaryYou may sleep without doubtStrange and terrible as it is, it is true! I will pledge my life on itIt may be worse for others, but for him and you there is no dreadHe is a noble fellow, and let me tell you from experience of men, that one who would do as he did in going down that wall and to that room, aye, and going a second time, is not one to be injured in permanence by a shockHis brain and his heart are all right, this I swear, before I have even seen him, so be at restI shall have much to ask him of other thingsI am blessed that today I come to see you, for I have learn all at once so much that again I am dazzled, dazzled more than ever, and I must think "Yours the most faithful, "Abraham Van HelsingHARKER TO VAN HELSING 25 September, 6:30 PVan Helsing, "A thousand thanks for your kind letter, which has taken a great weight off my mindAnd yet, if it be true, what terrible things there are in the world, and what an awful thing if that man, that monster, be really in London! I fear to thinkI have this moment, whilst writing, had a wire from Jonathan, saying that he leaves by the 6:25 tonight from Launceston and will be here at 10:18, so that I shall have no fear tonightWill you, therefore, instead of lunching with us, please come to breakfast at eight o'clock, if this be not too early for you? You can get away, if you are in a hurry, by the 10:30 train, which will bring you to Paddington by 2:35Do not answer this, as I shall take it that, if I do not hear, you will come to breakfast "Believe me, "Your faithful and grateful friend, "Mina Harker JONATHAN HARKER'S JOURNAL 26 September-I thought never to write in this diary again, but the time has comeWhen I got home last night Mina had supper ready, and when we had supped she told me of Van Helsing's visit, and of her having given him the two diaries copied out, and of how anxious she has been about meShe showed me in the doctor's letter that all I wrote down was trueIt seems to have made a new man of meIt was the doubt as to the reality of the whole thing that knocked me overI felt impotent, and in the dark, and distrustfulBut, now that I know, I am not afraid, even of the CountHe has succeeded after all, then, in his design in getting to London, and it was he I sawHe has got younger, and how? Van Helsing is the man to unmask him and hunt him out, if he is anything like what Mina saysWe sat late, and talked it overMina is dressing, and I shall call at the hotel in a few minutes and bring him over He was, I think, surprised to see meWhen I came into the room where he was, and introduced myself, he took me by the shoulder, and turned my face round to the light, and said, after a sharp scrutiny, "But Madam Mina told me you were ill, that you had had a shock It was so funny to hear my wife called 'Madam Mina' by this kindly, strong-faced old manI smiled, and said, "I was ill, I have had a shock, but you have cured me already "And how?" "By your letter to Mina last nightI was in doubt, and then everything took a hue of unreality, and I did not know what to trust, even the evidence of my own sensesNot knowing what to trust, I did not know what to do, and so had only to keep on working in what had hitherto been the groove of my shop life

I suppose a cry does us all good at times, clears the air as other rain doesPerhaps it was reading the journal yesterday that upset me, and then Jonathan went away this morning to stay away from me a whole day and night, the first time we have been parted since our marriageI do hope the dear fellow will take care of himself, and that nothing will occur to upset himIt is two o'clock, and the doctor will be here soon nowI shall say nothing of Jonathan's journal unless he asks meI am so glad I have typewritten out my own journal, so that, in case he asks about Lucy, I can hand it to himIt will save much questioning-He has come and goneOh, what a strange meeting, and how it all makes my head whirl roundI feel like one in a dreamCan it be all possible, or even a part of it? If I had not read Jonathan's journal first, I should never have accepted even a possibilityPoor, poor, dear Jonathan! How he must have sufferedPlease the good God, all this may not upset him againI shall try to save him from itBut it may be even a consolation and a help to him, terrible though it be and awful in its consequences, to know for certain that his eyes and ears and brain did not deceive him, and that it is all trueIt may be that it is the doubt which haunts him, that when the doubt is removed, no matter which, waking or dreaming, may prove the truth, he will be more satisfied and better able to bear the shockVan Helsing must be a good man as well as a clever one if he is Arthur's friend and DrSeward's, and if they brought him all the way from Holland to look after LucyI feel from having seen him that he is good and kind and of a noble natureWhen he comes tomorrow I shall ask him about JonathanAnd then, please God, all this sorrow and anxiety may lead to a good endI used to think I would like to practice interviewingJonathan's friend on "The Exeter News" told him that memory is everything in such work, that you must be able to put down exactly almost every word spoken, even if you had to refine some of it afterwardsHere was a rare interviewI shall try to record it verbatim It was half-past two o'clock when the knock cameI took my courage a deux mains and waitedIn a few minutes Mary opened the door, and announced "Dr I rose and bowed, and he came towards me, a man of medium weight, strongly built, with his shoulders set back over a broad, deep chest and a neck well balanced on the trunk as the head is on the neckThe poise of the head strikes me at once as indicative of thought and powerThe head is noble, well-sized, broad, and large behind the earsThe face, clean-shaven, shows a hard, square chin, a large resolute, mobile mouth, a good-sized nose, rather straight, but with quick, sensitive nostrils, that seem to broaden as the big bushy brows come down and the mouth tightensThe forehead is broad and fine, rising at first almost straight and then sloping back above two bumps or ridges wide apart, such a forehead that the reddish hair cannot possibly tumble over it, but falls naturally back and to the sidesBig, dark blue eyes are set widely apart, and are quick and tender or stern with the man's moodsHe said to me, "MrsHarker, is it not?" I bowed assent "That was Miss Mina Murray?" Again I assented "It is Mina Murray that I came to see that was friend of that poor dear child Lucy WestenraMadam Mina, it is on account of the dead that I come "Sir," I said, "you could have no better claim on me than that you were a friend and helper of Lucy shop Westenra

And in the meantime, the thought is too horrible, I dare not think of it even nowThis I know, that if ever there was a woman who was all perfection, that one is my poor wronged darlingI loved her a thousand times more for her sweet pity of last night, a pity that made my own hate of the monster seem despicableSurely God will not permit the world to be the poorer by the loss of such a creatureWe are all drifting reefwards now, and faith is our only anchorThank God! Mina is sleeping, and sleeping without dreamsI fear what her dreams might be like, with such terrible memories to ground them inShe has not been so calm, within my seeing, since the sunsetThen, for a while, there came over her face a repose which was like spring after the blasts of MarchI thought at the time that it was the softness of the red sunset on her face, but somehow now I think it has a deeper meaningI am not sleepy myself, though I am weary? weary to deathHowever, I must try to sleepFor there is tomorrow to think of, and there is no rest for me until? Later--I must have fallen asleep, for I was awakened by Mina, who was sitting up in bed, with a startled look on her faceI could see easily, for we did not leave the room in darknessShe had placed a warning hand over my mouth, and now she whispered in my ear, "Hush! There is someone in the corridor!" I got up softly, and crossing the room, gently opened the door Just outside, stretched on a mattress, lay MrHe raised a warning hand for silence as he whispered to me, "Hush! Go back to bedOne of us will be here all nightWe don't mean to take any chances!" His look and gesture forbade discussion, so I came back and told MinaShe sighed and positively a shadow of a smile stole over her poor, pale face as she put her arms round me and said softly, "Oh, thank God for good brave men!" With a sigh she sank back again to sleepI write this now as I am not sleepy, though I must try again 4 October, morning-Once again during the night I was wakened by MinaThis time we had all had a good sleep, for the grey of the coming dawn was making the windows into sharp oblongs, and the gas flame was like a speck rather than a disc of light She said to me hurriedly, "Go, call the ProfessorI want to see him at onceI suppose it must have come in the night, and matured without my knowing itHe must hypnotize me before the dawn, and then I shall be able to speakGo quick, dearest, the time is getting close I went to the doorSeward was resting on the mattress, and seeing me, he sprang to his feet "Is anything wrong?" he asked, in alarm"But Mina wants to see Dr "I will go," he said, and hurried into the Professor's room Two or three minutes later Van Helsing was in the room in his dressing gown, and MrMorris and Lord Godalming were with DrSeward at the door asking questionsWhen the Professor saw Mina a smile, a positive smile ousted the anxiety of his face He rubbed his hands as he said, "Oh, my dear Madam Mina, this is indeed a changeSee! Friend Jonathan, we have got our dear Madam Mina, as of old, back to us today!" Then turning to her, he said cheerfully, "And what am I to do for you? For at this hour you do not want me for shop nothing

They have a larger audience, and a wider sympathy than they are perhaps aware of; and however disheartening the general diffusion of smatterings of a number of subjects, and the almost equally general indifference to profound knowledge in any, among their own countrymen, may be, they may rest assured that not a fact they may discover, nor a good experiment they may make, but is instantly repeated, verified, and commented upon, in Germany, and, we may add too, in Italy We wish the obligation were mutual Here, whole branches of continental discovery are unstudied, and indeed almost unknown, even by name It is in vain to conceal the melancholy truth We are fast dropping behind In mathematics we have long since drawn the rein, and given over a hopeless race In chemistry the case is not much letter Who can tell us any thing of the Sulfo-salts? Who will explain to us the laws of Isomorphism? Nay, who among us has even verified Thenard's experiments on the oxygenated acids,--Oersted's and Berzelius's on the radicals of the earths,--Balard's and Serrulas's on the combinations of Brome,--and a hundred other splendid trains of research in that fascinating science? Nor need we stop here There are, indeed, few sciences which would not furnish matter for similar remark The causes are at once obvious and deep-seated; but this is not the place to discuss them HERSCHEL'S TREATISE ON SOUND, printed in the ENCYCLOPAEDIA METROPOLITANA With such authorities, I need not apprehend much doubt as to the fact of the decline of science in England: how far I may have pointed out some of its causes, must be left to others to decide Many attacks have lately been made on the conduct of various scientific bodies, and of their officers, and severe criticism has been lavished upon some of their productions Newspapers, Magazines, Reviews, and Pamphlets, have all been put in requisition for the purpose Odium has been cast upon some of these for being anonymous If a fact is to be established by testimony, anonymous assertion is of no value; if it can be proved, by evidence to which the public have access, it is of no consequence (for the cause of truth) who produces it A matter of opinion derives weight from the name which is attached to it; but a chain of reasoning is equally conclusive, whoever may be its author Perhaps it would be better for science, that all criticism should be avowed It would certainly have the effect of rendering it more matured, and less severe; but, on the other hand, it would have the evil of frequently repressing it altogether, because there exists amongst the lower ranks of science, a "GENUS IRRITABILE," who are disposed to argue that every criticism is personalIt is clearly the interest of all who fear inquiries, to push this principle as far as possible, whilst those whose sole object is truth, can have no apprehensions from the severest scrutiny There are few circumstances which so strongly distinguish the philosopher, as the calmness with which he can reply to criticisms he may think undeservedly severe I have been led into these reflections, from the circumstance of its having been stated publicly, that I was the author of several of those anonymous writings, which were considered amongst the most severe; and the assertion was the more likely to be credited, from the fact of my having spoken a few words connected with one of those subjects at the last anniversary of the Royal Society [I merely observed that the agreement made with the British Museum for exchanging the Arundel MSSfor their duplicates, (which had just been stated by the President,) was UNWISE; --because it was not to be expected that many duplicates should be found in a library like that of the Museum, weak in the physical and mathematical sciences: that it was IMPROVIDENT and UNBUSINESSLIKE;--because it neither fixed the TIME when the difference was to be paid, in case their duplicates should be insufficient; nor did it appear that there were any FUNDS out of which the money could be procured: and I added, that it would be more advantageous to sell the MSS and purchase the books we wanted with the produce I had hoped in that diminutive world, the world of science, my character had been sufficiently known to have escaped being the subject of such a mistake; and, in taking this opportunity of correcting it, I will add that, in the present volume, I have thought it more candid to mention distinctly those whose line of conduct I have disapproved, or whose works I have criticised, than to leave to the reader inferences which he might make far more extensive than I have intended I hope, therefore, that where I have depicted species, no person will be so unkind to others and unjust to me, as to suppose I have described individuals With respect to the cry against personality, which has been lately set up to prevent all inquiry into matters of scientific misgovernment, a few words will suffice I feel as strongly as any one, not merely the impropriety, but the injustice of introducing private character into such discussions There is, however, a maxim too well established to need any comment of mine The public character of every public servant is legitimate subject of discussion, and his fitness or unfitness for office may be fairly canvassed by any person Those whose too sensitive feelings shrink from such an ordeal, have no right to accept the emoluments of office, for they know that it is the condition to which all must submit who are paid from the public purse The same principle is equally applicable to Companies, to Societies, and to Academies Those from whose pocket the salary is drawn, and by whose appointment the officer was made, have always a right to discuss the merits of their officers, and their modes of exercising the duties they are paid to perform This principle is equally applicable to the conduct of a Secretary of State, or to that of a constable; to that of a Secretary of the Royal Society, or of an adviser to the Admiralty With respect to honorary officers, the case is in some measure different But the President of a society, although not recompensed by any pecuniary remuneration, enjoys a station, when the body over which he presides possesses a high character, to which many will aspire, who will esteem themselves amply repaid for the time they devote to the office, by the consequence attached to it in public estimation He, therefore, is answerable to the Society for his conduct in their chair There are several societies in which the secretaries, and other officers, have very laborious duties, and where they are unaided by a train of clerks, and yet no pecuniary remuneration is given to them Science is much indebted to such men, by whose quiet and unostentatious labours the routine of its institutions is shop carried on