Doubtless if he had tried her with some of the short poems at the end
of the _Paradise Regained_, which I doubt if he had ever even read, she
would at least have allowed that they were not devoid of song. But it
was better perhaps that she should be left free to follow her own
instincts. The true teacher is the one who is able to guide those
instincts, strengthen them with authority, and illuminate them with
revelation of their own fundamental truth. The best this good minister
could do was not to interfere with them. He was so anxious to help her,
however, that, partly to gain some minutes for reflection, partly to
get the assistance of his daughters, he took her by the hand, and led
her to the dining-room, where tea was laid for himself and his two
grown-up girls. She went without a thought of question or a feeling of
doubt; for however capable she was of ordering her own way, nothing
delighted her more than blind submission, wherever she felt justified
in yielding it. It was a profound pleasure to her not to know what was
coming next, provided some one whom she loved did. So she sat down to
tea with the perfect composure of submission to a superior will.
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