THE FIRE KINDLERS - CHAPTER 9

BACK TO WINCHESTER

Many centuries have passed since the last ships sailed up to Winchester. The Itchen has shrunk into a narrow stream, but the expanse of the former bed may be yet seen in the meadows of black loamy soil that lie at the foot of St. Catharine's Hill from the Hospital of St. Cross up to the vicinity of the College and the Cathedral. Between these two were the wharves that marked the head of navigation in ancient times. This is probably the very spot where our forefathers landed when they came from far Aegean shores. To-day the site is occupied by flour mills, called the "Wharf Mills". In water power days they utilized the waters of the Itchen. The first mill belonged to St. Mary's College, the oldest of England's famous public schools, built by the wealthy William of Wykeham in 1382. Eventually the mill passed into private ownership and developed a prosperous trade supplying the city with flour. Behind the mill is the miller's house where the miller used to live in other times, and it was in this house that my father was born on the 20th of October, 1850, at almost the very same place where his forefathers tethered their ship two thousand years before. Beauty as well as history meets the eye on all sides of his birthplace . On one side of the large, black-soiled garden rolls the Itchen, once a broad river, and beyond it rises St. Catharine's Hill, on the top of which are ancient ruins thought by some to belong to the same period as Stonehenge. On the opposite side are the old walls built by the Romans to fortify their city, and upon them cling large old fig trees. Perhaps they also could trace their descent from Aegean shores. Beyond the walls rise the ruins of Wolvesey Castle, built in 655. King Alfred the Great was fa miliar with these scenes.

A little further back stretches the gigantic form of the ancient Cathedral of the Holy and Undivided Trinity, whither one Purkis brought his strange burden on the night of August 2nd, 1100.

At the far end of the garden the beauti ful 14th century Gothic walls and towers of the College can be seen, while from the other end rise the gables of the ancient city itself.

My grandfather, James Purkis, who was the miller at the Wharf Mills for several years, was the fourth son of William Purkis, an elder brother of the Rev. Isaac Purkis.

He (William) married Mary Tribe of Hayling Island. She belonged to a wealthy old Catholic and Recusant family, but she is said to have walked out of a confessional unshriven one day and to have renounced her religion, whereupon her family renounced her and left her penniless. An extraordinary coincidence will be noted in the identity of her story with that of Mary Molyneux, the mother of the wife of Rev. Isaac. It can, however, be easily explained. When Isaac attended the Theological Seminary in Gosport, William was living just across the harbour in Portsea. Naturally the two young men would spend their time together and make friends in the same social circle, and their wives would naturally be friends . Most probably Mary Tribe and Mary Johnson were cousins. Either Mary Tribe emulated the example of her aunt, or perhaps the story may have been moved forward one generation in transmission. However that may be, Mary Tribe, like Mary Johnson, is said to have been a handsome woman of exceedingly fine character. She was the mother of thirteen children, of whom six were boys. With the exception of my grandfather, James, I know very little about them. William, the oldest son, became a town councillor and a member of the Board of Guardians in Southampton and took a lifelong interest in civic affairs, being also one of the Town Bailiffs. It says in the records of the town that he was "the last Bailiff of Chapel Fair having command of the Stocks, but he ordered no one into them." John, as I have said, is about the right age to be the ancestor of the branch that appears in California and British Columbia.

During the great war, being attached to the Royal Naval Canadian Volunteer Reserve, 1 was stationed for a time at Portsea and also spent some time in the Royal Naval Hospital at Gosport. I made the acquaintance of two people of the name of Purkis in Portsea, one of them was a ship's carpenter and had had an uncle James, a miller in Winchester, so he was obviously a son of one of these, and the other, a young lady, probably belonged to another's family. It was when I told my father of this that he informed me that his grandfather (William Purkis) had lived at Portsea, I believe, he said that he lived in the Dockyards, though I am not certain. There are many houses in the Dockyards which were occupied by various people employed upon His Majesty's ships of war. I believe he said that he used to carve the figure heads for the old wooden ships. They all bore elaborately carved figures upon their bows. Of the girls I know a little more, but not very much. I believe Mary became Mrs. Barratt and went to live in Montreal, Canada. Martha became Mrs. Littlefield, Selina became Mrs. Smith; of Sarah, Emma and Ellen, I know nothing. Jane married twice, her first husband being a Mr. Bartholemew and the second a Mr. Dummer. She resided in Winchester, and was probably the one who induced my grandfather to come to the mills and settle there. He seems to have been her favourite brother.

When my brother first went to Hamilton, Canada, in 1903, he was called on by Mrs. Cameron, a daughter of Isaac D. Purkis, who had seen the name and wondered if it would be any of her father's people. He wrote to my father, letting him know what Mrs. Cameron had told of Rev. Isaac Purkis coming to Canada and my father wrote to Aunt Jane. She it was who identified "Uncle Isaac" as a Canadian missionary, and recalled having heard him preach. She died in Winchester and is buried near my grandfather.

When my father died, the statement was made, in the obituary appearing in the "Malvern Gazette", that he was a lineal descendant of the Charcoal Burner who picked up the body of William II in the New Forest, and that his father was born within a stone's throw from the spot where the body was found. That would imply that he was born in the old Purkis homestead that was burned down some time around 1800. As his birthdate is registered in the Family Bible as November 18th 1817, of course that is impossible. Neither is he nor any others of the children of William and Mary Purkis mentioned in the register of the parish church at Minstead. Nor is there any William Purkis with a birthdate anywhere near that of my great-grandfather. But there is a William Purkis, baptized in Eling Church, near Houndsdown, that corresponds exactly, I mention this to show how careful one must he in accepting traditions carried by word of mouth from one generation to another. Mistakes and misunderstandings so easily o ccur. It has always been the tradition of the John Purkis family that they are lineal descendants of the Charcoal Burner that was associated with William Rufus. But just when and why they left the homestead, I have been unable to discover.

William Purkis , my great-grandfather, had a French tutor who lived with the family and attended to their primary education. His name was M. de la Roche, and he has left us a beautiful example of his penmanship, as he wrote the names of two generations in our Family Bible. The title page, which reads "The Families of William and Mary Purkis and James and Ellen Barnard Purkis" is a wonderful piece of embellished writing, and the names in the following pages are written in perfect "copper plate" style. M. de la Roche al so stayed at my grandfather's home for a while, and attended to the education of the children, but he was getting on in years then.

My grandfather, James Purkis, was married in 1843 at St. Mary's Church, Portsea. The four corners of the street upon which this church stood were then occupied by the church, the jail, the school and the asylum, and so were called, "Salvation, Damnation, Education and Ruination." There used to be four corners in the City of Toronto, Canada, devoted to similar institutions and strange to say, they used to be called by the same names. I have often wondered whether someone from Hampshire was responsible for so naming them.

They had eleven children of whom one died in infancy. After his marriage my grandfather became miller at Soberton, a small village in Hampshire, but after five years he moved to the Wharf Mills in Winchester. When his oldest son James was married in 1862 he let him manage the mill and went to live on the Downs on the outskirts of Winchester. He then went in to partnership with his cousin, and they formed the firm of Purkis and Brown, Engineering Contractors. They used to supply steam power to the farmers of Hampshire for threshing. In those days the farmers did not own their engines for threshing, neither w e re there custom threshers transportation of big loads of grain from the farms to the mills, and for such as we have in Canada today. They also supplied steam power for the transportation of flour from the mills to the stores. In this way they were pioneers in what has become, since the advent of the internal combustion engine, one of the greatest industries of modern times, motor transportation. Even to this day some of the millers in England still use the steam lorry for transportation. So many of the old mills were, for the sake of being close to water, built in hollows with steep hills on either side, and the steam lorry can take heavy loads up and down these steep hills more conveniently than can the motor lorry.

My grandfather spent his time travelling on horseback over the countryside, visiting the farmers and millers to arrange business, and to see that his engines were working smoothly. This open air life built up his constitution so that when he died after a stroke at the age of 85, the doctor said that his health was perfect except for the natural hardening of the arteries, not a trace of any disease in his body. He was a Liberal in politics, and observing the impetus that free trade was giving to retail merchandising, making England a nation of shopkeepers, he decided to start all his sons in retail business. So he bought William, the second son, a grocery shop with a license to sell wines and spirits, in Romsey; Alfred went into business in Winchester as a baker and confectioner with a license to sell wines and spirits, and catered to parties, dinners, etc. George, Henry and Charles were all apprenticed to the clothing business and learned their trade with Messrs. Angel & Co. in High Street, Winchester. It was opposite this shop that Mr. Ward-Evans made the discoveries that established the existence of the Greek trading post in Winchester. Two thousand years before our forefathers had sold cloth in the very same place!

The oldest daughter was Edith, who became a Mrs. Southwell. They lived near Dover, on the cliffs overlooking the sea, and were such a happy couple that people used to call them "Darby and Joan". When she died in 1919 Mr. Southwell married Aunt Jane, who had already had two husbands. Aunt Jane's first husband was a Mr. Franklin. They had one child, James, who being a good singer, became a choir boy in Winchester Cathedral. He afterwards went to Canada and is now living in Vancouver, B.C. Her second husband was a Mr. Young, who was pastor of an Evangelical Church in Southampton. She lived with Mr. Southwell for two years and died in 1929.

Aunt Kate married a Mr. Stait. She had ten children, and they are all now living in Australia. She died in 1922.

My Uncles James and William both had families of ten also. They lived in London, but we have not kept in touch with them.

My Uncle George and my father both had families of six. Uncle Charles had two, a boy and a girl. He was in the clothing business at Kingston-on-Thames. He married Miss Julia Walters, a sister of Uncle George's wife. He is the one who came to Canada and died in Sudbury in 1907. His daughter, Marjory, also came to Canada for a few years and resided with her brother at Weston, but she returned to England to marry a Mr. Cossedge and now resides near London.

George Barnard Purkis, my uncle, lived in the Isle of Wight, where he was the proprietor of a large clothing business. He was very active in local government, being for several years Mayor of Newport and for many years a Justice of the Peace. He died in 1925 at the age of 77.
His oldest son, Walter, was killed in the Great War at Gallipoli in 1915. He married a Miss Kirk of Cowes, and had two girls and a boy. The eldest. Eileen is in London; the second, Joan, is at Hong Kong. Leonard, the son, is in Ceylon.

Violet, his (Uncle George's) oldest daughter became Mrs. Endle, and is now a widow living at Southborne, Hants.

Ashley, the second son, is carrying on the business established by his father, and also has a son of his own, Owen, in the business with him. He married Miss Attrill of Whitwell. He has two daughters, Peggy and Jean.

Hilda, the second daughter, married Mr. Bernard B. Smith of Woodsetton. She has one daughter, Beryl.

Ethel, the youngest daughter, married Mr. Vibert, of Newport, and they are now living at Chichester.

Captain Howard Purkis, R.N.R., was the youngest son. He began his career in the Royal Navy and later transferred to the Mercantile Marine. He was lost at sea in 1934. He married Miss Margaret Dabell, and has one son, John.

My father, Henry Edward Purkis, seemed to combine in one personality all the varied characteristics of the family, and to fulfill all their traditions. He was successful in business, prominent in local politics, and outstanding as a lay preacher. He was fond of gardening and cycling, and a greater lover of nature. He was fond of sports and very sociable, an able swimmer, a keen bowler, and to his last days fond of a game of billiards, and a very steady hand with the cue. He lived a strenuous and active life and yet never appeared hurried. While he accomplished more in one lifetime than most men do, he always found time each day for leisure, for culture, and for the finer things of life.

Of his boyhood at Winchester he used to tell how his father would take the boys down to the river that ran along beside the garden and throw them in while he shouted swimming instructions from the bank. There were great battles in those days, too, between gangs of boys on the slopes of St. Catharine's Hill.

He met my mother, then Miss Janet Bruce Soutar, at Deptford, and after marriage went to live in the Midlands where he established himself in the clothing business, having stores in several towns, and eventually a factory at Sedgeley, Staffs. He resided for many years at Stourbridge, Worcs., and in 1903 moved to the vicinity of Kidderminster and retired from business, thinking to give the rest of his life up to public welfare. However, his business experience was in demand, and he was soon made Chairman of the B. Hepworth Chemical Company, of which firm he had been a director for some years. As head of this firm, which had factories in Kidderminster and Cleckheaton, Yorks, he took the greatest interest both in the details of the business and in the welfare of the employees. His popularity with the workers of this firm was evidenced by handsome gifts from time to time. One such occasion holds rather sad memories. A grandfather's clock and a rug had been bought by the employees for golden wedding presents in June, 1924, but mother became ill about a week before her golden wedding day and had passed away before the celebration.

He also became a director of Cooke Bros., Manufacturers of Carpets and Rugs, with which firm I began my business career.

He took a keen interest in the various concerns in which he was a shareholder. Amongst these were the Midland Bank and the Mint.

When the Canadian Mint was opened at Ottawa in 1908 by the Prince of Wales, afterwards King George V, he came out to attend the opening and afterwards spent about three months in Canada and the United States, visiting my brother then living in Hamilton. He made several friends while in Hamilton, as mother did also, for she accompanied him, and they all retained happy memories of their visit.

My father was baptized in St. Peter's Church, Chesil, Winchester, one of that city's many ancient religious edifices and was confirmed a member of the Anglican Church. My mother was a Wesleyan Methodist and when they became engaged they attended the Anglican Church in the mornings and the Methodist Church in the evenings. They both held firmly to their beliefs and each tried to influence the other, for both were agreed that they should be of one mind before they began to raise a family. Of course, Mother finally won the battle, and Father joined the Wesleyan Methodist Church upon his marriage. It was not long before he was prevailed upon to become a lay preacher, and he took great pleasure in this work and was very popular in country pulpits. He c ontinued in it to the very last, celebrating his golden jubilee as a preacher in the year before he died. Indeed, he nearly died preaching, as he collapsed in the pulpit a few days before he was confined in his last illness. He held every office in the church open to a layman. He was a Sunday School Superintendent for 25 years at Stourbridge, and for 10 years at Kidderminster. He was a trustee of the Wesleyan Churches at Kinver, at Gig Mill, near Stourbridge, and at Birmingham Road, Kidderminster. It w as largely through his initiative that the latter church was built, and, no sooner had he retired from business than he had to devote all his energies to establishing and directing the affairs of the new church for a year or so, as the minister was an invalid. It was not only in the Wesleyan Methodist Church that his influence was felt. He frequently preached in the pulpits of other evangelical denominations, spoke at Brotherhoods, and presided at Church Meetings. He was a member of the Free Church Council and well known in Nonconformist circles all over the country.

Perhaps it was in public affairs that he made his greatest contribution to society. He had the true public spirit of the Greeks and was never too busy to take a leading part in all that pertained to public welfare. When he went to live in Stourbridge, that town had had an Improvement Commission in existence for forty years but very little improvement had been made since the rising tide of industrialism in the forties had created crowded slums and narrow, ill-ventilated passages. He soon became a member of the Town Council and was Chairman of the Council for some years. Stourbridge was not a borough then, so the head of the civic government was not called a mayor.

He took the initiative in acquiring a Gas Company from private interests and placing it under Municipal Ownership. It was a big fight, and the victory proved to be of great benefit. He was Chairman of the Gas Committee during this struggle, and I have heard him say that it was one of the proudest moments of his life when he was able, as Chairman of the Town Council, to sign a cheque for the purchase of a large estate in the town for the purpose of a public park and the building of better homes, the amount representing the first year's profits from the Municipal Gas undertaking.

He was prominent in the movement for the erection of the new Town Hall in 1896, a building so fine and modern that it has been the pride of the town for many years. Later he was also Chairman of the Urban District Council of Stourbridge. Another improvement in which he took a leading part was the electrification of the street railway, and the construction of the Kinver Light Railway.

While taking this active part in the municipal affairs of Stourbridge, he was supervising a big business which necessitated constant travel, and on Sundays he would act as Chapel Steward in the mornings, Sunday School Superintendent in the afternoons, and often preach in some country pulpit in the evenings. This would have been a sufficient activity to satisfy the appetite of most men, but it was not enough for him; as owner of business premises in Kidderminster, he was simultaneously interested in municipal affairs there and was a member of the Kidderminster School Board for many years. He also, while still living in Stourbridge, and an active member, in fact I believe, Chairman of the Urban District Council at the time, represented Park Ward in the Kidderminster Borough Council.

On going to live at Kidderminster and retiring from business, he was asked to run for the Council again, but refused, and was also nominated for Mayor of Kidderminster, but refused to accept it. He did, however, become a member of the Board of Guardians, and formed a Social Service Council. He was prominent in Freemasonry and took a leading part in the reorganization of the Masonic Club.

As Chairman of the Kidderminster Ratepayers' Association he took a leading part in urging the corporation to build a new and up-to-date waterworks. He took a promin ent part in national politics. While he was a staunch Liberal, he was very tolerant of different opinions, and had many friends among the Conservatives, of whom Lord Baldwin was one, whose father, who was a Liberal before Mr. Chamberlain led the Unionists away from Mr. Gladstone, had been his partner in many a political battle.

In 1913 my mother's health demanded a more bracing climate, and they removed to Malvern, where the last 18 years of his life were spent in ideal surroundings at the foot of the beautiful and bracing Malvern Hills. But even there there was no cessation of his work for the public welfare. He was well known in Malvern, as he had had stores there years before. So he was at once elected to the Board of Guardians and the County Council. He was Chairman of the Worcestershire Board of Health for several years, and effected great economies in the Mental Institutions. He became chairman of the Worcestershire Liberal Association and held that office until his death. After Mr. Baldwin became Prime Minister, he was nominated to oppose him as Liberal candidate for West Worcestershire, but he withdrew, partly on account of his age (he was then over 70), and partly on account of his friendship with Mr. Baldwin. During the Great War he was a m e mber of the West Worcestershire Recruiting Committee and of the Military Advisory Committee. He was Chairman of the Malvern Link Ratepayers' Association and Chairman of the Malvern Link Literary and Debating Society. He was a member of the County Bench and generally presided as Magistrate at the Malvern Link Police Court. He was a member of the Malvern Higher Education Committee and his last public work was in connection with the founding of the Cowleigh High School.

He had a great many friends and enjoyed society. He was a great clubman and always prominent in undertaking the business responsibilities of the clubs to which he belonged. He organized a Club for Working Men in Malvern. He was a great favourite with the ladies, and was friendly with all regardless of their social standing. He performed many acts of Christian charity in an unostentatious and kindly way and the older he got, the more loved and respected he became.

When I visited England in 1924 I noticed that when people took their hats off to him, they did so with a spontaneity of action that left no doubt as to the sincerity of their regard.

He travelled a good deal, visiting France and Switzerland several times, and coming to Canada twice. On the occasion of his last visit in 1925 he pur chased for me a farm on the Niagara Highway at Vineland. I last saw him in this life outside the old Clifton Hotel at Niagara Falls. He died in October, 1931, at the age of 81. His last years were mellow and colourful like an October sunset. He had po ssessed abundant health and boundless energy, and had used them unsparingly in the public good. Of many kinds and in many places were the fires he kindled and they will live long and inflame others to yet greater achievements.

My mother was the youngest daughter of John Soutar and Jane Leslie, and was born at Buchan Ness, Scotland. One of her brothers, Simon Soutar, was one of the pioneers of the British regime in Jamaica, B.W.I., and made a considerable contribution to the development of that island. Another brother was Samuel Soutar, a well known merchant in the west end of London. She was a fitting mate to my father, active and energetic in church and social work. She possessed a great deal of the literary ability that has made the name of Soutar known wherever the English language is spoken. She had a firm evangelical faith, and deep piety, that would have endeared her to the Reverend Isaac, and would have rejoiced the heart of Marie Dubois had she known that such a one was destined to become the wife of one of her great-grandsons.

It is a very apt coincidence-perhaps she did not know how fitting it was-that my first spiritual memory of my mother is of her teaching me to sing this hymn. It might well be called "The Fire Kindler's Hymn"-

"See how great flame aspires,
"Kindled by a spark of grace,
"Jesus' love, the nations' fires,
"Sets the kingdoms on a blaze.
"To bring fire on earth He came;
"Kindled in some hearts it is.
"O that all might catch the flame,
"All partake the glorious bliss."

Besides my oldest brother, Harold Henry, who died in Hamilton, Ont., Canada, in 1920, I have two brothers and two sisters living in 1938.
Edward Monro Purkis, who followed a journalistic career. George Samuel Purkis, M.A., Ph.D., who by a coincidence is now livi ng in Essex, where Samuel, the son of George Purchas, author of the "Pilgrimes" lived over 300 years before. Dr. Purkis is somewhat of a pilgrim himself having travelled extensively in Europe and Northern Africa and like his ancestors, the Knights Templa rs, was with General Allenhy in the last great crusade when they drove the Turks out of Jerusalem and made the Holy City safe for pilgrims with greater success than did the poor Templars.

Grace Barnard (Mrs. Stokes), a sister, is living at Alderminster ne ar Shakespeare's birthplace, Stratford-on-Avon, Warwickshire.

My sister Netta, wife of Rev. A. Stanley Parker, Methodist minister, now at Great Yarmouth, is perhaps the best known member of our family. Inspired by the missionary spirit that sent Isaac an d George to Canada and Francis to China, with the kindling spark of the Gospel, she went to the training college at Ilkley, Yorks, founded by the late Rev. Dr. Bowman Stevenson and became a Wesley Deaconess. As "Sister Netta" she became well known in Ma nchester, Liverpool, Glasgow, and other towns in the north. She is an able speaker and just as much at home in the pulpit as in the slums.

Rev. Stanley and Mrs. Parker spent a year in the ministry in the United States at Mecklenburg, N.Y., for health reasons. They made many friends there as well as in other places in the States. They have both visited North America several times.

My Aunt Elizabeth. now living in Winchester, is the sole survivor of her generation, She looked after her father in his dec lining years. They had visited us at Stourbridge in 1900 and one of my clearest memories of my grandfather is of seeing him lighting his pipe by focusing the sun's rays with the lens of his spectacles, one of the most ancient methods of kindling fire.

After my grandfather had passed away my aunt offered herself for mission work. She did not pass the medical examination for foreign missions, so she entered the training college for home mission work. She found the work very interesting, visiting different parts of England. The last twenty years of her life were spent as Matron of the Princess Mary Homes at Addlestone, Surrey. These homes are for the care and education of delinquent or under-privileged girls. She retired from this work in 1929 and went to live at Winchester, her old home and birthplace. There she spends her time visiting the aged and sick and doing such good works as she is able. She composes verses which are occasionally printed in the local papers.

By way of a hobby she likes to make altar frontals and various kinds of church lace work which has been sent to many distant places as well as to H.M. Queen Mary for her private chapel, to Wolvesey Palace for the Bishop of Winchester's chapel, to Winchester Cathedral and other churches in that city, to the West Indies and the East Indies and to the Princess Mary Homes.

It is to my Aunt Elizabeth that I am chiefly indebted for most of the family lore concerning the last three generations of our own line, and it was while visiting her at Winchester that I began my researches into our early history and conceived the idea of writing the story in a concrete form which would be an inspiration as well as a source of information for generations to come. I found that there were still several of the name in Southampton, and the New Forest, but with the growth of the Empire and the modern facilities of transportation, they are spreading out to the ends of the earth. As they brought their lofty tradition from Greece just before the commencement of the Christian era, and held it high, burning ever brighter in the pure atmosphere of Christendom, so may they yet carry it into the great new age to come-

"On with the torch once more!
"Build the new heaven and earth,
"And save the world." -Noyes.

As I have searched the old records I have been asked if I were seeking to claim a fortune, and have been told there was none to claim. I have been asked if I sought an estate, and was told that it had vanished.

I have looked in vain for the ancient homestead so carefully inherited and preserved for so many centuries. The last generation saw but ruins; I saw nothing, for what the fire began the waters have finished, and that which stood for ages past will be for future ages unknown. Yet I have found my heritage. I have come into possession of my estate. For the Fire Kindlers have passed on to their sons a priceless heritage that nothing in space or time can destroy, an estate that is forever secure because it is eternal.

They have ever sought to initiate their offspring into the mystic craft of the Charcoal Burners. They have taught them to kindle the fire of the love of Christ in the hearts of men; they have shown them the works of the craft of faith whereby they may make fine coals of Wisdom and Honour.

It was my privilege as a child to hear my father daily lead us in worship at the family altar, to hear him read in the Psalms of David-"I have had as great delight in the way of thy testimonies as in all manner of riches."

These things are our priceless heritage; a heritage which we can only enjoy in proportion as we share it with all mankind. The inspiration of the story of the Fire Kindlers was never more needed than today, and the craft is not confined to any family. It is free to all who will learn; and besides we have another tradition-we have been taught to bend the omnipotent bow of the Spirit and to shoot heavenward the sure swift arrows of Prayer. If this last craftsmanship were better known and better practised we should not hear so much of doubt, frustration and perplexity in a Christian world, we should take steady aim from the ambush of the silence, and the Prince of Darkness would fall, even as Rufus fell in the Forest, and Liberty and Freedom of Conscience would be restored to all mankind.