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The Chronicles of Carlingford #1
The Rector
The Rector opens as Carlingford awaits the arrival of their new rector. Will he be high church or low? And - for there are numerous unmarried ladies in Carlingford - will he be a bachelor? After fifteen years at All Souls, the Rector fancies himself immune to womanhood: he is yet to encounter the blue ribbons and dimples of Miss Lucy Wodehouse.
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First published January 1, 1863
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About the author
Mrs. Oliphant
1,066 books172 followersMargaret Oliphant Wilson Oliphant (née Margaret Oliphant Wilson) was a Scottish novelist and historical writer, who usually wrote as Mrs. Oliphant. Her fictional works encompass "domestic realism, the historical novel and tales of the supernatural".
Margaret Oliphant was born at Wallyford, near Musselburgh, East Lothian, and spent her childhood at Lasswade (near Dalkeith), Glasgow and Liverpool. As a girl, she constantly experimented with writing. In 1849 she had her first novel published: Passages in the Life of Mrs. Margaret Maitland which dealt with the Scottish Free Church movement. It was followed by Caleb Field in 1851, the year in which she met the publisher William Blackwood in Edinburgh and was invited to contribute to the famous Blackwood's Magazine. The connection was to last for her whole lifetime, during which she contributed well over 100 articles, including, a critique of the character of Arthur Dimmesdale in Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter.
Margaret Oliphant was born at Wallyford, near Musselburgh, East Lothian, and spent her childhood at Lasswade (near Dalkeith), Glasgow and Liverpool. As a girl, she constantly experimented with writing. In 1849 she had her first novel published: Passages in the Life of Mrs. Margaret Maitland which dealt with the Scottish Free Church movement. It was followed by Caleb Field in 1851, the year in which she met the publisher William Blackwood in Edinburgh and was invited to contribute to the famous Blackwood's Magazine. The connection was to last for her whole lifetime, during which she contributed well over 100 articles, including, a critique of the character of Arthur Dimmesdale in Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 41 reviews
January 14, 2022
This is the first in a series of five works called The Carlingford Chronicles. The Rector is barely a novella, more a short story. It is available combined with the second in the series published by Virago (who else). The author, Mrs Oliphant, was a prolific Scottish born novelist who produced over 120 works in her lifetime; novels, literary criticism, ghost stories, biographies and historical works. She was born Margaret Oliphant Wilson Oliphant and married her cousin, also called Oliphant. Her husband died young and left her with three young children and she wrote to earn a living. She also took in various other family members who had fallen on hard times.
The story is a simple one; Mr Proctor is a theological academic of about fifty who decides that his aging mother needs to be supported and takes the job of Rector of Carlingford (based on the town of Aylesbury), so she can live with him.
“His mother was, let us say, a hundred years or so younger than the Rector…Mr Proctor was middle-aged, and preoccupied by right of his years; but his mother had long ago got over that stage of life. She was at that point when some energetic natures, having got to the bottom of the hill, seem to make a fresh start and reascend.”
Unfortunately the rector doesn’t have a clue how to do his job. His sermons are dry and boring. He isn’t a social animal and has to relate to women, a new experience (apart from his mother) following a male dominated academia. Some of them also seem to see him as a potential life partner, horror of horrors. He finds himself at a death bed where he is expected to say prayers and utter some useful words and discovers he does not have a clue what to do. He is further discomfited when the curate of another church arrives and does the job properly. The Rector has a crisis of conscience and wonders whether he is cut out for this work.
There is a bit of moralising, but enough to interest to make me carry on with the next one in the series.
The story is a simple one; Mr Proctor is a theological academic of about fifty who decides that his aging mother needs to be supported and takes the job of Rector of Carlingford (based on the town of Aylesbury), so she can live with him.
“His mother was, let us say, a hundred years or so younger than the Rector…Mr Proctor was middle-aged, and preoccupied by right of his years; but his mother had long ago got over that stage of life. She was at that point when some energetic natures, having got to the bottom of the hill, seem to make a fresh start and reascend.”
Unfortunately the rector doesn’t have a clue how to do his job. His sermons are dry and boring. He isn’t a social animal and has to relate to women, a new experience (apart from his mother) following a male dominated academia. Some of them also seem to see him as a potential life partner, horror of horrors. He finds himself at a death bed where he is expected to say prayers and utter some useful words and discovers he does not have a clue what to do. He is further discomfited when the curate of another church arrives and does the job properly. The Rector has a crisis of conscience and wonders whether he is cut out for this work.
There is a bit of moralising, but enough to interest to make me carry on with the next one in the series.
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September 1, 2021I did not realise this was so short. Not even a novella, just a short sketch. It was over before I took it all in stride, so I am not giving it any rating.
Obviously it's very far from the excellent Miss Marjoribanks.
Obviously it's very far from the excellent Miss Marjoribanks.
November 25, 2015
This was an extraordinary read. It was such a sensitively drawn portrait of a gentleman working in a profession for which he suspects he is ill-suited. His attempt to please his loving mother, and her concern for him ring true to any who have ever tried to be true to themselves while considering others. The last few reflections on his decision and its aftermath added greatly to its impact. I consider this a gem and continue to mull it over in my mind.
July 1, 2017
A Victorian short story (30 pages), which reminds me so much of Anthony Trollope and his Barsetshire series.
October 20, 2020
#Victober2020
He was highly spoken of, everybody knew; but nobody knew who had spoken highly of him....
Another delightful short story by Mrs. Oliphant.
His mother sat looking at him in silence, with tears in her lively old eyes. She was saying within herself that she had seen his father take just such a "turn," and that it was no use arguing with them under such circumstances. She watched him as women often do watch men, waiting till the creature should come to itself again and might be spoken to. The incomprehensibleness of women is an old theory, but what is that to the curious wondering observation with which wives, mothers, and sisters watch the other unreasoning animal in those moments when he has snatched the reins out of their hands, and is not to be spoken to! What he will make of it in those unassisted moments, afflicts the compassionate female understanding. It is best to let him come to, and feel his own helplessness.
The free ebook is available at gutenberg.org and in the Kindle store.
He was highly spoken of, everybody knew; but nobody knew who had spoken highly of him....
Another delightful short story by Mrs. Oliphant.
His mother sat looking at him in silence, with tears in her lively old eyes. She was saying within herself that she had seen his father take just such a "turn," and that it was no use arguing with them under such circumstances. She watched him as women often do watch men, waiting till the creature should come to itself again and might be spoken to. The incomprehensibleness of women is an old theory, but what is that to the curious wondering observation with which wives, mothers, and sisters watch the other unreasoning animal in those moments when he has snatched the reins out of their hands, and is not to be spoken to! What he will make of it in those unassisted moments, afflicts the compassionate female understanding. It is best to let him come to, and feel his own helplessness.
The free ebook is available at gutenberg.org and in the Kindle store.
October 24, 2020
Life, after all, did not consist of books, nor were Greek verbs essential to happiness. . . . The good man had found out that secret of discontent which most men find out a great deal earlier than he. Something better, though it might be sadder, harder, more calamitous, was in this world.
September 21, 2024
This is the first in the series of Mrs. Oliphant’s books entitled Chronicles of Carlingford. This is a 30+ page short story that is often packaged with the 2nd book in the series, The Doctor’s Family.
This a portrait of the newly arrived Rector as he struggles to fit in and fulfill the duties of his first living as a rector at Salem Chapel after 15 years “cloistered in All-Souls” at Oxford. The characters are well-drawn and include the following:
Mr. Proctor – the newly arriving rector
Mr. Wodehouse – a confident churchwarden;
Miss Wodehouse – his reticent 40ish daughter;
Lucy Wodehouse – his capable and vivacious 20ish daughter from a second marriage;
Frank Wentworth – the perpetual curate at St. Roque’s, a nearby chapel on the town outskirts which was the beneficiary of the previous rector, Mr. Bury’s overly Low Anglicism.
Mrs. Proctor – the Rector’s mother, whose wit and practicality balance out her son’s naivety and also entertains the reader.
I enjoyed this story as the characterizations were good and the plot, short as it is, surprised and satisfied me. I enjoy clerical stories especially, as with Trollope’s Barsetshire series, the conflict between Low and High church adherents. This is a solid, if slightly less satisfying, alternative to reading Trollope.
I am also glad I read this book separately from The Doctor’s Family as I will likely skip that one and Salem Chapel and advance to the better regarded #4 The Perpetual Curate as my next in the series. The Perpetual Curate is Mr. Frank Wentworth who, along with that book’s female protagonist Lucy Wodehouse, are introduced in this story. Based on what I have seen of them in this story, I would be interested in reading further about them.
I understand that the Carlingford Chronicles can be read out of order but this one seems to be a prelude to others in the series. However, I believe that the departing rector in this story, Mr. Bury, was the rector in #5 of the series, Miss Marjoribanks, so perhaps the books do not follow a sequential time progression.
This a portrait of the newly arrived Rector as he struggles to fit in and fulfill the duties of his first living as a rector at Salem Chapel after 15 years “cloistered in All-Souls” at Oxford. The characters are well-drawn and include the following:
Mr. Proctor – the newly arriving rector
Mr. Wodehouse – a confident churchwarden;
Miss Wodehouse – his reticent 40ish daughter;
Lucy Wodehouse – his capable and vivacious 20ish daughter from a second marriage;
Frank Wentworth – the perpetual curate at St. Roque’s, a nearby chapel on the town outskirts which was the beneficiary of the previous rector, Mr. Bury’s overly Low Anglicism.
Mrs. Proctor – the Rector’s mother, whose wit and practicality balance out her son’s naivety and also entertains the reader.
I enjoyed this story as the characterizations were good and the plot, short as it is, surprised and satisfied me. I enjoy clerical stories especially, as with Trollope’s Barsetshire series, the conflict between Low and High church adherents. This is a solid, if slightly less satisfying, alternative to reading Trollope.
I am also glad I read this book separately from The Doctor’s Family as I will likely skip that one and Salem Chapel and advance to the better regarded #4 The Perpetual Curate as my next in the series. The Perpetual Curate is Mr. Frank Wentworth who, along with that book’s female protagonist Lucy Wodehouse, are introduced in this story. Based on what I have seen of them in this story, I would be interested in reading further about them.
I understand that the Carlingford Chronicles can be read out of order but this one seems to be a prelude to others in the series. However, I believe that the departing rector in this story, Mr. Bury, was the rector in #5 of the series, Miss Marjoribanks, so perhaps the books do not follow a sequential time progression.
December 8, 2022
Margareth Oliphant è una scrittrice di origini scozzese piuttosto prolifica anche se non molto conosciuta. Scrive nella seconda metà dell'Ottocento, rientrando così in piena epoca vittoriana. Si dedica perlopiù alla stesura di romanzi, racconti brevi e anche historical non-fiction.
The Rector, scritto nel 1861, può essere ritenuto secondo alcuni il primo racconto della serie "Chronicles of Carlingford". Non sono riuscita ad avere un quadro chiaro per quanto riguarda il numero di racconti e romanzi facenti parte della serie. Alcuni inseriscono The Executor (sempre 1861) come il primo di sette. Ad ogni modo, non essendo tutti di facile reperibilità, ho deciso di iniziare da The Rector e proseguire in ordine cronologico.
Siamo nella campagna inglese di metà ottocento, l'atmosfera è quella tipica di un villaggio del sud dell'inghilterra dove tutto scorre lentamente e dove ogni minimo cambiamento viene registrato dagli abitanti del posto. Il protagonista è il Reverendo Morley Proctor, appena giunto a Carlingford e perciò piuttosto impacciato nel gestire i suoi compiti oltre che nel rapporto con le donne.
Una scrittura fluida e molto accessibile, a tratti pungente.
Il narratore è in terza persona sembra assistere alla scena da dietro le quinte, commentando di tanto in tanto. I personaggi non vengono caratterizzati in profondità ma si rimane, almeno con questo primo racconto, su un livello superficiale.
Trattandosi del primo di una serie ed essendo anche abbastanza breve (una quarantina di pagine circa), non riesce ad offrire un quadro ampio, piuttosto si tratta di uno sketch, una bozza.
Aspetto quindi di leggere il seguito (Doctor's family) per poter farmi un'idea più completa.
The Rector, scritto nel 1861, può essere ritenuto secondo alcuni il primo racconto della serie "Chronicles of Carlingford". Non sono riuscita ad avere un quadro chiaro per quanto riguarda il numero di racconti e romanzi facenti parte della serie. Alcuni inseriscono The Executor (sempre 1861) come il primo di sette. Ad ogni modo, non essendo tutti di facile reperibilità, ho deciso di iniziare da The Rector e proseguire in ordine cronologico.
Siamo nella campagna inglese di metà ottocento, l'atmosfera è quella tipica di un villaggio del sud dell'inghilterra dove tutto scorre lentamente e dove ogni minimo cambiamento viene registrato dagli abitanti del posto. Il protagonista è il Reverendo Morley Proctor, appena giunto a Carlingford e perciò piuttosto impacciato nel gestire i suoi compiti oltre che nel rapporto con le donne.
Una scrittura fluida e molto accessibile, a tratti pungente.
Il narratore è in terza persona sembra assistere alla scena da dietro le quinte, commentando di tanto in tanto. I personaggi non vengono caratterizzati in profondità ma si rimane, almeno con questo primo racconto, su un livello superficiale.
Trattandosi del primo di una serie ed essendo anche abbastanza breve (una quarantina di pagine circa), non riesce ad offrire un quadro ampio, piuttosto si tratta di uno sketch, una bozza.
Aspetto quindi di leggere il seguito (Doctor's family) per poter farmi un'idea più completa.
November 28, 2016
Perhaps all the years of his life had not taught the Rector so much as did that half hour in an unknown poor bed-chamber, where, honest and humble, he stood aside, and, kneeling down, responded to his young brother's prayer. His young brother--young enough to have been his son--not half nor a quarter part so learned as he; but a world further on in that profession which they shared--the art of winning souls.
A poignant little story (hardly a novella) about a bookish rector who learns, in perhaps the most painful way possible, that he isn't really cut out for pastoral ministry.
You can definitely tell that Mrs. Oliphant was inspired by Trollope. Her writing style is...how to put it...more ponderous? But I liked it. There's humor sprinkled in as well, and patient insight into her characters.
This story reminded me a lot of the beginning of Hammer of God.
February 26, 2016
A very pleasant short story by a victorian author (unlike her Salem Chapel which was awful).
January 14, 2018
First in the Carlingford series. Brief story of a rector not suited to dealing with people as his position required.
February 23, 2021
Charming.
Thankful to the Gutenberg Project for free on-line access to this short story allowing me to check off 1867 for the 100 Years (1850-1949) of Books Challenge.
Thankful to the Gutenberg Project for free on-line access to this short story allowing me to check off 1867 for the 100 Years (1850-1949) of Books Challenge.
April 19, 2022
Mr Proctor, old Fellow of All-Souls, is the new rector of Carlingford. How will he cope with his new position considering his lack of experience not just with the job but the social aspects. He soon discovers how ill-suited he is for the vocation.
A reread to start the whole Carlingford series again.
A reread to start the whole Carlingford series again.
February 26, 2024
Não gostei do personagem principal.
November 21, 2017
50-year-old Mr Proctor has had a very satisfying life as Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford. Now he has ventured out from that academic haven to become Rector of the parish church in Carlingford. Instead of adjusting gradually to his new surroundings, Mr Proctor becomes more and more uncomfortable in his role of parish clergyman. Finally his presence at the deathbed of a parishioner will bring his feelings to a crisis.
This story also introduces members of Carlingford society who will be featured in future installments of the Carlingford series: 20-year-old Lucy Wodehouse; her middle-aged sister Mary; their father, the churchwarden; and Frank (Cecil) Wentworth, the Perpetual Curate of St Roque's, who does not yet quite realise that he is in love with Lucy.
The Rector is the second of seven works set in the delightful country town of Carlingford.
Free download of all seven works in the series can be found here: Chronicles of Carlingford
This story also introduces members of Carlingford society who will be featured in future installments of the Carlingford series: 20-year-old Lucy Wodehouse; her middle-aged sister Mary; their father, the churchwarden; and Frank (Cecil) Wentworth, the Perpetual Curate of St Roque's, who does not yet quite realise that he is in love with Lucy.
The Rector is the second of seven works set in the delightful country town of Carlingford.
Free download of all seven works in the series can be found here: Chronicles of Carlingford
September 26, 2017
3.5 stars
May 7, 2017
Perfectly pleasant, but basically an extended short story, not even novella-length, so far as I can tell (trickier to do on an e-reader). I enjoyed the words and the sentences, but plot and character didn't have room for much development. I will try some longer and later works.
(Note: 5 stars = rare and amazing, 4 = quite good book, 3 = a decent read, 2 = disappointing, 1 = awful, just awful. There are a lot of 4s and 3s in the world!)
(Note: 5 stars = rare and amazing, 4 = quite good book, 3 = a decent read, 2 = disappointing, 1 = awful, just awful. There are a lot of 4s and 3s in the world!)
June 19, 2019
A tidy little story with a bit of sadness to it that stays with you. It is, in short, the brief history of one Rev. Morely Proctor, the new Rector who comes to Carlingford, only to discover something very important about himself. He arrives with his aged mother in tow. She's an odd one, that old Mrs. Proctor. It was both interesting and uncomfortable to watch mother and son interact.
An auspicious start to a promising series.
October 21, 2017
The first book in a series set in a small English town, amusing short story about a clergyman who really isn't cut out to be the pastor that the town needs.
Want to read
December 28, 2013Free download available at Project Gutenberg.
December 7, 2014
Nice little story that leaves you wanting so much more! Just a short sketch for the types who appear on other Carlingford novels.
March 17, 2016
Adorable. Reminded me of Elizabeth Gaskell.
(This was very short. Virago published its with "The Doctor's Family.")
(This was very short. Virago published its with "The Doctor's Family.")
July 23, 2024
This is the second short story set in Carlingford, and introduces some more of those who will play a greater rôle in the succeeding novels. Since the whole series devolves about the clergy - their lives and duties, and their loves and disappointments- this one questions the fitness of a clergyman to undertake a job he is patently unfit for.
‘The Rector' is a brilliant psychological study of a man who realises that he is not only unfit for his profession, but that it is too late for him to go back to being a mediocre and reclusive scholar. In this, Margaret Oliphant displays that departure from the ideal and Romantic, so beloved of Victorian writers generally, and unwaveringly draws her characters in the full glare of realism.
Mr Proctor, the new Rector, has accepted the living of St Roque’s for entirely the wrong reason - to give his mother a comfortable life with him at the end of her life. He has so little in common with ordinary people that he is unable even to comprehend that a dying woman is asking for the compassion and comfort that anyone could offer, but one which only a clergyman can give. The elderly Mrs Proctor is a truly dreadful woman, whose sense of fun and malice are what humanises her to a great degree. She bullies her son mercilessly, and matchmakes for the wretched man. She is sharp-eyed enough to know which Miss Wodehouse would suit her son, and shrewdly misdirects his attention.
This short story is not just about the characters, although it illustrates Mrs Oliphant’s talents in this direction. It also explores briefly the differences in Anglican Church practices, especially those between High and low Church. It establishes the sense of entitlement held by the Church of England, the official head of which is non-ecclesiastical, and which is largely dependent on the State. This is the essential resentment of the Dissenting population of Carlingford, a rift which will be more fully developed in the other Carlingford novels.
‘The Rector' is a brilliant psychological study of a man who realises that he is not only unfit for his profession, but that it is too late for him to go back to being a mediocre and reclusive scholar. In this, Margaret Oliphant displays that departure from the ideal and Romantic, so beloved of Victorian writers generally, and unwaveringly draws her characters in the full glare of realism.
Mr Proctor, the new Rector, has accepted the living of St Roque’s for entirely the wrong reason - to give his mother a comfortable life with him at the end of her life. He has so little in common with ordinary people that he is unable even to comprehend that a dying woman is asking for the compassion and comfort that anyone could offer, but one which only a clergyman can give. The elderly Mrs Proctor is a truly dreadful woman, whose sense of fun and malice are what humanises her to a great degree. She bullies her son mercilessly, and matchmakes for the wretched man. She is sharp-eyed enough to know which Miss Wodehouse would suit her son, and shrewdly misdirects his attention.
This short story is not just about the characters, although it illustrates Mrs Oliphant’s talents in this direction. It also explores briefly the differences in Anglican Church practices, especially those between High and low Church. It establishes the sense of entitlement held by the Church of England, the official head of which is non-ecclesiastical, and which is largely dependent on the State. This is the essential resentment of the Dissenting population of Carlingford, a rift which will be more fully developed in the other Carlingford novels.
October 7, 2020
I agree with other reviews I have read of Mrs. Oliphant's work that it seems like a cross between Dickens and Trollope, two other classic authors I enjoy. (If you haven't heard of Trollope, his works are also free for Kindle.) I loaded The rector onto my Kindle a long time ago, so when I recently began reading I was slightly surprised to see the % of the book completed rising with alacrity. This is not a novel but rather a short story or maybe a novella. As such, I guess it makes for a good introduction to her longer works.
I can't say the main character, the Rector, grabbed me as a character. In a way he didn't feel like lead character material. But perhaps in a longer work he would have grown on me more, and as I understand he will reappear in other books, he might still have a chance to endear himself to me. I suppose he was somewhat of a comic character, so maybe my problem with him was that I took him too seriously!.
So, like Dickens and Trollope and others, you do have long paragraphs here and there full of the character's inner thoughts or exposition, but it isn't that hard to wade through. Just imagine you are back in that quieter time period, with no TV to entertain you, so that when you take part in a story like this, you need all of the lush details to fill in what you can't see on the screen. And not only are there no commercials, but a lot of Mrs. Oliphant's books are available for Kindle reading free of charge!
I can't say the main character, the Rector, grabbed me as a character. In a way he didn't feel like lead character material. But perhaps in a longer work he would have grown on me more, and as I understand he will reappear in other books, he might still have a chance to endear himself to me. I suppose he was somewhat of a comic character, so maybe my problem with him was that I took him too seriously!.
So, like Dickens and Trollope and others, you do have long paragraphs here and there full of the character's inner thoughts or exposition, but it isn't that hard to wade through. Just imagine you are back in that quieter time period, with no TV to entertain you, so that when you take part in a story like this, you need all of the lush details to fill in what you can't see on the screen. And not only are there no commercials, but a lot of Mrs. Oliphant's books are available for Kindle reading free of charge!
July 5, 2023
The introductory short story to the Carlingford series was a pleasant surprise, reminiscent of Elizabeth's Gaskell in its tale of a rector who is failing at his job having only given up academia for the priesthood to have a home for his aging mother. He is scared of women, particularly two sisters who themselves are very different, and of deathbeds and his curate is far better suited to the job. In four short chapters Margaret Oliphant manages to give a sense of this small town and its inhabitants and a desire to continue with the rest of the series.
April 24, 2025
I am a bit confused about these chronicles - are they meany to be in chronological order? Surely Mr Bury was the rector in 'Miss Marjoribanks' (which is #5) and here he has retired. Anyway...
This was a thoughtful short story with the new rector Mr Proctor trying to decide if parish life is for him or if he would be better off retreating to his Oxford college. The final paragraph was beautiful, but I am not sure if it actually happened, or only in a parallel universe. I hope the former.
This was a thoughtful short story with the new rector Mr Proctor trying to decide if parish life is for him or if he would be better off retreating to his Oxford college. The final paragraph was beautiful, but I am not sure if it actually happened, or only in a parallel universe. I hope the former.
December 19, 2021
This little book is a portrait of a priest in the Church of England who really isn't cut out for the work. I am a priest in the Episcopal Church, the American cousin of the CofE, happily at least a little bit better suited than the Rector here, but I did find it an accurate and sensitive portrait of a person attempting what is, in essence, an impossible job, and how he learns to do it better.
October 6, 2025
My first #Victober2025 book completed! Before you are too proud of me, you should know that there were only 4 chapters…
This felt like a Costco sample of what the rest of the Carlingford Chronicles must be like. Far too short, but I’m very intrigued and want to read the rest! Hopefully I can move on to those later this year.
This felt like a Costco sample of what the rest of the Carlingford Chronicles must be like. Far too short, but I’m very intrigued and want to read the rest! Hopefully I can move on to those later this year.
Currently reading
October 22, 202457:4 He’s the one who created heaven and earth in six days. Then he mounted on the throne. He knows what penetrates the earth and what issues from it, and what comes down from the sky and what soars up into it.
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