6
The bawds of the stews be all turnčd out: 
But I think they inhabit all England throughout. 
(I cannot find the modern book which quotes this as a footnote and have not been able to trace the 
original volume.) 
The Crowleys, are, however, of Celtic origin; the name O'Crowley is common in south-west Ireland, 
and the Breton family of de Quérouaille --- which gave England a Duchess of Portsmouth --- or de 
Kerval is of the same stock. Legend will have it that the then head of the family came to England 
with the Earl of Richmond and helped to make him king on Bosworth Field. 
Edward Crowley was educated as an engineer, but never practised his profession4. He was devoted 
to religion and became a follower of John Nelson Darby, the founder of the "Plymouth Brethren". 
The fact reveals a stern logician; for the sect is characterized by refusal to compromise; it insists on 
the literal interpretation of the Bible as the exact words of the Holy Ghost5. 
He married (in 1874, one may assume) Emily Bertha Bishop, of a Devon and Somerset family. Her 
father had died and her brother Tom Bond Bishop had come to London to work in the Civil Service. 
The important points about the woman are that her schoolmates called her "the little 
{35}  
1. "the younger" (1834-87).  
2. It has been remarked a strange coincidence that one small county should have given England 
her two greatest poets --- for one must not forget Shakespeare (1550-1610).  
3. Presumably this is nature's compensation for the horror which blasted mankind on that date 
in 1492.  
4. His son elicited this fact by questioning; curious, considering the dates.  
5. On the strength of a text in the book itself: the logic is thus of a peculiar order.  
Chinese girl", that she painted in water-colour with admirable taste destroyed by academic training, 
and that her powerful natural instincts were suppressed by religion to the point that she became, 
after her husband's death, a brainless bigot of the most narrow, logical and inhuman type. Yet there 
was always a struggle; she was really distressed, almost daily, at finding herself obliged by her 
religion to perform acts of the most senseless atrocity. 
Her firstborn son, the aforesaid, was remarkable from the moment of his arrival. He bore on his 
body the three most important distinguishing marks of a Buddha. He was tongue-tied, and on the 
second day of his incarnation a surgeon cut the fraenum linguae. He had also the characteristic 
membrane, which necessitated an operation for phimosis some three lustres1 later. Lastly, he had 
upon the centre of his heart four hairs curling from left to right in the exact form of a Swastika2. 
He was baptised by the names of Edward Alexander, the latter being the surname of an old friend of 
this father's, deeply beloved by him for the holiness of his life --- by Plymouth Brethren standards, 
one may suppose. It seems probable that the boy was deeply impressed by being told, at what age 
(before six) does not appear, that Alexander means "helper of men". He is still giving himself 
passionately to the task, despite the intellectual cynicism inseparable from intelligence after one 
has reached forty. 
But the extraordinary fact connected with this baptismal ceremony is this. As the Plymouth 
Brethren practise infant baptism by immersion, it must have taken place in the first three months of 
his life. Yet he has a perfectly clear visual recollection of the scene. It took place in a bathroom on 
the first floor of the house in which he was born. He remembers the shape of the room, the disposal 
of its appointments, the little group of "brethren" surrounding him, and the surprise of finding 
himself, dressed in a long white garment, being suddenly dipped and lifted from the water. He has 
also a clear auditory remembrance of words spoken solemnly over him; though they meant nothing, 
he was impressed by the peculiar tone. It is not impossible that this gave him an all but