Cover of The Little Minister

The Little Minister

  • Free to read
  • 7 hours to read
  • 29 chapters
  • Reading level: 6th grade

"The Little Minister" by J. M. Barrie is a novel written in the late 19th century. The story revolves around a young minister named Gavin Dishart, who arrives in a small Scottish village called Thrums, full of youthful zeal and ambition. Through his interactions with the villagers and his past, the narrative explores themes of love, duty, and the complexities of human relationships. Central to the plot is the enchanting figure of Babbie, a mysterious and captivating woman who significantly influences Gavin's life. At the start of the story, we are introduced to Gavin Dishart and his mother as they arrive in Thrums. The villagers gather to catch a glimpse of the new Auld Licht minister, and Gavin's mother, Margaret, feels a mix of pride and nostalgia as she watches her son fulfill his calling. We learn of Gavin’s connections to the town and his unwavering dedication to his mother and his ministry. The opening chapters set the stage for Gavin's journey, highlighting his struggles with the expectations of his parishioners, the looming threat of civil unrest, and the arrival of a mysterious young woman whose presence promises to complicate his life further.

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  • Love stories
  • Clergy
  • Scotland

Read the opening

Chapter One

THE LOVE-LIGHT.

Long ago, in the days when our caged blackbirds never saw a king's soldier without whistling impudently, "Come ower the water to Charlie," a minister of Thrums was to be married, but something happened, and he remained a bachelor. Then, when he was old, he passed in our square the lady who was to have been his wife, and her hair was white, but she, too, was still unmarried. The meeting had only one witness, a weaver, and he said solemnly afterwards, "They didna speak, but they just gave one another a look, and I saw the love-light in their een." No more is remembered of these two, no being now living ever saw them, but the poetry that was in the soul of a battered weaver makes them human to us for ever.

It is of another minister I am to tell, but only to those who know that light when they see it. I am not bidding good-bye to many readers, for though it is true that some men, of whom Lord Rintoul was one, live to an old age without knowing love, few of us can have met them, and of women so incomplete I never heard.

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Contents

Show all 29 chapters
  1. Chapter One
  2. Chapter Two
  3. Chapter Three
  4. Chapter Four
  5. Chapter Five
  6. Chapter Six
  7. Chapter Seven: Has the Folly of Looking into a Woman's Eyes by Way of Text
  8. Chapter Eight: 3 A.M. — Monstrous Audacity of the Woman
  9. Chapter Nine: The Woman Considered in Absence — Adventures of a Military Cloak
  10. Chapter Ten
  11. Chapter Eleven
  12. Chapter Twelve
  13. Chapter Thirteen
  14. Chapter Fourteen
  15. Chapter Fifteen
  16. Chapter Sixteen
  17. Chapter Seventeen: Intrusion of Haggart into These Pages Against the Author's Wish
  18. Chapter Eighteen
  19. Chapter Nineteen: Circumstances Leading to the First Sermon in Approval of Women
  20. Chapter Twenty
  21. Chapter Twenty-One
  22. Chapter Twenty-Two
  23. Chapter Twenty-Three
  24. Chapter Twenty-Four
  25. Chapter Twenty-Five
  26. Chapter Twenty-Six
  27. Chapter Twenty-Seven: First Journey of the Dominie to Thrums During the Twenty-Four Hours
  28. Chapter Twenty-Eight: The Hill Before Darkness Fell — Scene of the Impending Catastrophe
  29. Chapter Twenty-Nine

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About this edition

This free edition of The Little Minister by J. M. Barrie comes from Project Gutenberg eBook #33901, released 2010-10-29. It is in the public domain in the United States, so you can read it here in full at no cost, on any phone, tablet or computer. Genre: Romance, Novels, British Literature.

Other editions: eBook #5093 (most read).

Summary provided by Project Gutenberg (automatically generated).

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