The Little Minister

The story revolves around the life of a young minister who becomes embroiled in a love triangle with a beautiful woman and her lover, a charming but unscrupulous man. The minister's attempts to navigate this complex situation are complicated by his own feelings for the woman and his sense of duty as a clergyman.

By James Matthew Barrie · First published 1891 · Genre: Romance, Drama, Social Commentary · 45 chapters · 139,250 words

First lines

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.

What this Textopian page supports

The Little Minister is listed on Textopian as a novel by James Matthew Barrie, dated 1891 CE.

This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.

• Work type: Novel
• Author: James Matthew Barrie
• Date: 1891 CE
• Language: English
• Genres: Romance, Drama, Social Commentary, Comedy, Historical Fiction
• Length: 139,250 words
• Structure: 45 chapters, 3,291 paragraphs
• Reading fit: Easy (6th Grade)

Good citation fit

• Work identity for The Little Minister by James Matthew Barrie
• Canonical title URL and first readable passage URL
• Genre and topic classification from the Textopian catalog
• Readability and classroom-planning context
• Passage-specific claims should cite the exact /read/ URL for the relevant chapter or paragraph

Discussion starters

• What should a reader notice first when entering The Little Minister?
• How does this novel by James Matthew Barrie fit its genre, period, or classroom use?
• Where does Romance first become important in the reading?

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Genres

• Romance — The central plot revolves around romantic entanglements and relationships.
• Drama — The narrative is driven by dramatic events and emotional conflicts.
• Social Commentary — The story explores social issues and class distinctions of the time.
• Comedy — The writing style includes humorous elements and situations.

Tags

Scottish Fiction · Romance · Historical Fiction · Christianity · Morality Tale · Social Commentary · Victorian Era · Ministerial Life · Small Town Setting · Love Story · Forbidden Love · Class Conflict

Contents

• The Love-Light
• Runs Alongside the Making of a Minister
• The Night-Watchers
• First Coming of the Egyptian Woman
• A Warlike Chapter, Culminating in the Flouting of the Minister by the Woman
• In which the Soldiers Meet the Amazons of Thrums
• Has the Folly of Looking into a Woman's Eyes by Way of Text
• 3 a. M. -- Monstrous Audacity of the Woman
• The Woman Considered in Absence -- Adventures of a Military Cloak
• First Sermon against Women
• Tells in a Whisper of Man's Fall during the Curling Season
• Tragedy of a Mud House
• Second Coming of the Egyptian Woman
• The Minister Dances to the Woman's Piping
• The Minister Bewitched -- Second Sermon against Women
• Continued Misbehaviour of the Egyptian Woman
• Intrusion of Haggart into these Pages against the Author's Wish
• Caddam Love Leading to a Rupture
• Circumstances Leading to the First Sermon in Approval of Women
• End of the State of Indecision
• Night Margaret Flashing of a Lantern
• Lovers
• Contains a Birth, which is Sufficient for One Chapter
• New World, and the Woman who May not Dwell Therein
• Beginning of the Twenty-Four Hours
• Scene at the Spittal
• First Journey of the Dominie to Thrums during the Twenty-Four Hours
• The Hill before Darkness Fell -- Scene of the Impending Catastrophe
• Story of the Egyptian
• The Meeting for Rain
• Various Bodies Converging on the Hill
• Leading Swiftly to the Appalling Marriage
• While the Ten o'Clock Bell was Ringing
• The Great Rain
• The Glen at Break of Day
• Story of the Dominie
• Second Journey of the Dominie to Thrums during the Twenty-Four Hours
• Thrums during the Twenty-Four Hours-Defence of the Manse
• How Babbie Spent the Night of August Fourth
• Babbie and Margaret -- Defence of the Manse Continued
• Rintoul and Babbie -- Breakdown of the Defence of the Manse
• Margaret, the Precentor. and God between
• Rain -- Mist -- the Jaws
• End of the Twenty-Four Hours
• Talk of a Little Maid Since Grown Tall

More by James Matthew Barrie

• Peter Pan (1911)
• Margaret Ogilvy (1888)
• Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens (1906)
• David and I Set Forth Upon a Journey (1917)
• The Little Nursery Governess (1871)
• Her Marriage, her Clothes, her Appetite, and an Inventory of Her (1908)
• A Night-Piece (1895)
• The Fight for Timothy (1912)
• All works by James Matthew Barrie