by John Galt
CHAPTER XXVIII
Soon after Queen Mary's return from France, my grandfather, with hiswife and Agnes Kilspinnie, came from Edinburgh and took up theirresidence on his own free mailing of Quharist, where the Lady Eglintonwas as good as her word in presenting to them divers articles of finenapery, and sundry things of plenishing both for ornament and use; andthere he would have spent his days in blameless tranquillity, servingthe Lord, but for the new storm that began to gather over the church,whereof it is needful that I should now proceed to tell some of thecircumstantials.
No sooner had that thoughtless Princess, if indeed one could be socalled, who, though reckless of all consequences, was yet double beyondthe imagination of man; no sooner, I say, had she found herself at home,than, with all the craft and blandishments of her winning airs andpeerless beauty, she did set herself to seduce the Lords of theCongregation from the sternness wherewith they had thrown down, and weredetermined to resist, the restoration of the Roman idolatry; and withsome of them she succeeded so far, that the popish priests werehearkened, and, knowing her avowed partiality for their sect, the Beastbegan to shoot out its horns again, and they dared to perform theabomination of the mass in different quarters of the kingdom.
It is, no doubt, true, that the Queen's council, by proclamation,feigned to discountenance that resuscitation of idolatry; but the wordsof their edict being backed by no demonstration of resolution, save inthe case of a few worthy gentlemen in the shire of Ayr and in Galloway,who took up some of the offenders in their district and jurisdiction,the evil continued to strike its roots, and to bud and nourish in itspestiferous branches.
When my grandfather heard of these things, his spirit was exceedinglymoved, and he got no rest in the night, with the warsling of troubledthoughts and pious fears. Some new call, he foresaw, would soon be madeon the protestants, to stand forth again in the gap that the Queen'sarts had sapped in the bulwarks of their religious liberty, and heresolved to be ready against the hour of danger. So, taking his wife andAgnes Kilspinnie with him, he went in the spring to Edinburgh, and hireda lodging for them; and on the same night he presented himself at thelodging of the Lord James Stuart, who had some time before been createdEarl of Murray; but the Earl was gone with the Queen to Loch Leven. SirAlexander Douglas, however, the master of his Lordship's horse, was thenon the eve of following him with John Knox, to whom the Queen had sent aperemptory message, requiring his attendance; and Sir Alexander invitedmy grandfather to come with them; the which invitation he very joyfullyaccepted, on account of the happy occasion of travelling in thesanctified company of that brave worthy.
In the journey, however, save in the boat when they crossed the ferry,he showed but little of his precious conversation; for the knight andthe Reformer rode on together some short distance before their train,earnestly discoursing, and seemingly they wished not to be overheard.But when they were all seated in the ferry-boat, the ardour of thepreacher, which on no occasion would be reined in, led him to continuespeaking, by which it would seem that they had been conversing anent theQueen's prejudices in matters of religion and the royal authority.
"When I last spoke with her Highness," said John Knox, "she laid sore tomy charge, that I had brought the people to receive a religion differentfrom what their princes allowed, asking sharply, if this was notcontrary to the Divine command, which enjoins that subjects should obeytheir rulers; so that I was obliged to contend plainly, that truereligion derived its origin and authority, not from princes, but fromGod; that princes were often most ignorant respecting it, and thatsubjects never could be bound to frame their religious sentimentsaccording to the pleasure of their rulers, else the Hebrews ought tohave conformed to the idolatry of Pharaoh, and Daniel and his associatesto that of Nebuchadnezzar, and the primitive Christians to that of theRoman emperors."
"And what could her Highness answer to this?" said Sir Alexander.
"She lacketh not the gift of a shrewd and ready wit," replied MasterKnox; for she nimbly remarked, "That though it was as I had said, yetnone of those men raised the sword against their princes;"--whichenforced me to be more subtle than I was minded to have been, and tosay, "that nevertheless, they did resist, for those who obey not thecommandments given them, do in verity resist." "Ay," cried her Highness,"but not with the sword," which was a thrust not easy to be turnedaside, so that I was constrained to speak out, saying, "God, madam, hadnot given them the means and the power." Then said she, still moreeagerly, "Think you that subjects, having the power, may resist theirprinces?" And she looked with a triumphant smile, as if she had caughtme in a trap; but I replied, "If princes exceed their bounds, no doubtthey may be resisted, even by power. For no greater honour or greaterobedience is to be given to kings and princes than God has commanded tobe given to father or mother. But the father may be struck with afrenzy, in which he would slay his children; in such a case, if thechildren arise, join together, apprehend the father, take the sword fromhim, bind his hands and keep him in prison till the frenzy be over,think you, madam," quo' I, "that the children do any wrong? Even so isit with princes that would slay the children of God that are subject tothem. Their blind zeal is nothing but frenzy, and therefore to take thepower from them till they be brought to a more sober mind, is nodisobedience to princes, but a just accordance to the will of God. So Idoubt not," continued the Reformer, "I shall again have to sustain thekeen encounter of her Highness' wit in some new controversy."
This was the chief substance of what my grandfather heard pass in theboat; and when they were again mounted, the knight and preacher setforward as before, some twenty paces or so in advance of the retinue.
On reaching Kinross, Master Knox rode straight to the shore, and wentoff in the Queen's barge to the castle, that he might present himself toher Highness before supper, for by this time the sun was far down. Inthe meantime, my grandfather went to the house in Kinross where the Earlof Murray resided, and his Lordship, though albeit a grave and reservedman, received him with the familiar kindness of an old friend, and hewas with him when the Reformer came back from the Queen, who had dealtvery earnestly with him to persuade the gentlemen of the west country todesist from their interruption of the popish worship.
"But to this," said the Reformer to the Earl, "I was obligated, byconscience and the fear of God, to say, that if her Majesty would exerther authority in executing the laws of the land, I would undertake forthe peaceable behaviour of the protestants; but if she thought to evadethem, there were some who would not let the papists offend withimpunity."
"Will you allow," exclaimed her Highness, "that they shall take my swordin their hands?"
"The sword of justice is God's," I replied, "and is given to princesand rulers for an end, which if they transgress, sparing the wicked andoppressing the innocent, they who in the fear of God execute judgmentwhere God has commanded, offend not God, although kings do it not. Thegentlemen of the west, madam, are acting strictly according to law; forthe act of parliament gave power to all judges within their jurisdictionto search for and punish those who transgress its enactments;" and Iadded, "it shall be profitable to your Majesty to consider what is thething your Grace's subjects look to receive of your Majesty, and what itis that ye ought to do unto them by mutual contract. They are bound toobey you, and that not but in God; ye are bound to keep laws to them--yecrave of them service, they crave of you protection and defence. Now,madam, if you shall deny your duty unto them (which especially cravesthat ye punish malefactors), can ye expect to receive full obedience ofthem? I fear, madam, ye shall not."
"You have indeed been plain with her Highness," said the Earl,thoughtfully; "and what reply made she?"
"None," said the Reformer; "her countenance changed; she turned her headabruptly from me, and, without the courtesy of a good-night, signifiedwith an angry waving of her hand, that she desired to be rid of mypresence; whereupon I immediately retired, and, please God, I shall,betimes in the morning, return to my duties at Edinburgh. It is with asad heart, my Lord,
that I am compelled to think, and to say to you, whostand so near to her in kin and affection, that I doubt she is not onlyproud but crafty; not only wedded to the popish faith, but averse toinstruction. She neither is nor will be of our opinion; and it is plainthat the lessons of her uncle, the Cardinal, are so deeply printed inher heart, that the substance and quality will perish together. I wouldbe glad to be deceived in this, but I fear I shall not; never have Iespied such art in one so young; and it will need all the eyes of theReformed to watch and ward that she circumvent not the strong hold inChrist, that has been but so lately restored and fortified in thismisfortunate kingdom."
Nothing farther passed that night; but the servants being called in, andthe preacher having exhorted them in their duties, and prayed with evenmore than his wonted earnestness, each one retired to his chamber, andthe Earl gave orders for horses to be ready early in the morning, toconvey Master Knox back to Edinburgh. This, however, was not permitted;for by break of day a messenger came from the castle, desiring him notto depart until he had again spoken with her Majesty; adding, that asshe meant to land by sunrise with her falconer, she would meet him onthe fields where she intended to take her pastime, and talk with himthere.