A Book of Quaker SaintsHodgkin, L. V. (Lucy Violet)
Religion
A Book of Quaker Saints
Hodgkin, L. V. (Lucy Violet)
Society of Friends
Leonard Fell did indeed put his new faith 'in practice.' He left his
home and followed his teacher, sharing with him many of the perils and
dangers of his journeys in the Service of Truth. Up and down and
across the length and breadth of England the two men travelled side by
side along the hedgeless English roads. At first as they went along,
Leonard Fell watched George Fox with sharp eyes, in his dealings with
the different people they met on their journeys, in order to discover
how his teacher would 'put into practice' the central truth he
proclaimed: that in every man, however degraded, there remains some
hidden spark of the Divine. But put it in practice George Fox did,
till at length Leonard Fell, too, learned to look for 'that of God
within' every one he met, learned to depend upon finding it, and to be
able to draw it out in his turn.
One day, Leonard was travelling in the 'Service of Truth,' not in
George Fox's company but alone, when, as he crossed a desolate moor on
horseback, he heard the thunderous sound of horses' hoofs coming after
him down the road. Looking round, he beheld a masked and bearded
highwayman, his figure enveloped in a long flowing cloak, rapidly
approaching on a far swifter horse than his own 'Truth's pony.' A
moment later, a pistol was drawn from the newcomer's belt and pointed
full at Leonard's head.
'Another step and you are a dead man! Your money or your life, and be
quick about it!' said the highwayman, as he suddenly pulled the curb
and checked his foam-covered horse. At this challenge, Leonard
obediently pulled up his own steed with his left hand, while, with his
right, he drew out his purse and handed it over to the robber without
a word.
The pistol still remained at full cock, pointed straight at his head.
'Your horse next,' demanded the stranger. 'It is a good beast. Though
not as swift as mine I can find a use for it in my profession.
Dismount; or I fire.'
In perfect silence Leonard dismounted, making no objection, and gave
his horse's bridle into the highwayman's outstretched hand. Then at
last, the threatened pistol was lowered, and replaced in the robber's
belt. Throwing the folds of his long cloak over one shoulder, and
carefully adjusting his mask, that not a glimpse of either face or
figure should betray his identity, he prepared to depart, leaving his
victim penniless and afoot on the wide, desolate moor. But, though the
highwayman had now finished with the Quaker, the Quaker had by no
means finished with the highwayman.
It was now Leonard's turn to be aggressive. Standing there on the
bleak road, alone and unarmed, Leonard Fell raised a warning hand, and
solemnly rebuked his assailant for his evil deeds. At the same time he
admonished him that it was not yet too late for him to repent and lead
a righteous life, before his hour for repentance should be forever
passed.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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