A Ladder of Swords: A Tale of Love, Laughter and TearsParker, Gilbert
History
A Ladder of Swords: A Tale of Love, Laughter and Tears
Parker, Gilbert
Great Britain -- History -- Elizabeth, 1558-1603 -- Fiction; Huguenots -- Fiction; Jersey (Channel Islands) -- Fiction
He took for his text, “_Stand and search for the old paths_.” The
beginning of all systems of religion, the coming of the Nazarene, the
rise and growth of Christianity, the martyrdoms of the early Church,
the invasion of the truth by false doctrine, the abuses of the
Church, the Reformation, the martyrdom of the Huguenots for the
return to the early principles of Christianity, the “search for the
old paths,” he set forth in a tone generous but not fiery, presently
powerful and searching, yet not declamatory. At the last he raised
the sword that hung by his side and the book that lay before him, and
said:
“And what matter which it is we wield--this steel that strikes for
God or this book which speaks of Him? For the book is the sword of
the Spirit, and the sword is the life of humanity; for all faith must
be fought for and all that is has been won by strife. But the paths
wherein ye go to battle must be the old paths; your sword shall be
your staff by day and the book your lantern by night. That which ye
love ye shall teach, and that which ye teach ye shall defend; and if
your love be a true love your teaching shall be a great teaching and
your sword a strong sword which none may withstand. It shall be the
pride of sovereign and of people; and so neither ‘height, nor depth,
nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of
God.’”
Ere he had ended some of the ladies were overcome, the eyes of the
Duke’s Daughter were full of tears, and Elizabeth said, audibly, when
he ceased speaking: “On my soul, I have no bishop with a tongue like
his. Would that my lord of Ely were here to learn how truth should be
spoke. Henceforth my bishops shall first be Camisards.”
Of that hour’s joyful business the Queen wrote thus to the Medici
before the day was done:
“Cancelling all other letters on the matter, this M. de la Forêt
shall stay in my kingdom. I may not be the headsman of one of my
faith--as eloquent a preacher as he was a brave soldier. Abiding by
the strict terms of our treaty with my brother of France, he shall
stay with us in peace and in our own care. He hath not the eloquence
of a Knox, but he hath the true thing in him, and that speaks.”
To the Duke’s Daughter the Queen said, “On my soul, he shall be
married instantly, or my ladies will carry him off and murder him for
love.”
And so it was that the heart of Elizabeth the Queen warmed again, and
dearly, towards two Huguenot exiles, and showed that in doing justice
she also had not so sour a heart towards her sex as was set down to
her credit. Yet she made one further effort to keep De la Forêt in
her service. When Michel, once again, declined, dwelt earnestly on
his duty towards the widow of his dead chief, and begged leave to
share her exile in Jersey, Elizabeth said, “On my soul, but I did not
think there was any man on earth so careless of princes’ honors!”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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