John Inglesant: A Romance (Volume 1 of 2)Shorthouse, J. H. (Joseph Henry)
History
John Inglesant: A Romance (Volume 1 of 2)
Shorthouse, J. H. (Joseph Henry)
Great Britain -- History -- Charles I, 1625-1649 -- Fiction; Religious fiction
In the afternoon there came from Cambridge Mr. Crashaw the poet, of
Peterhouse, who afterwards went over to the Papists and died Canon of
Loretto, and several gentlemen, undergraduates of Cambridge, to spend
the Sunday at Gidding, being the first Sunday of the month. Mr.
Crashaw, when Inglesant was introduced to him as one of the Queen’s
pages, finding that he was acquainted with many Roman Catholics, was
very friendly and conversed with him apart. He said he conceived a
great admiration for the devout lives of the Catholic saints, and of the
government and discipline of the Catholic Church, and that he feared
that the English Church had not sufficient authority to resist the
spread of Presbyterianism, in which case he saw no safety except in
returning to the communion of Rome. Walking up and down the garden
paths, after evening prayers in Church, he spoke a great deal on this
subject, and on the beauty of a retired religious life, saying that here
at Little Gidding and at Little St. Marie’s Church, near to Peterhouse,
he had passed the most blissful moments of his life, watching at
midnight in prayer and meditation.
That night Mr. Crashaw, Inglesant, and one or two others remained in the
Church from nine till twelve, during which time they said over the whole
Book of Psalms in the way of antiphony, one repeating one verse and the
rest the other. The time of their watch being ended they returned to the
house, went to Mr. Ferrar’s door and bade him good-morrow, leaving a
lighted candle for him. They then went to bed, but Mr. Ferrar arose
according to the passage of Scripture "at midnight I will arise and give
thanks," and went into the Church, where he betook himself to religious
meditation.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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