St. George and St. Michael, Volume 3MacDonald, George
History
St. George and St. Michael, Volume 3
MacDonald, George
Great Britain -- History -- Civil War, 1642-1649 -- Fiction
'That, my lord, I also strive to say with all my heart,' said Dr.
Bayly.
'Mayhap, doctor,' returned the marquis, 'when thou art as old as I,
and hast learned to see how good it is, how all-good, thou wilt be
able to say it without any striving. There was a time in my life
when I too had to strive, for the thought that he was a hard master
would come, and come again. But now that I have learned a little
more of what he meaneth with me, what he would have of me and do for
me, how he would make me pure of sin, clean from the very bottom of
my heart to the crest of my soul, from spur to plume a stainless
knight, verily I am no more content to SUBMIT to his will: I cry in
the night time, "Thy will be done: Lord, let it be done, I entreat
thee;" and in the daytime I cry, "Thy kingdom come: Lord, let it
come, I pray thee."'
He lay silent. The clergymen left the room, and lord Charles came
in, and sat down by his bedside. The marquis looked at him, and said
kindly,
'Ah, son Charles! art thou there?'
'I came to tell you, my lord, the rumour goeth that the king hath
consented to establish the presbyterian heresy in the land,' said
lord Charles.
'Believe it not, my lord. A man ought not to believe ill of another
so long as there is space enough for a doubt to perch. Yet, alas!
what shall be hoped of him who will yield nothing to prayers, and
everything to compulsion? Had his majesty been a true prince, he had
ere now set his foot on the neck of his enemies, or else ascended to
heaven a blessed martyr. "Protestant," say'st thou? In good sooth, I
force not. What is he now but a football for the sectaries to kick
to and fro! But I shall pray for him whither I go, if indeed the
prayers of such as I may be heard in that country. God be with his
majesty. I can do no more. There are other realms than England, and
I go to another king. Yet will I pray for England, for she is dear
to my heart. God grant the evil time may pass, arid Englishmen yet
again grow humble and obedient!'
He closed his eyes, and his face grew so still that, notwithstanding
the labour of his breathing, he would have seemed asleep, but that
his lips moved a little now and then, giving a flutter of shape to
the eternal prayer within him.
Again he opened his eyes, and saw sir Toby, who had re-entered
silent as a ghost, and said, feebly holding out his hand, 'I am
dying, sir Toby: where will this swollen hulk of mine be hid?'
'That, my lord,' returned sir Toby, 'hath been already spoken of in
parliament, and it hath been wrung from them, heretics and fanatics
as they are, that your lordship's mortal remains shall lie in
Windsor castle, by the side of earl William, the first of the earls
of Worcester.'
'God bless us all!' cried the marquis, almost merrily, for he was
pleased, and with the pleasure the old humour came back for a
moment: 'they will give me a better castle when I am dead than they
took from me when I was alive!'
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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