The Child of the Moat: A Story for Girls. 1557 A.D.Stoughton Holborn, I. B. (Ian Bernard)
History
The Child of the Moat: A Story for Girls. 1557 A.D.
Stoughton Holborn, I. B. (Ian Bernard)
Adventure stories; Girls -- Juvenile fiction; Great Britain -- History -- Mary I, 1553-1558 -- Juvenile fiction
“Well, dear, I am not defending the heretics. I only say what they
think. They do feel, however, that if the priests really were the
special channels of God that that fact itself would make them better.
So, many of them say that God can and does speak directly to all of
us himself, and they all think that it is in the Bible that we can
best learn what he desires, and that the Bible should therefore be
translated into the language of the people.
“‘This has been the cause of great troubles in the world for these
many years,’ father said, ‘but, little maid, do not trouble your head
about it now; when you are older we can talk about it.’”
“Are the heretics such very wicked people then, do you think, Aline?”
Aline put her little white hand to her chin and looked down. “I do not
know what to think about it,” she said. “I suppose that they are, but
they do not seem to be treated fairly.”
“I hate unfairness,” said Audry in her impulsive way.
“I do not see why they should not be allowed to speak for themselves,
and I do not see how people can condemn them when they do not know
what their reasons are for thinking what they do. Of course I am very
young and do not know anything about it; but it sounds as though the
priests were afraid that the truth can not take care of itself; but
surely it cannot be the truth if it is afraid to hear the other side. I
remember a motto on the chimney piece at home,--‘Magna veritas est et
prevalebit,’ and it seems to me that it must be so. I wish that father
were alive to talk to me. He was so clever and he understood things.”
“But you have not said what your motto means,” Audry interposed.
Aline laughed through the tears that were beginning to gather,--“Oh,
that means, The truth is great and will prevail. If it is the truth it
must win; and it can do it no harm to have objections raised against
it, as it will only make their error more clear.”
“What about the book, Aline?” said Audry, changing the subject; “no one
is likely to come up here now, they never do; so I think we could have
another look at it.”
Aline picked up the book and opened it; she paused for a moment and
then gave a little cry,--“I have found out what the parchment is for;
come and look here.”
Audry came and looked. “I do not see anything,” she said.
“Look at the parchment; do you not see one or two letters showing
through nearly all the little holes?”
“Yes.”
“What are they?”
“b. u. t. o. n. e. m. u. s. t. s. e. e. t. h. a. t. a. l. i. g. h. t.
i. s. n. e. v. e. r. c. a. r. r. i. e. d. i. n. f. r. o. n. t. o. f. t.
h. e. s. l. i. t. s. i. n. t. h. e.,” read Audry, a letter at a time.
“And what does that spell?” said Aline.
“Oh, I see,-- It spells, ‘but one must see that a light is never
carried in front of the slits in the.’ How clever of you to find it
out!”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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