The Knight Of The Golden Melice, John Turvill Adams [the reading list TXT] 📗

As Pliable When Dry As Silk, Their Guns Slung Over Their

Shoulders, Followed The Indian, Dressed In Native Costume, With Bow

And Quiver, And Carrying The Provisions, And Commenced Their Journey. 

 

 

The First Two Days Were Unmarked By Any Incident. Their Course Lay

Over The Hills And Through The Valleys Of The Pleasant State Of

Massachusetts, Now Blooming Under The Hand Of Culture, Ornamented With

Cities And Villages, And Supplying The World With The Products Of Her

Joyful And Free Industry; Then, An Interminable Forest, Roved By

Fierce Animals, And By Red Men Scarcely Less Savage, Divided Into

Tribes Sparsely Scattered, Living In Mutual Distrust, Incapable Of

Labor, Supporting Themselves By The Uncertain Issues Of The Chase,

Already Daunted By The Whites, And Perhaps Dimly Descrying The Fate

That Awaited Them.

  

 

Crevecoeur, In The Description Of His Journey In Upper Pennsylvania,

Tells Us How Accurately The Native Sagacity Of The Wiser Indians Could

Discriminate Between Their Own Characteristics And Those Of The White

Strangers, And Foresee The Consequences That Must Follow.

  

 

"Seest Thou," Said One Of Them, "That The Whites Subsist On Grain,

While We Depend On Flesh; That The Flesh Requires More Than Thirty

Moons To Mature, And Is Often Scarce; That Each Of Those Wonderful

Grains Which They Deposit In The Ground Gives Back More Than A

Hundredfold In Return; That The Meat Whereon We Subsist Has Four Legs

To Run Away, While We Have Only Two To Catch It; And That The Seeds

Planted By The Strangers Remain And Increase, And Never Run Away? That

Is The Reason Why They Have So Many Children, And Live Longer Than We

Do. I Say Unto Each One Of You Who Will Listen, That, Before The

Cedars Of Our Village Shall Die Of Age, And The Maple-Trees Of The

Valley Cease To Yield Sugar, That The Race Of The Sowers Of Little

Seeds Will Have Exterminated The Race Of The Flesh-Eaters, Provided

Our Hunters Do Not Also Resolve To Sow."

  

 

Through The Vast Solitude, Impressive By Its Silence And Its

Loneliness, Guiding Their Course By Day By The Position Of The Sun And

The Mosses On The Trunks Of The Trees, And At Night By The Stars, The

Three Men Pursued Their Way. On The Afternoon Of The Third Day, The

Knight, After A Conversation With Their Guide, Came To The Conclusion

That It Was Better The Aberginian Should Return, As They Had Now

Approached Too Nearly To The Haunts Of The Taranteens To Suppose That

They Should Long Remain Undiscovered. Accordingly, The Indian Took His

Departure, Leaving To The White Men All The Dangers Of A Further

Advance, And To Find Their Way As Best They Might.

 

 

Chapter XIX ("Mery It Was In The Grene Forest, Amonge The Leves Grene; Whereas Men Hunt East And West, Wyth Bowes And Arrowes Kene.")

 

 

 

Ballad Of Adam Bell, "_Clym Of The Clough, And William Of Cloudesly_".

 

 

As The Knight, With Confident Steps, Led The Way, Arundel Expressed

Surprise At The Skill Which He Displayed.

  

 

"You Forget That I May Be Said To Be Half An Indian Myself," Said Sir

Christopher, "And Am Therefore Entitled To A Knowledge Of The Woods. I

Know Not How Many Times I Have Accompanied The Natives In Their

Distant Hunting Expeditions, And It Would Be Strange If The Experience

Were Thrown Away."

  

 

"But Surely You Could Never Have Penetrated So Far In The Direction Of

This Fierce Tribe?"

  

 

"Farther, My Young Friend. I Have Wandered More Than A Week's Journey

To Every Quarter Of The Compass From My Lodge; And It Is The Knowledge

Of The Country Thus Derived, And Intimacy With Indian Character, That

Inspire Me With Resolution In Our Enterprise. It Might Be Considered A

Perilous Accomplishment," He Added, With A Smile, "Since It

Recommended Me To The Consideration Of The Council, To Whom, Moreover,

The Life Of One Not Of The Congregation Is Of Less Value."

 

  

The Knight Had Never Before Shown A Disposition To Be So

Communicative. Perhaps The Isolation Of The Two From The World, And

The Devotion Which Arundel Had Manifested, Heightened His Feeling Of

Regard, And Drew Out His Confidence. The Young Man's Interest In The

Conversation Increased, And He Said:

  

 

"Surely, You Would Not Impute To The Governor, Or To A Majority Of His

Counsellors, A Design To Expose You To Probable Destruction.

Unutterable Baseness Were Therein."

 

  

"I Said Not So. I Pray Thee, Master Arundel, To Attach No Such

Construction To My Words; You Would Thereby Do Foul Wrong To My

Thoughts. Nay, I Thank The Governor For Honoring Me With The

Commission, And Doubt Not That He Acted Only In Obedience To A Higher

Prompting Than His Own. I Did But Point To A Feeling Which Thine

Enlightenment Must Lament As Much As Mine, And Which Contracts

Christian Love Into Very Narrow And Erroneous Boundaries. Dost Thou

Understand Me?"

 

  

"I Think I Do. You Refer To The Jealous Retainer Of Power In The Hands

Of Their Church."

  

 

"Of Their Church, So Called. Here Are We, For Example: We May Desire,

With That Natural Longing Whereby Men Are Sometimes Animated, To Enter

Into Closer Relations, And To Bind Ourselves By More Intimate Ties

With Those Around Us, (Oftentimes, I Fear Me, For Purposes Of Worldly

Advancement, As Well As Encouragement In Holy Living); And, Lo! A Very

Slight Difference Of Opinion--A Sublety Whereon A Casuist Shall Batter

His Brains For Days In Vain--Shall Build Up A Wall Of Exclusion,

Especially If There Be Some Within The Enchanted Circle Who Are

Jealous Of Our Influence And Distrust Their Own." 

 

 

"I Doubt Not You Are Right. My Own Observation Partly Confirms These

Views, Though I Have Been Too Short A Time In The Colony To Form An

Undistrusted Opinion. My Youth And Inexperience Admonish Me To Express

Myself Doubtfully; But I Think Myself Safe In Agreeing With You, That

This Is Scarcely The Best Way To Establish That Universal Church To

Which The Ambition Of The Puritans Aspires."

 

  

"Have A Care, Master Arundel," Said The Knight, Laughing, And His

Laugh Rang Out Joyously Through The Forest, As If He Were Glad To

Escape From Restraint, And In Strong Contrast With The Caution Which

He Recommended, "Lest Thy Treason Be Carried By Some Bird To The

Enthusiastic Endicott, Or The Stern Dudley, And Thou Be Made To Atone

For Thy _Lese Majeste_."

 

 

"I Bear Them No Ill Will, And They Know It. I Am But A Stranger Among

Them, Seeking At Their Hands A Jewel Most Unjustly Detained, And

Which, If Given Up, Will Hardly Endanger The Common Weal. But, Sir

Christopher, Explain Your Sentiments More Perfectly On The Point

Whither Our Conversation Converged."

 

  

"Master Arundel, I Am A Soldier, And No Casuist, And, Therefore,

Hardly So Well Prepared To Answer As Good Mr. Eliot, Or Grave Mr.

Wilson; Yet Do Thoughts On Such Subjects Sometimes Puzzle The Brains

Of A Soldier In A Steel Helmet, As Well As Those Of A Teacher In A

Geneva Cap; And, Sworn Brothers As We Are, Proving Our Affection By A

Voluntary Community Of Danger, I Will Not Hesitate To Avow My Secret

Reflections, Knowing That They Are Safe In Thy Keeping. All Christians

Must Acknowledge Holy Scripture, When Properly Understood, As The

Imperative Rule Of Faith, Without A Belief Of Which There Can Be No

Salvation. Now, In Scripture I Do Find The Church Likened Unto A Net

Let Down Into The Sea, And When Drawn Up Containing Within Itself A

Diversity Of Fishes. This Similitude Teaches Me That The Blessed

Founder Of Our Religion Did Contemplate Variety, And Not That Strict

And Tame Uniformity Which Would Compel Every Curve Into A Straight

Line, And Make The Church More Like A Platoon Of Point Device Spanish

Soldiers Than Reasoning Men Variously Organized."

  

 

"I Have Heard The Text Differently Explained, To Wit: That The Church

Is Thereby Intended To Be Represented As A Receptacle Of All Men,

Without Distinction Of Jew Or Gentile--Of Color, Or Of Whatever

Separates Man From Man."

 

  

"They Who Interpret It Thus, Do Limit The Word Of God, And Make Vain

The Text Itself. For, Was It Not Designed That All Should Be Brought

Within One Fold, That There Might Be One Shepherd? Now, How May This

Be Done, If Respect Be Not Had To The Prepossessions And Prejudices Of

Mankind? See The Infinite Differences That Prevail All Through The

World. These It Is The Sacred Prerogative Of The Church To Guide And

Control--Not Violently Tearing Them Up By The Roots, But Making Them

Subservient To Her Advancement." 

 

 

"That, It Seems To Me, Were Little Better Than Encouraging Heathenism

Under The Forms Of Christianity."

  

 

"Nay, It Is More Like The Manoeuvre Of A Skilful Helmsman, Who, When

A Flaw That May Not Be Resisted Strikes The Sails Of His Ship, Doth

Not Luff, And Thereby Increase The Power Of His Enemy, And Risk

Destruction, But, By A Gentle Turn Of The Rudder, Glides By The

Danger, Making Its Very Violence Facilitate His Advance; Or It May Be

Compared To The Progress Of A Wise Traveller, Who, When He Encounters

A Steep Hill, Doth Not Always Press Straight Forward, But, Influenced

By Its Shape, Sometimes Turns Aside And Encircles Its Base, Thereby

Diminishing The Labor And Not Increasing The Distance."

  

 

"It Doth Look To Me," Said Arundel, "More Like The Crooked Track Of

The Serpent, Which Cannot Advance To Its Object Without Twisting Its

Body Into Contortions."

  

 

"And Can Anything Be More Graceful Than Its Lovely Curves? Doth Not

Scripture In Some Manner Commend The Sagacious Reptile, Holding Him Up

To Us As An Example, And Bidding Us Be Wise Even As Serpents? The

Children Of Israel, Moreover, When In The Wilderness, Were Cured Of

Their Wounds By Merely Looking At The Brazen Serpent, Thereby

Typifying The Value Of Wisdom, Whereof The Snake Is An Emblem."

  

 

"You Are More Skilled In Dialectic Than I," Said Arundel, Laughing,

"And Were I To Hear You With Shut Eyes, I Should Think A Monk's Cowl

Would Fit Your Head Better Than A Morion."

 

  

Sir Christopher Stole A Sharp, Quick Glance At His Companion At These

Words, But He Could Notice Nothing In The Youth's Handsome Features

Save The Light-Heartedness Of A Happy Spirit. He Seemed To Think It

Necessary, However, To Explain More Perfectly The Meaning Of What He

Had Been Saying.

  

 

"Harbor Not The Thought," He Continued, "That I, In Any Wise, Approve

The Damnable Doctrines Which, By Many Zealous Protestants, Are

Ascribed To The Catholic Church, Viz: That Religion Consists In The

Mumbling Of Unmeaning Forms And Performance Of Unnecessary Ceremonies;

In The Gaudy Decoration Of Temples With Pictures And Statues, Which

Some Consider An Incitement To Devotion; In An Entire Abandonment Of

The Soul Of The Layman To The Care Of The Priest, As If The Laic

Himself Had No Part In Working Out His Salvation. As A Good

Protestant, I Am Bound To Condemn And Anathematize These Errors; But,

More Distinctly, I Hold That Our Puritan Brethren (To Come Back To The

Point Of Departure) Are Over-Strict And Unwise In Applying A

Procrustean Measure In Their Discipline, And, For That Reason, If For

No Other, They Cannot Be A Church Universal. Too Stiff, Unbending And

Unforgiving Are They To The Weaknesses Of Human Nature, And,

Therefore, (Without More,) I Predict Utter Failure To Every Attempt Of

Theirs To Make The Natives Like Themselves. They Do Forget That Milk,

Not Flesh Meat, Is The Food For Babes."

  

 

"Hold You These Puritans To Be, In Any True Sense, A Church At All?"

Inquired Arundel.

 

 

Again The Knight Looked Sharply At The Other, And This Time He Burst

Into A Laugh, Wherein, It Seemed To The Young Man, A Sneer Was Mingled

With The Gaiety.

 

  

"That Were A Dangerous Question," He Answered, "Anywhere Else Than

Three Days' Journey From Winthrop, And To Ears Less Forgiving Than

Mine. But Here We Are, Debating, As Thou Didst Intimate A Moment Ago,

More Like Two Pattering Monks Than Journeying Like Merry Cavaliers.

For My Part, The Dissensions Of Christendom Weary Me, And I Prefer To

Leave To The Holy Men Vowed To The Service Of The Altar, The Labor Of

Unloosing The Knots Of Controversy, Rather Than Perplex My Brains With

Them. Come, Master Arundel, Hast Never A