The Monastery Page 25

  Chapter the Twenty-Fifth.

  When lovely woman stoops to folly, And finds too late that men betray--

  Julian Avenel saw with surprise the demeanour of the reverend stranger."Beshrew me," he said, "these new-fashioned religioners have fast-days,I warrant me--the old ones used to confer these blessings chiefly on thelaity."

  "We acknowledge no such rule," said the preacher--"We hold that ourfaith consists not in using or abstaining from special meats on specialdays; and in fasting we rend our hearts, and not our garments."

  "The better--the better for yourselves, and the worse for Tom Tailor,"said the Baron; "but come, sit down, or, if thou needs must e'en give usa cast of thy office, mutter thy charm."

  "Sir Baron," said the preacher, "I am in a strange land, where neithermine office nor my doctrine are known, and where, it would seem, bothare greatly misunderstood. It is my duty so to bear me, that in myperson, however unworthy, my Master's dignity may be respected, and thatsin may take not confidence from relaxation of the bonds of discipline."

  "Ho la! halt there," said the Baron; "thou wert sent hither for thysafety, but not, I think, to preach to me, or control me. What is itthou wouldst have, Sir Preacher? Remember thou speakest to one somewhatshort of patience, who loves a short health and a long draught."

  "In a word, then," said Henry Warden, "that lady--"

  "How?" said the Baron, starting--"what of her?--what hast thou to say ofthat dame?"

  "Is she thy house-dame?" said the preacher, after a moment's pause, inwhich, he seemed to seek for the best mode of expressing what he had tosay--"Is she, in brief, thy wife?"

  The unfortunate young woman pressed both her hands on her face, as ifto hide it, but the deep blush which crimsoned her brow and neck, showedthat her cheeks were also glowing; and the bursting tears, which foundtheir way betwixt her slender fingers, bore witness to her sorrow, aswell as to her shame.

  "Now, by my father's ashes!" said the Baron, rising and spurning fromhim his footstool with such violence, that it hit the wall on theopposite side of the apartment--then instantly constraining himself,he muttered, "What need to run myself into trouble for a fool'sword?"--then resuming his seat, he answered coldly and scornfully--"No,Sir Priest or Sir Preacher, Catherine is not my wife--Cease thywhimpering, thou foolish wench--she is not my wife, but she ishandfasted with me, and that makes her as honest a woman."

  "Handfasted?"--repeated Warden.

  "Knowest thou not that rite, holy man?" said Avenel, in the same tone ofderision; "then I will tell thee. We Border-men are more wary thanyour inland clowns of Fife and Lothian--no jump in the dark for us--noclenching the fetters around our wrists till we know how they will wearwith us--we take our wives, like our horses, upon trial. When we arehandfasted, as we term it, we are man and wife for a year and day--thatspace gone by, each may choose another mate, or, at their pleasure, maycall the priest to marry them for life--and this we call handfasting."[Footnote: This custom of handfasting actually prevailed in the uplanddays. It arose partly from the want of priests. While the conventssubsisted, monks were detached on regular circuits through the wilderdistricts, to marry those who had lived in this species of connexion. Apractice of the same kind existed in the Isle of Portland.]

  "Then," said the preacher, "I tell thee, noble Baron, in brotherly loveto thy soul, it is a custom licentious, gross, and corrupted, and, ifpersisted in, dangerous, yea, damnable. It binds thee to the frailerbeing while she is the object of desire--it relieves thee when she ismost the subject of pity--it gives all to brutal sense, and nothing togenerous and gentle affection. I say to thee, that he who can meditatethe breach of such an engagement, abandoning the deluded woman and thehelpless offspring, is worse than the birds of prey; for of them themales remain with their mates until the nestlings can take wing. Aboveall, I say it is contrary to the pure Christian doctrine, which assignswoman to man as the partner of his labour, the soother of his evil,his helpmate in peril, his friend in affliction; not as the toy of hislooser hours, or as a flower, which, once cropped, he may throw aside atpleasure."

  "Now, by the Saints, a most virtuous homily!" said the Baron; "quaintlyconceived and curiously pronounced, and to a well-chosen congregation.Hark ye, Sir Gospeller! trow ye to have a fool in hand? Know I not thatyour sect rose by bluff Harry Tudor, merely because ye aided him tochange _his_ Kate; and wherefore should I not use the same Christianliberty with _mine?_ Tush, man! bless the good food, and meddle not withwhat concerns thee not--thou hast no gull in Julian Avenel."

  "He hath gulled and cheated himself," said the preacher, "should heeven incline to do that poor sharer of his domestic cares the imperfectjustice that remains to him. Can he now raise her to the rank of a pureand uncontaminated matron?--Can he deprive his child of the misery ofowing birth to a mother who has erred? He can indeed give them boththe rank, the state of married wife and of lawful son; but, in publicopinion, their names will be smirched and sullied with a stain which histardy efforts cannot entirely efface. Yet render it to them, Baron ofAvenel, render to them this late and imperfect justice. Bid me bindyou together for ever, and celebrate the day of your bridal, not withfeasting or wassail, but with sorrow for past sin, and the resolutionto commence a better life. Happy then will have the chance been that hasdrawn me to this castle, though I come driven by calamity, and unknowingwhere my course is bound, like a leaf travelling on the north wind."

  The plain, and even coarse features, of the zealous speaker, were warmedat once and ennobled by the dignity of his enthusiasm; and the wildBaron, lawless as he was, and accustomed to spurn at the control whetherof religious or moral law, felt, for the first time perhaps in his life,that he was under subjection to a mind superior to his own. He sat muteand suspended in his deliberations, hesitating betwixt anger and shame,yet borne down by the weight of the just rebuke thus boldly fulminatedagainst him.

  The unfortunate young woman, conceiving hopes from her tyrant's silenceand apparent indecision, forgot both her fear and shame in her timidexpectation that Avenel would relent; and fixing upon him her anxiousand beseeching eyes, gradually drew near and nearer to his seat, till atlength, laying a trembling hand on his cloak, she ventured to utter, "Onoble Julian, listen to the good man!"

  The speech and the motion were ill-timed, and wrought on that proud andwayward spirit the reverse of her wishes.

  The fierce Baron started up in a fury, exclaiming, "What! thou foolishcallet, art thou confederate with this strolling vagabond, whom thouhast seen beard me in my own hall! Hence with thee, and think that I anaproof both to male and female hypocrisy!"

  The poor girl started back, astounded at his voice of thunder and looksof fury, and, turning pale as death, endeavoured to obey his orders, andtottered towards the door. Her limbs failed in the attempt, and she fellon the stone floor in a manner which her situation might have renderedfatal--The blood gushed from her face.--Halbert Glendinning brooked nota sight so brutal, but, uttering a deep imprecation, started fromhis seat, and laid his hand on his sword, under the strong impulse ofpassing it through the body of the cruel and hard-hearted ruffian. ButChristie of the Clinthill, guessing his intention, threw his arms aroundhim, and prevented him from stirring to execute his purpose.

  The impulse to such an act of violence was indeed but momentary, as itinstantly appeared that Avenel himself, shocked at the effects of hisviolence, was lifting up and endeavouring to soothe in his own way theterrified Catherine.

  "Peace," he said, "prithee, peace, thou silly minion--why, Kate, thoughI listen not to this tramping preacher, I said not what might happenan thou dost bear me a stout boy. There--there--dry thy tears--Call thywomen.--So ho!--where be these queans?--Christie--Rowley--Hutcheon--dragthem hither by the hair of the head!"

  A half dozen of startled wild-looking females rushed into the room,and bore out her who might be either termed their mistress or theircompanion. She showed little sign of life, except by groaning faintlyand keeping her hand on her side.

  No
sooner had this luckless female been conveyed from the apartment,than the Baron, advancing to the table, filled and drank a deep gobletof wine; then, putting an obvious restraint on his passions, turned tothe preacher, who stood horror-struck at the scene he had witnessed, andsaid, "You have borne too hard on us, Sir Preacher--but coming with thecommendations which you have brought me, I doubt not but your meaningwas good. But we are a wilder folk than you inland men of Fife andLothian. Be advised, therefore, by me--Spur not an unbroken horse--putnot your ploughshare too deep into new land--Preach to us spiritualliberty, and we will hearken to you.--But we will give no way tospiritual bondage.--Sit, therefore, down, and pledge me in old sack, andwe will talk over these matters."

  "It is _from_ spiritual bondage," said the preacher, in the same toneof admonitory reproof, "that I came to deliver you--it is from a bondagemore fearful than than that of the heaviest earthly gyves--it is fromyour own evil passions."

  "Sit down," said Avenel, fiercely; "sit down while the play isgood--else by my father's crest and my mother's honour!----"

  "Now," whispered Christie of the Clinthill to Halbert, "if he refuse tosit down, I would not give a gray groat for his head."

  "Lord Baron," said Warden, "thou hast placed me in extremity. But if thequestion be, whether I am to hide the light which I am commanded to showforth, or to lose the light of this world, my choice is made. I say tothee, like the Holy Baptist to Herod, it is not lawful for thee to havethis woman; and I say it though bonds and death be the consequence,counting my life as nothing in comparison of the ministry to which I amcalled."

  Julian Avenel, enraged at the firmness of this reply, flung from hisright hand the cup in which he was about to drink to his guest, and fromthe other cast off the hawk, which flew wildly through the apartment.His first motion was to lay hand upon his dagger. But, changinghis resolution, he exclaimed, "To the dungeon with this insolentstroller!--I will hear no man speak a word for him----Look to thefalcon, Christie, thou fool--an she escape, I will despatch you afterher every man--Away with that hypocritical dreamer--drag him hence if heresist!"

  He was obeyed in both points. Christie of the Clinthill arrested thehawk's flight, by putting his foot on her jesses, and so holding herfast, while Henry Warden was led off, without having shown the slightestsymptoms of terror, by two of the Baron's satellites. Julian Avenelwalked the apartment for a short time in sullen silence, and despatchingone of his attendants with a whispered message, which probably relatedto the health of the unfortunate Catherine, he said aloud, "These rashand meddling priests--By Heaven! they make us worse than we would bewithout them."

  [Footnote: If it were necessary to name a prototype for this brutal,licentious and cruel Border chief, in an age which showed but too manysuch, the Laird of Black Ormiston might be selected for that purpose. Hewas a friend and confidant of Bothwell, and an agent in Henry Darnley'smurder. At his last stage, he was, like other great offenders, a seemingpenitent; and, as his confession bears, divers gentlemen and servantsbeing in the chamber, he said, "For God's sake, sit down and pray forme, for I have been a great sinner otherwise," (that is, besides hisshare in Darnley's death,) "for the which God is this day punishing me;for of all men on the earth, I have been one of the proudest, and mosthigh-minded, and most unclean of my body. But specially I have shed theinnocent blood of one Michael Hunter with my own hands. Alas, therefore!because the said Michael, having me lying on my back, having a fork inhis hand, might have slain me if he had pleased, and did it not, whichof all things grieves me most in conscience. Also, in a rage, I hanged apoor man for a horse;--with many other wicked deeds, for whilk I ask myGod mercy. It is not marvel I have been wicked, considering the wickedcompany that ever I have been in, but specially within the seven yearsby-past, in which I never saw two good men or one good deed, but allkind of wickedness, and yet God would not suffer me to be lost."--Seethe whole confession in the State Trials.

  Another worthy of the Borders, called Geordy Bourne, of somewhatsubordinate rank, was a similar picture of profligacy. He had falleninto the hands of Sir Robert Carey, then Warden of the English EastMarches, who gives the following account of his prisoner's confession:--

  "When all things were quiet, and the watch set at night, after supper,about ten of the clock, I took one of my men's liveries, and put itabout me, and took two other of my servants with me in their liveries;and we three, as the Warden's men, came to the Provost Marshal's whereBourne was, and were let into his chamber. We sate down by him, and toldhim that we were desirous to see him, because we heard he was stout andvaliant, and true to his friend, and that we were sorry our master couldnot be moved to save his life. He voluntarily of himself said, that hehad lived long enough to do so many villanies as he had done; and withaltold us, that he had lain with above forty men's wives, what in Englandwhat in Scotland; and that he had killed seven Englishmen with his ownhands, cruelly murdering them; and that he had spent his whole timein whoring, drinking, stealing, and taking deep revenge for slightoffences. He seemed to be very penitent, and much desired a ministerfor the comfort of his soul. We promised him to let our master know hisdesire, who, we knew would promptly grant it. We took leave of him; andpresently I took order that Mr Selby, a very honest preacher, should goto him, and not stir from him till his execution the next morning;for after I had heard his own confession, I was resolved no conditionsshould save his life, and so took order, that at the gates opening thenext morning, he should be carried to execution, which accordingly wasperformed."--_Memoirs of Sir Robert Carey, Earl of Monmouth._]

  The answer which he presently received seemed somewhat to pacify hisangry mood, and he took his place at the board, commanding his retinueto the like. All sat down in silence, and began the repast.

  During the meal Christie in vain attempted to engage his youthfulcompanion in carousal, or, at least, in conversation. HalbertGlendinning pleaded fatigue, and expressed himself unwilling to take anyliquor stronger than the heather ale, which was at that time frequentlyused at meals. Thus every effort at jovialty died away, until theBaron, striking his hand against the table, as if impatient of thelong unbroken silence, cried out aloud, "What, ho! my masters--are yeBorder-riders, and sit as mute over your meal as a mess of monks andfriars?--Some one sing, if no one list to speak. Much eaten withouteither mirth or music is ill of digestion.--Louis," he added, speakingto one of the youngest of his followers, "thou art ready enough to singwhen no one bids thee."

  The young man looked first at his master, then up to the arched roof ofthe hall, then drank off the horn of ale, or wine, which stood besidehim, and with a rough, yet not unmelodious voice, sung the followingditty to the ancient air of "Blue bonnets over the Border."

  I.

  March, march, Ettrick and Teviotdale, Why the deil dinna ye march forward in order? March, march, Eskdale and Liddesdale, All the Blue Bonnets are bound for the Border Many a banner spread, Flutters above your head, Many a crest that is famous in story; Mount and make ready then, Sons of the mountain glen, Fight for the Queen and the old Scottish glory!

  II.

  Come from the hills where the hirsels are grazing, Come from the glen of the buck and the roe; Come to the crag where the beacon is blazing, Come with the buckler, the lance, and the bow. Trumpets are sounding, War-steeds are bounding, Stand to your arms then, and march in good order; England shall many a day Tell of the bloody fray, When the Blue Bonnets came over the Border!

  The song, rude as it was, had in it that warlike character which at anyother time would have roused Halbert's spirit; but at present the charmof minstrelsy had no effect upon him. He made it his request to Christieto suffer him to retire to rest, a request with which that worthyperson, seeing no chance of making a favourable impression on hisintended proselyte in his present humour, was at length pleased tocomply. But no Sergeant Kite, who ever practised the profession ofrecruiting, was more attentive
that his object should not escapehim, than was Christie of the Clinthill. He indeed conducted HalbertGlendinning to a small apartment overlooking the lake, which wasaccommodated with a truckle bed. But before quitting him, Christie tookspecial care to give a look to the bars which crossed the outside of thewindow, and when he left the apartment, he failed not to give the key adouble turn; circumstances which convinced young Glendinning that therewas no intention of suffering him to depart from the Castle of Avenelat his own time and pleasure. He judged it, however, most prudent to letthese alarming symptoms pass without observation.

  No sooner did he find himself in undisturbed solitude, than he ranrapidly over the events of the day in his recollection, and to hissurprise found that his own precarious fate, and even the death ofPiercie Shafton, made less impression on him than the singularly boldand determined conduct of his companion, Henry Warden. Providence, whichsuits its instruments to the end they are to achieve, had awakened inthe cause of Reformation in Scotland, a body of preachers of more energythan refinement, bold in spirit, and strong in faith, contemners ofwhatever stood betwixt them and their principal object, and seeking theadvancement of the great cause in which they laboured by the roughestroad, provided it were the shortest. The soft breeze may wave thewillow, but it requires the voice of the tempest to agitate the boughsof the oak; and, accordingly, to milder hearers, and in a less rudeage, their manners would have been ill-adapted, but they were singularlysuccessful in their mission to the rude people to whom it was addressed.

  Owing to these reasons, Halbert Glendinning, who had resisted andrepelled the arguments of the preacher, was forcibly struck by thefirmness of his demeanour in the dispute with Julian Avenel. It mightbe discourteous, and most certainly it was incautious, to choose sucha place and such an audience, for upbraiding with his transgressionsa baron, whom both manners and situation placed in full possession ofindependent power. But the conduct of the preacher was uncompromising,firm, manly, and obviously grounded upon the deepest conviction whichduty and principle could afford; and Glendinning, who had viewed theconduct of Avenel with the deepest abhorrence, was proportionallyinterested in the brave old man, who had ventured life rather thanwithhold the censure due to guilt. This pitch of virtue seemed to him tobe in religion what was demanded by chivalry of her votaries in war; anabsolute surrender of all selfish feelings, and a combination of everyenergy proper to the human mind, to discharge the task which dutydemanded.

  Halbert was at the period when youth was most open to generous emotions,and knows best how to appreciate them in others, and he felt, althoughhe hardly knew why, that, whether catholic or heretic, the safety ofthis man deeply interested him. Curiosity mingled with the feeling, andled him to wonder what the nature of those doctrines could be, whichstole their votary so completely from himself, and devoted him to chainsor to death as their sworn champion. He had indeed been told of saintsand martyrs of former days, who had braved for their religious faiththe extremity of death and torture. But their spirit of enthusiasticdevotion had long slept in the ease and indolent habits of theirsuccessors, and their adventures, like those of knights-errant, wererather read for amusement than for edification. A new impulse had beennecessary to rekindle the energies of religious zeal, and that impulsewas now operating in favour of a purer religion, with one of whosesteadiest votaries the youth had now met for the first time.

  The sense that he himself was a prisoner, under the power of this savagechieftain, by no means diminished Halbert's interest in the fate of hisfellow sufferer, while he determined at the same time so far to emulatehis fortitude, that neither threats nor suffering should compel him toenter into the service of such a master. The possibility of escape nextoccurred to him, and though with little hope of effecting it in thatway, Glendinning proceeded to examine more particularly the window ofthe apartment. The apartment was situated in the first story of thecastle; and was not so far from the rock, on which it was founded, butthat an active and bold man might with little assistance descend to ashelf of rock which was immediately below the window, and from thenceeither leap or drop himself down into the lake which lay before his eye,clear and blue in the placid light of a full summer's moon.--"Were Ionce placed on that ledge," thought Glendinning, "Julian Avenel andChristie had seen the last of me." The size of the window favouredsuch an attempt, but the stanchions or iron bars seemed to form aninsurmountable obstacle.

  While Halbert Glendinning gazed from the window with that eagernessof hope which was prompted by the energy of his character and hisdetermination not to yield to circumstances, his ear caught some soundsfrom below, and listening with more attention, he could distinguishthe voice of the preacher engaged in his solitary devotions. To open acorrespondence with him became immediately his object, and failing todo so by less marked sounds, he at length ventured to speak, and wasanswered from beneath--"Is it thou, my son?" The voice of the prisonernow sounded more distinctly than when it was first heard, for Warden hadapproached the small aperture, which, serving his prison for a window,opened just betwixt the wall and the rock, and admitted a scanty portionof light through a wall of immense thickness. This _soupirait_ beingplaced exactly under Halbert's window, the contiguity permitted theprisoners to converse in a low tone, when Halbert declared his intentionto escape, and the possibility he saw of achieving his purpose, but forthe iron stanchions of the window--"Prove thy strength, my son, in thename of God" said the preacher. Halbert obeyed him more in despair thanhope, but to his great astonishment, and somewhat to his terror, the barparted asunder near the bottom, and the longer part being easily bentoutwards, and not secured with lead in the upper socket, dropt out intoHalbert's hand. He immediately whispered, but as energetically as awhisper could be expressed--"By Heaven, the bar has given way in myhand!"

  "Thank Heaven, my son, instead of swearing by it," answered Warden fromhis dungeon.

  With little effort Halbert Glendinning forced himself through theopening thus wonderfully effected, and using his leathern sword-belt asa rope to assist him, let himself safely drop on the shelf of rock uponwhich the preacher's window opened. But through this no passage couldbe effected, being scarce larger than a loop-hole for musketry, andapparently constructed for that purpose.

  "Are there no means by which I can assist your escape, my father?" saidHalbert.

  "There are none, my son," answered the preacher; "but if thou wiltensure my safety, that may be in thy power."

  "I will labour earnestly for it," said the youth.

  "Take then a letter which I will presently write, for I have the meansof light and writing materials in my scrip--Hasten towards Edinburgh,and on the way thou wilt meet a body of horse marching southwards--Givethis to their leader, and acquaint him of the state in which thou hastleft me. It may hap that thy doing so will advantage thyself."

  In a minute or two the light of a taper gleamed through the shot-hole,and very shortly after, the preacher, with the assistance of his staff,pushed a billet to Glendinning through the window.

  "God bless thee, my son," said the old man, "and complete the marvellouswork which he has begun."

  "Amen!" answered Halbert, with solemnity, and proceeded on hisenterprise.

  He hesitated a moment whether he should attempt to descend to the edgeof the water; but the steepness of the rock, and darkness of the night,rendered the enterprise too dangerous. He clasped his hands above hishead and boldly sprung from the precipice, shooting himself forward intothe air as far as he could for fear of sunken rocks, and alighted on thelake, head foremost, with such force as sunk him for a minute below thesurface. But strong, long-breathed, and accustomed to such exercise,Halbert, even though encumbered with his sword, dived and rose like aseafowl, and swam across the lake in the northern direction. When helanded and looked back on the castle, he could observe that the alarmhad been given, for lights glanced from window to window, and he heardthe drawbridge lowered, and the tread of horses' feet upon the causeway.But, little alarmed for the consequence of a pursuit during t
hedarkness, he wrung the water from his dress, and, plunging into themoors, directed his course to the north-east by the assistance of thepolar star.

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