Walter Scott

“ Oh, my son, evil days are on us! A breach has been made in the walls of our sanctuary; thy brother hath fallen from the faith. Such news brought my last secret intelligence. Murray hath already spoken of rewarding his services with the hand of Mary Avenel.'
'Of Mary Avenel!' said the novice, tottering towards and grasping hold of one of the carved pinnacles which adorned the proud battlement.
'Aye, of Mary Avenel, my son, who has also abjured the faith of her fathers. Weep not, my Edward, weep not, my beloved son! or weep for their apostasy, and not for their union. ”

“ Heaven hath smitten, it may be, the erring shepherd, and scattered the flock.'
'Think better of the Divine judgements,' said Warden. 'Not for thy sins, which are those of thy blinded education and circumstances; not for thine own sins, William Allan, art thou stricken, but for the accumulated guilt which thy misnamed church hath accumulated on her head and those of her votaries, by the errors and corruptions of ages.'
'Now, by my sure belief in the Rock of Peter? said the abbot, 'thou dost rekindle the last spark of human indignation for which my bosom has fuel. ”

“ In the centre of the procession came the abbot, surrounded and supported by his chief assistants. He was dressed in his habit of high solemnity, and appeared as much unconcerned as if he had been taking his usual part in some ordinary ceremony. After him came the inferior persons of the convent; the novices in their albs or white dresses, and the lay brethren distinguished by their beards, which were seldom worn by the fathers. Women and children, mixed with a few men, came in the rear, bewailing the apprehended desolation of their ancient sanctuary. ”

“ In a word, I am willing to head all who will follow me, and offer such opposition as manhood and mortality may permit, to the advance of the English, though they be my own countrymen; and be assured, Piercie Shafton will measure his length, being five feet ten inches, on the ground as he stands, rather than give two yards in retreat, according to the usual motion in which we retrograde.'
'I thank you, sir knight,' said the abbot, 'and I doubt not that you would make your words good; but it is not the will of Heaven that carnal weapons should rescue us. ”

“ I thought I might not again have felt the impulse of earthly passion, and it is thy voice which once more calls me to the expression of human anger! yes, it is thy voice that comest to insult me in my hour of sorrow, with these blasphemous accusations of that church which hath kept the light of Christianity alive from the times of the Apostles till now.'
'From the times of the Apostles?' said the preacher, eagerly. 'Negatur, Gulielme Allan, the primitive church differed as much from that of Rome, as did light from darkness, which, did time permit, I should speedily prove. ”

“ Go to your cells, my children, and exercise your private devotions. Array yourselves also in alb and cope, as for our most solemn festivals, and be ready, when the tolling of the largest bell announces the approach of the enemy, to march forth to meet them in solemn procession. Let the church be opened to afford such refuge as may be to those of our vassals, who, from their exertion in this day's unhappy battle, or other cause, are particularly apprehensive of the rage of the enemy. Tell Sir Piercie Shafton, if he has escaped the fight'——
'I am here, most venerable abbot,' replied Sir Piercie ”

“ When I am once more mine own man, I will find a new road to dignity.'
'Shape one, I presume,' said the Earl of Morton.
'Nay, Douglas, you will drive him mad,' said Murray; 'besides, we have other matter in hand. I must see Warden wed Glendinning with Mary Avenel, and put him in possession of his wife's castle without delay. ”

“ The earls were the more reluctant to drive matters to extremity, since he protested that if urged beyond what his conscience would comply with, he would throw the whole lands of the monastery into the Queen of Scotland's hands, to be disposed of at her pleasure. This would not have answered the views of the earls, who were contented, for the time, with a moderate sacrifice of money and lands. Matters being so far settled, the abbot became anxious for the fate of Sir Piercie Shafton, and implored mercy in his behalf. ”

“ I must learn to know the Maid of Avenel; to-morrow I must act as her father. All Scotland shall see how Murray can reward a faithful servant.'
Mary Avenel and her lover avoided meeting the abbot, and took up their temporary abode in a house of the village, where next day their hands were united by the Protestant preacher in presence of the two earls. On the same day Piercie Shafton and his bride departed, under an escort which was to conduct him to the seaside, and see him embark for the Low Countries. ”

“ We are called to endure, not to resist, and may not waste the blood of our innocent commons in vain. Fruitless opposition becomes not men of our profession; they have my commands to resign the sword and the spear. God and Our Lady have not blessed our banner.'
'Bethink you, reverend lord,' said Piercie Shafton, very eagerly, 'ere you resign the defence that is in your power; there are many posts near the entry of this village, where brave men might live or die to the advantage ”

“ Times of action make princes into peasants, and boors into barons. All families have sprung from one mean man; and it is well if they have never degenerated from his virtue who raised them first from obscurity.'
'My Lord of Murray will please to except the house of Douglas,' said Morton, haughtily; 'men have seen it in the tree, but never in the sapling—have seen it in the stream, but never in the fountain.n In the earliest of our Scottish annals, the Black Douglas was powerful and distinguished as now.'
'I bend to the honours of the house of Douglas,' said Murray, somewhat ironically ”

“ Give us up this Piercie Shafton, or by my father's crest I will set thy abbey in a bright flame!'
'And if thou dost, Lord of Morton, its ruins will tumble above the tombs of thine own ancestors. Be the issue as God wills, the Abbot of Saint Mary's gives up no one whom he hath promised to protect.'
'Abbot!' said Murray, 'bethink thee ere we are driven to deal roughly. The hands of these men,' he said, pointing to the soldiers, 'will make wild work among shrines and cells, if we are compelled to undertake a search for this Englishman.'
'Ye shall not need,' said a voice from the crowd ”

“ But turn his crucifix of gold into a crucifix of wood; let him travel through the land, an oppressed and impoverished man, and his patience, his eloquence, and learning will win more hearts from the good cause, than all the mitred abbots of Scotland have been able to make prey of during the last hundred years.'
'Tush! tush! man,' said Morton, 'the revenues of the halidome will bring more men, spears, and horses into the field in one day, than his preaching in a whole lifetime. These are not the days of Peter the Hermit, when monks could march armies from England to Jerusalem ”

“ You cannot inflict more than he will endure; and the more that he is made to bear, the higher will be the influence of his talents and his courage. In his conventual throne he will be but coldly looked on—disliked, it may be, and envied. ”

“ Dost thou come,' he said, 'to enjoy the hopes which fate holds out to thy demented and accursed sect, to see the besom of destruction sweep away the pride of old religion; to deface our shrines; to mutilate and lay waste the bodies of our benefactors, as well as their sepulchres; to destroy the pinnacles and carved work of God's house, and Our Lady's?'
'Peace, William Allan!' said the Protestant preacher, with dignified composure ”

“ Bless God, who hath called thee to himself out of the tents of wickedness; but for the grace of Our Lady and Saint Benedict, thou also hadst been a castaway.'
'I endeavour, my father,' said Edward, 'I endeavour to forget; but what I would now blot from my memory has been the thought of all my former life. Murray dare not forward a match so unequal in birth.'
'He dares do what suits his purpose. The Castle of Avenel is strong, and needs a good castellan devoted to his service ”

“ But the abbot, casting on them a glance of rebuke and encouragement, stepped forth from their ranks like a courageous leader, when he sees that his personal valour must be displayed to revive the drooping courage of his followers. 'Lord James Stuart,' he said, 'or Earl of Murray, if that be thy title, I, Eustatius, Abbot of Saint Mary's, demand by what, right you have filled our peaceful village, and surrounded our brethren, with these bands of armed men? If hospitality is sought, we have never refused it to courteous asking ”

“ Thou dost urge me, Wellwood, beyond what it becomes me to bear, and mo vest me to employ the few moments of power I may yet possess, in removing from the face of the earth one whose qualities, given by God, have been so utterly perverted as thine to the service of Satan.' 'Do thy pleasure,' said the preacher ”