lay morals-第20章
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rciful Providence all this was spared to him … he fell beneath the first blow; and ere four days had passed since Rullion Green; the aged minister of God was gathered to is fathers。 (2)
When Sharpe first heard of the rebellion; he applied to Sir Alexander Ramsay; the Provost; for soldiers to guard his house。 Disliking their occupation; the soldiers gave him an ugly time of it。 All the night through they kept up a continuous series of 'alarms and incursions;' 'cries of 〃Stand!〃 〃Give fire!〃' etc。; which forced the prelate to flee to the Castle in the morning; hoping there to find the rest which was denied him at home。 (3) Now; however; when all danger to himself was past; Sharpe came out in his true colours; and scant was the justice likely to be shown to the foes of Scottish Episcopacy when the Primate was by。 The prisoners were lodged in Haddo's Hole; a part of St。 Giles' Cathedral; where; by the kindness of Bishop Wishart; to his credit be it spoken; they were amply supplied with food。 (4)
Some people urged; in the Council; that the promise of quarter which had been given on the field of battle should protect the lives of the miserable men。 Sir John Gilmoure; the greatest lawyer; gave no opinion … certainly a suggestive circumstance … but Lord Lee declared that this would not interfere with their legal trial; 'so to bloody executions they went。' (5) To the number of thirty they were condemned and executed; while two of them; Hugh M'Kail; a young minister; and Neilson of Corsack; were tortured with the boots。
The goods of those who perished were confiscated; and their bodies were dismembered and distributed to different parts of the country; 'the heads of Major M'Culloch and the two Gordons;' it was resolved; says Kirkton; 'should be pitched on the gate of Kirkcudbright; the two Hamiltons and Strong's head should be affixed at Hamilton; and Captain Arnot's sett on the Watter Gate at Edinburgh。 The armes of all the ten; because they hade with uplifted hands renewed the Covenant at Lanark; were sent to the people of that town to expiate that crime; by placing these arms on the top of the prison。' (6) Among these was John Neilson; the Laird of Corsack; who saved Turner's life at Dumfries; in return for which service Sir James attempted; though without success; to get the poor man reprieved。 One of the condemned died of his wounds between the day of condemnation and the day of execution。 ' None of them;' says Kirkton; 'would save their life by taking the declaration and renouncing the Covenant; though it was offered to them。 。 。 。 But never men died in Scotland so much lamented by the people; not only spectators; but those in the country。 When Knockbreck and his brother were turned over; they clasped each other in their armes; and so endured the pangs of death。 When Humphrey Colquhoun died; he spoke not like an ordinary citizen; but like a heavenly minister; relating his comfortable Christian experiences; and called for his Bible; and laid it on his wounded arm; and read John iii。 8; and spoke upon it to the admiration of all。 But most of all; when Mr。 M'Kail died; there was such a lamentation as was never known in Scotland before; not one dry cheek upon all the street; or in all the numberless windows in the mercate place。' (7)
The following passage from this speech speaks for itself and its author:
'Hereafter I will not talk with flesh and blood; nor think on the world's consolations。 Farewell to all my friends; whose company hath been refreshful to me in my pilgrimage。 I have done with the light of the sun and the moon; welcome eternal light; eternal life; everlasting love; everlasting praise; everlasting glory。 Praise to Him that sits upon the throne; and to the Lamb for ever! Bless the Lord; O my soul; that hath pardoned all my iniquities in the blood of His Son; and healed all my diseases。 Bless Him; O all ye His angels that excel in strength; ye ministers of His that do His pleasure。 Bless the Lord; O my soul!' (8)
After having ascended the gallows ladder he again broke forth in the following words of touching eloquence: 'And now I leave off to speak any more to creatures; and begin my intercourse with God; which shall never be broken off。 Farewell father and mother; friends and relations! Farewell the world and all delights! Farewell meat and drink! Farewell sun; moon; and stars! … Welcome God and Father! Welcome sweet Jesus Christ; the Mediator of the new covenant! Welcome blessed Spirit of grace and God of all consolation! Welcome glory! Welcome eternal life! Welcome Death!' (9)
At Glasgow; too; where some were executed; they caused the soldiers to beat the drums and blow the trumpets on their closing ears。 Hideous refinement of revenge! Even the last words which drop from the lips of a dying man … words surely the most sincere and the most unbiassed which mortal mouth can utter … even these were looked upon as poisoned and as poisonous。 'Drown their last accents;' was the cry; 'lest they should lead the crowd to take their part; or at the least to mourn their doom!' (10) But; after all; perhaps it was more merciful than one would think …unintentionally so; of course; perhaps the storm of harsh and fiercely jubilant noises; the clanging of trumpets; the rattling of drums; and the hootings and jeerings of an unfeeling mob; which were the last they heard on earth; might; when the mortal fight was over; when the river of death was passed; add tenfold sweetness to the hymning of the angels; tenfold peacefulness to the shores which they had reached。
Not content with the cruelty of these executions; some even of the peasantry; though these were confined to the shire of Mid…Lothian; pursued; captured; plundered; and murdered the miserable fugitives who fell in their way。 One strange story have we of these times of blood and persecution: Kirkton the historian and popular tradition tell us alike of a flame which often would arise from the grave; in a moss near Carnwath; of some of those poor rebels: of how it crept along the ground; of how it covered the house of their murderer; and of how it scared him with its lurid glare。
Hear Daniel Defoe: (11)
'If the poor people were by these insupportable violences made desperate; and driven to all the extremities of a wild despair; who can justly reflect on them when they read in the Word of God 〃That oppression makes a wise man mad〃? And therefore were there no other original of the insurrection known by the name of the Rising of Pentland; it was nothing but what the intolerable oppressions of those times might have justified to all the world; nature having dictated to all people a right of defence when illegally and arbitrarily attacked in a manner not justifiable either by laws of nature; the laws of God; or the laws of the country。'
Bear this remonstrance of Defoe's in mind; and though it is the fashion of the day to jeer and to mock; to execrate and to contemn; the noble band of Covenanters … though the bitter laugh at their old…world religious views; the curl of the lip at their merits; and the chilling silence on their bravery and their determination; are but too rife through all society … be charitable to what was evil and honest to what was good about the Pentland insurgents; who fought for life and liberty; for country and religion; on the 28th of November 1666; now just two hundred years ago。
EDINBURGH; 28TH NOVEMBER 1866。
(1) CLOUD OF WITNESSES; p。 389; Edin。 1765。 (2) Kirkton; p。 247。 (3) Ibid。 p。 254。 (4) IBID。 p。 247。 (5) IBID。 pp。 247; 248。 (6) Kirkton; p。 248。 (7) Kirkton; p。 249。 (8) NAPHTALI; p。 205; Glasgow; 1721。 (9) Wodrow; p。 59。 (10) Kirkton; p。 246。 (11) Defoe's HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND。
THE DAY AFTER TO…MORROW
HISTORY is much decried; it is a tissue of errors; we are told; no doubt correctly; and rival historians expose each other's blunders with gratification。 Yet the worst historian has a clearer view of the period he studies than the best of us can hope to form of that in which we live。 The obscurest epoch is to…day; and that for a thousand reasons