The Knight Of The Golden Melice - John Turvill Adams (little red riding hood read aloud txt) 📗
- Author: John Turvill Adams
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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
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