The Broken Font: A Story of the Civil War, Vol. 1 (of 2)

by Moyle Sherer

  CHAP. XVII.

  There let the pealing organ blow, To the full-voiced quire below, In service high and anthems clear, As may with sweetness through mine ear Dissolve me into ecstasies, And bring all heaven before mine eyes. MILTON.

  The affliction of the good parson of Cheddar at the strange andpainful conduct of his son Cuthbert was heavy to bear. However, from asense of duty to his weaker partner, he made great efforts to preservehis wonted serenity and composure in her presence; but when alone hewas bowed down in the dust.

  Nothing could possibly present a greater contrast to the tone ofreligious profession which was, at this period, obtaining a widereception among men than that in which old Noble lay prostrate in hiscloset before his God.

  He had ever been a meek and cheerful Christian; but there were depthsof humiliation which he had not as yet fathomed; and he would havefainted at the waves of trouble, which his prescient eye saw rollingonward, if he had not felt the hand, which led him down into the deep,was that of a heavenly Father, if he had not heard a voice thatwhispered in his ear, "_It is I, be not afraid_."

  In vain did he exhaust his heart in sound, pious, and affectionateremonstrances, meditated and penned in the spirit of prayer, that hemight recall his dear and wandering child to the bosom of the church,or, at all events, so far recover him from gross delusions as to seehim join that upright and devout portion of the community, which,though differing from the discipline of the church, maintained a pureand practical doctrine.

  In vain did he press the return of Cuthbert to Cheddar, by everyargument which parental love could suggest.

  The letters of Noble and his wife were replied to in the words oflove; but the fruit of his new persuasion was an obstinate self-will;and while he implored them, at great length, to consider his views,and urged the danger of despising them, he evinced to others, what wasnot perhaps suspected by himself, a degree of spiritual pride only tobe exceeded by the strength of his delusion.

  He had adopted the notions of those fanatics who were styledFifth-monarchy Men, and who ranged themselves where, indeed, any sect,however extravagant, might have found a place, under the banner of theIndependents.

  It was some consolation to these troubled parents to hear from thePhilips's, their relations, and also from other friends, that the lifeand the conduct of Cuthbert were, as regarded all moral and socialduties, a credit to any theory, and such as became the pure preceptsof the Gospel.

  His intellect was clear upon every other subject, except on thatwhich, if it be rashly touched, seems to be guarded by invisibleangels, who put forth their hands and smite the daring intruder withmadness. "Oppression," saith the preacher, "will make a wise manmad;"--a truth abundantly proved by the events, which, leading firstto a secret and salutary reform, ended at last in a bloody revolutionand an iron rule.

  It may be added, that he who seeketh to meddle with the hiddenmysteries of unfulfilled prophecy is often smitten with blindness andconfusion for his presumption. Thus it was with Cuthbert:--sensible,amiable, and affectionate in all the relations of life, he was now thesubject of a monomania, and turned a deaf ear to the voice of truthand wisdom, though it spoke with all the authority and all theearnestness of a father.

  These were not times in which a minister could leave his parish for adistant journey, nor, indeed, was it at all likely that the presenceof his parents would have effected that change in the sentiments orthe course of Cuthbert, which their admirable and Christian lettershad failed to produce.

  Time wore on gloomily enough, even in the peaceful parsonage atCheddar. Many a time as old Noble paced his garden amid sunbeams andflowers, praising that "mercy which endureth for ever," histhanksgivings ended in tears and lamentations, not for his domestictroubles, but for the great evils which he feared and expected wouldbefall the church and the nation.

  Laud was already paying the penalty of his mistaken, but certainlyconscientious, severity, in a prison, from whence it might be plainlyforetold he would at length be conducted to the block. The bishops'votes in parliament were taken away, and the deans and chapters werealready voted against in the Commons, although their spoliation hadnot yet taken place, neither were the cathedral services as yetdiscontinued. As regularly, therefore, as the Thursday came round,Noble, if not prevented by a special call of duty at home, made hisweekly visit to the fair city of Wells; where he in the first instancealways bent his steps to the cathedral, and joined the congregationassembled for morning service.

  It was on a saint's day, in the summer of 1641, that, as usual, heproceeded to that venerable and glorious temple, and took his seat inthe vacant stall which it was his wont to occupy. Directly opposite heobserved a tall uncouth man of harsh features and a sour countenance,sitting very upright, and glancing a severe and restless eye at theorgan, the first tones of which were pealing through the long aisles,as the dean, the prebends, and other officers of the choir, precededby the vergers with their maces, slowly entered, and reverently tooktheir seats.

  The service began, and was conducted with that solemn decency, andwith those clear fine chants, which dispose most hearts to a subduedfeeling of intense devotion.

  There is a something in sacred music which does wonderfully composethe mind, and cleanse it of all earthly-rooted cares. Upon thestranger above mentioned, however, it produced no such effect. He saterect, cold, and contemptuous: he put aside the Book of Common Prayerwith a rude thrust; and taking a small volume from his pocket openedit with ostentatious gravity, and, not joining in the worship that hewitnessed, either by response, gesture, or any conformity of posturewith those around him, sat, now casting his eyes on the page of hisbook, now severely around, and now raising them to Heaven after amanner that left nothing but the jaundiced whites visible.

  This strange conduct disturbed, irritated, or amused the observers,according to the impression that was made upon them. Some of theprebends and vicars choral looked red and angry. The dean was greatlydistressed, and knew not what to do. At first he called the verger,with a design to remove the intruder; but, upon second thoughts, hefeared that a yet greater interruption and indecency might take placeif such a course was attempted, he therefore commanded his feelingswith as much dignity as he could. But his grave frowns were totallywithout power upon the youthful choristers, whose laughter would havebeen loud and audible, but for the thick folds of the surplice withwhich they stuffed their rebellious and aching jaws.

  Noble himself was mournfully agitated, and prayed in the spirit withthat deep and melancholy fervour which hath no outward expression butthe abased eyes.

  By degrees, the congregation recovered their composure, and never wasan anthem performed with more earnest solemnity, or a sweetness moretouching to the inmost soul, than the "_Ne Irascaris_," the "Be notWroth," or "Bow thine Ear" of the famous composer Bird. At the words"Sion, thy Sion is wasted and brought low," which are set to a tenderand solemn passage, and are sung very soft and slow, the effect wassublime. Moved by the deep pathos of the expression, the cheeks ofNoble, as of a few others present, were bathed in tears.

  But the stranger remained in his seat without rising, and perused hisbook with a kind of resolved and insulting inattention to it all.

  The service was not permitted to close without this mysteriouspersonage marking his contempt of it yet farther, by rising suddenly,while all the congregation were on their knees, and stalking slowlydown the middle of the aisle with a loud and measured stamp of hisgreat thick boots.

  He wore by his side a long heavy-looking sword, and had certainly theair of a man who could use it, if he chose, with little fear and nofavour.

  Noble joined the clergy in the chapter-room directly after the morningprayers were ended, and there learned that there had been a riot thenight before in the streets, excited by some mischievous emissary fromLondon; and that some of the rabble had burned a bishop in effigy, inthe close just under the windows of the dean. It seemed, however, thatthis outrage had been
committed by a band of low persons, who had comeup from Bristol to attend a fair, and had brought with them sundryprinted papers and ribald songs to distribute in the lanes and alleysof the city: the object of which was to bring the church and clergyinto public contempt.

  However, it so happens that, for the most part, the inhabitants of acathedral town take a great pride in the edifice itself, whatever maybe their indifference to religion. Those magnificent structures arethe first wonders upon which the eyes of the human beings, born andsuckled beneath their shadow, are taught to gaze. They are noble andsolemn features in the scene of early life; and are printed soindelibly on the mind, that, let the native of a cathedral city wanderwhere he will, the recollection of the venerable temple goes with him,associated, in his memory, with his birthplace, his holydays, histruant hours, with the merry music of festival bells, with the prideof having often seen strangers and travellers, both of high and lowdegree, walk about its walls, and linger in its spacious aisles, withpleasure and admiration.

  Therefore a party among the common people was easily roused to take upsticks and stones against the insulting mischief-makers, who were thusat last driven away from the city with great tumult.

  It was the very day following this riot that the offensive adventurein the cathedral, which we have just related, occurred. As no doubtexisted in the minds of the clergy assembled in the chapter-room thatthe extraordinary person, who had just committed so gross and indecentan outrage in a place of public worship, was, in some measure,connected with the disturbance of the preceding day, they resolved tomake an immediate complaint to the Mayor of Wells, that the obnoxiousindividual might be taken up, and committed to prison, or otherwisepunished for his offence.

  Some little time had been lost in their consultations; and they cameforth from the cathedral in a body, with the intention of despatchingtwo of the prebends, already deputed for that purpose, to wait uponthe mayor, when, to their surprise and mortification, they saw theobject of their anger approaching them on horseback. As he drew near,it was evident that the opportunity of arresting him was already lost.He rode a very powerful young horse of generous breed and fineaction--and he sat upon him as on a throne.

  "Look ye," said he, as he drew up close to the astonishedgroup,--"Look ye, Scribes and Pharisees! hypocrites!--ye lovegreetings in the market-place--take mine:--the time is come to setyour houses in order--even now the decree is gone forth--the sword isnow sharpening that shall pass through the land:--it glitters, lookye." So saying, with a grim smile he drew the blade of his own halfout of the scabbard, and let it fall again with a forcible rattle.

  The dean, who was a bold and athletic man, disregarding this fierceaction, made an active effort to seize the bridle of the Puritan'ssteed; but the wary rider with a jerk of the reins threw up theanimal's head, and at the same moment touching his flank with the spurmade him give a plunge forward that scattered the frightened priests afew yards on either side. Nevertheless, the dean remonstrated in veryangry terms against his insulting abuse; as did others, who were, likehimself, courageous. They did not, however, succeed either in stoppingthe fanatic or in driving him away:--a small mob was gathering in thecathedral yard, and the fiery zealot continued his address.

  "What mean ye, ye priests of Baal, by your silks, and your satins, andyour hoods, and your scarfs, and your square caps, and your surplices,and all your fooleries? what mean your boy choristers that bleat likeyoung kids, and your men choristers that bellow like oxen? what meansyour grunting organ? Is it thus you worship God, as though he were anidol and an abomination, and his temple like that of the heathen? Itshould be a house of prayer, and ye have made it a den of thieves, andall its services vain and lewd mummeries. I cry, Fie upon you!--Wo,wo, wo!--Ye shall see me again when the blast of the trumpet soundeth,and mine eye shall not pity. I will smite, I will not spare you. Haveye not preached blasphemies? have ye not broken and polluted the holySabbath with your sports and your harlotries? have ye not shed theblood of God-fearing men? yea, verily. Now hear my warning:--come outof her, come out of her, my people. There are among you, even amongyour priests, some whom the Lord hath chosen:--yet again I call toyou, Come out of her, come out of Babylon, that ye perish not withher. To me is appointed this cry:--every where I must lift up my voicethus, till the day of vengeance come. Wo shall be the portion of thosewho hear me not!"

  An insane delight gleamed in his dark eyes, a convulsive energydistorted his features, and seemed to affect and agitate his wholeform. The crowd drew closer to him: the resolute dean beckoning themforward, again advanced with the intention of seizing him, when hesuddenly gave his horse the head; and touching the high spirited beastwith both spurs, he was borne out of their sight at a few rapidbounds, and was very soon beyond all danger of pursuit.

  Several of the mob ran round the corner after him jeering andcheering; but the clergy went their ways, by twos and threes, andtalked over the uncomfortable though diseased words of the fanaticwith much gravity and discomposure.

  Many painful extravagancies of a fanatic character had been alreadycommitted in various parts of the country; and in London manyscandalous scenes had been enacted, expressive of a contempt for theEstablished Church and her ministers.

  The prelates and dignitaries were the especial marks of popularhatred; but, hitherto, nothing approaching to the indecency andoutrage above recorded had occurred in the neighbourhood and under theeye of Noble.

  Again he could have wished Cuthbert to have been present, as he hadformerly wished that he could have witnessed the unmannerly andunchristian bearing of Master Daws, the morose and designing curate,whose interview with Noble we have in a former part of this storyrelated.

  "Surely," thought the mild man of peace,--"Surely such things wouldopen his eyes to the spirit that is abroad, and to the aim and end ofthese violent men, who would purify our venerable church as with fire,and wash away her few stains with the blood and the tears of herfaithful children."

  After partaking of a dinner, with little appetite, in the house of hisfriend, where the party assembled formed but a sad society, and wherethe time passed in the discussion of more grave and anxious mattersthan those upon which they were commonly engaged in these innocentweekly meetings, the worthy parson mounted his old mare, and rode backslowly to Cheddar. His thoughts were so profoundly and mournfullyabsorbed by reflections on the very startling occurrences of themorning, that he saw not the clouds which were gathering overhead,until he was awakened to observe them by a sudden and loud clap ofthunder. The sunshine was suddenly obscured by a deep gloom. A fewheavy rain drops fell upon him, and were soon followed by a thick andrushing deluge of such rain as falls in summer tempests. The sky wascovered with a mass of clouds black as a funeral pall. Every momentflashes of angry lightning passed across it in vivid and arrowy forms;while thunder followed, peal after peal rolling in quick and troubledsuccession. Noble had just entered the defile or pass by which Cheddaris approached; and as the narrow road lies in the bottom of a chasm,on either side of which the rocks rise many hundred feet with aterrific grandeur, the horrid gloom--the lurid and ghastlylights--and the prolonged echoes with which the roar of the thunderwas borne from crag to crag--gave a tenfold awfulness to the storm,and sublimely shadowed forth the power of Jehovah.

  Amid this war of elements the meek parson felt almost happy:--hisfrightened beast had stopped beneath a rock that inclined somewhatover the road, though not sufficiently to afford any shelter from therain. He was drenched to the skin himself, and as he could not urgehis animal forward he dismounted; but the wet and the delay wereforgotten, were disregarded. There are moments of communion with theDeity, which, when they are accorded to his feeble children, causetheir spirits to be rapt in seraphic love. The adoration that is bornof a faith trembling yet holding fast is the sublimest humanworship:--"the firmest thing in this inferior world is a believingsoul." And he that can lift up his voice with the Psalmist, and, amidthe horrors of a tempest, can say, "Praise the Lord, O my soul; andall that is wi
thin me praise his holy name," hath, as it were, asublime foretaste of that great and terrible day of the Lord, when theChristian shall witness the final and everlasting triumph of hisRedeemer over sin and death,--and shall behold his salvation drawnigh.