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Familiar Studies of Men & Books-Part44_ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON(1850-1894)_English Literature(文学名著)-第2页

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in a very high place; we can recognise here the same hand

that has written for our instruction how the man is set above



the woman, even as God above the angels. But the point of

the distinction is plain. For Clerk-Register Mackgil was not



a faithful husband; displayed, indeed, towards religion a

"coldness which justly might be called infidelity." We shall



see in more notable instances how much Knox's conception of

the duty of wives varies according to the zeal and orthodoxy



of the husband.

(1) Works, iv. 244.



(2) Works, iv. 246.

(3) IB. iv. 225.



(4) Works, iv. 245.

(5) IB. iv. 221.



As I have said, he may possibly have made the acquaintance of

Mrs. Mackgil, Mrs. Guthrie, or some other, or all, of these



Edinburgh friends while he was still Douglas of Longniddry's

private tutor. But our certain knowledge begins in 1549. He



was then but newly escaped from his captivity in France,

after pulling an oar for nineteen months on the benches of



the galley NOSTRE DAME; now up the rivers, holding stealthy

intercourse with other Scottish prisoners in the castle of



Rouen; now out in the North Sea, raising his sick head to

catch a glimpse of the far-off steeples of St. Andrews. And



now he was sent down by the English Privy Council as a

preacher to Berwick-upon-Tweed; somewhat shaken in health by



all his hardships, full of pains and agues, and tormented by

gravel, that sorrow of great men; altogether, what with his



romantic story, his weak health, and his great faculty of

eloquence, a very natural object for the sympathy of devout



women. At this happy juncture he fell into the company of a

Mrs. Elizabeth Bowes, wife of Richard Bowes, of Aske, in



Yorkshire, to whom she had borne twelve children. She was a

religious hypochondriac, a very weariful woman, full of



doubts and scruples, and giving no rest on earth either to

herself or to those whom she honoured with her confidence.



From the first time she heard Knox preach she formed a high

opinion of him, and was solicitous ever after of his society.



(1) Nor was Knox unresponsive. "I have always delighted in

your company," he writes, "and when labours would permit, you



know I have not spared hours to talk and commune with you."

Often when they had met in depression he reminds her, "God



hath sent great comfort unto both." (2) We can gather from

such letters as are yet extant how close and continuous was



their intercourse. "I think it best you remain till the

morrow," he writes once, "and so shall we commune at large at



afternoon. This day you know to be the day of my study and

prayer unto God; yet if your trouble be intolerable, or, if



you think my presence may release your pain, do as the Spirit

shall move you. . . . Your messenger found me in bed, after a



sore trouble and most dolorous night, and so dolour may

complain to dolour when we two meet. . . . And this is more



plain than ever I spoke, to let you know you have a companion

in trouble." (3) Once we have the curtain raised for a



moment, and can look at the two together for the length of a

phrase. "After the writing of this preceding," writes Knox,



"your brother and mine, Harrie Wycliffe, did advertise me by

writing, that our adversary (the devil) took occasion to



trouble you because that I DID START BACK FROM YOU REHEARSING

YOUR INFIRMITIES. I REMEMBER MYSELF SO TO HAVE DONE, AND



THAT IS MY COMMON ON CONSUETUDE WHEN ANYTHING PIERCETH OR

TOUCHETH MY HEART. CALL TO YOUR MIND WHAT I DID STANDING AT



THE CUPBOARD AT ALNWICK. In very deed I thought that no

creature had been tempted as I was; and when I heard proceed



from your mouth the very same words that he troubles me with,




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