Part 8 (2/2)
CHAPTER XV.
CONFESSION.
There are those who have a.s.serted that the doctrine of Justification by Faith will lead to neglect of good works; that he who believes that Christ has done all, will be content himself to do nothing. How false is the a.s.sertion has been constantly proved by the lives of those who have most simply and unreservedly thrown themselves on the free mercy of Him who died for sinners! Love for the Saviour and the indulgence of wilful sin can no more exist together than fire and water unite.
Where the Heavenly Guest enters, a halo of light s.h.i.+nes around Him which reveals impurities which have hitherto, perhaps, altogether escaped the notice of conscience. Wheresoever the Saviour goes, holiness is the print left by His footsteps.
Thus was it with Alcala. Having received the gospel with joy, he intuitively began to consider what return of grateful obedience he could make for unmerited mercy. Having cheerfully resolved to run the race set before him, he felt that he must speed towards his glorious goal disenc.u.mbered of the weight of the sin which most easily beset him. Alcala had little difficulty in discovering what that sin was.
Turning from contemplation of Christian doctrine to that of Christian duties, the Spaniard was struck by the very first sentence uttered by Divine lips in the Sermon on the Mount--”_Blessed are the poor in spirit._”
Alcala paused long, with his finger on that verse. He was a Spaniard, and a Spaniard of n.o.ble birth. He had been, as it were, cradled in pride; taught to regard pride as a lofty virtue. Was it needful, and even if needful, was it possible, to overcome what seemed woven into his very nature? Could the high-spirited cavalier ever become the meek and lowly believer?
Alcala felt that, in the struggle against pride in its various forms, he was now entering his spiritual Plaza de Toros; that his own strength was as weakness compared with that of the mighty enemy before him. He must ask for strength greater than his own, he must seek for the aid of that Holy Spirit who could enable him to overthrow and trample even upon pride. Alcala reflected deeply on the numerous pa.s.sages in Scripture which represent humility as essential to the character of a believer. It was difficult indeed to throw aside prejudices that had become as a part of himself, to recognize the truth that nothing is really degrading but sin, and that the highest and n.o.blest have nothing whereof to boast. Alcala's reflections, however, brought him to a conviction which was once simply and beautifully expressed by a believer, whose life proved that she spoke from the heart:[16]--”What is the position of a Christian? To wash the disciples' feet, to sit at the Saviour's feet,--this is the position of a Christian!”
”I shall bear on my person to the end of my days a scar to remind me that G.o.d abhors pride,” thought Alcala; ”and the lesson will be enforced by new privations, in which, alas! my family must share. Who has more reason than I to know that pride is a fiend who, under the name of high spirit, lures us on to destruction? But for unmerited grace, I should have sacrificed to him both body and soul. His voice was more strong in this guilty heart than the appeals of reason, conscience, and affection. I preferred dying like a madman, to owning that I had boasted like a fool!”
Alcala was thus pondering over the subject, when his sister entered his apartment, knelt by his side, and timidly took his hand in her own.
”Something has grieved my sweet one,” said Alcala, reading trouble in the face of his sister.
”Alcala, I must hide nothing from you,” murmured Inez, with the meekness of a child confessing a fault. ”I fear that I may have done wrong, but you will judge when you know the whole truth. Donna Maria was here yester-evening, while the English senor was with you. I could not help speaking to her of my troubles; I could not help telling her of our--our difficulties,” continued Inez, drooping her head. ”I thought that she had the means to help us, and--we are so poor, Alcala!”
”Poverty is no disgrace, my Inez,” said Alcala; ”except,” he added gravely, ”poverty brought on by such an act of criminal folly and pride as that which has laid me here.”
”I told our mother's friend that I had parted with all,--everything that could be turned into money,--even your guitar, Alcala,” continued Inez with a sigh. ”'What, child!' replied Donna Maria, 'even with King Philip's reliquary, which holds the hair of Santa Veronica, the heirloom of which your family is so proud? I would give you twenty dollars for that!'”
”A liberal offer!” cried Alcala, with irony. ”Our fathers would not have sold the relic for twenty thousand!” The cavalier felt that the little hand which he held was trembling, and reproached himself for the unguarded exclamation.
”So you let the senora have the reliquary,” he said, kindly sparing the poor girl the pain of continuing her story.
”Did I do very wrong?” murmured Inez. ”Must I tell Father Bonifacio, when next I go to confession, that I have sold Santa Veronica's hair?”
”No; you did right,” replied Alcala. And he added cheerfully, ”One verse from the Bible is worth more than all the relics in the Cathedral of Seville; and as for confession, I would fain that you, like myself, should resolve never again to confess to a Romish priest.”
”Renegade! infidel! apostate!” exclaimed a furious voice. Inez started in terror to her feet. Bonifacio stood in the doorway, with raised arm and clenched hand, as if he were launching a thunderbolt of vengeance at the devoted head of her brother. Teresa, horror-struck, stood behind the priest, whom she had been on the point of ushering into the apartment, when he had paused upon the threshold to hear Alcala's concluding sentence. ”Wretch! abandoned by Heaven, lost to every sentiment of religion!” continued the furious ecclesiastic, ”think not that you can with impunity defy the power of the Church! We have a pious Queen, who has faithful counsellors in her confessor Claret and the saintly Patrocinio.[17] The arm of the law is yet mighty enough to strike--to crush the apostates who renounce their holy faith to join the enemies of all true religion!” And after a gesture expressing that he shook from his sandalled feet the polluted dust of the heretic's dwelling, Bonifacio turned his back on Alcala, and strode rapidly through the long corridor, followed to the entrance by Teresa, who was wringing her hands.
”O Alcala! all is lost!” exclaimed Inez.
”Fear nothing, beloved,” said Alcala, with a serene composure which astonished his sister, ”mere words have no power to hurt. Though Bonifacio may have the spirit of old Torquemada, these are not days when men can be sent to the stake for confessing the truth.”
”But there may be persecution,--sharp, dreadful persecution,” faltered Inez.
”If so, my G.o.d will enable me to bear it,” said Alcala, with a countenance that brightened at the thought of enduring suffering and shame for the sake of his Lord. ”Inez, my heart's sister, be not troubled. Think not of what your brother has lost, but what he has found;” and Alcala laid his hand on the sacred Volume. ”If you knew more of the contents of this Book, you would fear no longer what man can do unto those who have grasped the hope of eternal life. But you shall know more of it, Inez. This evening you and our servants shall hear me read the words of truth. My wound is almost healed, my strength is gradually returning, and I would fain devote that strength to the service of my Heavenly Master. It is meet that my first audience should be those who form our own household. Lepine would have explained evangelical doctrines better than I can, to whom they are as a new revelation; yet I regret not that he is absent at Madrid, since, if the rumour of even so small a meeting were noised abroad, it might bring my friend into trouble. Let Teresa and Chico come to my room after sunset; would that our dear grandmother's mind had power to receive the glad tidings of free salvation!”
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