tion.

[Sidenote: The brethren make their preparations.]

"The day after he preached a sermon in the chapel on the 59th Psalm,--'O
God, Thou hast cast us off, Thou hast destroyed us;'[430] concluding
with the words, 'It is better that we should suffer here a short penance
for our faults, than be reserved for the eternal pains of hell
hereafter;'--and so ending, he turned to us and bade us all do as we saw
him do. Then rising from his place he went direct to the eldest of the
brethren, who was sitting nearest to himself, and kneeling before him,
begged his forgiveness for any offence which in heart, word, or deed, he
might have committed against him. Thence he proceeded to the next, and
said the same; and so to the next, through us all, we following him and
saying as he did, each from each imploring pardon."

Thus, with unobtrusive nobleness, did these poor men prepare themselves
for their end; not less beautiful in their resolution, not less
deserving the everlasting remembrance of mankind, than those three
hundred who in the summer morning sate combing their golden hair in the
passes of Thermopylae. We will not regret their cause; there is no cause
for which any man can more nobly suffer than to witness that it is
better for him to die than to speak words which he does not mean. Nor,
in this their hour of trial, were they left without higher comfort.

"The third day after," the story goes on, "was the mass of the Holy
Ghost, and God made known his presence among us. For when the host was
lifted up, there came as it were a whisper of air, which breathed upon
our faces as we knelt. Some perceived it with the bodily senses; all
felt it as it thrilled into their hearts. And then followed a sweet,
soft sound of music, at which our venerable father was so moved, God
being thus abundantly manifest among us, that he sank down in tears, and
for a long time could not continue the service--we all remaining
stupified, hearing the melody, and feeling the marvellous effects of it
upon our spirits, but knowing neither whence it came nor whither it
went. Only our hearts rejoiced as we perceived that God was with us
indeed."

[Sidenote: The government are in no haste to enforce the statutes.]

Comforted and resolute, the brotherhood awaited patiently the approach
of the commissioners; and they waited long, for the crown was in no
haste to be severe. The statutes had been passed in no spirit of
cruelty; they were weapons to be use