arcely revenue sufficient to supply me
with clothes and arms, much less to restore it as I wished to have done.
I have already made two voyages to far-off lands, and come back no
richer than I went, and have at length resolved to take service in the
navy of France, in which I may hope to carve out my way to distinction,
with the help of the admiral."

"He may be ready enough to receive you and afford you his patronage; but
I warn you, Cousin Nigel, that he may be less able to forward your
interests than you may suppose. He is known to hold the principles of
the leaders of those dangerous people the Protestants, who are hated and
feared at court, where the Guises, the brothers of the Queen Regent of
Scotland, have of late gained the chief influence. Take my advice,
Cousin Nigel, seek some more profitable patron, and have nothing to do
with the Huguenots."

"I thank you for your advice, cousin. I must confess, however, that I
do not hold the opinion you express of the Protestants, but on the
contrary, am greatly inclined to agree with their principles. I lately
heard a wonderful preacher, one John Knox, who has appeared in Scotland,
and brought thousands to see the gross errors of the papal system. He
proves clearly that the Pope of Rome has no real ground for his
pretensions to be the head of Christ's Church on earth; that he cannot
be the successor of the apostle Peter, who never was Bishop of Rome; but
that he is rather the successor of the great heathen high priest, whose
idolatries he perpetuates and supports, and that therefore he and his
cardinals and priests are impostors, who should on no account be obeyed.
He clearly explains indeed that those who rule in the Seven-hilled city
represent no other than the Scarlet Woman spoken of in the Apocalypse,
their system being in truth the Mystery of Iniquity."

"Oh, dreadful!" exclaimed the young lady. "Why, Cousin Nigel, you are a
rank heretic, and were you to express such opinions as these in public,
your life would be in danger. Hundreds of Frenchmen have already been
burned for holding opinions not half as bad as those you have expressed.
I am almost afraid to listen to you; not that we trouble ourselves much
about such matters at court, where people are allowed to think what they
like, provided they do not utter their thoughts too loudly, or in the
hearing of the doctors of the Sarbonne (the theological college of
France), who have of late become rigidly orth