only it be opened to them now
and again; but if the door remains closed too long, they will judge the
house uninhabited and go elsewhere. And thus it is that a season of
persecution, constantly endured, revives the fainting confidence of the
people, and some centuries of prosperity may prepare a Church for ruin.
You have here at your hand an opportunity to do more for the credit of
your Christianity than ever you could do by visions, miracles, or
prophecies. A sacrifice such as this would be better worth, as I said
before, than many sermons; and there is a disposition in mankind that
would ennoble it beyond much that is more ostentatious; for men, whether
lay or clerical, suffer better the flame of the stake than a daily
inconvenience or a pointed sneer, and will not readily be martyred
without some external circumstance and a concourse looking on. And you
need not fear that your virtue will be thrown away; the people of
Scotland will be quick to understand, in default of visible fire and
halter, that you have done a brave action for Christianity and the
national weal; and if they are spared in the future any of the present
ignoble jealousy of sect against sect, they will not forget that to that
end you gave of your household comfort and stinted your children. Even
if you fail--ay, and even if there were not found one to profit by your
invitation--your virtue would still have its own reward. Your
predecessors gave their lives for ends not always the most Christian;
they were tempted, and slain with the sword; they wandered in deserts
and in mountains, in caves and in dens of the earth. But your action
will not be less illustrious; what you may have to suffer may be a small
thing if the world will, but it will have been suffered for the cause of
peace and brotherly love.

I have said that the people of Scotland will be quick to appreciate what
you do. You know well that they will be quick also to follow your
example. But the sign should come from you. It is more seemly that you
should lead than follow in this matter. Your predecessors gave the word
from their free pulpits which was to brace men for sectarian strife: it
would be a pleasant sequel if the word came from you that was to bid
them bury all jealousy, and forget the ugly and contentious past in a
good hope of peace to come.

What is said in these few pages may be objected to as vague; it is no
more vague than the position seemed to me to demand. Each man must