"Trust me, Andrew," said he, "nobody profits by these
notions but thieves and desperate fellows ready to become thieves!"
"I do not understand you, sir!"
"Not understand me?" replied the knight, rather impatiently. "Who
suffers in these contests for liberty, as you choose to call them, but
such men as Lord Mar and your father? Betrayed by artful declamation,
they rush into conspiracies against the existing government, are
detected, ruined, and perhaps finally lose their lives! Who gains by
rebellion, but a few penniless wretches, that embrace these vaunted
principles from the urgency of their necessities? They acquire
plunder, under the mask of extraordinary disinterestedness; and
hazarding nothing of themselves but their worthless lives, they would
make tools of the first men in the realm; and throw the whole country
into flames, that they may catch a few brands from the fire!"
Young Murray felt his anger rise with this speech. "You do not speak
to my point, sir! I do not come here to dispute the general evil of
revolt, but to ask your assistance to snatch two of the bravest men in
Scotland from the fangs of the tyrant who has made you a slave!"
"Nephew!" cried the knight, starting from his couch; and darting a
fierce look at him, "if any man but one of my own blood had uttered
that word, this hour should have been his last.
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