We hear so
little in our day of the concept of “duty.”
It just seems so antiquated, as if it were some old-fashioned concept
that the less-enlightened folks in the days of yore used to believe in. “Live for yourself!” is the mantra of our
day. Ask anyone to engage in any sort of
enterprise or undertaking and, no matter how minimal the level of involvement which
may be required of them, they are more likely than not to ask “What’s in it for
me?” The concept of duty may not be
getting its fair share of respect in our day, and perhaps such has been the
case since Adam’s fall, yet history gives us examples of those who risked and
even lost all for causes they believed they were obliged by honor and duty to
advance.
After the
battle of Culloden in Scotland (April 16, 1746), when the Jacobite forces of
“Bonnie Prince Charlie” had been smashed by the English army, there began a
series of reprisals against all those who took up arms in support of or
otherwise furthered the cause of the exiled James Stuart, the “king over the
water.” Those foremost in the crosshairs
of English vengeance were the Scottish aristocracy, as they were esteemed to be
the leaders who had fomented dissent against the Hanoverian regime. Several of the Scottish nobility were arrested
and transported to London to stand trial for treason. One such noble was Arthur Elphinstone, the 6th
Lord Balmerino. Although convicted in
England of treason and sentenced to death for his role in supporting Prince
Charlie, his resolution and faith in the cause never wavered. Before his accusers he made a bold speech,
part of which was: “…When his Royal Highness [Charles Edward Stuart, a.k.a.
“Bonnie Prince Charlie”] came to Edinburgh, as it was my bounden and
indispensible Duty, I joined him, tho' I might easily have excused myself from
taking Arms on account of my Age; but I never could have had Peace of
Conscience, if I had stayed at Home when that brave Prince was exposing himself
to all Manner of Dangers and Fatigues, both Day and Night.”1 On the
eve of his execution, he wrote to the exiled James Stuart, “Sir, when his Royal
Highness the Prince your son came to Edinburgh, as it was my bounden and
indispensible duty, I joyn’d him for which I am tomorrow to lose my head on the
scaffold whereat I am so far from being dismayed that it gives me great
satisfaction and peace of mind that I die in so righteous a cause.”2
Whatever might be your opinion of the Jacobites and their claims, or even if
you have no opinion at all in the matter, one has to admire the sense of duty
Balmerino had in regards to what he perceived was his responsibility to serve
his king. May we be people who follow
the admonition of another king, Solomon: “Let us hear the conclusion of the
whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty
of man. (Eccl. 12:13)”
Christ, not man, is King!
Dale
1)
Balmerino et al, True Copies of the Papers, etc.
(Google e-book http://books.google.com/books?id=1qBbAAAAQAAJ&source=gbs_navlinks_s),
p. 6.
2)
Hugh Douglas, Jacobite Spy Wars: Moles, Rogues
and Treachery (Thrupp, Stroud, Gloucestershire, UK: Sutton Publishing, Ltd.,
1999), p. 146.
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