Young Malcolm MacPhail has already had his audience in the hall of the richly clad widow -- mother of the mad laird, Stephen Stewart. Malcolm has gained the laird's trust -- and with all the honesty of his heart he will do nothing against the poor man, even if it means pitting himself against the plans of the laird's wealthy mother. So strongly set is Malcolm's conscience it threatens to put him on bad terms, too, with the Marquis, with whom he has found shelter and employment. Yet Malcolm knows the ways of his own heart -- and he knows the mad laird is not the idiot the rest of the world believes him to be!
George MacDonald was a Scottish author, poet, and Christian minister.
Known particularly for his poignant fairy tales and fantasy novels, George MacDonald inspired many authors, such as W. H. Auden, J. R. R. Tolkien, C. S. Lewis, E. Nesbit and Madeleine L'Engle. G. K. Chesterton cited The Princess and the Goblin as a book that had "made a difference to my whole existence."
Even Mark Twain, who initially disliked MacDonald, became friends with him, and there is some evidence that Twain was influenced by MacDonald.
MacDonald grew up influenced by his Congregational Church, with an atmosphere of Calvinism. But MacDonald never felt comfortable with some aspects of Calvinist doctrine; indeed, legend has it that when the doctrine of predestination was first explained to him, he burst into tears (although assured that he was one of the elect). Later novels, such as Robert Falconer and Lilith, show a distaste for the idea that God's electing love is limited to some and denied to others.
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