A NIGHT AND MORNING.
When I read of men possessed by some Spirit--that is to say,
compelled to go hither and thither where, but for the Spirit, they
would not go, and to say things which they would not otherwise
have said--I think of our midnight ride to Lyme, and of my father
there, and of the three weeks' madness which followed. It was some
Spirit--whether of good or evil, I cannot say, and I dare not so
much as to question--which seized him. That he hurried away to join
the Duke on the first news of his landing, without counting the cost
or weighing the chances, is easy to be understood. Like Humphrey,
he was led by his knowledge of the great numbers who hated the
Catholic religion to believe that they, like himself, would rise
with one accord. He also remembered the successful rebellion against
the first Charles, and expected nothing less than a repetition of
that success. This, I know, was what the exiles in Holland thought
and believed. The Duke, they said, was the darling of the people;
he was the Protestant champion: who would not press forward when he
should draw the sword? But what other man--what man in his sober
senses would have dragged his wife and daughter with him to the
godless riot of a camp? Perhaps he wanted them to share his triumph,
to listen while he moved the soldiers, as that ancient hermit Peter
moved the people to the Holy Wars? But I know not. He said that I
was to be, like Jephthah's daughter, consecrated to the Cause of the
Lord; and what he meant by that I never understood.
He was so eager to start upon the journey that he would not wait
a moment. The horses must be saddled; we must mount and away. Mark
that they were Sir Christopher's horses which we borrowed; this also
was noted afterwards for the ruin of that good old man, with other
particulars: as that Monmouth's Declaration was found in the house
(Barnaby brought it); one of Monmouth's Captains, Barnaby Eykin by
name, had ridden from Lyme to Bradford in order to see him; he was a
friend of the preacher Dr. Eykin; he was grandfather to one of the
rebels and grand-uncle to another; with many other things. But these
were enough.
'Surely, surely, friend,' said Sir Christopher, 'thou wilt not take
wife and daughter? They cannot help the Cause; they have no place in
a camp!'
'Young men and maidens: one with another. Quick! we waste the time.'
'And to ride all night? Consider, man--all night long!'
'What is a night? They will have all eternity for rest.'
'He hath set his heart upon it,' said my mother. 'Let us go--a
night's weariness will not do much harm. Let us go, Sir Christopher,
without further parley.'
'Go then, in the Name of God,' said the old man. 'Child, give me a
kiss.' He took me in his arms and kissed me on the forehead. 'Thou
art, then,' he said tenderly, 'devoted to the Protestant Cause.
Why, thou art already promised to a Protestant since this morning:
forget not that promise, child. Humphrey and Barnaby will protect
thee--and'----
'Sir,' cried Robin quickly, 'by your leave, I alone have the right
to go with her and to protect her.'
'Nay, Robin,' I said, 'stay here until Sir Christopher himself bids
thee go. That will perhaps be very soon. Remember thy promise. We
did not know, Robin, an hour ago, that the promise would be claimed
so soon. Robin'--for he murmured--'I charge thee, remain at home
until'----
'I promise thee, Sweetheart.' But he hung his head and looked
ashamed.
Sir Christopher, holding my hand, stepped forth upon the grass and
looked upwards into the clear sky, where in the transparent twilight
we could see a few stars twinkling.
'This, friend Eykin--this, Humphrey,' he said, gravely, 'is a
solemn night for all. No more fateful night hath ever fallen upon
any of us; no! not that day when I joined Hampden's new regiment
and followed with the army of Lord Essex. Granted that we have a
righteous cause, we know not that our leader hath in him the root of
the matter. To rise against the King is a most weighty matter--fatal
if it fail, a dangerous precedent if it succeed. Civil war is, of
all wars, the most grievous; to fight under a leader who doth not
live after the Laws of God is, methinks, most dangerous. The Duke
hath lit a torch which will spread flames everywhere'----
'It is the Voice of the Lord which calleth us!' my father
interrupted. 'To-morrow I shall speak again to God's Elect.'
'Sir,' said Humphrey, very seriously, 'I pray you think not that
this enterprise hath been rashly entered upon, nor that we depend
upon the judgment of the Duke alone. It is, most unhappily, true
that his life is sinful, and so is that of Lord Grey, who hath
deserted his own lawful wife for her sister. But those who have
pushed on the enterprise consider that the Duke is, at least, a
true Protestant. They have, moreover, received solid assurances of
support from every quarter. You have been kept in the dark from the
beginning at my own earnest request, because, though I knew full
well your opinion, I would not trouble your peace or endanger your
person. Suffer us, then, to depart, and, for yourself, do nothing;
and keep--oh! Sir, I entreat you--keep Robin at home until our
success leaves no room for doubt.'
'Go, then, go,' said Sir Christopher; 'I have grievous misgivings
that all is not well. But go, and Heaven bless the Cause!'
Robin kissed me, whispering that he would follow, and that before
many days; and so we mounted and rode forth. In such hot haste did
we depart that we took with us no change of raiment or any provision
for the journey at all, save that Barnaby, who, as I afterwards
found, never forgot the provisions, found time to get together a
small parcel of bread and meat, and a flask of Canary, with which to
refresh our spirits later on. We even rode away without any money.
My father rode one horse and my mother sat behind him: then I
followed, Barnaby marching manfully beside me, and Humphrey
rode last. The ways are rough, so that those who ride, even by
daylight, go but slowly; and we, riding between high hedges, went
much too slowly for my father, who, if he spoke at all, cried out
impatiently, 'Quicker! Quicker! we lose the time.'
He sat bending over the horse's head, with rounded shoulders, his
feet sticking out on either side, his long white hair and his ragged
cassock floating in the wind. In his left hand he carried his Bible
as a soldier carries his sword; on his head he wore the black silk
cap in which he daily sat at work. He was praying and meditating; he
was preparing the sermon which he would deliver in the morning.
Barnaby plodded on beside me: night or day made no difference to
him. He slept when he could, and worked when he must. Sailors keep
their watch day and night without any difference.
'It was Sir Christopher that I came after,' he told me presently.
'Mr. Dare--who hath since been killed by Mr. Fletcher--told the Duke
that if Sir Christopher Challis would only come into camp, old as
he is, the country gentlemen of his opinions would follow to a man,
so respected is he. Well, he will not. But we have his grandnephew,
Humphrey; and, if I mistake not, we shall have his grandson--if
kisses mean anything. So Robin is thy Sweetheart, Sister: thou art a
lucky girl. And we shall have Dad to preach to us. Well, I know not
what will happen, but some will be knocked o' the head, and if Dad
goes in the way of knocks----But, whatever happens, he will get his
tongue again--and so he will be happy.'
'As for preaching,' he went on, speaking with due pauses, because
there was no hurry in these dark lanes, and he was never one of
those whose words flow easily, 'if he thinks to preach daily, as
they say was done in Cromwell's time, I doubt if he will find many
to listen, for by the look of the fellows who are crowding into camp
they will love the clinking of the can better than the division of
the text. But if he cause his friends to join he will be welcomed:
and for devoting his wife and daughter to the Cause, that, Sister,
with submission, is rank nonsense, and the sooner you get out of the
camp, if you must go there, the better. Women aboard ship are bad
enough, but in camp they are the very devil.'
'Barnaby, speak not lightly of the Evil One.'
'Where shall we bestow you when the fighting comes? Well, it shall
be in some safe place.'
'Oh, Barnaby! will there be fighting?'
'Good lack, child! what else will there be?'
'As the walls of Jericho fell down at the blast of the trumpet, so
the King's armies will be dispersed at the approach of the Lord's
soldiers.'
'That was a vast long time ago, Sister. There is now no such
trumpet-work employed in war, and no priests on the march; but
plenty of fighting to be done before anything is accomplished. But
have no fear. The country is rising. They are sick at heart already
of a Popish King. I say not that it will be easy work; but it can be
done, and it will be done, before we all sit down again.'
'And what will happen when it is done?'
'Truly, I know not. When one King is sent a-packing they must needs
put up another, I suppose. My father shall have the biggest church
in the country to preach in; Humphrey shall be made physician to the
new King--nothing less; you shall marry Robin, and he shall be made
a Duke or a Lord at least; and I shall have command of the biggest
ship in the King's navy, and go to fight the Spaniards, or to trade
for negroes on the Guinea Coast.'
'But suppose the Duke should be defeated?'
'Well, Sister, if he is defeated it will go hard with all of us.
Those who are caught will be stabbed with a Bridport dagger, as
they say. Ask not such a question; as well ask a sailor what will
happen to him if his ship is cast away. Some may escape in boats
and some by swimming, and some are drowned, and some are cast upon
savage shores. Every man must take his chance. Never again ask such
a question. Nevertheless, I fear my father will get his neck as far
in the noose as I myself. But remember, Sister Alice, do you and my
mother keep snug. Let others carry on the rebellion, do you keep
snug. For, d'ye see, a man takes his chance, and if there should
happen (as there may) a defeat and the rout of these country lads,
I could e'en scud by myself before the gale and maybe get to a
seaport and so aboard and away while the chase was hot. But for a
woman! Keep snug, I say, therefore.'
The night, happily, was clear and fine. A slight breeze was blowing
from the north-west, which made one shiver, yet it was not too cold.
I heard the screech-owl once or twice, which caused me to tremble
more than the cold. The road, when we left the highway, which is not
often mended in these parts, became a narrow lane full of holes and
deep ruts, or else a track across open country. But Barnaby knew the
way.
It was about ten of the clock when we began our journey, and it was
six in the morning when we finished it. I suppose there are few
women who can boast of having taken so long a ride and in the night.
Yet, strange to say, I felt no desire to sleep; nor was I wearied
with the jogging of the horse, but was sustained by something of
the spirit of my father. A wonderful thing it seemed to me that a
simple country maid, such as myself, should help in putting down
the Catholic King; women there have been who have played great
parts in history--Jael, Deborah, Judith, and Esther, for example;
but that I should be called (since then I have discovered that I
was not called), this, indeed, seemed truly wonderful. Then I was
going forth to witness the array of a gallant army about to fight
for freedom and for religion, just as they were arrayed forty years
before, when Sir Christopher was a young man and rode among them.
My brother, this stout Barnaby, was one of them; my father was one
of them; Humphrey was one of them; and in a little while I was very
sure (because Robin would feel no peace of mind if I was with the
insurgents and he was still at home) my lover would be with them
too. And I pictured to myself a holy and serious camp, filled with
godly, sober soldiers, listening to sermons and reading the Bible,
going forth to battle with hymns upon their lips; and withal so
valiant that at their very first onset the battalions of the King
would be shattered. Alas! anyone may guess the foolish thoughts of
a girl who had no knowledge of the world, nor any experience. Yet
all my life I had been taught that Resistance was at times a sacred
duty, and that the Divine Right of the (so-called) Lord's Anointed
was a vain superstition. So far, therefore, was I better prepared
than most women for the work in hand.
When we rode through Sherborne all the folk were a-bed and the
streets were empty. From Sherborne our way lay through Yetminster
and Evershott to Beaminster, where we watered and rested the horses,
and took some of Barnaby's provisions. The country through which
we rode was full of memories of the last great war. The castle of
Sherborne was twice besieged; once by Lord Bedford, when the Marquis
of Hertford held it for the King. That siege was raised; but it
was afterwards taken by Fairfax, with its garrison of six hundred
soldiers, and was then destroyed, so that it is now a heap of ruins;
and as for Beaminster, the town hath never recovered from the great
fire when Prince Maurice held it, and it is still half in ruins,
though the ivy hath grown over the blackened walls of the burned
houses. The last great war, of which I had heard so much! And now,
perhaps, we were about to begin another.
It was two o'clock in the morning when we dismounted at Beaminster.
My mother sat down upon a bench and fell instantly asleep. My father
walked up and down impatiently, as grudging every minute. Barnaby,
for his part, made a leisurely and comfortable meal, eating his
bread and meat--of which I had some--and drinking his Canary with
relish, as if we were on a journey of pleasure and there was plenty
of time for leisurely feeding. Presently he arose with a sigh (the
food and wine being all gone), and said that, the horses being now
rested, we might proceed. So he lifted my mother into her seat and
we went on with the journey, the day now breaking.
The way, I say, was never tedious to me, for I was sustained by the
novelty and the strangeness of the thing. Although I had a thousand
things to ask Barnaby, it must be confessed that for one who had
travelled so far he had marvellous little to tell. I daresay that
the deck and cabins of a ship are much the same whether she be on
the Spanish Main or in the Bristol Channel, and sailors, even in
port, are never an observant race, except of weather and so forth.
It was strange, however, only to look upon him and to mark how
stout a man he was grown and how strong, and yet how he still spoke
like the old Barnaby, so good-natured and so dull with his book,
who was daily flogged for his Latin grammar, and bore no malice,
but prepared himself to enjoy the present when the flogging was
over, and not to anticipate the certain repetition of the flogging
on the morrow. He spoke in the same slow way, as if speech were a
thing too precious to be poured out quickly; and there was always
sense in what he said (Barnaby was only stupid in the matter of
syntax), though he gave me not such answers as I could have wished.
However, he confessed, little by little, something of his history
and adventures. When he ran away, it was, as we thought, to the
port of Bristol, where he presently found a berth as cabin-boy on
board a West India-man. In this truly enviable post--everybody on
board has a cuff or a kick or a rope's-end for the boy--he continued
for some time. 'But,' said Barnaby, 'you are not to think that the
rope's-end was half so bad as my father's rod; nor the captain's
oath so bad as my father's rebuke; nor the rough work and hard fare
so bad as the Latin syntax.' Being so strong, and a hearty, willing
lad to boot, he was quickly promoted to be an able seaman, when
there were no more rope's-endings for him. Then, having an ambition
above his station, and not liking his rude and ignorant companions
of the fo'k'sle (which is the fore-part of a ship, where the common
sailors sleep and eat), and being so fortunate as to win the good
graces of the supercargo first and of the captain next, he applied
his leisure time (when he had any leisure) to the method of taking
observations, of calculating longitudes and latitudes, his knowledge
of arithmetic having fortunately stuck in his mind longer than that
of Latin. These things, I understand, are of the greatest use to
a sailor and necessary to an officer. Armed with this knowledge,
and the recommendation of his superiors, Barnaby was promoted from
before the mast and became what they call a mate, and so rose by
degrees until he was at last second captain. But by this time he had
made many voyages to the West Indies, to New York and Baltimore,
and to the West Coast of Africa in the service of his owners, and,
I daresay, had procured much wealth for them, though but little for
himself. And, being at Rotterdam upon his owners' business, he was
easily persuaded--being always a stout Protestant, and desirous to
strike a blow in revenge for the ejection of his father--to engage
as sailing Master on board the frigate which brought over the Duke
of Monmouth and his company, and then to join him on his landing.
This was the sum of what he had to tell me. He had seen many strange
people, wonderful things, and monsters of the deep: Indians, whom
the cruelty and avarice of the Spaniards have well-nigh destroyed,
the sugar plantations in the islands, negro slaves, negroes free in
their own country, sharks and calamaries (of which I had read and
heard)--he had seen all these things, and still remained (in his
mind, I mean) as if he had seen nothing. So wonderfully made are
some men that, whatever they see, they are in no way moved.
I say, then, that Barnaby answered my questions, as we rode along,
briefly, and as if such matters troubled him not. When I asked him,
for example, how the poor miserable slaves liked being captured and
sold and put on board ship crowded together for so long a voyage,
Barnaby replied that he did not know, his business being to buy
them and carry them across the water, and if they rebelled on board
ship to shoot them down or flog them; and when they got to Jamaica
to sell them: where, if they would not work, they would be flogged
until they came to a better mind. If a man was born a negro, what
else, he asked, could he expect?
There was one question which I greatly desired to ask him, but dared
not. It concerned the welfare of his soul. Presently, however,
Barnaby answered that question, before I put it.
'Sister,' he said, 'my mother's constant affliction concerning me,
before I ran away, was as to the salvation of my soul. And truly,
that formerly seemed to me so difficult a thing to compass (like
navigation to an unknown port over an unknown sea set everywhere
with hidden rocks and liable to sudden gusts) that I could not
understand how a plain man could ever succeed in it. Wherefore it
comforted me mightily after I got to sea to learn on good authority
that there is another way, which, compared with my father's, is
light and easy. In short, Sister, though he knows it not, there is
one religion for lands-folk and another for sailor-folk. A sailor
(everybody knows) cannot get so much as a sail bent without cursing
and swearing--this, which is desperately wicked ashore, counts
for nothing at all afloat: and so with many other things; and the
long and the short of it is that if a sailor does his duty, fights
his ship like a man, is true to his owners and faithful to his
messmates, it matters not one straw whether he hath daily sworn
great oaths, drunk himself (whenever he went ashore) as helpless as
a log, and kissed a pretty girl whenever his good luck gave him the
chance--which does, indeed, seldom come to most sailors'--he added
this with a deep sigh--'I say, Sister, that for such a sailor, when
his ship goes down with him, or when he gets a grapeshot through his
vitals, or when he dies of fever, as happens often enough in the
hot climates, there is no question as to the safety of his soul,
but he goes straight to heaven. What he is ordered to do when he
gets there,' said Barnaby, 'I cannot say; but it will be something,
I doubt not, that a sailor will like to do. No catechism or Latin
syntax. Wherefore, Sister, you can set my mother's heart--poor
soul!--quite at rest on this important matter. You can tell her that
you have conversed with me, and that I have that very same inward
assurance of which my father speaks so much and at such length. The
very same assurance it is--tell her that. And beg her to ask me no
questions upon the matter.'
'Well, Barnaby; but art thou sure'----
'It is a heavenly comfort,' he replied, before I had time to finish,
'to have such an assurance. For why? A man that hath it doth never
more trouble himself about what shall happen to him after he is
dead. Therefore he goes about his duty with an easy mind; and so,
Sister, no more upon this head, if you love me and desire peace of
mind for my mother.'
So nothing more was said upon that subject then or afterwards. A
sailor to be exempted by right of his calling from the religion of
the landsman! 'Tis a strange and dangerous doctrine. But, if all
sailors believe it, yet how can it be? This question, I confess, is
too high for me. And as for my mother, I gave her Barnaby's message,
begging her at the same time not to question him further. And she
sighed, but obeyed.
Presently Barnaby asked me if we had any money.
I had none, and I knew that my mother could have but little. Of
course, my father never had any. I doubt if he had possessed a
single penny since his ejection.
'Well,' said Barnaby, 'I thought to give my money to mother. But I
now perceive that if she has it she will give it to Dad; and, if he
has it, he will give it all to the Duke for the Cause--wherefore,
Sister, do you take it and keep it, not for me, but to be expended
as seemeth you best.' He lugged out of his pocket a heavy bag. 'Here
is all the money I have saved in ten years. Nay--I am not as some
sailors, one that cannot keep a penny in purse, but must needs fling
all away. Here are two hundred and fifty gold pieces. Take them,
Alice. Hang the bag round thy neck, and never part with it, day or
night. And say nothing about the money either to mother or to Dad,
for he will assuredly do with it as I have said. A time may come
when thou wilt want it.'
Two hundred and fifty gold pieces! Was it possible that Barnaby
could be so rich? I took the bag and hung it round my waist--not
my neck--by the string which he had tied above the neck, and, as
it was covered by my mantle, nobody ever suspected that I had this
treasure. In the end, as you shall hear, it seemed to be useful.
It was now broad daylight, and the sun was up. As we drew near
Bridport there stood a man in the road armed with a halbert.
'Whither go ye, good people?' he asked. 'What is your business?'
'Friend,' said Barnaby, flourishing his oaken staff, 'we ride upon
our own business. Stand aside, or thou mayest henceforth have no
more business to do upon this earth!'
'Ride on then--ride on,' he replied, standing aside with great
meekness. This was one of the guards whom they posted everywhere
upon the roads in order to stop the people who were flocking to the
camp. In this way many were sent back, and many were arrested on
their way to join Monmouth.
Now, as we drew near to Bridport, the time being about four o'clock,
we heard the firing of guns and a great shouting.
'They have begun the fighting,' said Barnaby. 'I knew it would not
be long a-coming.'
It was, in fact, the first engagement, when the Dorsetshire Militia
were driven out of Bridport by the Duke's troops, and there would
have been a signal victory at the very outset but for the cowardice
of Lord Grey, who ran away with the Horse.
Well, it was a strange and a wonderful thing to think that close at
hand were men killing each other on the Sabbath; yea, and some lying
wounded on the roads; and that civil war had again begun.
'Let us push on,' said Humphrey, 'out of the way of these troops.
They are but country lads all of them. If they retreat, they will
run; and if they run they will be seized with a panic, and will run
all the way back to Lyme, trampling on everything that is in the
road.'
This was sound advice, which we followed, taking an upper track
which brought us into the high road a mile or so nearer Charmouth.
I do not think there can be anywhere a finer road than that which
runs from Charmouth to Lyme. It runneth over high hills, sometimes
above the sea, which rolls far below, and sometimes above a great
level inland plain, the name of which I have forgotten. The highest
of the hills is called Golden Cap; the reason why was plainly shown
this morning when the sky was clear and the sun was shining from
the south-east full upon this tall pico. When we got into this road
we found it full of young fellows, lusty and well-conditioned, all
marching, running, walking, shouting, and singing on their way to
join Monmouth. Some were adorned with flowers, some wore the blue
favour of the Duke, some had cockades in their hats, and some again
were armed with musket or with sword; some carried pikes, some
knives tied on to long poles, some had nothing but thick cudgels,
which they brandished valiantly. At sight of these brave fellows my
father lifted his head and waved his hand, crying 'A Monmouth! a
Monmouth! Follow me, brave lads!' just as if he had been a captain
encouraging his men to charge.
The church of Lyme standeth high upon the cliff which faces the sea;
it is on the eastern side of the town, and before you get to the
church, on the way from Charmouth, there is a broad field also on
the edge of the cliff. It was this field that was the first camp of
Monmouth's men. There were no tents for the men to lie in, but there
were waggons filled, I suppose, with munitions of war; there were
booths where things were sold, such as hot sausages fried over a
charcoal fire, fried fish, lobsters and periwinkles, cold bacon and
pork, bread, cheese, and such like, and barrels of beer and cider
on wooden trestles. The men were haggling for the food and drink,
and already one or two seemed fuddled. Some were exercising in the
use of arms; some were dancing, and some singing. And no thought or
respect paid at all to the Sabbath. Oh! was this the pious and godly
camp which I had expected?
'Sister,' said Barnaby, 'this is a godly and religious place to
which the wisdom of Dad hath brought thee. Perhaps he meaneth thee
to lie in the open like the lads.'
'Where is the Duke?' asked my father, looking wrathfully at these
revellers and Sabbath-breakers.
'The Duke lies at the George Inn,' said Barnaby. 'I will show the
way.'
In the blue parlour of the George the Duke was at that time holding
a council. There were different reports as to the Bridport affair.
Already it was said that Lord Grey was unfit to lead the Horse,
having been the first to run away; and some said that the Militia
were driven out of the town in a panic, and some that they made a
stand, and that our men had fled. I know not what was the truth,
and now it matters little, except that the first action of our men
brought them little honour. When the council was finished, the Duke
sent word that he would receive Dr. Challis (that was Humphrey) and
Dr. Comfort Eykin.
So they were introduced to the presence of his Grace, and first my
father--as Humphrey told me--fell into a kind of ecstasy, praising
God for the landing of the Duke, and foretelling such speedy victory
as would lay the enemies of the country at his feet. He then drew
forth a roll of paper in which he had set down, for the information
of the Duke, the estimated number of the disaffected in every town
of the south and west of England, with the names of such as could be
trusted not only to risk their own bodies and estates in the Cause,
but would stir up and encourage their friends. There were so many on
these lists that the Duke's eyes brightened as he read them.
'Sir,' he said, 'if these reports can be depended upon, we are
indeed made men. What is your opinion, Dr. Challis?'
'My opinion, Sir, is that these are the names of friends and
well-wishers; if they see your Grace well supported at the outset
they will flock in; if not, many of them will stand aloof.'
'Will Sir Christopher join me?' asked the Duke.
'No, Sir; he is now seventy-five years of age.'
The Duke turned away. Presently he returned to the lists and asked
many more questions.
'Sir,' said my father, at length, 'I have given you the names of
all that I know who are well affected to the Protestant Cause; they
are those who have remained faithful to the ejected Ministers. Many
a time have I secretly preached to them. One thing is wanting: the
assurance that your Grace will bestow upon us liberty of conscience
and freedom of worship. Else will not one of them move hand or foot.'
'Why,' said the Duke, 'for what other purpose am I come? Assure
them, good friend, assure them in my name; make the most solemn
pledge that is in your power and in mine.'
'In that case, Sir,' said my father, 'I will at once write letters
with my own hand to the brethren everywhere. There are many honest
country lads who will carry the letters by ways where they are not
likely to be arrested and searched. And now, Sir, I pray your leave
to preach to these your soldiers. They are at present drinking,
swearing, and breaking the Sabbath. The campaign which should be
begun with prayer and humiliation for the sins of the country hath
been begun with many deadly sins, with merriment, and with fooling.
Suffer me, then, to preach to them.'
'Preach, by all means,' said the Duke. 'You shall have the parish
church. I fear, Sir, that my business will not suffer me to have
the edification of your sermon, but I hope that it will tend to the
soberness and earnestness of my men. Forgive them, Sir, for their
lightness of heart. They are for the most part young. Encourage them
by promises rather than by rebuke. And so, Sir, for this occasion,
farewell!'
In this way my father obtained the wish of his heart, and preached
once more in a church before the people who were the young soldiers
of Monmouth's army.
I did not hear that sermon, because I was asleep. It was in tones of
thunder that my father preached to them. He spoke of the old war,
and the brave deeds that their fathers had done under Cromwell;
theirs was the victory. Now, as then, the victory should be theirs,
if they carried the spirit of faithfulness into battle. He warned
them of their sins, sparing none; and, in the end, he concluded
with such a denunciation of the King as made all who heard it, and
had been taught to regard the King's Majesty as sacred, open their
mouths and gape upon each other; for then, for the first time, they
truly understood what it was that they were engaged to do.
While my father waited to see the Duke, Barnaby went about looking
for a lodging. The town is small, and the houses were all filled,
but he presently found a cottage (call it rather a hut) on the
shore beside the Cobb, where, on promise of an extravagant payment,
the fisherman's wife consented to give up her bed to my mother and
myself. Before the bargain was concluded, I had laid myself down
upon it and was sound asleep.
So I slept the whole day; though outside there was such a trampling
on the beach, such a landing of stores and creaking of chains, as
might have awakened the Seven Sleepers. But me nothing could awaken.
In the evening I woke up refreshed. My mother was already awake, but
for weariness could not move out of her chair. The good woman of the
cottage, a kindly soul, brought me rough food of some kind with a
drink of water--the army had drunk up all the milk, eaten all the
cheese, the butter, the eggs, and the pork, beef and mutton, in the
place. And then Humphrey came and asked if I would go with him into
the town to see the soldiers. So I went, and glad I was to see the
sight. But Lord! to think that it was the Sabbath evening! For the
main street of Lyme was full of men, swaggering with long swords at
their sides and some with spurs--feathers in their hats, and pistols
stuck in their belts--all were talking loud, as I am told is the
custom in a camp of soldiers. Outside the George there was a barrel
on a stand, and vendors and drawers ran about with cans, fetching
and carrying the liquor for which the men continually called. Then
at the door of the George there appeared the Duke himself with his
following of gentlemen. All rose and huzzaed while the Duke came
down the steps and turned towards the camp outside the town.
I saw his face very well as he passed. Indeed, I saw him many times
afterwards, but I declare that my heart sank when first I gazed upon
him as he stood upon the steps of the George Inn. For on his face,
plain to read, was the sadness of coming ruin. I say I knew from
that moment what would be his end. Nay, I am no prophetess, nor am
I a witch to know beforehand the counsels of the Almighty; yet the
Lord hath permitted by certain signs the future to become apparent
to those who know how to read them. In the Duke of Monmouth the
signs were a restless and uneasy eye, an air of preoccupation, a
trembling mouth and a hesitating manner. There was in him nothing of
the confidence of one who knows that fortune is about to smile upon
him. This, I say, was my first thought about the Duke, and the first
thought is prophecy.
There sat beside the benches a secretary, or clerk, who took down
the names of recruits. The Duke stopped and looked on. A young man,
in a sober suit of brown, in appearance different from the country
lads, was giving in his name.
'Daniel Foe, your Grace,' said the clerk, looking up. 'He is from
London.'
'From London,' the Duke repeated. 'I have many friends in London.
I expect them shortly. Thou art a worthy lad and deservest
encouragement.' So he passed on his way.