_THE TERRIBLE JUDGE._
"Dicon, my father says he has heard that that terrible man will have up
Miss Blake and the Taunton maids who made and presented the colours.
Heaven alone knows what fearful thing will happen to them then! Dicon,
let me have speech with Mary! She must be got away; she must be hidden
till the storm be overpast! I have an hour to spare, whilst my father
has business with Sir William. Dicon, dost thou know that Lord Jeffreys
abides with him in his house here in the town? But he has sent all his
women folk to Orchard Portman. He will not let them meet yon wicked and
terrible man. Methinks a King who can use such instruments is little
fit for his place! Dicon," lowering her voice to a whisper, her eyes
flashing with a noble indignation as she spoke, "dost thou know what
is said?--that if only this monster in human shape slays enough men
here in the West to satisfy that bloody tyrant his master, he is to
be rewarded with the great seal of the Chancellor! Truly the people
had right on their side when they rebelled against such a tyrant; only
they needed one to lead them whose title was above reproach, and who
came not under false pretences. Surely the day will come when such a
champion will arise, and England will free herself from the hateful
yoke of an unjust, an illegal, and a cruel tyranny."
The speaker was Mistress Mary Bridges, and since her heroic act, of
which I have already spoken, she had become an idol of the people
of Taunton and a companion to her father such as she had never been
before. She had ridden in with him that day, and now was all eagerness
to see Mistress Mary Mead; but when she returned to the inn-yard after
her visit was paid, it was with a grave face and anxious mien.
"Dicon, I have argued and entreated in vain. She will not fly! She will
not leave Miss Blake to meet the storm alone. Her pupils are nearly all
of them fled. Some few remain in Taunton, but many are conveyed away
I know not whither. Mary says that she had as much to do with those
banners as Miss Blake, and she will not flee and leave her. She says
were all to be done again she would do as she has done. She has no
fear. She is not afraid even of the wicked Jeffreys. She will stay and
confront him, and will not let herself be hidden. But, O Dicon, though
I love her the more for her courage, I fear that ill will come of it!"
"What can they do to her?" I asked with a shudder. "They will not kill
her?"
"Oh no, no!" answered Mary. "I asked my father just now, and he said
that the penalty for such an offence was not like to be more than
a heavy fine. Even that monster would not dare to condemn a maid
to worse than that. But it is the being brought before him, being
subjected to his brutal words and looks, his hideous jibes and his
inhuman threats. O Dicon, the stories of yon man in other places make
my blood run cold! To think of Mary exposed to his baleful glance. But
she knows no fear; she will not let Miss Blake bear it alone."
"It is like her!" I answered, with warm admiration. "And, Mistress
Mary, I will watch over her all I can; and if there be need later, will
take her to the cottage in the marsh, where she will be safe."
"Ay, she will be safe there; and truly after these rains it is few who
could find the way thither. Dicon, let not Lord Lonsdale take her to
his house. They say he will not return till after the trials. He is in
a great fear for his son, but has been told that the Viscount is not
numbered amongst the prisoners. There has been some error or mistake.
He was taken, as many aver; but he has either died of his wounds or
else has escaped in the confusion--no man clearly knows which. Lord
Lonsdale went to Court to seek to win his pardon from the King should
he be brought up for trial and condemned; and he remains there till the
Judge has gone, having a special messenger here to bring him instant
word if his son should be arraigned. But he himself stays where he
is till all peril is past. Then he will come back, and if I mistake
me not, his first act will be to wed Mistress Mary Mead to some man
of known loyalty, both as a protection to herself and as a means of
keeping her away from his son, should the Viscount ever return. Dicon,
guard her from that an thou canst. I trow that my lord will return one
day to claim her, and she must be free to wed him."
I promised young Mistress Mary to use all heed and diligence; and then
I watched her ride away with her father, who came to find her, and
thought that two such noble Marys did not live in all the world as the
two who honoured me with their confidence.
But all Taunton was in a tremble, and within the town there
was that state of things best described by the words of the
prophet--"lamentation, and mourning, and woe."
The great Assize Hall in the Castle was being prepared for the coming
tribunal, and I must needs go to see. It is a very fine hall, as all
men of Taunton know, a hundred and twenty feet long and thirty wide;
and when Taunton was under the Bishop of Winchester's ecclesiastical
jurisdiction, his court used also to be held here. So that still over
the porch were the two keys and the sword, the arms of the Bishop of
Winchester, together with the three bugle horns which were the private
coat of Bishop Horn, who no doubt was a great personage when the place
was built or repaired. Four cherubs occupy the corners, and within the
surrounding garter are the two mottoes, "Honi soit qui mal y pense,"
and "Crux et Vanitas."
Over the two strong arches of the inner gateway stood the grand-jury
room, soon to be occupied by the trembling jury, who, badgered by the
wicked Judge, feared to return any verdict save that of Guilty, however
insufficient the evidence against the unhappy prisoner. We had heard
already how the monster had raved and foamed with fury at any other
verdict, and had driven the unhappy men away again and again, until
he had terrified them into submission. To begin with, the juries were
selected by the Sheriffs; and since the Sheriffs were all loyal King's
men, they had chosen men all in favour of the King's policy. But even
so, they could not altogether throw to the winds all sense of justice
and right; and yet if they dared to give any verdict save that which
the merciless Judge indicated, they went almost in terror of their own
lives. To such a pass had things come under this Special Commission,
instituted by James the Second and conducted according to his own heart
by his chosen tools!
The great Assize Hall was being hung with crimson cloth in honour of
the important occasion. Methought the colour something ominous of what
was coming; but it was said that Lord Jeffreys always looked to be
received with due honour. I had a great and lively curiosity to see
this wicked man, and as I was known to one or more of the custodians of
the place, I was promised entrance that afternoon, when his charge to
the jury was to be given; though after that, when the trials themselves
came on, I must take my chance with the rest of the people. The place
would be thronged to suffocation, and if I wished for entrance I must
seek it at the doors with the others.
I did very much wish to be present, but knew not whether I should
achieve my desire. But at least I was there in a fairly good place that
afternoon, when I knew that the great and wicked Judge had arrived, and
that he was to address the jury at once, so that the business of the
day could commence upon the morrow.
How my heart beat when at last he came, with his brothers of the bench
in attendance, who seemed of no account beside that great burly figure
with those extraordinary eyes, and that bloated face seamed and lined
by passion and drink till it was more like the face of a devil than
of a man. Although I had heard much of Judge Jeffreys, never had I
pictured such a monster in human shape as I beheld that day, as the
western light, level and clear, illumined the great hall and made
plain all the persons assembled there. It was as if the devil himself
looked out from those eyes; and in the loud rasping tones of the voice,
full of fierce invective coupled with brutal taunts and threats, it
was impossible to conceive that there spoke the voice of a monarch's
servant. Oaths of the most blasphemous description fell from his lips,
mingled with such ribald jests as made one's blood run cold. What was
the nature of the charge I cannot tell, for I seemed to hear nothing
but taunts and threats and profane jests all jumbled together in one
hideous medley. No wonder the jurymen stood huddled together, as if
only longing to be out of reach of those basilisk eyes. No wonder that
amongst the crowd assembled to hear those who had relations or friends
amongst the prisoners felt their hearts sink within them. That all
the men declared the Judge to be drunk seemed small consolation. We
had heard before this that it was his habit to be more or less drunk
whilst performing his duties. Possibly in the morning he might be
something more sober; but there were those who averred that he was
even more to be dreaded sober than drunk. In either case he was a devil
incarnate. About that there were no two opinions. And it was passed
quickly through the town that the only chance a prisoner had was to
plead guilty, and so save the court the trouble of trying him. Those
who did this were condemned to death in a mass; but many were respited.
It was said that the Judge had openly declared he would hang every man
who dared to plead "not guilty," and that these would be at once hung
up, whilst those who pleaded "guilty" would be respited for a time,
and possibly escape the final penalty of the law. This was the Judge's
artifice for shortening his bloody work, and it invariably put him in a
tempest of passion when prisoners dared to plead "not guilty."
Do as I would, I could not get into court upon the first day of the
trials; and I ran down to Master Simpson's house to see how things were
going there, and if aught had been heard of Master Simpson himself.
Here I found Miss Hannah Hewling mingling her tears with those of
Lizzie and her aunt; for her brother Benjamin was awaiting his trial
now at Taunton, and the gentle William, only nineteen years old and so
full of sweetness and piety, had already been done to death at Lyme, in
spite of all the favour brought to bear on his behalf.
Amid her tears Miss Hannah read to us a letter he had penned to her
just before he suffered. "I am going to launch into eternity," he
wrote, "and, I hope and trust, into the arms of my blessed Redeemer,
to whom I commit you and all my dear relations." And as he was going
to the place of execution, he repeated to one of his comrades some of
the beautiful words contained in the fourteenth chapter of St. John's
Gospel; and then he added, "Here is a sweet promise for us, 'I will
not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.' Christ will be with us
to the last." And to another who bid him farewell he said, "Farewell
till we meet in heaven. Presently I shall be with Christ. Oh, I would
not change conditions with any in this world! I would not stay behind
for ten thousand worlds." And to a friend who came to comfort him at
the end--not one of the condemned--the friend who had given all these
particulars to Miss Hannah, he said, "Pray remember my dear love to
my brother and sister, and tell them I desire they would comfort
themselves that I am gone to Christ; and we shall quickly meet in the
glorious Mount Zion above."
And so greatly were the officers who carried out the mandate of the
Court touched by his piety and sweetness and gentleness that some wept,
and others declared that had the Chief-Justice himself been there he
could not have let him die. So though no mandate had been given to
that effect, yet the body of the pious youth was given to the people
of Lyme for Christian burial, and was laid in the grave by a number of
young maidens of that place, who had heard the story of his faith and
resignation, and took this Christian office upon themselves.
It could not but comfort the sister's heart to hear all this, though
her tears fell fast as she told the tale. Her heart was sore troubled
too for the brother yet living; but her parents in London had sent her
large sums of money, and it was hoped that the Judge might be bribed
into showing mercy, even though he had condemned the prisoner in court.
Upon the day when Master Benjamin Hewling was to be tried, I was
resolved that I would be there, and would find room too for Miss Hannah
and for Lizzie as well. Money would always do much, and of this there
was no lack; and I went beforehand to the keepers of the doors, and
got a promise that if I would come very early, and keep very quiet
when admitted, they would see that we got smuggled in before the crowd
came thronging and surging in. And this in fact was done; and though
afterwards we were well-nigh suffocated by the press, still we were
placed where we could see and hear. I was the more glad of this because
I heard a whisper that this would be the last day, and that the case of
the Maids of Taunton would come before the Judge at the close of the
more bloody proceedings, and also that of Will Wiseman, the accusation
against whom was only the reading of the Declarations of the Duke to
the populace; his other daring acts seeming not to have become known to
Mr. Blewer, who, we felt certain, was his accuser.
How my heart quaked when I saw the Judge's terrible countenance beneath
its wig of office! The red robes were scarcely more red than the
inflamed visage, and the eyes rolled from side to side with a sullen
fury that was almost more terrible than the ferocity of their gleam
when first I had seen them.
The scenes I saw that day will never be effaced from my memory. I would
that I had the skill to tell the tale as it should be told, but I can
but state a few bald facts. Let the reader fill up the outline as he
will.
Let me speak of the trial of Mr. Simon Hamling--or Hamlyn, as men
indifferently call him. He was a worthy citizen of Taunton, who had
borne a good repute there for long; but had for the last three years
of his life lived some three miles out of the town, and come to and
fro on business. When he heard that the Duke had come, he went to the
town to speak to his son, to advise him to have nothing to do with this
matter of the rising; as he expressed it in his defence, "That as he
expected his blessing and countenance, he should not at all concern
himself in the matter, but submit himself to the will of God in all
things;" and having so delivered himself he went home, and was never
in the town again whilst the Duke was there, save that he came to buy
some provision for his house, as was his custom, on the Saturday. But
he was a dissenter, and the Mayor owed him a grudge. When nothing could
be proved against him as having been concerned in the rebellion, the
Judge fell into such a rage as I have never seen in my life before, so
that all the court quaked and trembled, and he bawled out, "The rascal
is a dissenter! I can smell 'em forty miles!" and forthwith foaming at
the mouth he bid the jury find him guilty, which to their shame they
did; and sentence of death was accordingly passed upon him. Hearing
which the Mayor, being smitten with shame and remorse, strove to get
the sentence reversed; but the Lord Jeffreys turned upon him with one
of his awful oaths, and cried, "You have brought him on; if he be
innocent, his blood be upon you!" and immediately called for the next
prisoner, which was Mr. Benjamin Hewling.
In such a mood as the Judge was now in all saw that the poor young
gentleman had no chance. Many stood forward to try to bear witness
to his blameless character, but were yelled down by the Judge, who
would hear nothing. The prisoner had been in arms in the rebellion,
and should die the traitor's death. Then enraged by the dauntless and
dignified bearing of the young man, his judge stormed and cursed and
raged at him, and made the horrid words of the sentence tenfold more
horrid by the way he flung it at him, till half the women in the place
fell weeping, and Miss Hannah drooped her head and for a minute quite
swooned away.
But the spirit of her brothers possessed her too, and she recovered
herself, and was able to make her way out of the court holding Lizzie's
hand. I must needs stay to see how Will Wiseman fared, and to hear what
befell with regard to the Maids of Taunton, as they were beginning to
be called by the world. Several cases came between, all of which were
treated in the same brutal fashion by the Lord Jeffreys; and when one
thought of the pious and blameless lives many of these men had lived,
their godliness and honesty of purpose, and their piety and sweetness
of disposition, it seemed a strange thing to see them arraigned before
this drunken and blasphemous judge, and feel that he had the power,
in despite of the clearest evidence, to doom them to a frightful and
hideous death.
But my heart beat with a more personal interest when I saw the
familiar face of Will Wiseman in the prisoner's place. He had grown
thin and white during his captivity; for the prisons were crowded and
unwholesome, and the prisoners were but poorly fed. I had done what I
could for him; but I had not succeeded in seeing him, nor could I be
sure that the things I took him from the Simpsons' house ever reached
him aright.
Jeffreys glared at poor Will as though he would have done him to death
on the very spot; but Will looked at him back without any sign of
fear--though, unless he were double and treble as brave as I, he must
surely have been in a sad affright. And then the witnesses suborned
by wicked Mr. Blewer, who had by this time edged himself very near to
the judges, and was looking on with cruel malice in his eyes, came
forward and bore testimony to the fact that Will had read the different
Declarations of the Duke to the people who wished to hear them; and
thankful indeed was I that none came to tell how he had led the assault
upon the arms in the church tower, for I was not sure that that would
not have been a hanging matter. I thought they could not do much to
poor Will for such a small thing as this; but Jeffreys was licking his
cruel lips, and his face had that smile upon it which was almost worse
than his scowl, and he cried out in his husky, rasping tones,--
"A young rogue, but a veritable villain! He must be taught to curb
that mischievous tongue of his! Pity the good old plan of boring it
through with a hot iron is out of fashion now! Never mind; we will
find a cure nevertheless. What does the wise man say? 'Spare the rod
and spoil the child.' Well, we will not do that. The rod shall not be
spared. I give sentence that the prisoner, William Wiseman, be whipped
through every market town in Somerset.--Executioner, warm him well. The
weather is growing sharp. See that he take not cold in the open air.
He will needs be shorn of his clothing. Warm his back for him! warm
it well!" And doubling himself up in brutal laughter at his jest, the
Judge signed for the prisoner to be removed.
My heart went out in pity and rage; but to myself I kept repeating, "My
hoard of guineas--my golden hoard is still almost untouched. Sure it
can win for poor Will an abatement of his punishment. The executioner
at least will not be as brutal as the Judge."
When I came to myself, after having been wrapped in thought for I
know not how long, I felt a curious thrill going through the court;
and there I saw Miss Blake and Mary Mead standing side by side before
the wicked Judge, who was regarding them with a face of curiosity and
malevolent interest.
"And where be the other fair maidens?" he asked, looking at a paper
before him.
The usher of the court replied that only Miss Blake had been summoned;
that the pupils could be found when necessary, but that they were taken
by their parents, and were scattered here and there, save Mistress
Mary Mead, who had claimed to accompany Miss Blake.
The names of twenty or more maids were read out as having been
concerned in the making and the presenting of the colours; and much
ribald jesting was indulged in on the part of the Judge, who, however,
seemed in not so evil a humour as heretofore. Whilst the proceedings
were going on, I observed with uneasiness that Mr. Blewer edged himself
up to Lord Jeffreys; and my uneasiness did not decrease when I saw
them laughing together as if on very friendly terms, and keep throwing
glances in the direction of Mistress Mary, who stood white and calm and
collected beside her more agitated mistress. I think perhaps she had
never looked so beautiful as she did then in her devotion and courage;
and I hated to see the eyes of those two bad men scanning her at their
evil pleasure.
After a while the Judge took up the word again, and said that for the
high misdemeanour of Miss Blake and all the persons named upon the list
which had been read, a fine would be laid upon them by the court; but
that this fine should be the Christmas Box of the Maids of Honour of
her Majesty the Queen, and that they should levy it upon the Taunton
Maids at their will and pleasure. How the sentence was worded I cannot
remember, but that was the substance of it. The Taunton Maids were to
remain at large, but to be given (as it were) to the Maids of Honour
for a Christmas Box; and they were to have liberty to exact as much
money as could be wrung from the parents and guardians of the maids.
But after having so disposed of the irresponsible culprits, the Judge
turned with a heavy frown upon Miss Blake, and thundered out that as
she had been the planner and contriver of all this, and knew what she
was doing, which the young maids did not, she was condemned to be
imprisoned in Dorchester jail at the King's pleasure, where doubtless
she would come to repent her of her evil ways.
Then whilst poor Miss Blake turned pale and seemed about to swoon, and
the women in the court who had known her for long fell a-weeping, the
Judge turned his evil eyes upon Mistress Mary and said,--
"As for you, young Mistress, who are old enough to know better, yet
have been led into evil practices by those about you, I will pass over
your misdemeanour in this matter but lightly. You shall pay your share
of the fine imposed; but for the rest, your imprisonment shall not be
in any jail--that were something too hard for youth and beauty. Yet
inasmuch as you have proved stubborn and rebellious, and are not fit to
be custodian of your own fortune nor of your own person, we give you
here in troth-plight to good Mr. Nicholas Blewer, a godly and a loyal
subject; and he will guide and teach and admonish you, and train you to
be a submissive wife and a good subject. To-morrow we will see you wed
ere we leave the town,--And so, ladies, farewell!"
I listened aghast. My eyes turned helplessly from the evil face of the
Judge to the triumphant one of Master Blewer, wreathed in smiles that
turned me sick; and then to the cold, calm visage of Mistress Mary,
who seemed scarce to take in the meaning of these terrible words.
After standing for a minute, gazing as if horror-struck at the Judge,
she suddenly pulled her hood over her face, and went out walking
unsteadily, so that many thought her weeping.
But I knew better: Mistress Mary's spirit was one that rose under
stress of peril when that of another would have sunk. I was near to a
door, and I pushed my way out and fought my way through all sorts of
places where I had no business, till I found myself at her side. Her
face was as white as death; but she grasped me by the hand when she saw
me, and said, in a low, strained voice,--
"Take me somewhere, Dicon, before _he_ can get out!"
"Come with me!" I said, rapidly reviewing the situation, and striving
to know what to do; and as we passed out together, I heard people
saying one to another, "She is ill! she is stricken to death!" "The
evil visage of that man has killed her!"
"Yes," I cried, seizing my opportunity, "she is ill--she is very ill.
She is stricken with a fever. I must take her to those who can tend
her.--Lean on me, Mistress Mary; I will take care of you."
She obeyed me mechanically. I do not think she either heard or saw.
There was a stunned look upon her face, as though somehow the soul had
gone out of it. I knew that her mind was working inwardly all the more
keenly and intensely; but to others it looked indeed as though she
had been stricken for death, so ashen grey was her face, so fixed and
irresponsive her eyes.
She put her hand upon my arm, and by many by-ways and alleys I led
her away, none following, as all interest was still centred in the
doings of the court. Still I was resolved to baffle all pursuit; and
since poor Miss Blake was committed to prison, there was no safety for
Mistress Mary beneath the accustomed roof.
So I took her straight to the Simpsons' house, where Lizzie welcomed
her with open arms; and after I had whispered long in her ear, a look
of keen intelligence beamed over her face, and she whispered back in
eager accents,--
"Trust us, good Dicon. We would do more than that for sweet Mistress
Mary to save her from such a fate!"