1
He went by chance, as I heard say,
To that same house that very day
In which his Godfather did dwell;
But mind what luck to him befell--
2
This child did crave a service there,
On which came out his Godfather,
{p.300} And seeing him a pretty youth,
He took him for his Page in truth.
3
Then in this place he pleased so well,
That 'bove the rest he bore the bell;
This child so well the Lord did please,
He raised him higher by degrees.
4
He made him Butler sure indeed,
And then his Steward with all speed,
Which made the other servants spite,
And envy him both day and night.
5
He was never false unto his trust,
But proved ever true and just;
And to the Lord did hourly pray
To guide him still both night and day.
6
In this place, plainly it appears,
He lived the space of seven years;
His parents then he thought upon,
And of his promise to return.
7
Then humbly of his Lord did crave,
That he his free consent might have
To go and see his parents dear,
He had not seen this many a year.
8
Then having leave, away he went,
Not dreaming of the false intent
That was contrived against him then
By wicked, false, deceitful men.
9
They had in his portmanteau put
This noble Lord's fine golden cup;
That when the Lord at dinner was,
The cup was missed as come to pass.
10
"Where can it be?" this Lord did say,
"We had it here but yesterday."
{p.301} The Butler then replied with speed,
"If you will hear the truth indeed.
11
"Your darling Steward which is gone,
With feathered nest away is flown;
I'll warrant you he has that, and more
That doth belong unto your store."
12
"No," says this Lord, "that cannot be,
For I have tried his honesty;"
"Then," said the Cook, "my Lord, I die
Upon a tree full ten feet high."
13
Then hearing what these men did say,
He sent a messenger that day,
To take him with a hue and cry,
And bring him back immediately.
14
They searched his portmanteau with speed,
In which they found the cup indeed;
Then was he struck with sad surprise,
He could not well believe his eyes.
15
The assizes then were drawing nigh,
And he was tried and doomed to die;
And his injured innocence
Could nothing say in his defense.
16
But going to the Gallows tree,
On which he thought to hanged be
He clapped his hands upon his breast,
And thus in tears these words exprest:--
17
"Blind Fortune will be Fortune still,
I see, let man do what he will;
For though this day I needs must die,
I am not guilty--no, not I."
18
This noble Lord was in amaze,
He stood and did with wonder gaze;
{p.302} Then he spoke out with words so mild,--
"What mean you by that saying, Child?"
19
"Will that your Lordship," then said he,
"Grant one day's full reprieve for me,
A dismal story I'll relate,
Concerning of my wretched fate."
20
"Speak up, my Child," this Lord did say,
"I say you shall not die this day--
And if I find you innocent,
I'll crown your days with sweet content."
21
He told him all his dangers past,
He had gone through from first to last,
He fetched the chain and cabinet,
Likewise the paper that was writ.
22
When that this noble Lord did see,
He ran to him most eagerly,
And in his arms did him embrace,
Repeating of those words in haste.--
23
"My Child, my Child, how blessed am I
Thou art innocent, and shalt not die;
For I'm indeed thy Godfather,
And thou wast born in fair Yorkshire.
24
"I have indeed one daughter dear,
Which is indeed my only heir;
And I will give her unto thee,
And crown you with felicity."
25
So then the Butler and the Cook
('Twas them that stole the golden cup)
Confessed their faults immediately,
And for it died deservedly.
26
This goodly youth, as I do hear,
Thus raised, sent for his parents dear,
Who did rejoice their Child to see--
And so I end my Tragedy.
{p.303} NARRATIVE OF THE LIFE OF JAMES ANNESLEY.
(See NOTE, p. 26.)
"Lord and Lady Altham, of Dunmain, in the county of Wexford, had been
for many years married and childless, when, in the year 1715, their
warmest hopes and wishes were realized by the birth of an heir to
their estates and title. On that joyful evening the hospitality of the
house of Dunmain was claimed by a young gentleman travelling from
Dublin, named 'Master Richard Fitzgerald,' who joined Lord Altham and
his household in drinking the healths of the 'lady in the straw,' and
the long expected heir, in the customary groaning drink. It does not
appear that Master Fitzgerald was learned in astrology, or practised
any branch of the 'Black art,' or that he used any spell with
reference to the infant more potent than these hearty libations and
sincere good wishes for his future prosperity. Next day, before
leaving the hospitable mansion, the little hero of this tale was
presented to the stranger, who 'kissed him, and gave the nurse
half-a-guinea.'
"Of Fitzgerald we have only to add, that he entered the army and
became a distinguished officer in the service of the queen of Hungary,
and that twenty-eight years afterwards he returned to Ireland to
assist in recovering for his former infantile friend the estates and
titles of his ancestors, which had been for many years iniquitously
withheld from him.
"Lord and Lady Altham lived unhappily together, and a separation took
place soon after the birth of their son. Her Ladyship, shamefully
neglected by her husband, resided in England during the remainder of
her life, and from disease and poverty was reduced to a state of
extreme imbecility both of body and mind.
"James Annesley, the infant son of this unhappy mother, was entrusted,
by Lord Altham, to the charge of a woman of indifferent character,
named Joan or Juggy Landy. Juggy was a dependent of the family, and
lived in a cabin on the estate, about a quarter of a mile from the
house of Dunmain. This hut is described as a 'despicable place,
without any furniture except a pot, two or three trenchers, a couple
of straw {p.304} beds on the floor,' and 'with only a bush to draw in
and out for a door.' Thus humbly and inauspiciously was the boy reared
under the care of a nurse, who, however unfortunate or guilty, appears
to have lavished upon her young charge the most affectionate
attention. From some unexplained cause, however, Juggy Landy incurred
the displeasure of Lord Altham, who took the boy from her, and ordered
his groom to 'horsewhip her,' and 'to set the dogs upon her,' when she
persisted in hovering about the premises to obtain a sight of her
former charge.
"Lord Altham now removed with his son to Dublin where he appears to
have entered upon a career of the most dissipated and profligate
conduct. We find him reduced to extreme pecuniary embarrassment, and
his property became a prey to low and abandoned associates; one of
whom, a Miss Kennedy, he ultimately endeavored to introduce to society
as his wife. This worthless woman must have obtained great ascendancy
over his Lordship, as she was enabled to drive James Annesley from his
father's protection, and the poor boy became a houseless vagabond,
wandering about the streets of Dublin, and procuring a scanty and
precarious subsistence 'by running of errands and holding gentlemen's
horses.'
"Meantime Lord Altham's pecuniary difficulties had so increased as to
induce him to endeavor to borrow money on his reversionary interest in
the estates of the Earl of Anglesey, to whom he was heir-at-law. In
this scheme he was joined by his brother Captain Annesley, and they
jointly succeeded in procuring several small sums of money. But as
James Annesley would have proved an important legal impediment to
these transactions, he was represented to some parties to be dead; and
where his existence could not be denied, he was asserted to be the
natural son of his Lordship and of Juggy Landy.
"Lord Altham died in the year 1727, 'so miserably poor that he was
actually buried at the public expense.' His brother Captain Annesley
attended the funeral as chief mourner, and assumed the title of Baron
Altham, but when he claimed to have this title registered he was
refused by the king-at-arms, 'on account of his nephew being reported
still alive, and for want of the honorary fees.' Ultimately, however,
by means {p.305} which are stated to have been 'well known and
obvious,' he succeeded in procuring his registration.
"But there was another and a more sincere mourner at the funeral of
Lord Altham than the successful inheritor of his title: a poor boy of
twelve years of age, half naked, bareheaded and barefooted, and
wearing, as the most important part of his dress, an old yellow livery
waistcoat,[120] followed at a humble distance, and wept over his
father's grave. Young Annesley was speedily recognized by his uncle,
who forcibly drove him from the place, but not before the boy had made
himself known to several old servants of his father, who were
attending the corpse of their late lord to the tomb.
[Footnote 120: _Vide_ "Green-breeks" in the General
Introduction to the _Waverley Novels_. Surely _Yellow
Waistcoat_ was his prototype.]
"The usurper now commenced a series of attempts to obtain possession
of his nephew's person, for the purpose of transporting him beyond
seas, or otherwise ridding himself of so formidable a rival. For some
time, however, these endeavors were frustrated, principally through
the gallantry of a brave and kind-hearted butcher, named Purcel, who,
having compassion upon the boy's destitute state, took him into his
house and hospitably maintained him for a considerable time; and on
one occasion, when he was assailed by a numerous party of his uncle's
emissaries, Purcel placed the boy between his legs, and stoutly
defending him with his cudgel, resisted their utmost efforts, and
succeeded in rescuing his young charge.
"After having escaped from many attempts of the same kind, Annesley
was at length kidnapped in the streets of Dublin, dragged by his uncle
and a party of hired ruffians to a boat, and carried on board a vessel
in the river, which immediately sailed with our hero for America,
where, on his arrival, he was apprenticed as a plantation slave, and
in this condition he remained for the succeeding thirteen years.
"During his absence his uncle, on the demise of the Earl of Anglesey,
quietly succeeded to that title and immense wealth.
"While forcibly detained in the plantations, Annesley suffered many
severe hardships and privations, particularly in his frequent
unsuccessful attempts to escape. Among other incidents which befell
him, he incurred the deadly hatred of one master, in consequence of a
suspected intrigue with his wife--a {p.306} charge from which he was
afterwards honorably acquitted. The daughter of a second master became
affectionately attached to him; but it does not appear that this
regard was reciprocal. And finally, in effecting his escape, he fell
into the hands of some hostile negroes, who stabbed him severely in
various places; from the effects of which cruelty he did not recover
for several months.
"At the end of thirteen years, Annesley, who had now attained the age
of twenty-five, succeeded in reaching Jamaica in a merchant vessel,
and he immediately volunteered himself as a private sailor on board a
man-of-war. Here he was at once identified by several officers; and
Admiral Vernon, who was then in command of the British West India
fleet, wrote home an account of the case to the Duke of Newcastle (the
Premier), and, 'in the mean time, supplied him with clothes and money,
and treated him with the respect and attention which his rank
demanded.'
"The Earl of Anglesey no sooner heard of these transactions on board
the fleet, than he used every effort to keep possession of his usurped
title and property, and 'the most eminent lawyers within the English
and Irish bars were retained to defend a cause, the prosecution of
which was not as yet even threatened.'
"On Annesley's arrival in Dublin, 'several servants who had lived with
his father came from the country to see him. They knew him at first
sight, and some of them fell on their knees to thank heaven for his
preservation,--embraced his legs, and shed tears of joy for his
return.'
"Lord Anglesey became so much alarmed at the probable result of the
now threatened trial, that he expressed his intention to make a
compromise with the claimant, renounce the title, and retire into
France; and with this view he commenced learning the French language.
But this resolution was given up, in consequence of an occurrence
which encouraged the flattering hope that his opponent would be
speedily and most effectually disposed of.
"After his arrival in England, Annesley unfortunately occasioned the
death of a man by the accidental discharge of a fowling-piece which he
was in the act of carrying. Though there could not exist a doubt of
his innocence from all intention {p.307} of such a deed, the
circumstance offered too good a chance to be lost sight of by his
uncle, who employed an attorney named Gifford, and with his assistance
used every effort at the coroner's inquest, and the subsequent trial,
to bring about a verdict of murder. In this, however, he did not
succeed, although 'he practised all the unfair means that could be
invented to procure the removal of the prisoner to Newgate from the
healthy gaol to which he had been at first committed;' and 'the Earl
even appeared in person on the bench, endeavoring to intimidate and
browbeat the witnesses, and to inveigle the prisoner into destructive
confessions.' Annesley was honorably acquitted, after his uncle had
expended nearly one thousand pounds on the prosecution.
"The trial between James Annesley, Esq., and Richard, Earl of
Anglesey, before the Right Honorable the Lord Chief Justice and other
Barons of the Exchequer, commenced on the 11th November, 1743, and was
continued for thirteen days. The defendant's counsel examined an
immense number of witnesses in an attempt to prove that Annesley was
the illegitimate son of the late Baron Altham. The Jury found for the
plaintiff; but it did not prove sufficient to recover his title and
estates: for his uncle 'had recourse to every device the law allowed,
and his powerful interest procured a writ of error which set aside the
verdict.' Before another trial could be brought about, Annesley died
without male issue, and Lord Anglesey consequently remained in
undisturbed possession.
* * * * *
"It is presumed that the points of resemblance between the leading
incidents in the life of this unfortunate young nobleman and the
adventures of Henry Bertram in Guy Mannering, are so evident as to
require neither comment nor enumeration to make them apparent to the
most cursory reader of the Novel. The addition of a very few other
circumstances will, it is believed, amount to a proof of the identity
of the two stories.
END OF VOLUME FIVE