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the lips of the dying man worked for some moments and then with a mighty effort as it seemed he said whilst his trembling hand pointed feebly to a chest of drawers that stood in the room there there for there the secret place is some words followed and then after a still struggle than before he gasped out no word no word to to for her more was said but by mortal ear and after gazing with an expression of indescribable anxiety in the scared face of his awe struck listener the wearied eyes slowly the deep silence flowed past then the shudder came again and he was dead summoned the house servant and the landlady and was still pondering the broken sentences uttered by the dying man when mr hurriedly the chest of drawers the attorney s first care was to assume the direction of affairs and to place upon every article containing or likely to contain anything of value belonging to the deceased this done he went away to give directions for the funeral which took place a few days afterwards and it was then formally announced that mr succeeded by will to the property of under trust however for the family if any of robert the deceased s brother who had gone when very yoimg to india and had not been heard of for many years a condition which did not at all mar the joy of the lawyer he having long since private inquiries which perfectly satisfied him that the said had died unmarried at mr was in a state of great and consternation had emptied the chest of drawers of every valuable it contained and unless he had missed the secret mr had spoken of the deceased s intentions whatever they might have been were clearly defeated and if he had not discovered it how could he get at the drawers to examine them a fortunate chance brought some relief to his s furniture was advertised to be sold by and resolved to purchase the chest of drawers at almost any price although to do so would oblige him to break into his rent money then nearly due the day of sale came and the important lot in its turn was put up in one of the drawers there were a number of loose newspapers and other scraps and with a sly grin asked the if he sold the article with all its contents oh yes said who was watching the sale the may have all it contains over his bargain and much good may it do him a laugh followed the attorney s the chest of drawers mark and the went on i want it observed because it just fits a recess like this one in my room underneath this he said to quiet a suspicion he thought he saw gathering upon the attorney s brow it was finally knocked down to at s a sum considerably beyond its real value and he had to borrow a sovereign in order to clear his purchase this done he carried off his prize and as soon as the closing of the house for the night secured him from interruption he set eagerly to work in search of the secret drawer a long and patient examination was richly rewarded behind one of the small drawers of the portion of the piece of furniture was another small one curiously concealed which contained bank of england notes to the amount of ib tied up with a letter upon the back of which was written in the deceased s hand writing to take with me the letter which although he read print with facility had much difficulty in making out was that which mr had struck om the young woman s hand a few weeks before and proved to be a very affecting appeal from now and a widow with two grown up children her husband had died in circumstances and she and her sister who was still single were to carry on a school at which promised to be sufficiently prosperous if the sum of about is could be raised to save the furniture from her deceased husband s the claim was pressing for mr had been dead nearly a year and mr being the only relative mrs had in the world she had ventured to entreat his assistance for her mother s sake there could be no moral doubt therefore that this money was intended for mrs s relief and early in the morning mr dressed in his sunday s suit and with a brief the chest of drawers i i m ll announcement to his landlady that he was about to leave for a day or two on a visit to a friend set off for the railway station he had not proceeded far when a difficulty struck him the bank notes were all and were he to change a twenty pound note at the station where he was well known great would be the and if nothing worse that would so tried his credit again borrowed sufficient for his journey to london and there changed one of the notes he soon reached and blessed was the relief which the sum of money he brought afforded mrs she expressed much sorrow for the death of mr and great gratitude to the worthy man accepted with some reluctance one of the notes or at least as much as remained of that which he had changed and after exchanging promises with the widow and her relatives to keep the matter secret departed the young woman mrs s daughter who had brought the letter to was noticed the very image of mother or rather of what her mother must have been when young this remarkable resemblance it was no doubt which had for the moment so confounded and agitated mr nothing occurred for about a fortnight after s
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return to him and he had begun to feel tolerably sure that his discovery of the notes would remain when one afternoon the sudden and impetuous entrance of mr into his stall caused him to jump up from his seat with surprise and alarm the attorney s face was white his eyes glared like a wild beast s and his whole appearance exhibited agitation a word with you mr he gasped a word in private and at once in the chest of drawers scarcely less consternation than his visitor led the way into his inner room and closed the door give back screamed the attorney vainly to the agitation which him that that which you have from the chest of drawers the hot blood rushed to s face and temples the wild vehemence and suddenness of the demand confounded him and certain previous dim suspicions that the law might not only pronounce what he had done but possibly returned upon him with terrible force and he quit lost his presence of mind i can t i can t he stammered it s gone given away gone shouted or more correctly howled at the same time flying at s throat as if he would him gone given away you lie you want to drive a bargain with me dog liar rascal thief this was a species of attack which was at no loss how to meet he shook the attorney roughly off and hurled him in the midst of his to the further end of the room they then stood glaring at each other in silence till the attorney himself as well as he could another and more rational mode of his purpose come come he said don t be a fool let us understand each other i have just discovered a paper a of what you have found in the drawers and to obtain which you bought i don t care for the money keep it only give me the documents documents in surprise the chest of drawers yes yes of use to me only you i remember cannot read writing but they are of great consequence to me to me only i tell you you can t mean mrs s letter no no curse the letter you are playing with a tiger keep the money i tell you but give up the papers documents or i ll transport you shouted with fury thoroughly bewildered could only mechanically that he had no papers or documents the rage of the attorney when he found he could extract nothing from was he literally with passion uttered the wildest threats and then suddenly changing his key offered the astounded one two three thousand pounds any sum he chose to name for the papers documents this scene of alternate violence and lasted nearly an hour and then rushed from the house as if pursued by the and leaving his in a state of thorough bewilderment and dismay it occurred to as soon as his mind had settled into something like order that there might be another secret drawer and the recollection of mr s journey to london to him another long and eager search however proved fruitless and the suspicion was given up or more correctly weakened as soon as it was light the next morning mr was again with him he was more guarded now and was at length convinced that had no paper or document to give up it was only some important observed the attorney carelessly that would save me a world of trouble in a i shall have to bring some heavy to mr s estate but i must do as well as i can without them the chest of drawers good morning just as he reached the door a sudden thought appeared to strike him he stopped and said by the way in the hurry of business i forgot that mr had told me the chest of drawers you bought and a few other articles were family relics which he wished to be given to certain parties he named the other things i have got and you i suppose will let me have the drawers for say a pound profit on your bargain was not the man in the world but this sudden proposition carelessly as it was made suggested curious thoughts no he answered i shall not part with it i shall keep it as a memorial of mr s face assumed as spoke a ferocious expression shall you said he then be sure my fine fellow that you shall also have something to remember me by as long as you live he then went away and a few days afterwards was served with a writ for the recovery of the two hundred pounds the affair made a great noise in the place and s conduct being very generally approved a was set on foot to the cost of defending the one a rival attorney to having asserted that the words used by the proprietor of the chest of drawers at the sale barred his claim to the money found in them this wise gentleman was with the defence and strange to say the jury a common one spite of the direction of the judge returned a verdict for the upon the ground that s or remark amounted to a serious leave and license to sell two hundred pounds for five pounds ten shillings obtained as a matter of course a rule for a new the chest of drawers trial and a fresh action was brought all at once refused to go on deficiency of funds he told that in his opinion it would be better that he should give in to s whim who only wanted the drawers in order to with the s wishes besides remarked in conclusion he
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is sure to get the article you know when it comes to be sold under a writ of fi a a few days after this conversation it was ascertained that was to succeed to s business the latter gentleman being about to retire upon the fortune him by mr at last driven nearly out of his senses though still obstinate by the in which he found himself thought of applying to us a very curious upon my word remarked mr flint as soon as had himself of the story of his woes and cares and in my opinion by no means by s anxiety to the s wishes he cannot expect to get two hundred pence out of you and mrs you say is equally unable to pay very odd indeed perhaps if we could get time something might turn up with this view flint looked over the papers had brought and found the declaration was in a manifest error the notes never having been in s actual possession we accordingly to the form of action and the proceedings were set aside this however proved of no ultimate benefit and a fresh action was against the unhappy so and was poor that he determined to give up the drawers which was all even now required and so wash his hands of the unfortunate business previous however to this being done the chest of drawers it was determined that another thorough and scientific examination of the mysterious piece of furniture should be made and for this purpose mr flint obtained a workman skilled in the mysteries of secret from the desk and establishment in king street and proceeded with him to the man performed his task with great care and skill every depth and width was and measured in order to ascertain if there were any false or backs and the workman finally pronounced that there was no concealed in the article i am sure there is persisted flint whom disappointment as usual rendered but the more obstinate and so is and he knows too that it is so contrived as to be except by a person in the secret which he no doubt at first imagined to be i ll tell you what we ll do you have the necessary tools with you split the confounded chest of drawers into i ll be for the consequences this was done carefully and but for some time without result at length the large drawer next the floor had to be knocked to pieces and as it fell apart one section of the bottom which like all the others was divided into two dropped asunder and discovered a laid flat between the two thin leaves which when pressed together in the of the drawer presented precisely the same appearance as the rest flint snatched up the and his eager eye had scarcely rested an instant on the writing when a shout of triumph burst from him it was the last will and testament of dated august the day of his last visit to london it the chest of drawers the former will and the whole of his property in equal portions to his cousins and with succession to their children but with of one half to his brother robert or children should he be alive or have left offspring great it may be supposed was the of at this discovery and all by his agency was in a short space of time in a very similar state of excitement it was very late that night when he reached his bed and how he got there at all and what precisely had happened except indeed that he had somewhere picked up a headache was for some time after he awoke the next morning very remembered mr flint by reflection was by no means so as the worthy shoe the odd mode of packing away a deed of such importance with no motive for doing so except the needless awe with which was said to have inspired his feeble spirited together with what had of the shattered state of the deceased s mind after the interview with mrs s daughter suggested fears that might dispute and perhaps successfully the of this last will my excellent partner however determined as was his wont to put a bold face on the matter and first clearly settling in his own mind what he should and what he should say waited upon mr the news had preceded him and he was at once surprised and delighted to find that the nervous crest fallen attorney was quite unaware of the advantages of his position on condition of not being called to account for the he had received and expended about he destroyed the former will in mr flint s presence and gave up at once all the deceased s papers from these the chest of drawers we learned that mr had written a letter to mrs stating what he had done and where the will would be found and that only herself and would know the secret from infirmity of purpose or from having subsequently determined on a personal interview the letter was not posted and subsequently discovered it together with a of the numbers of the bank notes found by in the secret drawer the eccentric gentleman appears to have had quite a for such hiding places of a writing desk the affair was thus happily terminated mrs her children and sister were enriched and was set up in a good way of business in his native place where he still over the centre of his shop there is a large sign surmounted by a golden boot which upon a close inspection is found to bear a resemblance to a huge chest of drawers all the circumstances connected with which may be heard for the asking and in much fuller detail than i have given from the lips of the owner of
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the establishment by any lady or gentleman who will take the trouble of a journey to for that purpose ti ail the puzzle the space of but a few brief seems to have passed since the occurrence of the following the way out of the way even in our profession fertile as it is in startling experiences and yet the and tell tale and me that a quarter of a century has nearly slipped by since the first scene in the complicated play of circumstances opened upon me the date i remember well for the tower guns had been with their thunder throats the victory of but a short time before a clerk announced william martin with a message from major this william martin was a rather sorry curiosity in his way he was now in the service of our old major and a tall good looking fellow enough spite of a very decided cast in his eyes which the rascal when in his cups no unusual occurrence declared he had caught from his former masters edward esq an rich and exceedingly yellow east india and his son mr henry with whom until lately transferred to major s service he had lived from infancy his mother and father having formed part of the elder s establishment when he was bom he had a notion in his head that he had better blood in his veins than the world supposed and was excessively fond of the gentleman and this he did i most say with the ease and assurance of a stage player his name was scarcely out of the clerk s lips when he entered the inner office with a great effort at and deliberation closed the door very carefully and hung his hat with much precision on a brass and then himself by the door handle surveyed the situation and myself with staring lack lustre eyes and infinite gravity i saw what was the matter you have been in the sun mr martin a wink by words replied to me and i could see by the motion of the fellow s lips that speech was attempted but it came so thick that it was several minutes before i made out that he meant to say the british had been knocking the about like bricks and that he had been drinking the of the said british or bricks have the goodness sir to deliver your message and then instantly leave the office old tho o o was the reply has smoked the the plot young s done for ma a in a false name of course what is this about old and young do you not come from major ye e es that s right the route s arrived for the old wishes to to see you major dying why you are a more disgraceful than i believed you to be send this fellow away i added to a clerk who answered my summons i then hastened off and was speedily rattling over the stones towards baker street square where major resided as i left the office i heard martin beg the clerk to lead him to the pump previous to sending him off no doubt for the purpose of himself somewhat previous to before the major whose motives for or retaining such a fellow in his modest establishment i could not understand you were expected more than an hour ago said dr who was just leaving the house the major is now i fear incapable of business there was no time for explanation and i hastily entered the sick chamber major though rapidly sinking recognized me and in obedience to a gesture from her master the aged weeping house keeper left the room the major s daughter had been absent with her aunt her father s maiden sister on a visit i understood to some friends in scotland and had not i concluded been made acquainted with the major s illness which had only assumed a dangerous character a few days previously the old soldier was dying calmly and rather from exhaustion of strength a general failure of the powers of life than from any especial disease a slight flush tinged the mortal of his face as i entered and the eyes a slightly expression it is not more my dear sir i replied softly but eagerly to his look than a quarter of an hour ago that i received your message i do not know whether he comprehended or even distinctly heard what i said for his feeble but extremely anxious glance was directed whilst i spoke to a large oil portrait of suspended over the mantel piece the young lady was a splendid dark eyed beauty and of course the pride and darling of her father presently as it were his eyes from the picture he looked in my face with great earnestness and bending my ear close to his lips i heard him feebly and say a question to ask you that s all read read il his hand towards a letter which lay open on the bed i ran it over and the major s anxiety was at once explained had i found been a short time previously married in scotland to henry the son of the wealthy east india finding his illness becoming serious the major had anticipated the time and mode in which the young people had determined to break the intelligence to the father of the bridegroom and the result was the and angry letter in reply which i was mr would never he declared recognize the marriage of his nephew nephew not son for he was the letter announced the child of an only sister whose marriage had also offended mr and had been brought up from infancy as his mr s son in order that the hated name of to which the boy was alone entitled might never offend
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his ear there was something added of a doubt of the of the marriage in consequence of the of the bridegroom at the ceremony one question muttered the major as i finished the perusal of the letter is s marriage legal r no question about it how could any one suppose that an involuntary can affect such a contract enough enough he gasped a great load is gone the rest is with god beloved the slight whisper was no longer audible sighs becoming fainter and weaker followed ceased and in little more than ten minutes after the last word was spoken life was extinct i rang the bell and turned to the room and as i did so surprised martin on the other side of the bed he had been listening by the thick curtains and appeared to be a good deal i made no remark and proceeded on down stairs the man followed and as soon as we had gained the hall said quickly yet hesitatingly sir sir well what have you to say nothing very particular sir but did i understand you to say just now that it was of no consequence if a man married in a false name that depends upon circumstances why do you ask oh nothing nothing only i have heard it s especially if there s money perhaps you are right anything else no said he opening the door that s all mere curiosity i heard nothing more of the family for some time except with reference to major s personal property about is to his daughter with a charge of an of ib a year for mrs the aged house keeper the necessary business connected with which we but about a after the major s death the marriage of the elder with a widow of the same name as himself and a cousin the paper stated was announced and pretty nearly a year and a half subsequent to the appearance of this ominous paragraph the of mr henry at in who had left it was added in the newspaper stock phrase of a young widow and two sons to mourn their loss silence again as far as we were concerned settled upon the of the descendants of our old military till one fine morning a letter from dr informed us of the sudden death by a few days previously of the east india dr further hinted that he should have occasion to write us again in a day or two relative to the deceased s affairs which owing to mr s aversion to making a will had it was feared been in an extremely unsatisfactory state dr had written to us at the widow s request in consequence of his having informed her that we had been the professional of major and were in all probability those of his daughter mrs henry we did not quite comprehend the drift of this curious but although not specially instructed we determined at once to write to mrs or who with her family was still abroad and in the meantime take such formal steps in her behalf as might appear necessary we were not long in doubt as to the motives of the extremely civil application to ourselves on the part of the widow of the east india the deceased s wealth had been almost all invested in land which went he having died to his nephew s son henry and the in which the widow would share were consequently of very small amount mrs was therefore anxious to propose through us a more satisfactory and arrangement we could of course say nothing till the arrival of mrs for which however we had only a brief time to wait there were we found no on that lady s part to act with generosity towards mr s widow a person by the way of about forty years of age but there was a legal difficulty in the way in consequence of the heir at law being a minor mrs became at length terribly and talked a good deal of angry nonsense about the claim of henry s son to the estates on the ground that his marriage having been con in a name was and void several got in consequence into the sunday newspapers and these brought about a terrible disclosure about twelve o clock one day the widow into the office dragging in with her a comely and rather interesting looking young woman but of a decidedly rustic complexion and accent and followed by a grave middle aged clergyman the widow s large eyes sparkled with strong excitement and her somewhat features were flushed with hot blood i have brought you she burst out abruptly the real mrs and no no interrupted the young woman who appeared much agitated not i know child i know but that is nothing to the purpose this young person mr sharp is i repeat the true and lawful mrs henry i answered do you take us for this i added with some is either a ridiculous or an attempt at and i am very careless which it may be you are mistaken sir rejoined the clergyman mildly this young woman was certainly married by me at church to a gentleman of the name of henry who it appears from the newspapers confirmed by this lady was no other than mr henry this marriage we find took place six months previously to that contracted with i have further to say that this young woman maria is a very respectable person and that her marriage portion of a little more than eight hundred pounds was given to her husband whom she has only seen thrice since sc i her marriage to support himself till the death of his father constantly asserted by him to be imminent a story very smoothly told and i have no doubt in your opinion quite
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satisfactory but there is one slight matter which i fancy you will find somewhat difficult of proof i mean the identity of maria s husband with the son or nephew of the late mr he always said he was the son of the rich east indian mr said the young woman with a hysterical sob and here she added is his picture in his wedding dress that of an officer of the he gave it me the day before the wedding i almost snatched the portrait sure enough it was a miniature of henry there could be no doubt about that mr flint who had been busy with some papers here approached and glanced at the miniature i was utterly confounded and my partner i saw was equally dismayed and no wonder entertaining as we both did the highest respect and admiration for the high minded and beautiful daughter of major the widow s exultation was as this only legal marriage said she has been blessed with no issue i am of course as you must be aware the legitimate at law as my deceased husband s nearest i shall however she added take care to amply provide for my niece in law the young woman made a profound rustic courtesy and tears of unaffected gratitude i observed filled her eyes the game was not however to be quite so easily surrendered as they appeared to imagine tut tut exclaimed mr t flint this may be mere practice who knows how the portrait has been obtained the girl s eyes flashed with honest anger there was no practice about her i felt assured here are other proofs my husband s ring left accidentally i think with me and two letters which i from curiosity took out of his coat pocket the day i am pretty sure it was after we were married if this evidence does not convince you gentlemen added the rev mr i have direct personal testimony to offer yon know mr of bath i do well mr henry or was at the time this marriage took place on a visit to that gentleman and i myself saw the bridegroom whom i had united a fortnight previously in church walking arm and arm with mr in gardens bath i was at some little distance but i recognized both distinctly and bowed mr returned my salutation and he the circumstance distinctly the gentleman walking with him in the uniform of the was mr is prepared to mr henry or you waste time reverend sir said mr flint with an affectation of firmness and he was i knew far from feeling we are the of mrs and shall i dare say if you push us to it be able to tear this colored of yours to if you determine on going to law your can serve us we will enter an appearance and our will be spared unnecessary annoyance they were about to leave when as ill luck would have it the puzzle one of the clerks who deceived by the momentary silence and from not having been at home when the unwelcome visitors arrived believed we were disengaged opened the door and admitted mrs and her aunt miss before we could with a word the widow burst out with the whole story in a torrent of that it was impossible to check or restrain for awhile contemptuous incredulity indignant scorn the assailed lady but as proof after proof was hurled at her by the grave of the clergyman and the weeping sympathy of the woman her firmness gave way and she in her aunt s arms we should have more interfered but for our unfortunate s gestures she seemed determined to hear the worst at once now however we had the office cleared of the without much and as soon as the lady was sufficiently recovered she was conducted to her carriage and after arranging for an early interview on the morrow was driven off i found our and i feared deeply injured much recovered from the shock which on the previous day had overwhelmed her and although exceedingly pale so as polished marble and still painfully agitated there was hope almost confidence in her eye and tone there is some terrible in this frightful affair mr sharp she began henry my husband was utterly incapable of a mean or act much less of such utter as this of which he is accused they also say do they not she continued with a smile of haughty contempt that he robbed the young woman of her poor some eight hundred pounds a proper story the puzzle that i confess from what little i knew of mr henry the whole affair as a and yet the reverend mr a gentleman of high character i understand is very positive the young woman too appeared truthful and sincere yes it cannot be denied let me say also for it is best to look at the subject on its darkest side i find on looking over my letters that my husband was staying with mr at the time stated he was also at that period in the i gave william martin but the other day a suit of his very little the worse for wear you forget to state said miss who was sitting beside her niece that martin who was with his young master at bath is willing to make oath that no such marriage took place as asserted at church that alone would i fear my good madam very little avail can i see william martin certainly the bell was rung and the necessary order given this martin is much changed for the better i hear o yes entirely so said miss he is also exceedingly attached to us all the children especially and his grief and anger when informed of what had occurred thoroughly his and sincerity martin
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entered and was i thought somewhat confused by my apparently unexpected presence a look at his face and head dissipated a half suspicion that had arisen in both flint s mind and my own i asked him a few questions relative to the of his master at bath and then said i wish you to go with me and see this maria the puzzle as i spoke something seemed to attract attention in the street and suddenly turning round his arm swept a silver stand off the table he stooped down to gather up the dispersed and as he did so said in answer to my request that he had not the slightest objection to do so that being the case we will set off at once as she and her friends are probably at the office by this time they are desirous of settling the matter off hand i added with a smile addressing mrs and avoiding if possible the and of the law as i anticipated the formidable were with mr flint i introduced martin and as i did so watched with an anxiety i could hardly have given a reason for the effect of his appearance upon the young woman i observed nothing he was evidently an utter stranger to her although from the involuntary flush which crossed his features it occurred to me that he was in some way an with his deceased master in the cruel and infamous crime which had i strongly feared been was this person present at your marriage i asked certainly not but i think now i look at him that i have seen him somewhere about it must have been william martin out that he had never been in neither he was sure had his master what is that said the girl looking sharply up and suddenly what is that martin a good deal abashed again out his belief that young mr as he was called had never been at the indignant scarlet deepened on the young woman s face and temples and she looked at martin with fixed attention and il the puzzle surprise recovering as if from some vague of mind she said what you believe can be no consequence truth is truth for all that the rev mr here interposed remarking that as it was quite apparent we were determined to defend the by miss a lady to be greatly pitied no of another s right it was useless to or renew the interview and all three took immediate leave a few minutes afterward martin also departed still vehemently asserting that no such marriage ever took place at or anywhere else no stone as people say was left by us in the hope of discovering some clue that might enable us to the tangled web of yet looking at the character of young mr improbable circumstance we were unsuccessful and unfortunately many other particulars which came to light but deepened the adverse complexion of the case two respectable persons living at were ready to on oath that had on more than one occasion seen maria s sweetheart with mr at bath once especially at the theatre upon the benefit night of the great who had been playing there for a few nights the entire case fully stated was ultimately laid by us before eminent counsel one of whom is now by the by a chief justice and we were advised that the evidence as set forth by us could not be against with any chance of success this sad result was communicated by me to mrs as she still believed herself to be and was borne with more constancy and firmness than i had expected her faith in her husband s truth and honor was not in the slightest degree shaken by the accumulated proofs she would not however attempt the puzzle to resist them before a court of law something would she was confident thereafter come to light that would the truth and confiding in our zeal and she her aunt and children would in the meantime shelter from the gaze of the world in their former retreat at this being the unhappy lady s final determination i gave the other side notice that we should be ready on a given day to surrender possession of the house and effects in south street which the widow had given up to her supposed niece in law and family on their arrival in england and to re obtain which and thereby decide the whole question in dispute legal proceedings had already been commenced on the morning appointed for the purpose taken leave of the ladies the day previously i proceeded to south street to formally give up possession under protest however the niece and aunt were not yet gone this i found was owing to martin who according to the ladies was so beside himself with grief and rage that he had been unable to as he ought to have done the packing to his care i was vexed at this as the widow her and the rev mr accompanied by a were shortly expected and it was desirable that a meeting of the parties should be avoided i descended to the lower regions to with and hurry martin and found as i feared that his former evil habits had returned upon him it was not yet twelve o clock and he was already partially and pale trembling and nervous from the effects it was clear to me of the previous night s your mistress is deceived in you i angrily exclaimed and if my advice were taken you would be turned out of the house at once without a character there don t i the puzzle attempt to me with that nonsense i ve seen fellows crying drunk before now he stammered out some broken excuses to which i very impatiently listened and so thoroughly
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did his brain appear that he either could not or would not comprehend the possibility of mrs and her children being turned out of house and home as he expressed it and over and over again asked me if nothing could yet be done to prevent it i was completely disgusted with the fellow and sharply bidding him hasten his preparations for departure rejoined the ladies who were by this time assembled in the back drawing room ready and for their journey it was a sad sight s splendid face was by deep and bitter grief borne it is true with pride and fortitude but it j was easy to see its throbbing through all the forced j calmness of the surface her aunt of a weaker nature sobbed loudly in the of her grief and the children shrinking i instinctively in the atmosphere of a great calamity trembling and half terrified the eldest especially to i their mother i did not insult them with phrases of but turned the conversation if such it could be called j upon their future home and prospects in some i time had thus elapsed when my were i suddenly aroused by the loud dash of a carriage to the door and the rat which followed i felt my cheek flame as i said they demand as if in possession of an assured decided right it is not yet too late to refuse possession and take the chances of the law s uncertainty i mrs shook her head with decisive meaning i could not bear it she said in a tone of sorrowful gentleness ji but i trust we shall not be upon the puzzle i hurried oat of the apartment and met the triumphant i explained the cause of the delay and suggested that mrs and her could amuse themselves in the garden whilst the and i ran oyer the of the chief to be surrendered together this was agreed to a minute or two before the conclusion of this necessary formality i received a message from the ladies expressive of a wish to be gone at once if i would escort to the hotel and martin who was nowhere to be found could follow i hastened to with their wishes and we were just about to issue from the front drawing room into which we had passed through the folding doors when we were confronted by the widow and her party who had just reached the landing of the great staircase we drew back in silence the mutual confusion into which we were thrown caused a momentary hesitation only and we were passing on when the butler suddenly appeared a gentleman he said an officer is at the door who wishes to see a miss maria formerly of i stared at the man discerned a strange expression in his face and it glanced across me at the same moment that i had heard no knock at the door see miss exclaimed the widow recovering her speech there is no such person here pardon me madam i cried catching eagerly at the interruption as a drowning man is said to do at a straw this young person was at least miss desire the officer to walk up the butler vanished instantly and we all huddled back into the drawing room some one closing the door after us i felt the grasp of mrs s arm round mine and her breath i heard came quick and short i was hardly less agitated myself the puzzle steps slow and deliberate steps were presently heard ascending the stairs the door opened and in walked a gentleman in the uniform of a officer whom at the first glance i could have sworn to be the deceased mr henry a slight exclamation of terror escaped mrs followed by a loud hysterical scream from the young woman as she staggered forward towards the stranger exclaiming oh merciful god my husband and then fell overcome with emotion in his outstretched arms yes said the rev mr promptly that is certainly the gentleman i united to maria what can be the meaning of this scene is that sufficient mr sharp exclaimed the officer in a voice that removed all doubt quite quite i shouted more than enough very well then said william martin dashing off his black curling wig removing his whiskers of the same color and giving his own light but now head of hair and to view now then send for the police and let them transport me i richly merit it i married this young woman in a false name i robbed her of her money and i deserve the if anybody ever did you might have heard a pin drop in the apartment whilst the rascal thus spoke and when he ceased mrs unable to bear up against the tumultuous emotion which his words excited sank without breath or sensation upon a sofa assistance was summoned and whilst the as yet imperfectly informed servants were running from one to another with i had leisure to look around the widow who had dropped into a chair sat gazing in bewildered dismay upon the stranger who still held her lately the puzzle discovered niece in law in his arms and i could see the hot perspiration which had gathered on her brow run in large drops down the white channels which they traced through the thick of her cheeks but the reader s fancy will supply the best image of this unexpected and extraordinary scene i cleared the house of and visitors as speedily as possible well assured that matters would now themselves without difficulty and so it proved martin was not sent to the though no question that he amply deserved a punishment as great as that the self sacrifice as he deemed it which he at last made pleaded for him and so did his pretty looking wife and the
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was that the mistaken bride s was restored with something over and that a tavern was taken for them in the white bear i think it was where they lived comfortably and happily i have heard for a considerable time and having considerably added to their capital removed to a hotel of a higher grade in the city where they now reside it was not at all surprising that the clergyman and others had been deceived the disguise and martin s talent might have persons on their guard much more men of deception the in the eyes as well as a general resemblance of features also of course greatly aided the of mrs i have only to say for it is all i know that she is rich and still splendidly beautiful though of course somewhat compared with herself twenty years since happy too i have no doubt she is judging from the placid brightness of her aspect the last time i saw her beneath the of the crystal palace on the occasion of its opening by the queen i remember wondering at the time if she often recalled to mind the passage in her life which i hi ve here recorded the one black spot on the of a bleak cold march day in an early year of this century a woman clad led a boy about eight years old along the high road towards the old city of they crept close to the hedge side to shelter themselves from the clouds of dust which the sudden of east wind blew in their faces they had walked many miles and the boy painfully he looked up anxiously into his mother s face and asked if they had much farther to go she scarcely appeared to notice his inquiries her fixed eyes and sunken cheek gave evidence that sorrow absorbed all her thoughts when he spoke she drew him closer to her side but made no reply until at length the child wondering at her silence began to sob she stopped and looked at her child for a moment her eyes filled with tears they had gained the top of a hill from which was visible in the distance the dark massive towers of the cathedral and the church of the city she pointed them out and said we shall soon be there ned then sitting down on a tree that was by the road side she took ned on her lap and bending over him wept aloud are you very tired mother said the boy trying to comfort her tis a long way but don t cry we shall see father when we come there yes you will see your father once more she checked herself and striving to dry her tears sat look ing wistfully towards the place of her destination the tramp of horses coming up the hill they had just drew the boy s attention to that direction in a moment he had sprung from his mother and was shouting with child like delight at the appearance of a gay which approached about thirty men on horseback in crimson surrounded two carriages one of which contained two of his majesty s judges accompanied by the high of the county who with his men was conducting them to the city in which the lent were about to be held the woman knelt until the carriages and the gaudy had turned the comer at the foot of a hill and were no longer visible with her hands clasped together she had prayed to god to temper with mercy the heart of the judge before whom her unfortunate husband now in jail would have to stand his trial then taking the boy again by the hand unable to explain to him what he had seen she pursued her way with him silently along the dusty road as they drew nearer to the city they overtook various groups of who had deemed it their duty in spite of the weather to wander some miles out of the city to catch an early glimpse of my lord judge and the gay officers troops also of ballad singers rope dancers and of wild beasts still followed the judges as they had done throughout the circuit walk more slowly ned said the mother checking the boy s desire to follow the shows i am very tired let us rest a little here they lingered until the crowd was far ahead of them and were left alone on the road late in the evening as the last were returning il t the one black spot ill home the found themselves in the of the city and the forlorn woman looked around anxiously for a lodging she feared the noisy people in the streets and turning timidly towards an old citizen who stood by his to his housekeeper and watching the by there was a kindness in his look which gave her confidence so with a homely courtesy she ventured to inquire of him where she might find a decent resting place have you never been here before ho asked never but once sir when i was a child many years ago what part of the country do you come from how did you get here we have walked you don t say that you have au the way with that the housekeeper drowned the reply by loudly announcing to the old gentleman that his supper was waiting we have no lodgings my good woman she said turning away from the gate stop stop said the citizen can t we direct them somewhere you see they are strangers i wonder where they could get a lodging i am sure i don t know replied your supper will be cold come in we e had no supper said the boy poor little fellow said the old gentleman then i am sure you shall
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not go without the bread and cheese and opening the garden gate he made the enter and sit down in the summer house whilst he went to fetch them a draught of the one black spot in spite of s grumbling he managed to get a but it grieved him that the woman she thanked him yery gratefully and humbly appeared unable to eat your boy eats heartily said he but i am afraid you don t enjoy it with a choking utterance she thanked him but could not eat the good old man was striving as well as he could to explain to them their way to a part of the city where they might find a lodging when the garden gate opened and a young man gave to the host a hearty greeting at the sound of his voice the cup the held in her hand fell to the ground this drew the youth s attention to her he looked earnestly at her for a moment and with an exclamation of surprise said why this is the woman hid her face in her hands and moaned do you know her then alfred said the uncle she nursed me when i was a little sickly boy replied the youth she lived many years in my father s house then i am sure you will take her to some lodging to night for she is quite a stranger here there is calling to me again she is not in the best temper to night so i had better go in and i leave them to your care oh tell me mr gray have you seen him cried the woman eagerly i have been with him to day said kindly taking her hand do not be cast down all that can be done for martin shall be done let me take you where you can rest to night and to morrow you can be with him the weary little boy had fallen asleep on the seat the mother strove to arouse him but alfred gray prevented her i mj the one black spot by taking the little fellow in his arms he carried him by her side through the streets she could utter no words of gratitude but her tears flowed fast and told how the young man s sympathy had fallen like upon her wounded heart god has taken pity on me she said when they parted with a quick step alfred regained his uncle s cottage he had a difficult task to accomplish martin now awaiting his trial for and for being concerned in an with sir george game had once been his father s young gray had been to procure for him all the legal help which the laws then allowed but his own means were limited and when he met and her boy in the garden he had come to visit his uncle to ask his assistance he had now returned on the same errand he pleaded earnestly and with caution but was it was in vain he urged the poverty of agricultural at that season and the temptation which an abundance of game afforded to half starved men and their wretched families nonsense alfred said old mr gray i would not grudge you the money if you did not want it for a bad purpose you must not excuse men who go out with guns and fire at their fellow creatures in the dark martin did not fire uncle that is what i want to prove and save him if i can from he has a wife and child wife and child repeated the old man thoughtfully you did not tell me he had a wife and child that poor woman came from providence must have guided her said the younger gray it was indeed s wife and son whom you so lately relieved you shall have the i have all through life prayed that my heart may not be hardened and i find old as i am that every day i have fresh lessons to learn the next morning while alfred held anxious consultation with the lawyers the wife and husband met within the prison walls they sat together in silence for neither could speak a single word of hope the boy never forgot that long and dreary day during which he watched with wondering thoughts the sad faces of his ruined parents the crown court of the castle was next morning crowded to overflowing among the struggling crowd that vainly sought to gain admission was martin s wife she was rudely by the door who wondered what women wanted in such places she still strove to keep her ground and watched with piteous looks the doors of the court she the heat and pressure for some time but a sickly at length came over her she was to retreat into the open air when she felt some one touch her shoulder and turning saw alfred gray making his way toward her after a moment s pause in the cool air he led her round to a door through which there was a private entrance into the court he whispered a word to an officer who admitted them and pointed to a seat behind the dock where they were from observation and where the woman could see her husband standing between his two fellow prisoners the prisoners were listening anxiously to the evidence which the principal game keeper was offering against them the first a man about sixty excited greater interest than the others he earnestly attended to what was going on but gave no sign of fear as to the result brushing back his gray locks he gazed round the court with something like a smile this one black spot man s life had been a strange one early in his career be had been from a farm which he bad held under the father of the present sir george he
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soon after lost what little property bad been left him and in despair was sent abroad with his regiment and for many years shared in the toils and achievements of our east indian warfare returning home on a small he fixed his abode in his native village and sought to indulge his old enmity against the family that had injured him by every kind of annoyance in his power the present a narrow minded man afforded by his good opportunity to old to induce others to join him in his schemes of mischief and revenge the game which was plentiful on the estate and the preservation of which was sir g s chief delight formed the principal object of attack the poverty of the tempted them to follow the old soldier who managed affairs so that for nine years he had been an object of the utmost terror and hatred to sir george and his whilst all their efforts to detect and capture him had until now been fruitless martin who stood by his side with his shattered arm in a bore marks of acute mental suffering and remorse but his countenance was stamped with its original open manly expression a face often to be seen among a group of english farm expressive of a warm heart of both courage and kindness the evidence was soon given the game on the night of the th of february were that were in the taking with them a stronger force than usual all well armed they discovered the objects of their search in a lane leading out into the fields and shouted to them the one black spot to surrender they distinctly saw their flying before them and when they approached them one of the turned round and fired one of the legs with a quantity of small shot the keeper immediately fired in return and brought down a old s voice was heard shouting to them to and upon coming up they found him standing by the side of martin who had fallen severely wounded three guns lay by them one of which had been discharged but no one could swear who had fired it search was made all night for the other man but without success when the prisoners were called on for their defence they looked at one another for a moment as if neither wished to speak first however began he had little to say casting a look of defiance at sir g and his lady who sat in a side gallery above the court he freely confessed that hatred to the man who had injured him in his youth and who had treated him with on his return from abroad had been the motive of his encouraging and in these midnight he expressed sorrow for having occasioned trouble to his neighbor what i can say will be of little use to me here said martin in a hollow voice i am ruined beyond but i was a very poor man when i first joined with others in game i often wanted bread and saw my wife and child pinched for food also the rich people say game belongs to them but well all i can say more is that i take god to witness i never lifted a gun against my fellow man he who did it has escaped and i have suffered this broken limb but that i don t mind i have worse than that to bear i have broken my wife s heart and my child will be left an orphan his voice failed there was an uneasy movement among the the one black spot and a lady who had been leaning over the rails of the side gallery listening with deep attention fainted and was carried out of court the prisoner s pale wife who had bowed her head behind him in silent endurance heard a whisper among the that it was lady and a hope entered her mind that the lady s tender heart might feel for them have you any witnesses to call asked the judge martin looked round with a vacant gaze the attorney whispered to him and beckoned to alfred gray alfred went into the witness box and told of the honesty and good conduct of martin during all the years he was in his father s house he was there before i was bom said the young man and only left when i was obliged to leave also sixteen years after a better man never broke bread he was beloved by every body who knew him till now his character was never it s the one black spot the judge commenced up it was evident to all who had paid attention to the evidence that the conviction of two of the prisoners was certain alfred gray knew this and strove to induce the wife to leave with him before the fatal close of proceedings but she shook her head and would not go i shall have strength to bear it she said he sat down by her side and heard the fearful verdict of guilty pronounced against her husband and and then the dreaded doom of for life to them as they turned to leave the dock martin looked down upon the crushed and broken hearted being whom he had sworn to protect and cherish through life and in spite of every effort to repress it a cry of agony burst from his lips it was the one black spot answered by a fainter sound and alfred g ray lifted the helpless lifeless woman from the ground and carried her into the open air months passed and on the day when the ship with its freight of heavy hearts began its silent course over the great waters the wife took her child by the hand and again traversed the weary road which led them to their home the
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kindness of the g rays had supplied a few immediate necessaries some one had told her of women having by the aid of friends managed to meet their husbands once more in those distant parts of the earth and this knowledge once in her agitated mind raised a hope which inspired her to pursue her daily task without fainting and to watch an opportunity of making an attempt which she had meditated even during that dreadful day of martin s trial she resolved to seek admission into sir g mansion and appeal to the pity of his wife it was told in the village that lady had implored her husband to in behalf of the men that his angry and passionate refusal had caused a breach between them that they had lived unhappily ever since that he had strictly forbidden any one to mention the subject or to convey to lady any remarks that were made in the neighborhood trembled when she entered the mansion and timidly asked leave to speak to lady the servant she addressed had known her husband and pitied her distress and fearing lest sir george might pass he led her into his watching an opportunity to let the lady know of her being there after a time lady maid came and beckoned her the one black spot to follow np stairs in a few moments the soil voice of the lady of the mansion was cheering her with kind words and encouraging her to disclose her wishes before she had concluded a step was heard without at which the lady started and turned pale before there was time for retreat sir g hastily entered the apartment who have you here lady one who has a request to make i believe said the lady mildly i wish a few moments with her have the goodness to walk out of this house said the to lady i know this woman and i will not allow you to harbor such people here although the s wife never again ventured into that house her wants and those of her child were during three years to by the secret agency of the good heart that lived so sadly there and when at the of that period lady died a messenger brought to the cottage a little sufficient if ever news came of martin to enable the wife and child from whom he was separated to make their way across the earth and to meet him again but during those weary years no tidings of his fate had reached either his wife or alfred gray to whom he had promised to write when he reached his destination another year dragged its slow course over the home of affliction and poor s hopes grew fainter day by day her sinking frame gave evidence of the sickness that from the heart one summer evening in the next year alfred gray entered his uncle s garden with a letter and was soon seated in the summer house reading it aloud to his uncle and tears stood in the old man s eyes as some touching detail of suffering or was related and indeed the letter told of little the one black spot beside it was martin soon after his arrival in the settlement martin had written to alfred but the letter had never reached england not an unusual occurrence in times after waiting long and getting no reply he was by harsh treatment and the degradation attending the life he led to attempt with old an escape from the settlement in simple language he recorded the dreary life they led in the woods how after a time old and died and how in a desolate place where the footsteps of man had perhaps never trod before martin had dug a grave and buried his old companion after that unable to endure the terrible solitude he had sought his way back to his former master and had been treated more harshly than before fever and disease had wasted his frame until he had prayed that he might die and be at rest but god had been merciful to him and had inclined the heart of one for whom he labored who listened with compassion to his story took him under his roof and restored him to health and now martin had obtained a ticket of leave and served his kind master for wages which he was carefully to send to alfred g ray as soon as he should hear from him that those he loved were still preserved and would come and embrace him once more in that distant land they shall go at once alfred said old mr g ray the moment the last sentence was read they shall not wait we will provide the means hey he did not now fear to appeal to his companion had grown kinder of late and she confessed she had learned of her cousin what gives most comfort to those who are drawing near their journey s end i can help them a little she said we will all help a little alfred replied i shall be off i i the one black spot at break of day to morrow on neighbor pony and shall give him no rest until he sets me down at a early next alfred gray riding briskly through the pleasant green lanes which led toward his native village it was the middle of june bright warm sunny weather and the young man s spirits was unusually gay everything around him tending to the delight which the good news he carried had inspired him with the pony stepped out bravely and was only checked when alfred came in sight of the dear old home of his childhood and heard the well known calling the villagers to their morning service for it was sunday then for a few moments the young man proceeded more slowly and his countenance
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wore a more look as the blessed recollections of early loves and affections with which the scene was associated in his mind claimed their power over all other thoughts the voice of an old friend from an apple orchard hard by recalled him from his he shook hands through the hedge i will come and see you in the evening i must hasten on now she will go to church this morning and i must go with her who asked the other alfred pointed to the cottage where dwelt i bring her good news i have a letter martin is living and well the friend shook his head alfred dismounted and walked towards s cottage the door was closed and when he looked through the window he could see no one inside he lifted the latch softly and entered there was no one there but his entrance had been heard and a moment a fine stout lad came out of rf i i t i i the one black spot the inner chamber took alfred s proffered hand and in answer to his inquiries burst into tears she says she cannot live long sir but she me last night that before she died you would come and us news of father she has been saying all the past w that we should hear from him soon whilst the boy spoke alfred heard a weak voice calling his name from the inner room go in he said and tell her i am here the boy did so and then beckoned him to enter s features were but little changed from the time when her husband was taken from her but the weak and wasted form that strove to raise itself in vain as alfred approached the bed side too plainly revealed that the struggle was drawing to a close that the time of rest was at hand thank god you are come she said you have heard from him tell me quickly for my time is short i come to tell you good news you may yet be restored to him i shall not see martin in this world again mr gray but i shall close my eyes in peace k you know where he is and can tell me that my boy shall go and be with him and tell him how through these long weary years we loved him and thought of him and prayed for him here she broke off and beckoned the boy to her she held his hands within her own whilst alfred gray read from the letter all that would comfort bar when he had done she said god will bless you you have been very good to us in our misery now will you promise me one thing more will you send my boy to his father when i am gone the one black spot the promise was made and the knelt long hy her listening to the words of love and consolation which with her latest breath she uttered for the sake of him who she hoped would hear them again from his child s lips nearly forty years have passed since they laid her among the graves of the humble villagers of few remain now who remember her story or her name but on the other side of the world amid scenery all unlike to that in which she dwelt there stands a cheerful s home and under the shadow of tall trees which surround the little garden in which some few english flowers are blooming there are sitting in the cool of the summer evening a group whose are all of the saxon mould a happy looking couple in the prime of life are there with children playing around them and one little gentle girl they call is sitting on the knee of an aged white haired man looking lovingly into his face and wondering why his eye so watches the setting sun every night as it sinks behind the blue waters in the distance two tall handsome lads with guns on their shoulders enter the garden and hasten to show the old man the fruits of their day s exploits we have been lucky to day grandfather says the younger but alfred says these birds are not like the birds in old england you should hear the sailors talk about the game in england martin replies the brother grandfather has told us all about england except the birds he thinks we should run away if he were to describe them the old man looks steadily at the boys for a moment and r i im o k black spot t it t m und he sap with a hai ig h is oar b t alfred martin you leave thk home go birds there are the rich man s property and would not dare carry those of yours over ground if ever you go there your i ther wiu tell you where there b a church yard and among the graves of the poor there is one he stopped for edward came to the place where his father sat and took hand within his own the boys obeyed their mother signal and her into the house the two men remained sitting together until the silent stars came out then the aged man leaning on his son s arm rejoined the family at the supper table and the peace of rested on the solitary home edward had kept within his heart the memory of his mother s dying commands martin his father had nobly the one black spot the gentleman beggar one morning about five years ago i called by appointment on mr john balance the fashionable to accompany him to liverpool in pursuit of a customer for balance in addition to does a little business in the sixty per cent line it
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rained in torrents when the cab stopped at the passage which leads past the boxes to his private door the rang twice and at length balance appeared through the mist and rain in the entry illuminated by his perpetual cigar as i eyed him rather impatiently remembering that trains wait for no man something like a hairy dog or a bundle of rags rose up at his feet and barred his passage for a moment then balance cried out with an exclamation in answer apparently to a something i could not hear what man alive slept in the passage there take that and get some breakfast for heaven s sake so saying he jumped into the and we away at ten miles an hour just catching the express as the doors of the station were closing my curiosity was full set for although balance can be free with his money it is not exactly to beggars that his generosity is usually displayed so when comfortably in a i finished with you are liberal with your money this morning pray how often do you give silver to street because i shall the gentleman beggar know dow what walk to take when and leave off buying law balance who would have made an excellent parson if he had not been bred to a case trade and has still a soft bit left in his heart that is always fighting with his hard head did not smile at all but looked as grim as if a into his saturday night s punch he answered slowly a yes a beggar a miserable wretch he is now but let me tell you master david that that miserable bundle of rags was bom and bred a gentleman the son of a nobleman the husband of an and has sat and dined at tables where you and i master david are only allowed to view the plate by favor of the butler i have lent him thousands and been well paid the last thing i had from him was his court suit and i hold now his bill for one hundred pounds that will be paid i expect when he dies why what nonsense you are talking you must be dreaming this morning however we are alone i ll light a weed in defiance of railway law while you spin that for true or it will fill up the time to liverpool as for replied balance the whole story is short enough and as for truth that you may easily find out if you like to take the trouble i thought the poor wretch was dead and i own it put me out meeting him this morning for i had a curious dream last night oh hang your dreams tell us about this gentleman beggar that you of half crowns that the heart even of a well then that beggar is the son of the late of by a spanish lady of rank he received a first rate education and was brought up in his father s j i ii i i i i i ll the gentleman beggar house at a very early age he obtained an appointment in a public office was presented by the at court and received into the first society where his handsome person and agreeable manners made him a great favorite soon after coming of age he married the daughter of sir e who brought him a very handsome fortune which was strictly settled on herself they lived in splendid style kept several carriages a house in town and a place in the country for some reason or other idleness or to please his lady s pride he said he resigned his appointment his father died and left him nothing indeed he seemed at that time very handsomely provided for very soon mr and mrs began to she was cold correct he was hot and random he was quite dependent on her and she made him feel it when he began to get into debt he came to me at length some shocking quarrel occurred some case of jealousy on the wife s side not without reason i believe and the end of it was mr was turned out of doors the house was his wife s the furniture was his wife s and the fortune was his wife s he was in fact her he left with a few hundred pounds ready money and some personal and went to a hotel on these and credit he lived being he had no relations being a fool when he spent his money he lost his friends the world took his wife s part when they found she had the fortune and the only parties who interfered were her relatives who did their best to make the quarrel to crown all one night he was run over by a cab was carried to a hospital and lay there for months and was during several weeks of the time unconscious a message to the wife by the hands of one of his companions sent by a ha the gentleman beggar mane surgeon obtained an intimation that if be died mr the to the family bad orders to see to the funeral and that mrs was on the point of starting for the continent not to return for some years when was discharged he came to me on two sticks to his court suit and told me his story i was really sorry for the fellow such a handsome looking man he was going then into the west somewhere to try to hunt out a friend what to do balance he said i don t know i can t dig and unless somebody will make me their i must starve or beg as my bade me when we parted i lost sight of for a long time and when i next
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came upon him it was in the of westminster in a low lodging house where i was searching with an officer for stolen goods he was pointed out to me as the gentleman because he was so free with his money when in luck he recognized me but turned away then i have since seen him and relieved him more than once although he never asks for anything how he lives heaven knows without money without friends without useful education of any kind he the country as you saw him perhaps doing a little hop picking or hay making in season only happy when he the means to get drunk i have heard through the kitchen whispers that you know come to me that he is entitled to some property and i expect if he were to die his wife would pay the hundred pound bill i hold at any rate what i have told you i know to be true and the bundle of rags i relieved just now is known in every thieves lodging in england as the gentleman this story produced an impression on me i am fond of speculation and like the excitement of a legal hunt as much the gentleman beggar as some do a fox chase a gentleman a beggar a wife rolling in wealth of unknown property due to the husband it seemed as if there were for me amidst this of before returning from liverpool i had purchased the gentleman beggar s acceptance from balance i then inserted in the times the following advertisement if this gentleman will apply to david esq st james s he will hear of something to his advantage any person furnishing mr f s correct address shall receive s reward he was last seen c within twenty four hours i had ample proof of the wide circulation of the times my office was with beggars of every degree men and women lame and blind irish scotch and english some on some in some in go carts they all knew him as the gentleman and i must do the regular of the justice to say that not one would answer a question until he made certain that i meant the gentleman no harm one evening about three weeks after th appearance of the advertisement my clerk announced another beggar there came in an old man leaning upon a staff clad in a soldier s all patched and torn with a battered hat from under which a mass of tangled hair fell over his shoulders and half concealed his face the beggar in a weak hesitating tone said you have for i hope you don t mean him any harm he is sunk i think too low for enmity now and surely no one would sport with such misery as his these last words were uttered in a sort of piteous whisper i answered quickly heaven forbid i should sport with misery i mean and hope to do him good as well as myself the gentleman then sir i am while we were conversing candles had been brought in i have not very tender nerves my head would not agree with them but i own i started and shuddered when i saw and knew that the wretched creature before me was under thirty years of age and once a gentleman sharp features reduced to literal skin and bone were and covered with dry fair hair the white teeth of the half open mouth with eagerness and made more hideous the foul of the rest of the countenance as he stood leaning on a staff half bent his long yellow bony fingers clasped over the head of his stick he was indeed a picture of misery famine and premature age too horrible to dwell upon i made him sit down sent for some refreshment which he devoured like a and set to work to his story it was difficult to keep him to the point but with pains i learned what convinced me that he was entitled to some property whether great or small there was no evidence on parting i said now mr f you must stay in town while i make proper inquiries what allowance will be enough to keep you comfortably he answered humbly much pressing would yon think ten shillings too much i don t like if i do those things at all to do them so i said come every saturday and you shall have a pound he was in thanks of course as all such men are as long as distress lasts i had previously learned that my ragged s wife was in england living in a splendid house in park g under her maiden name on the following day the earl of owing called upon me wanting five thousand pounds by five o clock the same evening it was a of life or death with a the gentleman beggar him so i made my terms and took advantage of his pressure to execute a de main i proposed that he should drive me home to receive the money calling at mrs in park gardens on our way i knew that the and of his father the would me an with mrs my scheme answered i was introduced into the lady s presence she was and probably is a very stately handsome woman with a pale complexion high solid forehead regular features thin pinched self satisfied mouth my interview was very short i plunged into the middle of the a fair but had scarcely mentioned the word husband when she interrupted me with i presume you have lent this person money and want me to pay you she paused and then said he shall not have a as she spoke her white face became scarlet but madam the man is starving i have strong reasons for believing he is entitled to property and
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if you refuse any assistance i must take other measures she rang the bell wrote something rapidly on a card and as the footman appeared pushed it towards me across the table with the air of touching a saying there sir is the address of my apply to them if you think you have any claim show the person out and take care he is not admitted again so far i had effected nothing and to tell the truth felt rather crest fallen under the influence of that grand manner peculiar to certain great ladies and to all great my next visit was to the messrs and of s inn square and there i was at home i had had dealings with the firm before they are agents for the gentleman beggar half the aristocracy who always run in crowds like sheep after the same wine merchants the same the same and the same law agents it may be doubted whether the quality of law and land management they get on this principle is quite equal to their wine and horses at any rate my friends of s inn like others of the same class are distinguished by their courteous manners deliberate proceedings innocence of legal long credit and heavy charges the elder partner wears powder and a huge bunch of lives in queen square drives a gives the dinners and does the cordial department he is so strict in performing the latter duty that he once addressed a who had shot a duke s keeper as my dear creature although he afterwards hung him has chambers in st james street drives a cab wears a tip and does the grand style my business lay with the and letters were numerous however it came at last to the following dialogue well my dear mr began mr who hates me like poison i m really very sorry for that poor dear knew his father well a great man a perfect gentleman but you know what women are eh mr my won t advance a shilling she knows it would only be wasted in low now don t you think this was said very don t you think he had better be sent to the work house very comfortable accommodation there i assure you meat twice a week and excellent soup and then mr d we might consider about allowing you something for that bill mr can reconcile it to your conscience to the gentleman beggar make such an arrangement here s a wife rolling in luxury and a husband starving no mr not starving there is the work house as i observed before besides allow me to suggest that these appeals to feeling are quite quite but mr touching this property which the poor man is entitled to why there again mr d you must excuse me you really must i don t say he is i don t say he is not if you know he is entitled to property i am sure you know how to proceed the law is open to you mr the law is open and a man of your talent will know how to use it then mr you mean that i must in order to right this starving man file a bill of discovery to extract from you the particulars of his rights you have the marriage settlement and all the information and you decline to allow a or a ford any information the man is to starve or go to the work house why mr d you are so quick and violent it really is not professional but you see here a subdued smile of triumph it has been decided that a is not bound to afford such information as you ask to the injury of his then you mean that this poor may rot and starve while you keep secret from him at his wife s request his title to an income and that the court of will back you in this i kept repeating the word starve because i saw it made my respectable opponent well then just listen to me i know that in the happy state of our law can t help my j but i have another plan i shall go the gentleman beggar hence to my office issue a writ and take your s husband in execution as soon as he is lodged in jail i shall file his in the court and when he comes up for his discharge i shall put you in the witness box and examine you on oath touching any property of which you know the to be possessed and where will be your privileged then the respectable s face lengthened in a twinkling his comfortable confident air vanished he ceased his gold chain and at length he muttered suppose we pay the debt why then i ll arrest him the day after for another but my dear mr surely such conduct would not be quite respectable that s my business my has been wronged i am determined to right him and when the aristocratic firm of and takes refuge according to the custom of respectable in the cool of the court of why a mere bill attorney like david need not hesitate about cutting a out of the court well well mr d you are so warm so fiery we must deliberate we must consult you will give me until the day after to morrow and then we ll write you our final determination in the meantime send us a copy of your authority to act for mr of course i lost no time in getting the gentleman beggar to sign a proper letter on the appointed day came a communication with the l and f seal which i opened not without eagerness it was as follows s the gentleman beggar in re arid another sir in answer to your
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application on behalf of mr we beg to inform you that under the administration of a paternal aunt who died your is entitled to two thousand five hundred pounds eight shillings and sixpence three per cents one thousand five hundred pounds nineteen shillings and three per cents one thousand pounds long five hundred pounds bank stock three thousand five hundred pounds india stock besides other making up about ten thousand pounds which we are prepared to transfer over to mr s direction forthwith here was a it quite took away my breath at dusk came my gentleman beggar and what puzzled me was how to break the news to him being very much overwhelmed with business that day i had not much time for consideration he came in rather better dressed than when i first saw him with only a week s beard on his chin but as usual not quite sober six weeks had elapsed since our first interview he was still the humble trembling low creature i first knew him after a i said i find mr f you are entitled to something pray what do you mean to give me in addition to my bill for obtaining it he answered rapidly oh take half if there is one hundred pounds take half if there is five hundred pounds take half no no mr f i don t do business in that way i shall be satisfied with ten per cent it was so settled i then led him out into the street impelled to tell him the news yet the effect not daring to make the revelation in my for fear of a scene the gentleman beggar i began hesitatingly mr i am to that i find you are entitled to ten thousand pounds ten thousand pounds he ten pounds he shrieked ten thousand pounds he seizing my arm violently you are a brick here cab cab several drove up the shout might have been heard a mile off lie jumped in the first where to said the driver to a tailor s you rascal ten thousand pounds ha ha ha he repeated when in the cab and every moment grasping my arm presently he subsided looked me straight in the face and muttered with what a jolly brick you are i the tailor the the boot maker the hair were in turn visited by this poor pagan of as by degrees under their hands he emerged from the beggar to the gentleman his spirits rose his eyes brightened he walked erect but always nervously grasping my arm fearing apparently to lose sight of me for a moment lest his fortune should vanish with me the impatient pride with which he gave his orders to the astonished for the finest and best of everything and the amazed air of the fashionable when he presented his locks and chin to be out and shaved may be acted it cannot be described y the time the external was complete and i sat down in a in the opposite a haggard but handsome looking man whose air with the exception of the wild eyes and deeply face did not differ from the men about town sitting around us mr i i i i the gentleman beggar had already almost forgotten the past he the waiter and the wine as if he had done nothing else but dine and drink and there all the days of his life once he wished to drink my health and would have proclaimed his whole story to the coffee room assembly in a style when i left he almost wept in terror at the idea of losing sight of me but allowing for these the natural result of such a whirl of events he was wonderfully calm and self possessed the next day his first care was to fifty pounds among his friends the at a house of call in and formally to his connection with them those present undertaking for the that for the future he should never be noticed by them in public or private i cannot follow his career much further had taught him nothing he was soon again surrounded by the well bred who had forgotten him when but they amused him and that was enough the ten thousand pounds were rapidly melting when he invited me to a grand dinner at which included a dozen of the most agreeable good looking well dressed of london with a display of pretty butterfly we dined and drank as men do of in the dog days looking down from hill one of the pink crowned with a wreath of flowers he looked less the intellect as handsome as intensely excited and flushed he rose with a champagne glass in his hand to propose my health the powers of his father had not descended on the gentleman him out sentences by at length he said i a b i am a gentleman thanks to this here he leaned on my shoulder heavily a moment and then fell back we raised him loosened his fainted said the ladies drank said the gentlemen he was dead a fashionable i am an attorney and a bill as it is mj to lend money at high interest to extravagant people my connection principally lies among fools sometimes among of quality mine is a pursuit which a prejudiced world either holds in sovereign contempt or visits with envy hatred and all but to my mind there are many with finer names that are no better it gives me two things which i love money and power but i cannot deny that it brings with it a bad name the case lies between character and money and a matter of taste some people like character i prefer money if i am hated and despised i chuckle over the per i find it pleasant for members
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of a proud aristocracy to condescend from their high estate to flatter to affect even familiarity in order to gain my good will i am no no can accuse me of desiring either his flesh or his blood sentimental vengeance is no item in my stock in trade gold and bank notes satisfy my rage or if need be a good far from seeking revenge the worst i ever had dealings with cannot deny that i am always willing to accept a good post i say again i am daily brought in contact with all ranks of society from the poverty stricken to the peer and i am no more surprised at receiving an application from a from a pet opera in my room wait at this a fashionable moment a crowd of among the men and craft are most prominent there is a handsome young fellow with an elaborate cane and vacant countenance who is in feeble follies an estate that has been in the possession of his ancestors since the reign of henry the eighth there is a hairy high in appearance something between a and a he is an old five years ago he drove his four in hand he is now waiting to beg a sovereign having been just discharged from the court for the second time among the women a pretty who a few years since looked forward to a supper of and with stout on a saturday night as a great treat now finds one hundred pounds a month to pay her wine merchant and her i am obliged to deal with each case according to its peculiarities genuine ruin seldom at my door mine is a perpetual battle with people who at the same rate as they their fortunes i am a hard man of course i should not be fit for my pursuit if i were not but when by a remote chance honest misfortune pays me a visit as amused himself at times by giving a beggar a guinea so i occasionally treat myself to the luxury of doing a kind action my favorite subjects for this unnatural generosity are the very young or the poor innocent helpless people who are unfit for the war of life many among my especially those tempered in the ice book of fashion and high life polished and would be too much for me if i had not made the face the eye the accent as much my study as the mere legal and financial points of to show what i mean i will relate what happened to me not long since a fashionable one day a middle aged man in the usual costume of a west end who had sent in his name as mr was shown into my private room after a little hesitation he said although you do not know me living at this end of the town i know you very well by reputation and that you bills i have a bill here which i want to get i am in the employ of messrs and smooth the bill is drawn by one of our best customers the hon miss niece of lord and accepted by major whom no doubt you know by name she has dealt with us for some years is very very extravagant but always pays he put the acceptance which was for two hundred pounds into my hands i looked at it as as i usually do at such paper the major s signature was familiar to me but having succeeded to a great estate he had long ceased to be a customer instantly detected a by whom was the question could it be the man before me experience told me it was not perhaps there was something in the expression of my countenance which mr did not like for he said it is good for the amount i presume i replied pray sir from whom did you get this bill from miss herself have you any other bills made by the same drawer yes said the without hesitation i have paid away a bill for one hundred pounds to mr sparkle the to whom miss owed twenty pounds they gave me the difference and how long has that bill to run now about a fortnight a fashionable did you it i did mr sparkle me to do so to show that the bill came properly into his possession this second bill you say is required to enable miss to leave town yes she is going to for the winter i gave mr a steady piercing look of inquiry pray sir i said could you meet that one hundred pounds bill supposing it could not be paid by the meet it the poor fellow wiped from his forehead the perspiration which suddenly broke out at the bare hint of a probability that the bill would be meet it no i am a married man with a family and have nothing but my salary to depend on then the sooner you get it taken up and the less you have to da with miss s bill affairs the better she has always been punctual hitherto that may be i pointed to the cross writing on the document and said deliberately this bill is a at these words the poor man turned pale he snatched up the document and with many was rushing toward the door when i called to him in an tone to stop he paused his manner indicating not only doubt but fear i said to him don t yourself i only want to serve you you tell me that you are a married man with children dependent on daily labor for daily bread and that you have done a little for miss out of your now although i am a bill i don t like to see such men look at the body of this bill
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look at the signature of your lady customer the drawer don t you detect the same fine thin sharp pointed handwriting in the words i r y a fashionable accepted the man convinced against his will was at first overcome when he recovered he he would expose the honorable miss if it cost him his bread he would go at once to the police i stopped him by saying roughly don t be a fool any such steps would seal your ruin take my advice return the bill to the lady saying simply that you cannot get it leave the rest to me and i think the bill you have to sparkle will be paid comforted by this assurance y changed from the nervous but man of the morning departed it now remained for me to exert what skill i possessed to bring about the desired result i lost no time in writing a letter to the honorable miss of which the following is a copy madam a bill to be drawn by you has been offered to me for there is something wrong about it and though a stranger to you i advise you to lose no time in getting it back into your own hands d d i intended to deal with the affair quietly and without any view to profit the fact is that i was sorry you may laugh but i really was sorry to think that a young girl might have given way to temptation under pressure of pecuniary difficulties if it had been a man s case i doubt whether i should have by the return of post a lady s maid entered my room decorated with lace and per with she brought a letter from her mistress it ran thus sir i cannot sufficiently express my thanks for your kindness in writing to me on the subject of the bills of which i had a fashionable also heard a few hours previously as a perfect stranger to you i cannot estimate your kind consideration at too high a value i trust the matter will be explained but i should much like to see you if you would be kind enough to write a note as soon as you receive this i will order it to be sent to me at once to square i will wait on you at any hour on friday you may i believe that i am not mistaken in supposing that you business for my friend sir john and you will therefore know the to be his handwriting again thanking you most gratefully allow me to remain your much and deeply obliged this note was written upon delicate french paper with a coat of arms it was in a fancy envelope the whole richly and of rank and fashion its contents were an implied confession of silence or three lines of indignation j would have been the only innocent answer to my letter but miss thanked me she let me know by that she was on intimate terms with a name good on a west end bill my answer was that i should be alone on the following afternoon at five at the hour fixed punctual to a moment a drew up at the corner of the street next to my chambers the honorable miss s card was handed in presently she entered swimming into my room richly yet simply dressed in the extreme of good taste she was pale or rather she had fair hair fine teeth and a fashionable voice she threw herself gracefully into the chair i handed to her and began by a string of phrases to the effect that her visit was merely to consult me on pecuniary difficulties i i i i i i i i a fashionable according to my mode i allowed her to talk putting in only an occasional word of question that seemed rather a random observation than a significant at length after walking round and round the subject like a timid horse in a field around a groom with a of she came nearer and nearer the subject when she had fairly approached the point she stopped as if her courage had failed her but she soon recovered and observed i cannot think why you should take the trouble to write so to me a perfect stranger another pause i wonder no one ever suspected me before here was a confession and a key to character the cold gray eye the thin compressed lips which i had had time to observe were true to the lady s inner heart selfish calculating utterly devoid of conscience unable to conceive the existence of spontaneous kindness utterly indifferent to anything except discovery and almost indifferent to that because convinced that no serious consequences could affect a lady of her rank and influence madam i replied as long as you dealt with accustomed to depend on aristocratic customers your rank and position and their large profits protected you from suspicion but you have made a mistake in descending from your ground to make a poor your innocent a man who will be keenly alive to anything that may injure his wife or children his terrors but for my would have ruined you utterly tell me how many of these things have you put afloat she seemed a little taken a back by this speech but was wonderfully firm she passed her white hand over her eyes seemed calculating and then whispered with a confiding look of innocent helplessness admirably assumed about as many as amount to twelve hundred pounds a fashionable and what means have you for meeting them at thb question so plainly put her face flushed she half rose from her chair and exclaimed in the true tone of aristocratic j really sir i do not know what right you have to ask
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me that question i laughed a little though not very loud it was rude i own but who could have helped it i replied speaking low but slowly and distinctly you forget i did not send for you you came to me you have bills to the amount of twelve hundred yours is not the case of a ruined merchant or an ignorant over tempted clerk in your case a jury she shuddered at that word would find no circumstances and if you should fall into the hands of justice you will be convicted degraded clothed in a and transported for life i do not want to speak harshly but i insist that you find means to take up the bill which mr has so the honorable miss s grand manner melted away she wept she seized and pressed my hand she cast up her eyes full of tears and went through the part of a victim with great she would do anything anything in the world to save the poor man indeed she had intended to appropriate part of the two hundred pound bill to that purpose she forgot her first statement that she wanted the money to go out of town without interrupting i let her go on and hers by a passion of repentance regret and to me under which she hid her fear and her mortification at being detected i at length put an end to a scene of admirable acting by her to go abroad immediately to place herself out of reach of any sudden discovery and then lay her case fully before her friends who would no i it a fashionable doubt feel bound to come forward with the full amount of the bills but she exclaimed with an air i have no money i cannot go without money to that observation i did not respond although i am sure she expected that i should check book in hand offer her a loan i do not say so without reason for the very next week this honorable young lady came again and with sublime assurance and a number of very charming winning speeches which might have had their effect upon a younger man asked me to lend her one hundred pounds in order that she might take the advice i had so given her and retire into private life for a certain time in the country i do meet with a great many impudent people in the course of my calling i am not very deficient in assurance myself but this actually took away my breath really madam i answered you pay a very ill compliment to my gray hairs and would fain make me a very ill return for the service i have done you when you ask me to lend a pounds to a young lady who owns to having to the extent of one thousand two hundred pounds and to owing eight hundred pounds besides i wished to save a personage of your years and position from a disgraceful career but i am too good a for my children to lend money to anybody in such a dangerous position as yourself oh she answered quite without a trace of the fearful tender pleading of the previous week s interview quite as if i had been an i can give you excellent security that the case i can lend any amount on good security well sir i can get the acceptance of three friends of ample means do you mean to tell me miss that you will write a fashionable down the names of three parties who will accept a bill for one hundred pounds for jou yes she could and did actually write down the names of three distinguished men now i knew for certain that not one of those would have put his name to a bill on any account whatever for his dearest friend but in her self she thought of passing another on me i closed the conference by saying i cannot assist you and she retired with the air of an injured person in the course of a few days i heard from mr that his of one hundred pounds had been duly honored in my active and exciting life one day the recollection of the events of the preceding day and for a time i thought no more about the fashionable i had taken it for granted that heartily frightened although not she had paused in her pursuits my business one day led me to the establishment of one of the most wealthy and respectable legal in the city where i am well known and i believe valued for at all times i am most politely i may say most cordially received mutual profits create a wonderful between those who have not any other sympathy or sentiment politics religion morality difference of rank are all and by the division of an account no sooner had i entered the than the senior partner mr began to his junior mr jones with well jones must never joke any more about just imagine he continued addressing me jones has himself been a bill for a lady and a pretty one too he sat next her at dinner in square last week next she gave him a call here and he could not refuse her extraordinary re i i a fashionable quest it is hardly fair for jones to be on of west end paper mr jones smiled quietly as he observed why you see she is the niece of one of our best and really i was so taken by surprise that i did not know how to refuse pray said i interrupting his excuses c your young lady s name begin with s has she very pale face and cold gray eye the partners stared ah i see it is so and can at once tell you that ihe bill
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is not worth a rush why you don t mean i mean simply that the acceptance is i ll lay you a a a a i repeated as distinctly as possible mr jones hastily and with broken called for the cash box with trembling hands he took out the bill and followed my with eager eyes as i pointed out the proofs of my assertion a long pause was broken by my mocking laugh for at the moment my sense of politeness could not restrain my satisfaction at the signal defeat which had attended the first experiment of these highly respectable gentlemen in the science of the partners did not have recourse to the police they did not propose a consultation with either mr or mr field but they took certain steps under my recommendation the result of which was that at an early day an aunt of the honorable miss was driven to save so near a connection from to sell out some fourteen hundred of stock and all the were taken up one would have thought that the lady who had thus so escaped had had enough but like eating is one of those charming vices which is never abandoned when once adopted the not only the pleasure of obtaining money so easily but the triumph of sharp men of the world is a source of the same sort of pride as that which the the or well trained player with a clean he down a at three or six months for a cool hundred or a round thousand just as a drops over a at ten or a a monstrous male elephant at a hundred paces as i before observed my connection especially lies among the among those who will be ruined who are being ruined and who have been ruined to the last class belongs francis once a gentleman now without a shilling or a principle but rich in mother wit in fact a after paul de s own heart having in by gone days been ne of my willing victims he occasionally finds pleasure and profit in guiding others through the gate he frequented as long as able to pay the in truth he is what is called a agent one day i received a note from him to say that he would call on me at three o clock the next day to introduce a lady of family who wanted a bill done for one hundred pounds so ordinary a transaction merely needed a in my tuesday p m f f bill the hour came and passed but no frank which was strange because every one must have observed that however people are in paying they are punctual when they expect to receive money li a at five o clock in rushed my his story from oaths and amounted to this in answer to one of the he occasionally addresses to the embarrassed in the columns of the times he received a note from a lady who said she was anxious to get a bill done the acceptance of a well known man of rank and fashion a correspondence was opened and an appointment made at the hour fixed neatly shaved brushed the revival in short of that high bred frank who was so famous in his hot youth when s was the thing glowing with only one glass of brandy just to steady his nerves he met the lady at a west end cook s after a few words for all the material questions had been settled by she stepped into a and invited frank to take a seat beside her elated with a compliment of late years so rare he commenced planning the which were to reward him for weeks of enforced when the coachman touching his hat looked down from his seat for orders to ninety nine george street st james cried in his tones in an instant the young lady s pale face changed to scarlet and then to ghastly green in a whisper rising to a scream she exclaimed good heavens you do not mean to go to that man s house meaning me indeed i cannot go to him on any account he is a most horrid man i am told and charges most madam answered frank in great i beg your pardon but you have been i have a fashionable known that excellent man these twenty years and have paid him hundreds on hundreds but never so much by ten per cent as you offered me for your bill sir i cannot have anything to do with your friend then violently the check string stop she gasped and will you have the goodness to get out and so i got out continued and lost my time and the heavy i made in getting myself up for the new gloves and a shilling to the hair hang her but did you ever know anything like the prejudices that must prevail against you i am disgusted with human nature could you lend me half a sovereign till saturday i smiled i the half sovereign and let him go for he is not exactly the person to whom it was advisable to all the secrets relating to the honorable miss since that day i look each morning in the police reports with considerable interest but up to the present hour the honorable miss has lived and in the best society i of english law bt from i household words the of in marsh stands a building better known than honored the wealthy merchant knows it as the place where an unfortunate friend who made that speculation during the recent sugar panic is now a the man about town knows it as a spot to which several of his friends have been driven at full gallop by fleet race horses and dear
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dog carts the lawyer knows it as the last scene of all the catastrophe of a large proportion of law suits the father knows it as a bear wherewith to warn his son but the uncle knows it better as the place whence date of reform and piteous appeals this once for few indeed are there who has not heard of the queen s prison or as it is more briefly and emphatically termed the bench awful sound what visions of folly and of and of ruin and are up to the imagination in these two words it is the of commerce the of fortune within its grim walls surmounted by a de termed lord s teeth dwell at this moment members of almost every class of society debt the grim riding on the shoulders of his victim like the hideous old man in the eastern fable has here his safely under lock and key and within walls the church the army the navy the bar the press the turf the trade of england have each and all their representatives in this house every grade from the ruined man of fortune to the petty who has been undone by giving ass the of credit to others still poorer than himself sends its members to this parliament nineteen in this royal house of owe their misfortunes directly or indirectly to themselves and for them every free and prosperous man has his cut and dry moral or scrap of pity or of advice but there is a proportion of prisoners happily a small one within those huge brick boundaries who have committed no crime broken no law no they are the victims of a system which has been to us from the dark days of the star chambers and courts of high commission we mean the of these unhappy persons were formerly confined in the fleet prison but on the of that edifice were transferred to the queen s bench unlike prisoners of any other they are frequently ignorant of the cause of their imprisonment and more frequently still are unable to obtain their by any acts or of their own there is no act of which they are permitted to take the benefit no door left open for them in the court of a prisoner is in fact a far more hopeless mortal than a to for the latter knows that at the of a certain period he will in any event be a free man the prisoner has no such certainty he may and he frequently does waste a life time in the walls of a jail whither he was sent in innocence because perchance he had the iu luck to be one of the next of kin of some who made a will which no one could comprehend or the heir of some who made none any other party interested in the estate a suit which he must defend or be committed to prison for contempt a prison is his portion what the of ever he does for if he answers the bill filed against him and cannot pay the costs he is also clapped in jail for contempt thus what in ordinary life is but an irrepressible expression of opinion or a small is in a high crime with imprisonment sometimes perpetual whoever is pronounced guilty of contempt in a sense is taken from his family his profession or his trade perhaps his sole means of and consigned to a jail where he must starve or live on a miserable of three shillings and sixpence a week out to him from the county rate of an order of the court of though that order may command you to pay more money than you ever had or to hand over property which is not yours and was never in your possession is contempt of court no matter how great your natural reverence for the time honored institutions of your native land no matter though you regard the lord high of great britain as the most wonderful man upon earth and his court as the purest of justice where she sits weighing out justice with a pair of s you may yet be to have been guilty of contempt for this there is no pardon you are in the catalogue of the doomed and are doomed accordingly a popular a notion that no one need go into unless he pleases nothing but an utter and happy innocence of the bitter irony of proceedings keeps such an idea current men have been imprisoned for many years some for a life time on account of proceedings of the very existence of which they were almost in ignorance before they somehow or other were found in contempt see yonder old man in garments with the of pinched features telling of long years of anxiety and and want he has a weak starved voice that sounds as though years of have shrunk it as much as his cheeks he always looks cold and god help him feels so too for tells us that no quantity of clothing will cold without the aid of plenty of food and little of that passes his lips his eye has an timid half frightened look as if he could not look you straight in the face for lack of energy his step is a hurried though he seldom leaves his room and when he does he at the players as if they were of a different race from himself no one ever sees his hands they are plunged desperately into his pockets which never contain anything else he is like a dried fruit exhausted and flung aside by the whole world he is a man without hope a prisoner he has lived in a jail for twenty eight weary years his history has many it is this it was his
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misfortune to have an uncle who died leaving him his the uncle like most men who make their own wills forgot an essential part of it he named no our poor friend administered and all parties interested received their he last of all taking but a small sum it was his only and having received it he looked about for an there were no in days or he might have in the but there were companies and south sea fishing companies and various other companies termed our friend thought these companies were not safe and he was quite right in his supposition so he determined to his money to no speculation but to invest it in spanish bonds after all our the op poor friend had better have tried the mines for the bonds proved worth very little more than the paper on which they were written his most catholic majesty did not like certain states but up his pockets and told his he had no money some five years af r our friend was startled by being requested to come up to doctors and tell the worthy there all about his uncle s will which one of the after receiving all he was entitled to under it and probably spending the money suddenly took it into his head to dispute the of meanwhile the court of also stepped in and ordered him the suit to pay over into court that little trifle he had received what could the poor man do his catholic majesty had got the money he the had not a of it nor of any other money whatsoever he was in contempt an officer tapped him on the shoulder displayed a little piece of and he found that he was the victim of an unfortunate attachment he was walked to the fleet prison where and in the queen s prison he has remained ever since a period of twenty eight years yet no less a personage than a lord has pronounced his opinion that the will after all was a good and will though the little family doctors thought otherwise there is another miserable looking object yonder greasy dirty and he too is a prisoner he has been so for twenty years why he has not the slightest idea he can only tell you that he was found out to be one of the relations of some one who had left a good bit of money the lawyers put the will into and at last i was ordered to do something or other i can t recollect the of what which i was also told i couldn t do if i would so they said i was in contempt and thej took and put me into the fleet it s a matter of twenty years i have been in prison of course i d like to get out but i m told there s no way of doing it anyhow he is an and works at his trade in the prison by which he gains just enough to keep him without coming upon the county rate in that room over the chapel is the there was a death lately the deceased was an old man of sixty eight and nearly blind he had not been many years in prison but the confinement and the anxiety and the separation from his family had upon his mind and body he was too for after being used to all the comforts of life he had to live in jail on sixpence a day yet there was one thousand pounds in the hands of the q of the court of which was justly due to him he was in contempt for not paying some three hundred pounds but death his contempt and a decree was afterwards made for paying over the one thousand pounds to his personal representatives yet himself had died for want of a twentieth part of it of slow starvation it must not however be supposed that never its victims we must be just to the laws of there is actually a man now in london whom they have positively let out of prison they had however prolonged his agonies during seventeen years he was committed for contempt in not paying certain costs as he had been ordered he appealed firom the order but until his appeal was heard he had to remain in vile the court of like all dignified bodies is never in a hurry and therefore from having no great influence and a very small stock of money to the op forward his interest the poor man could only get his cause finally heard and decided on in december seventeen years from the date of his imprisonment and after all the court decided that the original order was wrong so that he had been committed for seventeen years hy mistake how familiar to him must have been the face of that poor tottering man creeping along to rest on the bench under the wall yonder he is very old but not so old as he looks he is a poor prisoner and another victim to he has long ago forgotten if he ever knew the particulars of his own case or the order which sent him to a jail he can tell you more of the history of this gloomy place and its brother the fleet than any other man he will relate you stories of the days of the fleet when great and renowned men were frequently its when soldiers and sailors authors and actors whose names even then filled england with their renown were prisoners within its walls when whistling shops flourished and were when lodgings in the prison were dearer than rooms at the west end of the town and when a young man was not considered to have finished his education until he had spent a month or two in the
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bench or the fleet he knows nothing of the world outside it is dead to him relations and friends have long ceased to think of him or perhaps even to know of his existence his thoughts range not beyond the high walls which surround him and probably if he had but a little better supply of food and clothing he might almost be considered a happy man but it is the happiness of not of the intelligence and the affections the condition of a trance rather than the joyous feeling which has hope for its bright eyed minister what has he to do with hope he has the of been thirty years a prisoner he is another out of twenty four still prisoners here more than half of whom have been prisoners for above ten years and not one of whom has any hope of release a few have done something in contempt of all law and but is not even their punishment greater than their crime let us turn away surely we have seen enough though many other sad tales may be told the horrors of and french de law at a low low narrow dark and frowning are the of our of court k there is one of these of which i have more dread than another it is that leading out of to gray s i never remember to have met a cheerful face at it until the other morning when i encountered mr at law in a few minutes we found ourselves arm in arm and straining our voices to the utmost amid the noise of passing mr stretched himself on in a frantic effort to inform me that he was going to a county court but perhaps you have not heard of these places i assured mr that the concerning them had made me very anxious to see how justice was administered in these for low law i am going to one now but he added you must understand that i do not approve of their working there can be no doubt that they seriously prejudice the regular course of law comparing the three quarters preceding with three quarters subsequent to the establishment of these courts there was a of nearly issued by the court of queen s bench alone or of nearly on the year we soon arrived at the county court it is a plain substantial looking building wholly without but at the same time not devoid of some little elegance of exterior we entered by a far less austere than that of gray s inn a long well lighted passage on either side of which were law at a low price offices connected with the court one of these was the summons office and i on the wall a table of and as i saw mr consulting it with a view to his own business i asked him his opinion of the charges why said he the scale of is too large for the and too small for the lawyer but object less to the amount than to the and of the table in some districts the expense of recovering a sum of money is more than it is in others though in both the same scale of is in operation this arises from the variety of which different judges and officers put upon the charges passing out of the summons office we entered a large hall with lists of trials for the week there were more than one hundred of them set down for trial on nearly every day i am glad i said to think that this is not all additional i presume these are the thousands of causes a year withdrawn from the superior courts the of them said mr with a sigh there were some out of the old processes but i am afraid there is nothing but the bone here i see here said i pointing to one of the lists a single entered as proceeding against six and twenty in succession ah said mr rubbing his hands a knowing fellow that quite awake to the business of these courts a cheap and easy way sir of recovering old debts i don t know who the fellow is a tailor very likely but no doubt you will find his name in the list in this way once every half year k his and christmas bills are not paid it is far cheaper to come here and get a summons served than to send law at a low price all over london to collect the accounts with the chance of not finding the customer at home and this is one way you see in we are no doubt this fellow formerly employed an attorney to write letters for him payment of the amount of his bill and s d for the cost of the application now instead of going to an attorney he comes here and gets the summons served for s a knowing hand that a knowing hand but i said surely no respectable respectable said mr i said nothing about respectability this sort of thing is very common among a certain class of trades people especially puffing and boot makers such people rely less on regular than on chance custom and therefore they care less about proceeding against those who deal with them but said i this is a decided abuse of the power of the court fellows ought to be exposed said mr they are probably soon known here and then if the judge does his duty they get bare justice and nothing more i am not sure indeed that sometimes their appearance here may not injure rather than be of advantage to them for the may fix a distant date for payment of a debt which the by a little civility might have obtained from his customer a good deal sooner the court i found to be a
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i have observed this effect produced in a degree in cases of new trial which in civil suits are often and which frequently take place years after the event to which they relate the comparison of evidence of same witness as it stands upon the short hand writer s notes of the two trials would lead an reader to the conclusion that nothing but could account for the and this impression the duties of witnesses and would be confirmed if he should find as in all probability he would that the points on which the latter memory was better supplied than the earlier were just those on which the greatest doubt had prevailed on the former occasion and which were made in favor of the party on whose side the witness had been called but the critic would be mistaken the witness was not but had failed to keep watch over the operations of his own mind he had perhaps often to the subject and often upon it until at length he confounded the facts which had occurred with the which he had drawn from such facts in establishment of the existence of others which had in reality no place except in his own but which after a time took rank in his memory with its original the best a witness could employ to preserve the memory of transactions is to commit his narrative to writing as soon after the event as he shall have learned that his evidence them is likely to be required and yet i can hardly recommend such a course because so little is the world and even that portion of the world which passes its life in courts of justice acquainted with what may be called the philosophy of evidence that a conscientious endeavor of this kind to preserve his testimony in its purity might draw upon him the of having his narrative and this is the more probable because false witnesses have not taken similar means for abiding by their it is worthy of note how much these disturbing causes both moral and intellectual fasten upon these portions of evidence which are most liable to words as distinguished from the truth of this position every witness ought to feel great distrust of himself in giving evidence of a conversation language if it to any length is very liable to be misunderstood at least in passages but it to be well understood at the moment the exact of it can rarely be recalled unless the witness s memory were in and accuracy to the record of a short hand writer he is consequently permitted to give an abstract or as it is usually called the substance of what occurred but here a new difficulty arises to abstract correctly is an intellectual effort of no mean order and is rarely accomplished with a decent approach to perfection let the bear this in mind he will be often tempted to rely on alleged of prisoners sworn to by witnesses who certainly desire to speak the truth these often go so straight to the point that they offer to the a species of relief from that state of doubt which to minds in weighing is irksome almost beyond description speaking from the experience of thirty years i should pronounce the evidence of words to be so dangerous in its nature as to demand the utmost vigilance in all cases before it is allowed to influence the verdict to any important extent while i am on the subject of evidence in its nature i must not pass over that of identity of person the number of persons who resemble each other is not in itself but the number is very large of persons who though very when standing side by side are yet sufficiently alike to deceive those who are without the means of immediate comparison early in life an occurrence impressed me with the danger of on the most confidential belief of identity i was at g where i thought i saw at a short distance an old country gentleman whom i highly respected and whose the duties of witnesses and favor i should have been sorry to lose i bowed to him but obtained no recognition in those days the company amused themselves by walking round in a circle some in one direction some in the opposite by which every one saw and was seen i say in those days because i have not been at for a quarter of a century in performing these rounds i often met the gentleman and tried to attract his attention until i became convinced that either his eye sight was so weakened that he did not know me or that he chose to my acquaintance some time afterward going into the county in which he resided i received as usual an invitation to dinner this led to an explanation when my friend assured me he had not been in london for twenty years i afterwards met the person whom i had mistaken for my old and wondered how i could have into the error i can only explain it by supposing that if the mind feels satisfied of identity which it often does at the first glance it ceases to investigate that question and itself with other matter as in my case where my thoughts ran upon the motives my friend might have for not me instead of themselves on the question of whether or no the individual before my eyes was indeed the person i took him for if i had had to give evidence on this matter my mistake would have been the more dangerous as i had full means of knowledge the place was well lighted the were repeated and my mind was undisturbed how often have i known evidence of identity acted upon by where the witness was in a much less favorable position for correct observation l an mine sometimes a mistaken verdict
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is avoided by independent evidence rarely however is l is escaped by cross the duties of witnesses and even when conducted with adequate skill and experience the belief of the witness is belief in a matter of opinion firom a combination of facts so slight and unimportant separately considered that they furnish no handle to the cross a striking case of this kind occurs to my recollection with which i will conclude a prisoner was for shooting at the with intent to kill him the swore that the prisoner had demanded his money and that upon or delay to with his he fired a pistol by the flash of which his countenance became perfectly visible the shot did not take effect and the prisoner made off here the recognition was momentary and the could hardly have been in an undisturbed state of mind yet the confidence of his belief made a strong impression on all who heard the evidence and probably would have sealed the fate of the prisoner without the aid of an additional fact of very slight importance which was however put in evidence by way of that the prisoner who was a stranger to the neighborhood had been seen passing near the spot in which the attack was made about noon of the same day the judge belonged to a class now thank god who always acted on the reverse of the constitutional and considered every man guilty until he was proved to be innocent j the case had closed without witnesses on behalf of the prisoner his life would have been gone fortunately he possessed the means of an able and zealous attorney and more fortunately it so happened that several hours the attack the prisoner had mounted upon a coach and was many miles om the scene of the crime at the hour of its commission with great labor and at considerable expense all the passengers were sought out and with the coachman and guard the duties of witnesses and were brought into court and to the presence among them of the prisoner an is always a suspected defence and by no man was ever more suspiciously watched than by this judge but then witness after witness appeared their names corresponding exactly with the way bill produced by the clerk of a respectable coach the most determined gave way and the prisoner was by he was not however saved by his innocence but by his good fortune how frequently does it happen io us all to be many hours at a time without having witnesses to prove our absence from one spot by our presence at another and how many of us are too prone to avail ourselves of such proof in the instances where it may exist a remarkable instance of mistake in identity which put the life of a prisoner in extreme peril i heard from the lips of his counsel it occurred at the special commission held at b ter the consequent on the of the bill by the house of lords in the prisoner was a young man of appearance belonging to what may be called the lower section of the middle rank of life being a frame work in the employment of his father a master in a small way he was tried on an charging him with the offence of a mob of which he was alleged to be one had burnt col hall near the residence of mr the husband of mary whose name is so closely linked with that of this ill fated lady was approaching the last stage of consumption when on a cold and wet evening in autumn she was driven from her mansion and compelled to take refuge among the trees of her an outrage which probably hastened her death the duties op witnesses and the crime with its attendant circumstances created as was natural a strong sympathy against the unhappily this feeling so in itself is liable to produce a strong tendency in the public mind to believe in the guilt of the party accused people sometimes seem to hunger and thirst after a criminal and are disappointed when it turns out that they are mistaken in their man and are consequently slow to believe that such an error has been made doubtless the impression is received into the mind unconsciously but although on that ground it is all the more dangerous in this case the prisoner was identified by several witnesses as having taken an active part in setting fire to the house he had been under their notice for some considerable space of time they gave their evidence against him without hesitation and probably the slightest doubt of its his defence was an the frame at which he worked had its place near the entrance to the the room frequented by the customers and all who had business to at the he acted therefore as and in that capacity had been seen and spoken with by many persons who in their evidence more than covered the whole time which elapsed between the arrival of the mob at hall and its departure the was believed and the prisoner after a trial which lasted a whole day was the next morning he was to be tried again on another charging him with having set fire to the castle of the counsel for the influenced by motives of humanity and fully impressed with the prisoner s guilt on both charges urged the counsel for the prisoner to advise his to plead guilty undertaking that his life should be spared but observing at the same time that his social position which i the duties of witnesses and was superior to that of the other prisoners would make it impossible to extend the mercy of the crown to him unless he manifested a due sense of his by foregoing the chance of escape you know said they how rarely an credit with a jury you
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ten fold support to the examination in chief that is to the evidence as given by the witnesses in answer tp the questions put by the prisoner s counsel in his behalf the triumph of falsehood was complete the prisoner was when however the attention of is called to the possibility of such they become less easy of management the friends of a prisoner are often known to the police and may be watched the actors may be surprised at the a false ally may be inserted among them in short there are many chances of the plot failing this however is an age of improvement and the thirty years which have elapsed since the days of have not been a barren period in any art or science the mystery of in dishes accounts and has by this general advancement the latest device which my acquaintance with courts has brought to my knowledge is an of a very refined and subtle nature the is that the prisoner was walking from point a to point z along a distant road at the hour when the crime was committed the witnesses are supposed each to see him and some to converse with him at points which may be indicated by many or all the letters of the each witness must be alone when he sees him so that no two may speak to what occurred at the same spot or moment of time but with the duties op witnesses and this each may safely indulge his imagination with any account of the interview which he has wit to make consistent with itself and firmness to abide by under the storm of a cross examination the force of falsehood can no farther go no is necessary neither of the witnesses needs know of the existence of the others the agent gives to each witness the name of the spot at which he is to place the prisoner the witness makes himself acquainted with that spot so as to stand a cross examination as to the surrounding objects and his education is complete but as have only a existence so this exquisite is not to all cases the witness must have a reason for being on the spot plausible enough to foil the skill of the cross and as false witnesses cannot be found at every turn the difficulty of making it accord with the probability that the witness was where he to have been on the day and at the hour in question is often to say nothing of the possibility and probability of its being clearly established on the part of the that the prisoner could not have been there i should add that except in towns of the first magnitude it must be difficult to find witnesses who have in other respects the proper to prove save always where the prisoner is the champion of a class and then according to my experience sad as the is the difficulty is greatly reduced these incidents illustrate the of the well known proposition that mixture of truth with falsehood to the highest degree the power of the that man was no mean in the art of deceiving who first discovered the importance of the liar being in the mind has a stomach as well as an eye the duties of witnesses and and if the be neat falsehood it be rejected like an over dose of which does not kill let the these things and beware how he lets his mind lapse into a conclusion either for or against the prisoner to perform the duties of his office so that the which he in the jury box will bear his eye his ears and his intellect must be ever on the watch a witness in the box and the same man in common life are different creatures coming to give evidence he doth suffer a law change sometimes he becomes more as he ought to do if any change is necessary but unhappily this is not always so and least of all in the case of those whose testimony is often required i remember a person whom i frequently heard to give evidence quite out of harmony with the facts but i shall state neither his name nor his profession a gentleman who knew perfectly well the which his evidence deserved told me of his death i ventured to think it was a loss which might be borne and touched upon his infirmity to which my friend replied in perfect sincerity of heart well after all i do not think he ever told a falsehood in his life of the witness box bank note from household words chapter i s of playing into two great classes good playing and bad playing is to bank note making we shall now cover a few pages with a faint outline of the various arts and employed in bad bank notes the picture cannot be drawn with very distinct or strong the from which it is copied are so and complicated with clever slippery ingenious that a finished of it would be worse than morally it would be tedious all arts require time and experience for their development when anything great is to be done first attempts are nearly always failures the first bank note was no exception to this rule and its story has a of romance in it the affair has never been told but some us to detail it in the month of august a gentleman living in the neighborhood of s inn fields named bliss advertised for a clerk there were as was usual at that time many but the successful one was a young man of named richard william his manners were so winning and his so much that of a gentleman he belonged indeed to a good county family in and had been a student at hall oxford that mr bliss at once
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engaged him nor had he occasion during the time bank note the new clerk served him to repent the step was so intelligent and steady that not even when it that he was speaking under a cloud did his master lessen confidence in him some inquiry into his showed that he had while at college been extravagant that his friends had removed him thence set him up in as a linen with a branch establishment in street london that he had failed and that there was some difficulty about his bat so well did he excuse his early and account for his misfortunes that his employer did not check the regard he felt growing towards him their intercourse was not merely that of master and servant was a frequent guest at bliss s table by and by a daily visitor to his wife and to his ward miss bliss was a young lady of some attractions not the smallest of which was a fortune young made the most of his opportunities he was well looking dressed well and evidently made love well for he won the young lady s heart the guardian was not and acted like a sensible man of the world it was not he said on a subsequent and painful occasion till i learned from the servants and observed by the girl s behavior that she greatly approved that i consented but on condition that he should make it appear that he could maintain her i had no doubt of his character as a servant and i knew his family were respectable his brother is an eminent attorney boasted that his mother his father was dead was willing to re him in business with a thousand pounds five hundred of which was to be settled upon miss bliss for her separate use bank note i es so far all went on providing could attain a position satisfactory to the the marriage was to take place on the monday following which the tells us happened early in april with this understanding he left mr bliss s service to push his fortune months passed on and appears to have made no way in the world he had not even obtained his s his visits to his were and his passionate but he had effected nothing substantial towards a happy union miss bliss s guardian grew impatient and although there is no evidence to prove that the young lady s affection for was otherwise than deep and sincere yet even she began to lose confidence in him his excuses were evidently and not always true the time fixed for the wedding was fast approaching and saw that something must be done to restore the young lady s confidence about three weeks before the appointed tuesday went to his mistress in high spirits all was right his was to be granted in a day or two his family had come forward with the money and he was to continue the business he had previously carried on as a branch of the trade the capital he had waited so long for was at length tn fact here were two hundred and forty pounds of the five hundred he was to settle on his beloved then produced twelve twenty pound notes bliss could scarcely believe her eyes she them the paper she remarked seemed thicker than usual oh said all bank bills are not alike the girl was naturally much pleased she would hasten to mistress bliss of the good news note not for the world so far from letting any living soul know he had so much money in her hands an oath of from her and sealed the notes np in a with his own seal making her swear that she would on no account open it till after their marriage some days after that is on the twenty second of march we are describing the scene in mr bliss s own words i was sitting with my wife by the fireside the prisoner and the girl were sitting in the same room which was a small one and although they whispered i could distinguish that was very urgent to have something returned which he had previously given to her she refused and went away in an angry mood i then studied the girl s face and saw that it expressed much dissatisfaction presently a tear broke out i then spoke and insisted on knowing the dispute she refused to tell and i told her that until she did i would not see her the next day i asked the same question of he hesitated oh i said i dare say it is some ten or twelve pound matter something to buy a wedding with he answered that it was much more than that it was near three hundred pounds but why all this secrecy i said and he answered that it was not proper for people to know that he had so much money till his was signed i then asked him to what intent he had left the notes with the young lady he said as i had of late suspected him he designed to give her a proof of his and truth i you have demanded them in such a way that it must be as an of your towards her was again exceedingly urgent in asking back the packet but bliss remembering his many and supposing that this was a trick declined his niece to restore note the parcel without proper consideration the very next day it was discovered that the notes were this occasioned inquiries into s previous career it turned out that he bore the character in his native place of a dissipated and not very scrupulous person the intention of his mother to assist him was an entire and he had given miss bliss the notes solely for the purpose
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of deceiving her on that matter meanwhile the became known to the authorities and he was arrested by what means does not clearly appear the annual register says that one of the gave information but we find nothing in the newspapers of the time to support that statement neither was it at s trial when was arrested he thrust a piece of paper into his mouth and began to it violently it was however rescued and proved to be one of the notes fourteen of them were found on his person and when his lodgings were searched twenty more were discovered was tried at the old on the seventh of april before lord the manner of the was detailed at the trial on the first of march about a week before he gave the twelve notes to the young lady called on mr john an and gave an order for a note to be engraved with these words no i promise to pay to or bearer london there was to be a in the comer when it was done mr for that was the adopted t bank note came again but objected to the execution of the work the was not good and the words i promise were too near the edge of the plate another was in consequence engraved and on the fourth of march took it away he immediately repaired to a and had forty eight impressions taken on thin paper provided by himself meanwhile he had ordered on the same morning of mr charles another a second plate with what he called a direction in the words for the q and company of the bank of england this was done and about a week later he brought some paper each sheet folded up said the witness very curiously so that i could not see what was in them i was going to take the papers from him but he said he must go upstairs with me and see them worked off himself i took him up stairs he would not let me have them out of his hands i took a and them and put them one by one on the plate in order for them after my boy had done two or three of them i went down stairs and my boy worked the rest off and the prisoner came down and paid me here the court asked what imagination had you when a man thus came to you to print on secret paper the and company of the bank of england the s reply was i then did not suspect anything but i shall take care for the as this was the first bank of england note that was ever the was held excused it may be mentioned as an evidence of the delicacy of the that in their account of the trial miss bliss s name is not mentioned her is a young lady we the notes of her evidence a bank note a young lady sworn the prisoner delivered me some bills these are the same producing twelve bank notes sealed up in a cover for twenty pounds each said they were bank bills i said they were thicker paper he said all bills are not alike i was to keep them till after we were married he put them into my hands to show he put confidence in me and desired me not to show them to anybody sealed them up with his own seal and obliged me by an oath not to discover them to anybody and i did not till he discovered them himself he was to settle so much in stock on me urged in his defence that his sole object was to deceive his and that he intended to destroy all the notes after his marriage but it had been proved that the prisoner had asked one john to change first one and then twenty of the notes but which that person was unable to do besides had his sole object been to miss bliss with his wealth he would most probably have more if not all the notes to her keeping he was found guilty and passed the day that had been fixed for his wedding as a condemned criminal on the th may william was executed at by his side on the same gallows there was another william a military officer who had a draught on an army agent named and the offence with the first of bank of england notes the gallows may seem hard measure to have out to when it is considered that none of his notes were and no person suffered by his fraud not one of the forty eight notes except the twelve delivered to miss bliss had bank note been out of his possession indeed the imitation must have been very executed and detection would have instantly followed any attempt to pass the there was no endeavor to copy the style of on a real bank bo that was left to the and as each sheet passed through the press twice the words added at the second for the governor and company of the bank of england could have fallen into their proper place on any one of the sheets only by a miracle but what would have made the clear to even a superficial observer was the singular of the second n in the word england the criticism on s note of a bank clerk examined on the trial was there is some resemblance to be sure but this note that upon which the prisoner was tried is numbered thirteen thousand eight hundred and forty and we never reach so high a number besides there was no water mark in the paper the note of which a appeared in our number and dated so early as has a regular design in the texture of the paper showing that the is as
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old as the bank notes themselves was greatly but despite the fulness of the and the insignificant consequences which followed it the crime was considered of too dangerous a character not to be marked from its very novelty with punishment hanging created at that time no remorse in the public mind and it was thought necessary to set up as a warning to all future bank note the crime was too dangerous not to be marked with the bad was by no means uncommon in the most important ments at that period the days of the week in the day books of the bank of england itself are in a variety of ways bank note differ from other crimes not less in the magnitude of the spoil it may obtain and of the injury it than in the attending its accomplishment the common thief finds a limit to his in the of his which is generally confined to such property as he can carry about his person the raises and obstacles to his if the amount he seeks to obtain is so considerable as to awaken close vigilance or inquiry to carry their projects to any very profitable extent these are reduced to the necessity of acting in concert and thus infinitely increasing the risks of detection but the need have no he is with no and suspicious property he needs no to assist his the skill of his own individual right hand can command o n with the certainty of not being detected and oftener with such rapidity as to enable him to the pursuit of justice it was a long time before s rude attempt was improved upon but in the same year another department of the crime was commenced with perfect success namely an ingenious alteration for purposes of real bank notes a few months s execution one of the northern was stopped and robbed by a several bank notes were in the spoil and the robber setting up with these as a gentleman went boldly to the post office ordered a chaise and four rattled away down the road and changed a note at every change of horses the robbery was of course soon made known and the numbers and dates of the stolen notes were advertised as having been stopped at the bank to the genius of a this offered but a small obstacle and the gentleman thief changed all the he could find into s these notes passed enough but on the bank the alteration was detected and the last was refused payment as that person had given a valuable consideration for the note he brought an action for the recovery of the amount and at the trial it was ruled by the lord chief justice that any person paying a valuable consideration for a bank note to bearer in a fair course of business has an understood right to receive the money of the bank it took a quarter of a century to bring the art of bank notes to perfection in this was nearly attained by an ingenious gentleman named a watch maker from the matrimonial village of green having learnt the arts of and of he tried his hand at the notes of the bank but with the confidence of skill was not cautious in passing them was suspected and to to let his talent be wasted he favored the public with many royal bank of scotland notes and regularly his way by their aid to london at the end of february he took handsome lodgings in the strand opposite street his industry was remarkable for by the th of march he had planned and polished rough pieces of copper engraved them the water mark printed and several impressions his plan was to travel and to purchase articles in shops he bought a pair of shoe at with a note which was eventually detected at the bank of england he had got so bold that he paid such frequent visits in street that the bank clerks became familiar with his person he was continually changing notes of one for another these were his which he procured to make bank note copies of one day seven thousand pounds came in from the stamp office there was a dispute about one of the notes who was present though at some distance declared that the note was a good one how could he know so well a dawn of suspicion arose in the of the clerks one trail led into another and was finally apprehended so well were his notes that on the trial an experienced bank clerk declared he could not tell whether the note handed him to examine was or not offered to reveal his secret of the water mark if mercy were shown to him this was refused and he suffered the penalty of his crime was a genius in his criminal way but a greater than he appeared in in that year perfection seemed to have been reached so considerable was the circulation of paper money that it appeared as if some unknown power had set up a bank of its own notes were issued from it and readily passed current in hundreds and thousands they were not to be distinguished from the genuine paper of street indeed when one was presented there in due course so complete were all its parts so the so correct the so the water mark that it was promptly paid and only discovered to be a when it reached a particular department from that period paper continued to be presented especially at the time of were held with the police plans were laid to help detection every effort was made to trace the the best of his day went like a hound on the track for in those days the expressive word blood money was known up to a certain point there was little difficulty but beyond that art
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defied the bank note f ingenuity of the officer in whatever way the notes came the train of discovery always paused at the offices offering large rewards were but the unknown baffled detection while this base paper was in full there appeared an advertisement in the daily for a servant the successful was a young man in the employment of a musical instrument maker who some time after was called upon by a coachman and informed that the was waiting in a coach to see him the young man was desired to enter the conveyance where he beheld a person with something of the appearance of a foreigner sixty or seventy years old apparently troubled with the a was round his mouth a large patch was placed over his left eye and nearly every part of his face was concealed he much infirmity he had a faint cough and invariably presented the patched side to the view of the servant after some conversation in the course of which he represented himself as guardian to a young nobleman of great fortune the interview concluded with the engagement of the and the new servant was directed to call on mr at street oxford street at this interview against his ward for his love of in tickets and told the servant that his principal duty would be to purchase them after one or two meetings at each of which kept his face muffled he handed a forty and twenty pound bank note told the servant to be very not to lose them and directed him to buy tickets at separate offices the young man his instructions and at the moment he was returning was suddenly called by his employer from the other side of the street congratulated on his bank note rapidity and then told to go to various other offices in the neighborhood of the royal exchange and to purchase more shares four hundred pounds in bank of england notes were handed him and the wishes of the mysterious mr were satisfactorily effected these scenes were continually notes to a large amount were thus tickets purchased and mr always in a coach with his face concealed was ever ready on the spot to receive them the surprise of the servant was somewhat excited but had he known that from the period he left his master to purchase the tickets one female figure accompanied all his movements that when he entered the offices it waited at the door peered cautiously in at the window hovered round him like a second shadow watched him carefully and never left him until once more he was in the company of his employer that surprise would have been greatly increased again and again were these extraordinary scenes at last the bank obtained a clue and the servant was taken into the imagined that they had secured the actor of so many parts that the flood of notes which had that establishment would at length be up at his source their hopes proved and it was found that old patch as the mysterious was from the servant s description nick named had been sufficiently clever to the bank the house in street was searched but mr had deserted it and not a trace of a single of was to be seen all that could be obtained was some little knowledge of old patch s proceedings it appeared that he carried on his paper entirely by himself his only was francis s history of the bank of england bank note his mistress he was his own he even made his own ink he his own paper with a private press he worked his own notes and the of the completely but these discoveries had no ef feet for it became evident that mr patch had set up a press elsewhere although his secret continued as impenetrable his notes became as plentiful as ever five years of unbounded prosperity ought to have him but it did not success seemed to pall him his genius was of that order which demands new and a constant of new flights the following paragraph from a newspaper of relates to the same individual on the th of december ten pounds was paid into the bank for which the clerk as usual gave a ticket to receive a bank note of equal value this ticket ought to have been carried immediately to the instead of which the bearer took it home and curiously added an to the original sum and returning presented it so altered to the for which he received a note of one hundred pounds in the evening the clerks found a deficiency in the accounts and on examining the tickets of the day not only that but two others were discovered to have been obtained in the same manner in one the was altered to and in another to by which the artist received upon the whole nearly one thousand pounds to that old patch as will be seen in the added smaller which one would think were far beneath his notice except to convince himself and his mistress of the unbounded facility of his genius for fraud i at that period the public were with a tax on plate and many experiments were made to it among others one was invented by a mr charles price a stock bank note and office keeper which for a time puzzled the mr charles price lived in great style gave splendid dinners and did everything on the scale yet mr charles price had no plate the authorities could not find so much as a silver tooth pick on his magnificent premises in truth what he was too cunning to possess he for one of his he hired the plate of a in and the value in bank notes as security for its safe return one of these notes having proved a was traced to mr charles price
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and mr charles price was not to be found at that particular juncture although this excited no surprise for he was often an from his office for short periods yet in due course and as a formal matter of business an officer was sent to find him and to ask his explanation regarding the false notes after tracing a man whom he had a strong notion was mr charles price through countless lodgings and innumerable the officer to use his own expression mr charles price but as mr observed his prisoner and his prisoner s lady were even then too many for him for although he lost not a moment in trying to secure the implements after he had discovered that mr charles price and mr and old patch were all concentrated in the person of his prisoner he found the lady had destroyed every trace of evidence not a of the factory was left not the point of a graver nor a single spot of ink nor a of silver paper nor a scrap of anybody s handwriting was to be met with despite however this of evidence to him mr charles price had not the courage to face a jury and eventually he saved the and the much trouble aod expense by hanging himself in bank note the success of mr charles price has never been surpassed and even after the darkest era in the history of bank which dates from the of cash in february and which will be treated of in the succeeding chapter old patch was still remembered as the caesar of chap ii in the history of crime as in all other histories there is one great epoch by which minor dates are arranged and defined in a list of remarkable events one remarkable event more remarkable than the last is the standard around which all smaller circumstances are whatever happens in annals is set down as having occurred so many years after the flight of the prophet in the records of london commerce a great fraud or a great failure is mentioned as having come to light so many months after the flight of sporting men date from remarkable struggles for the prize and refer to as s year the of old dated from dick s last appearance on the fatal stage at in like manner the standard epoch in the annals of bank no te is the year when on the th of february one pound notes were put into circulation instead of golden guineas or to use the city cash were suspended at that time the bank of england note was no better in appearance had not improved as a work of art since the days of and old patch it was just as easily and the chances of the circulation of were increased a thousand fold bank note up to do notes had been issued even for sums so small as five pounds consequently all the bank paper then in use passed through the hands and under the eyes of the and educated who could more readily distinguish the false from the true hence during i he fourteen years which preceded the non golden and small note era there were only three convictions for the when however the bank of england notes became common and popular a prodigious quantity to complete the quotation was also made base and many persons were hanged for them to a vast number of the orders bank notes were a and a sight many had never seen such a thing before they were called upon to take one or two pound notes in exchange for small or their own labor how were they to judge how were they to tell a good from a note especially when it happened that the officers of the bank themselves were occasionally mistaken so complete and perfect were the then afloat there cannot be much doubt that where one rascal was found out ten escaped they snapped their fingers at the and went on enjoying their beef and porter their winter treats to the play their summer excursions to the tea gardens their fashionable at wells bath and doing business with wonderful and face all along their journeys these usually expensive but to them profitable were continually coming to light at the trials of the lesser who undertook the issue department for om the ease with which close imitation was effected the manufacture was more readily completed than the uttering the and of played many parts and were in strict compact with the some f bank note were tamed loose into and in all sorts of appropriate farmers who could hardly distinguish a field of standing wheat from a field of who never more deadly weapons than two country boys with accents bought and treated the r so called with ribbons and all by the of false the better disguised themselves as ladies and gentlemen paid their at cards or hazard or their tavern bills their and in money composed of part real and part base bank paper some went about in the cloak of the and generously to wherever they saw a chance of changing a bad five for three or four good ones ladies of sweet disposition went about doing good among the poor personally inquired into distress relieved it by sending out a daughter or a son to a neighboring shop for change and left five shillings for present necessities walking off with fifteen so openly in spite of the gallows was carried on that whoever chose to turn found no difficulty in getting a stock in trade to commence with indeed in the days of high no gentleman s pocket or was considered properly furnished without a few notes wherewith to satisfy the demands of the members of the high this offence against the laws of the
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shillings he declined to it and lost no time in writing to mr henry s successor to test its accuracy it was lucky that he did so for this little circumstance saved thirteen lives mr christmas s co at the bank of england ally reversed his non official judgment that the note was a it was pronounced to be a good note yet upon the evidence of mr christmas as regards other notes the thirteen human beings at were trembling at the of the gallows it was promptly and argued that as mr christmas s judgment had failed him in the deliberate examination of one note it might also as to others and the were the converse of this sort of mistake often happened bad notes were pronounced to be genuine by the bank early in january a well dressed woman entered the shop of mr james of street without and having purchased three pounds worth of goods in payment a ten pound note there was something hesitating and odd in her manner and although mr could see nothing the matter with the note yet he was enough to suspect from the uncomfortable of his customer that all was not right he hoped she was not in a hurry for he had no change he must send to a neighbor for it he immediately his to the most of all his neighbors to her of street the delay bank note ihe lady to remark i suppose lie is gone to the bank mr having answered in the engaged his customer in and they discussed the current topics of the day till the young man returned with ten one pound of england notes mr felt a little remorse at suspected his who departed with the purchases with the utmost she had not been gone half an hour before two gentlemen rushed into the shop in a state of one was the bank clerk who had changed the note he begged mr would be good enough to him another for it why asked the puzzled why sir replied the distressed clerk it is of course his request was not complied with the clerk declared that his dismissal was highly probable but mr was inexorable the arguments in of death never so as when brought to the test of the and its effect on bank when these were most numerous although from twenty to thirty persons were put to death in one year the gallows was never deprived of an equal share of prey during the next as long as notes could be passed with ease and detected with difficulty the old had no terrors for clever and of the of the bank of england at length public alarm at the of and the difficulty of knowing them as such arose to the height of demanding some sort of relief in a committee was appointed by the q to inquire into the best means of hundred and eighty projects were submitted they mostly consisted of intricate designs such as rendered great expense necessary to imitate but none were adopted bank note for the reason that ever so and executed imitation of an elaborate note is quite sufficient to deceive an eye as had been proved in the instance of the irish black note the bank had not been indifferent or idle on the subject for it had spent some hundred thousand pounds in projects for notes at last not long before the commission was appointed thej were on the eve of an ingenious and costly for a note so precisely alike on both sides as to appear as one impression when one of the bank it exactly by the simple contrivance of two plates and a this may serve as a of the other one hundred and seventy nine projects neither the gallows nor expensive and elaborate works of art having been found effectual in preventing the true expedient for at least the crime was adopted in the issue of small notes was wholly and sovereigns were brought into circulation the s trade was nearly criminal returns inform us that during the nine years after the of gold the number of convictions for having reference to the bank of england notes were less than one hundred and the only eight this the argument against the of the gallows in death were for all minor and although the cases of bank note slightly increased for a time yet there is no reason to suppose that they are greater now than they were between and at present bank paper are not numerous one of the latest was that of the twenty pound oi which about sixty specimens found their way into the bank it was well executed in by foreigners and the impressions were bank note passed among the change agents in towns in france and the the speculation did not succeed for the notes got into and were detected at the bank a little too soon to profit the much the most considerable now are not but are done upon the plan of the mentioned in our first chapter in order to give to stolen or lost notes which have been stopped at the bank lists of which are supplied to every banker in the country the numbers and dates are altered some years since a gentleman who had been receiving a large sum of money at the bank was robbed of it in an the notes gradually came in but all were altered the last was one for five hundred pounds dated the th march and numbered on the monday rd june after the last day amid the five pieces of paper that were examined by the bank there was one note for five hundred pounds dated th march and numbered at that note an suddenly arrested his rapid examination of the pile of which it was one he it for a minute and pronounced it altered
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sufficient reason that a breach of confidence would as certainly involve the professional ruin of an attorney as the commission of a an able but eccentric mr was desirous that should be compelled to disclose on oath whatever guilty secrets might be confided to them by their the only objection to which ingenious device for the conviction of being that if such a power existed there would be no secrets to disclose and as a necessary consequence that the attorney would be unable to render his the justice to which every person however criminal is clearly entitled that of having his or her case presented before the court appointed to decide upon it in the best and most j the life policy manner possible let it not be forgotten either that the attorney is the only real practical of the humble and against the of the rich and powerful the shrewd agent who gives reality to the eloquence of old when he says that the lightning may flash through the thunder shake the tempest beat upon the english peasant s hut but the king of england with all his army cannot lift the latch to enter in the of course that in this country violence cannot defy or put itself in the place of the law this is quite true and why chiefly because the attorney is ready in all cases of with his potent strip of the great man before her sovereign lady the queen there to answer for his acts and the richer the the more keen and eager mr attorney to the suit however his own for he is then sure of his costs if he succeed again i cheerfully admit the extreme vulgarity of the motive but its effect in protecting the legal rights of the humble is not i contend lessened because the reward of exertion and success is counted out in good honest sovereigns or notes of the governor and company of the bank of england thus much by way of to the narrative of a few incidents revealed in the attorney s privileged throughout which i have of course in order to avoid any possible recognition of those events or incidents changed the name of every person concerned our old city firm then which i am happy to say still under the able direction of our active i will call the appropriated to us by imaginative ladies and gentlemen who favor the world with the life fancy pen and ink portraits of the lawyer tribe that of flint and sharp sharp being myself and flint the silver haired old bachelor we buried a few weeks since in green mr said a clerk as he threw open the door of the inner office one afternoon mr good day mr was my prompt and civil greeting i have good news for you take a chair the good rather intelligent and somewhat clouded countenance of the new comer brightened up at these words news from my cousin he asked as he seated himself yes he your late failure and the changed position and prospects of your wife and boy little his you he has not much compassion for inasmuch as he attributes your misfortunes entirely to and the want of common prudence candid certainly grumbled out mr but an odd sort of good news his deeds are kinder than his words he will allow till his majority let me see how old is that boy of yours now ten he was two years old when his went to india well then you will receive two hundred pounds per half yearly in advance for the next ten years that is of course if your son lives in order to enable you to bring him up and him properly that period has elapsed your cousin that he will place the young man and i do not doubt will do something for you should you not by that time have conquered a fair position for yourself i b the life policy is that all said mr all why what did you expect two or three thousand pounds to set me afloat again i know of a safe speculation that with say three thousand pounds capital would realize a handsome fortune in no time mr i may observe was one of that numerous class of persons who are always on the threshold of millions the only and constant obstacle being the want of a sufficient capital i with him upon his disappointment but as words however civil avail little in the way of capital mr having the first half yearly of the made his exit in by no means a gracious or frame of mind two other half yearly were duly paid him when he handed me the receipt on the last occasion he said in a sort of off hand careless way i suppose if were to die these would cease perhaps not i replied at all events not i should say till you and your wife were in some way provided for but your son is not ill i added no no not at present replied and with a confusion of manner which surprised me not a little it flashed across my mind that the boy was dead and that in order not to risk the or of the had concealed the fact from us let me see i resumed we have your present address i think yes you have i shall very likely call in a day or two to see mrs and your son t i f the man smiled in a reassured half manner do be answered is alive and very well thank god this confidence the suspicion i had entertained and five or six weeks passed away during which and his affairs were almost as entirely absent from my thoughts as if no such man existed about the of that time mr
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from this terrible and i must have your advice upon it go on i will advise you to the best of my ability here it is then my son is alive alive and well in health as either you or i i was here was indeed a revelation alive and well continued listen when the began to spread so rapidly i me of the boy s life in case of the worst but not as i hope for mercy with the slightest thought of a hair of his head this was done very soon the terrific disease approached our neighborhood and my wife took to a country lodging returning herself the same evening the next day our only servant was attacked and died a few hours after that our first floor a widow of the name of who had been with us but a very short time was attacked she suffered dread and h r son a boy about the age of and j i i i ii with just his hair and complexion took ill also the woman was with pain and before effective medical aid could be obtained she was seized in the middle of the night she expired her son who had been into another room became rapidly worse and we sent for dr the poor fellow was partially with pain and clung f round my wife s neck calling her mother and imploring her to relieve him dr arrived and at first sight of the boy said your son is very ill i fear past recovery but we will see what can be done i swear to you mr sharp that it was not till this moment the device which has ruined us flashed across my brain i my wife in a whisper not to the doctor who prescribed the most active and was in the room when the lad died you know the rest and now sir tell me can anything be done any device suggested to this miserable blunder this terrible mistake this infamous crime you should say mr i replied for the commission of which you are liable to be transported for life yes crime no doubt that is the true word but must the innocent child suffer for his father s offence that is the only consideration that could induce me to wag a finger in the business like many other clever you are caught in the trap you for others come to me tomorrow i will think over the matter between this and then but at present i can say nothing stay i added as his hand was on the door the identity of your son can be proved i suppose by better evidence than your own certainly certainly that will do then i will see you in the morning i i i i i k it should cross the mind of any reader that i to have given this self confessed into i beg to remind him that for the reasons previously stated such a course on my part was out of the question and that had it not been impossible i should do so mr would not have me with his criminal secret the only question now therefore was how without this guilty the s could be secured for the innocent son a conference the next morning with mr flint resulted in our sending for mr and him for fear of accidents or in our plans to himself to the kingdom of france for a short time we had then no treaty of with that country as soon as i knew he was safely out of the realm i waited upon the people the money ought not to have been received by you say mr sharp observed the managing gentleman looking keenly in my face precisely it ought not to have been received by him and why not mr sharp that is quite an unnecessary question and one that you know i should not answer if i could that which chiefly concerns you is that i am ready to return the four thousand pounds at once here on the spot and that are dangerous if you refuse why of course and i rose from my chair i must take back the money stay stay i will just consult with one or gentlemen and be with you again almost immediately in about five minutes he returned weu mr sharp he said we had i suppose better take the obtained as you say by mistake il the life policy i i i i not at all i said nothing about mistake i told you it ought not to have been received by well i understand i must i suppose give you a receipt undoubtedly and if you please precisely in this form i handed him a copy on a slip of paper he ran it over smiled it on a stamp signed it and as i handed him a check for the amount placed it in my hands we bowed and i went my way notwithstanding mr s opposition who was naturally furious at the unexpected turn the affair had taken the identity of the boy whom that gentleman persisted in asserting to be dead and buried was clearly established and mr on the day he became of age received possession of his fortune the four thousand pounds had of course been repaid out of s that person has so to speak since through life a mark for the covert scorn of every person acquainted with the very black transaction here recorded this was doubtless a much better fate than he deserved and in strict or poetical justice his punishment ought unquestionably to have been much greater more apparent also than it was far example s sake but i am a man not of fiction but of fact and consequently relate events not
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as they precisely ought but as they occasionally occur in lawyers offices and other and comers of this matter of fact working day world of or no y the firm of flint and sharp enjoyed whether or not when i was connected with it as it still does a high reputation for keen practice and shrewd business management this kind of professional fame is usually far more profitable than the drum and trumpet variety of the same article or at least we found it so and often from blush of mom to far later than eve which natural phenomena by the way were only observed by me during thirty busy years in the of the street lamps at dawn and their re illumination at dusk did i and my partner incessantly pursue our golden what are usually esteemed the pleasures of life its music flowers and ease till the toil and heat and hurry of the day were past and a calm luminous evening by care or anxiety had arrived this conduct may or may not have been wise but at all events it daily increased the connection and transactions of the firm and ultimately us both very comfortably in the three per cents and this too i am bold to say not without our having effected some good in our generation this boast of mine the following passage in the life of a distinguished known i am quite sure by reputation to most of the readers of these papers whom our character for practical sagacity and professional brought us will i think be admitted in some degree to i i i or our was a rather than an one and my surprise was therefore considerable when on looking through the office blinds to ascertain what vehicle it was that had driven so rapidly up to the door i observed a handsomely appointed carriage with a on the out of which a tall footman was handing a lady attired in deep but elegant mourning and closely veiled i instantly withdrew to my private room and desired that the lady should be immediately admitted greatly was my surprise increased when the graceful and still youthful visitor withdrew her veil and disclosed the features of the of upon whose mild luminous beauty as rendered by the from sir thomas s picture i had so frequently gazed with admiration that rare and touching beauty was clouded now and an intense expression of anxiety fear almost terror gleamed from out the troubled depths of her fine dark eyes the of i half involuntarily exclaimed as with my very best bow i handed her a chair yes and you are a partner of this celebrated firm are you not i bowed again still more profoundly to this compliment and modestly admitted that i was the sharp of the firm her was pleased to celebrated then mr sharp i have to consult you upon a matter of the utmost the most vital importance to me and mine then with some confusion of manner as if she did not know whether what she was doing was in accordance with strict etiquette or not placed a bank of england note by way of before me i put it back explaining what the usage really was and the replaced it in her purse or no we shall be proud to render your any assistance in our power i said but i understood the messrs enjoyed the confidence of the house of precisely they are so to speak the hereditary of the family more than of any individual member of it and therefore though highly respectable persons unfit to advise me in this particular matter besides she added with increasing tremor and hesitation to deal with and if possible foil the individual by whom i am persecuted requires an agent of sagacity than either of those gentlemen can boast of more resolute men more you understand what i mean perfectly madam and allow me to suggest that it is probable our interview may be a somewhat prolonged one your s carriage which may attract attention should be at once dismissed the office of the is you are aware not far off and as we could not explain to them the reason which your to honor us with your confidence it will be as well to avoid any chance of inquiry lady in my suggestion the carriage was ordered home and mr flint entering just at the time we both listened with earnestness and anxiety to her communication it is needless to repeat the of the the essential facts were as follows the of previous to her first marriage was miss second daughter of the john the of a parish in she married when only nineteen years of age a captain her husband was ten years older than herself and as she discovered aft r marriage was cursed with a and temper or no and disposition previous to her acquaintance with she had been intimate with to mr arthur a young gentleman connected with the and at that time heir apparent to great and actual poverty of his father sir arthur the haughty the instant he was made aware of the nature of his son s intimacy with the s daughter packed the young man off to the continent on his travels the reverend john and his beautiful were as proud as the and extremely indignant that it should be thought either of them wished to or arthur into an unequal or marriage this feeling of pride and resentment aided the success of mr s suit and like many other rash high young ladies doomed herself to misery in order to show the world and mr arthur and his proud especially that she had a spirit the union was a most unhappy one one child only which died in its m was bom to them
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and after being united somewhat more than two years a separation vehemently insisted on by the wife s father took place and the daughter returned to her parent s roof mr he had some time before sold out of the army about the country in search of amusement and of health for unhappy temper at last affected and broke down his never very robust physical constitution accompanied for the preceding his death by a young man belonging to the medical profession of the name of mr and mrs g had been separated a few days less than three years when the husband died at the village of swords in ireland and not far distant from the intelligence was first conveyed to the widow by a paragraph in the s journal a newspaper and by the following post a letter arrived from mr a ring which the deceased had requested should be sent to his wife and a note dictated just previous to his death hour in which he expressed regret for the past and admitted that he alone had been to blame for the unhappy separation a copy of his will made nearly a previously was also forwarded by which he his property to about three hundred pounds per to a distant relative then in new holland by a of a subsequent date mr was to have all the money and other he might die in actual possession of after the necessary funeral expenses this will mr stated the deceased gentleman had expressed a wish in his last moments to alter but death had been too sudden for him to be able to give effect to that good but too long delayed intention it cannot be supposed that the long before practically wife grieved much at the final breaking of the chain which bound her to so a mate but as lady was entirely silent upon the subject our supposition can only rest upon the fact that arthur who had some time previously in consequence of the death of the earl of and his only son an always weakly child preceded a few months by that of his own father the succeeded to the and estates hastened home on seeing the announcement of s death in the paper from the continent where he had continued to reside since his six years before and soon afterwards found his way into and so successfully pressed the renewed offer of his hand that the wedding took place slightly within six months after the of mr life passed or no and happily with the earl and to whom three children a and two girls were horn till five months previous to the present time when the earl from being caught when out riding in a shower of rain was attacked by fever and after an acute illness of only two or three days duration expired the present earl was at the time just turned of five years of age this blow we comprehended from the sudden tears which filled the beautiful eyes of the as she spoke of the earl s was a severe one still the grief of must have been greatly by love for her children and not after a while we may be sure by the brilliant position in which she was left as in addition to being splendidly she was appointed by her husband s will sole guardian of the young lord her son a terrible reverse awaited her she was sitting with her father the and her still unmarried sister jane in the drawing room of house when a note was brought to her signed edward the writer of which demanded an immediate and private interview on he alleged the most important business lady remembered the name and immediately to the man s request he announced in a insolent tone and manner that mr had not died at the time his death was announced to her having then only fallen into a state of from which he had unexpectedly recovered and had lived six months longer the truth is added that the other day to be looking over a i noticed for the first time the date of your marriage with the late earl of and i have now to inform you that it took place precisely eight days previous to mr s death that it was consequently no marriage at or no all and that your son is no more earl of than t am this dreadful announcement as one might expect completely overcame the she fainted but not till she had heard and comprehended s hurried to secrecy and silence he rang the bell for assistance and then left the house the mental agony of lady on recovering consciousness was terrible and she with great difficulty succeeded in concealing its cause from her anxious and wondering relatives another interview with appeared to confirm the truth of his story beyond doubt or question he produced a formally drawn up document signed by one pierce grave of swords which set forth that charles was buried on the th of june and that the inscription on his set forth that he had died june d of that year also a written of of that he had the stone at the head of the grave of charles in swords burying ground in and that its date was bs stated by pierce june have you copies of those documents asked mr flint yes i have brought them with me the replied and handed them to mr flint in my terror and extremity continued her and by counsel for till now i have not dared to speak upon the subject to any person i have given this at various times large sums of money but he is and only yesterday i cannot repeat his audacious proposal you will find it in this note marriage exclaimed mr flint with a burst he had read
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the note over my shoulder the scoundrel i or no my worthy partner was rather excited the truth was he had a of his own at home a dead sister s child very pretty just and a good deal resembling as he told me afterwards our new and interesting i would die a thousand deaths rather resumed lady in a low tremulous voice as she let fall her veil can there she added in a still fainter voice be anything done that depends entirely interrupted mr flint upon whether this fine story is or is not a got up for the purpose of money it seems to me i must say like one do you really think so exclaimed the lady with joyful vehemence the notion that was perhaps imposing on her and fears seemed not to have struck her before what do you think sharp said my partner i hesitated to give an opinion as i did not share in the hope entertained by flint detection was so certain that i doubted if so cunning a person as appeared to be would have ventured on a fraud so severely suppose t said avoiding an answer as this note an interview at three o clock to day at house we meet him there instead of your a little talk with the fellow might be serviceable lady eagerly agreed to this proposal and it arranged that we should be at house half an hour before the appointed time in readiness for the gentleman lady left in a coach somewhat relieved i thought by having confided the oppressive secret to us and with a hope slightly flushing her pale dejected l i or no the firm of flint and sharp had then a long conference together during which the lady s statement and mr s documents were the reader may be sure very over and commented upon finally it was resolved that if the approaching interview the manner of which we agreed upon did not prove satisfactory mr flint should immediately proceed to ireland and personally ascertain the truth or falsehood of the far s alleged by mr is announced said lady hurriedly entering the library in square where mr flint and myself were seated i need not be present i think you said she added in great certainly not madam i replied we shall do better alone she retired instantly flint rose and stationed himself close by the door presently a sounding confident step was heard along the passage the library door swung back on its noiseless hinges and in stalked a man of apparently about thirty five years of age tall genteel and soldier looking he started back on seeing me i perceived my at a glance how is this he exclaimed i expected the of true but her has me to confer with you on the business mentioned in your note i shall have nothing to say to you he replied abruptly and turned to leave the room mr flint had shut and was standing with bis back to the door you can t go he said in bis manner the police are within call the police what the devil do you mean cried bi or no ton but spite of his assurance visibly beneath flint searching half look nothing very remarkable replied that gentleman cr in our profession come sit down we are lawyers you are a man of business we know i dare say we shall soon understand each other mr sat down and awaited what was next to come you are aware said mr flint that you have rendered yourself liable to what exclaimed flashing crimson and starting to his feet what to continued my partner for seven ten fourteen years or for life at the discretion of the judge but considering the of the crime of late i should say there is a strong probability that yon will be a what devil s is this v exclaimed frightened but still fierce i can prove everything i have said mr i tell you well well interrupted mr flint put it in that light how you please turn it which way you will it s like the key in blue beard which i dare say you have read of rub it out on one side and up it comes on the other say by way of argument that you have not obtained money by threats a crime which the law holds to highway robbery you have in that case obtained money for a that of an awful position my good sir choose which you will utterly chop fallen was the lately triumphant man but he speedily rallied or no i care not he at length said punish me you may but the pride of this sham and the sham earl will be brought low and i tell you once for all he added rising at the same time and speaking in ringing tones that i defy you and will either be handsomely for silence or i will at once inform the honorable james that he is the true earl of and i tell y retorted flint that if you attempt io leave this room i will give you into at once and transport you whatever may be the consequence to others come come let us have no more nonsense or we have strong reasons for believing that the story by which you have been money is a if it be so rely upon it we shall detect and punish you your only safe course is to make a clean breast of it whilst there is yet time out with it man at once and you shall go free nay have a few score pounds more say a hundred be wise in time i counsel you hesitated his white lips quivered there was something to reveal i cannot he muttered after a considerable pause there is nothing to disclose you will
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not then your fate be on your own head i have done with you it was now my turn come come i said it is useless urging this man further how much do you expect the insolent proposal contained in your note is you well know out of the question how much money do you expect for keeping this wretched affair secret state your terms at once a thousand per was the reply and the first year down bi or no modest upon my word but i suppose we must i wrote out an agreement will you sign this he ran it over yes lady as she calls herself will take care it never sees the light i withdrew and in two or three minutes returned with a check her has no present cash at the i said and is to post date this check twelve days the rascal grumbled a good deal but as there was no help for it he took the security signed the agreement and walked off a sweet nut that for the devil to observed mr flint looking savagely after him i am in hopes we shall him yet bravely as he carries it the check of course is not to order or bearer certainly not and before twelve days are past you will have returned from ireland the agreement may be i thought of use with or if they have been together they will scarcely admire the light in which you can place the arrangement as affording proof that he means to keep the lion s share of the reward to himself exactly at all events we shall get at the truth whatever it be the same evening mr flint started for i received in due course a letter from him dated the day after his arrival there it was anything but a satisfactory one the date on the grave stone had been truly represented and who erected it was a highly respectable man flint had also seen the grave but could make nothing out of him there was no regular register of deaths kept in swords ex that belonging to and the minister who buried and who lived at that time in had been dead some time this was and melancholy or no enough and as if to give our unfortunate the mr junior marched into the office just after i had read it to say that having been referred by lady to us for explanations with respect to a statement made by a mr edward to the honorable james for whom they the messrs were now acting by which it appeared that the said honorable james was in fact the true earl of he mr junior would be happy to hear what had to say upon the subject it needed but this had as i feared he would after finding we had been consulted sold his secret doubtless to the heir at law there was still however a chance that something favorable might turn up and as i had no notion of throwing that chance away i carelessly replied that we had reason to believe s story was a malicious and that we should of course throw on them the of proof that was still alive when the late marriage was finally however to please mr who professed to be very anxious for the lady s sake to avoid unnecessary and to arrange the affair as quietly as possible i agreed to meet him at lady ton s in four days from that time and hear the evidence upon which he relied this could not at all events render our position worse and it was meanwhile agreed that the matter should be kept as far as possible profoundly secret three days passed without any further tidings from mr flint and i vehemently feared that his journey had proved a fruitless t ne when on the evening previous to the day appointed for the conference at house a coach drove rapidly up to the office and out mr flint followed by two strangers whom he very escorted into the house f or no iy mr and mr said flint us he shook lands with me in a way which in with the merry sparkle of his eyes and the tone of his voice assured me all was right mr pierce will sleep here to night he added so had better engage a bed out an ill looking of a fellow muttered that he chose to sleep at a tavern not if i know it my fine fellow rejoined mr flint you mean well i dare say but i cannot lose sight of you for all that you either sleep here or at a station house the man stared with surprise and alarm but knowing refusal or resistance to be hopeless sullenly assented to the arrangement and withdrew to the room appointed for him guarded for mr we engaged a bed at a neighboring tavern mr flint s mission had been and successfully accomplished he was convinced by the sullen sion of manner manifested by that some agency had been at work and he again waited on the stone who gave you the order for the grave stone he asked mr referred to his book and answered that he received it by letter had he got that letter very likely he replied as he seldom destroyed business papers of any kind a search was and finally this letter said mr flint worth an torn and dirty as it is turned up this invaluable document which bore the london of june ran as follows hotel london sir please to erect a plain tomb stone at the head of s or no charles s grave who died a few month s since xi swords aged thirty two years this is all that need he in upon it you are referred to mr of street for payment your servant edward you see continued flint
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the fellow had out the date of s death merely stating it occurred a few months previously and concluded that in entering the order in his day book he must have somehow or other confounded the date of the letter with that of s armed with this precious discovery i again sought and by dint of promises and threats at last got the truth out of the rascal it was this who returned to this country from the cape where he had resided for three years previously about two months ago having some business to settle in went over there and one day visited swords read the inscription on charles s grave stone and immediately sought out the grave and asked him if he had any record of that gentleman s burial said he had and produced his book by h it appeared that it took place december that cannot be remarked and he referred to the head stone said he had noticed the mistake a few days after it was erected but thinking it of no consequence and never having that he knew of seen mr since he had said and indeed thought nothing about it to conclude the story ultimately by payment o ten pounds down and liberal promises for the ture prevailed upon the grave to lend himself to the infamous device the sight of the grave stone had suggested to his fertile brain or no this was indeed a glorious success and the firm of flint and sharp drank the of s health that evening with great enthusiasm and thought of the morrow we found the drawing room of house occupied hy the honorable james his the messrs jack son lady and her father and sister to whom she had at length disclosed the source of her the children were leaving the apartment as we entered it and the grief eyes of the rested sadly upon her bright eyed boy as he slowly withdrew with his sisters that look changed to one of wild surprise as it encountered mr flint s shining good countenance i was more composed and reserved than my partner though feeling as vividly as he did the satisfaction of being able not only to lady s anguish but to the exultation and on the hopes of the honorable james a stiff grave piece of propriety who was surveying from out the comers of his eyes the furniture and of the splendid apartment and himself with the thought that all that was his business was proceeded with was called in he repeated his former story and with much and confidence he then placed in the hands of senior the signed by and the transient light faded from lady s countenance as she turned almost towards us what answer have you to make to this gentleman s statement thus senior quite a remarkable one replied mr flint as he rang the bell desire the gentlemen in the library to step up he added to the footman who answered the summons in about minutes ia and followed by two police officers an exclamation of terror escaped which was immediately echoed by mr flint s direction to the police as he pointed towards the trembling that b your man secure him a storm of questions instantly broke forth and it was several before attention h obtained for the statements of our two witnesses and he reading of the letter the effect of the was decisive lady as its significance flashed upon her screamed with joy and i thought must have from excess of emotion the rev john returned audible thanks to god in a voice quivering with rapture and miss ran out of the apartment and presently returned with the children who were immediately with their mother s kisses all was for a few bewilderment joy rapture flint persisted to his dying day that lady threw her arms round his neck and kissed his bald old forehead this however i cannot personally for aa my attention was engaged at the moment by the adverse the honorable james who exhibited one of the most irresistibly comic wo aspects it is possible to conceive he made a hurried and most exit and was immediately followed by the family was conveyed to a and the next day was fully committed for trial he was convicted at the next and to seven years and the celebrated firm of flint and sharp derived lustre and more profit from stroke of professional dexterity f i iii jane the criminal business of the office was daring the first three or four years of our entirely by mr flint he being more from early practice than myself in the art and mystery of and defending and i was thus happily relieved of duties which in the days when george iii was king were frequently very oppressive and the criminal dwelt in an atmosphere alike with cruelty and crime and alternately with merciless of death and the shrieks and of guilt and not always guilt there exist many records of proofs but obtained too late of innocence having been on the gallows in other cases than that of how could it be otherwise with a criminal code crowded in every line with of death nothing but death wiser times have dawned upon us in which truer notions prevail of what pan owes to man even when sitting in judgment on and this we owe let us not forget to the exertions of a band of men who by the of the wise and heal men of the world and the of influential newspapers persisted in teaching that the rights of property could be more firmly than by the shedding of blood law justice personal security more effectually than by tiie gallows let me confess that i also was for many years f amongst the and sincerely held such and as sir samuel and his fellow workers in utter contempt
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not so my partner mr flint constantly in the presence of criminal judges and he had less confidence in the of their than persons less familiar with them or who see them only through the medium of newspapers nothing could exceed his distress of mind if in cases in which he was attorney a died in his innocence or without a full confession of guilt and to such a pitch did this sensitive feeling at length arrive that he all at once refused to undertake or in any way with criminal and they were consequently turned over to our head clerk with occasional assistance from me if there happened to be a press of business of the sort mr flint still however retained a of the except when from some temporary cause or other he happened to be otherwise engaged when they fell to me one of these i am about to relate the result of which whatever other impression it produced thoroughly cured me as it may the reader of any to sneer or laugh at criminal law and of the gallows one during the absence of mr flint in a mrs margaret called at the office in apparently great distress of mind this lady i must was an old or at all events an elderly maiden of some four and forty years of age i have heard a very intimate female friend of hers say she would never see fifty again but this was spite and possessed of considerable house property in rather poor she found abundant employment for energies which might otherwise have turned to cards and scandal in collecting her weekly monthly and rents and in or u she did the religious and moral welfare of her tenants very bare faced i well knew were the upon her good nature in money matters and i strongly suspected the spiritual and moral promises and performances of her exhibited as much as those to rent still deceived or cheated as she might be good mrs never wearied in what she conceived to be well doing and was ever ready to pour and oil into the wounds of the sufferer however self inflicted or deserved what is the matter now i asked as soon as the good lady was seated and had and loosened her bonnet and thrown back hei shawl fast walking having heated her nothing worse than is i hope likely to befall any of those interesting of yours r you are a hard hearted man mr sharp replied mrs between a smile and a cry but being a lawyer that is of course natural and as i am not here to consult you as a christian of no complimentary mrs but pray go on you know jane one of my tenants in bank buildings the who adopted her sister s orphan child i remember her name she obtained if i recollect rightly a balance of wages for her due to the child s father a mate who died at sea well what has befallen her a terrible accusation has been preferred against her rejoined mrs but as for a moment believing it that is quite out of the question jane continued the at the same time a newspaper from the miscellaneous contents of her jane works hard from morning till night keeps herself to herself her little nephew and her rooms are always as clean and nice as r new pin she church regularly and pays her rent to the day this disgraceful story therefore she added placing the journal in my hands cannot be true i glanced over the police news uttering bank of england notes knowing them to be i exclaimed the devil there s no occasion to be that name out so loudly mr sharp said mrs with some especially in a lawyer s people have been accused be fore to day i suppose i was intent on the report and not answering she continued i heard nothing of it till i read the shameful account in the paper half an hour the poor girl was i dare say afraid or ashamed to send for me this appears to be a very bad case mrs i said at length three ten pound notes changed in one day at different shops each time under the pretence of articles of small amount and another ten pound note found in her pocket all that has i must say a very ugly look i don t care exclaimed mrs quite fiercely if it looks as ugly as sin or if the whole bank of england was found in her pocket i know jane well she nursed me last spring through the fever and i would be upon my oath that the whole story from beginning to end is an invention of the devil or something worse jane i persisted appears to have been unable or unwilling to give the slightest explanation as to how she became possessed of the notes who is this brother of hers of such highly respectable appearance according to the report who was permitted a private interview with her previous to uie examination she has no brother that i have ever heard of said mrs it must be a mistake of the papers that is not likely you observed of course that she was committed and no wonder mrs s ith in the young woman s integrity was not to be shaken by any evidence save that of her own bodily eyes nd i agreed to see jane on the morrow and make the best arrangements for the defence at mrs charge which the circumstances and the short time i should have for preparation the old would be on in a few days permitted the matter so far settled mrs margaret hurried o f to see what had become of henry the prisoner s nephew i visited jane the next day
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in she was a well grown young woman of about two or three and twenty not exactly pretty perhaps but very well looking her brown hair was plainly worn without a cap and the expression of her face was i thought one of sweetness and humility contradicted in some degree by rather harsh lines about the mouth strong will and purpose as a proof of the existence of this last characteristic i may here mention that when her first confidence had yielded to doubt she although fond of her nephew at this time about eight years of age firmly refused to see him in order she once said to me and the thought brought a deadly to her face in that should the worst befall her memory might not be involuntarily connected in his mind with images of and disgrace and shame jane had received what is called in the country a good and the books mrs had lent her she had eagerly she was therefore to a certain extent a cultivated person and her speech and were mild gentle and so to speak i generally found when i visited her a or hook in her hand this however from my experience comparatively slight though it was did not much impress me in her fever sentiment so easily for a time assumed being in nine such cases out of ten a deceit still she upon the whole made a decidedly favorable impression on me and i no longer so much wondered at the of manifested by mrs in behalf of her apparently amiable and grateful but beyond the moral doubt thus suggested of the prisoner s guilt my with her utterly failed to extract anything from her in of the charge upon which she was about to be at first she persisted in asserting that the was based upon manifest error that the notes instead of being were genuine bank of england paper it was some time before i succeeded in convincing her that this hope to which she so eagerly desperately clung was a one i did so at last and either thought i as i marked her varying color and faltering voice either you are a or else the victim of some frightful delusion or conspiracy i will see you if you please to morrow she said looking up from the chair upon which with her head bowed and her face covered with her hands she had been seated for several minutes in silence my thoughts are confused now but tomorrow i shall be more composed better able to decide if to talk i mean of this unhappy business i thought it better to without remonstrance and at once took leave when i returned the next afternoon the governor of the j prison informed me that the brother of my james quite a dashing gentleman had had a long interview with her he had left about two hours before with the intention he said of calling upon me i was conducted to the room where my with the prisoner usually took place in a few minutes she appeared much flushed and excited it seemed to be alternately with trembling joy and hope and doubt and nervous fear well i said i trust you are now ready to give me your confidence without which be assured that any reasonable hope of a successful issue from the peril in which you are involved is out of the question the varying emotions i have noticed were clearly as they swept over her tell tale countenance during the minute or that elapsed before she spoke tell me candidly sir she said at last whether if i owned to you that the notes were given to me by a a person whom i cannot if i would produce to purchase various articles at different shops and return him the person i mean the change and that i made oath this was done by me in all innocence of heart as the god f heaven and earth truly knows it was it would avail me not in the least replied angry at such trifling how can you ask such a question we must find the person who you intimate has deceived you and placed your life in peril and if that can be proved hang him instead of you i i plainly miss i added in a tone perhaps you may think but there is no further time for playing with this dangerous matter to morrow a true bill will be found against you and your trial may then come on immediately if you are careless for yourself you ought to have some thought for the sufferings of your excellent mend mrs for your nephew soon perhaps to be left and destitute oh spare me spare me sobbed the unhappy young woman sinking into a seat have pity upon me wretched bewildered as i am tears relieved her and after awhile she said it is useless sir to this interview i could not i solemnly you if i would tell you where to search for or find the person of whom i spoke and she added whilst the lines about her mouth of which i have spoken grew distinct and rigid i would not if i could what indeed would it as i have been told and believe avail but to cause the death of two deceived innocent persons instead of one besides she continued trying to speak with firmness and repress the shudder which crept over and shook her as with besides whatever the verdict the penalty will not cannot i am sure i know be be i understood her plainly enough although her resolution failed to sustain her through the sentence who is this brother james he calls himself whom you saw at the police and who has twice been here i understand once to day a quick
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start revealed the emotion with which she heard the question and her dilated eyes rested upon me for a moment with eager scrutiny she speedily recovered her presence of mind and with her eyes again fixed on the floor said in a quivering voice my brother yes as you say my brother mrs says you have no brother i sharply rejoined good mrs she replied in a tone scarcely above a l whisper and without raising her head does not know all out a was i was confident concealed in these words but after again and again urging her to confide in me and finding warning and persuasion alike useless i withdrew and angry and withal as much concerned and grieved as baffled and indignant on going out i arranged with the governor that the brother if he again made his appearance should be detained till my arrival our precaution was too late he did not and so little notice had any one taken of his person that to a description of him with a reward for his apprehension was hopeless a true bill was found and two hours afterwards jane was placed in the dock the trial did not last more than twenty minutes at the end of which an verdict of guilty was returned and she was duly to be hanged by the neck till she was dead we had retained the counsel in the court but with no defence their efforts were merely thrown away upon being asked what she had to say why the sentence of the law should not be carried into effect she repeated her previous statement that the notes had been given her to change by a person in whom she the utmost confidence and that she had not the slightest thought of evil or fraud in what she did that person however she repeated once more could not be produced her only excited a smile and all necessary forms having been gone through she was removed from the bar the unhappy woman bore the ordeal through which she had just passed with much firmness once only whilst sentence was being passed her high strung resolution appeared to and give way i war watching intently and i observed i f that she suddenly directed a piercing look towards a distant part of the crowded court in a moment her eye lightened the expression of extreme horror which had darkened her countenance passed away and her partial composure returned i had instinctively as it were followed her glance and thought i detected a tall man enveloped in a cloak engaged in dumb momentary communication with her i jumped up from my seat and hastened as quickly as i could through the thronged passages to the spot and look d eagerly around but the man he might be was gone the next act in this sad drama was the decision of the council upon the s report it came several were but amongst them was not jane she and nine others were to perish at eight o clock on the following morning the anxiety and worry inseparable from this most unhappy which from mr flint s protracted absence i had exclusively to bear fairly knocked me up and on the evening of the day on which the decision of the council was received i went to bed much earlier than usual and really ill sleep i could not and i was tossing about vainly to banish from my mind the gloomy and terrible images connected with the wretched girl and her swiftly coming when a quick tap sounded on the door and a servant s voice announced that one of the clerks had brought a letter which the directed to be read without a moment s delay i sprang out of bed snatched the letter and eagerly ran it over it was from the a very worthy humane gentleman and stated that on hearing the result of the of the council all the previous and fortitude exhibited by jane had completely given way i and she had abandoned herself to the wildest terror and despair as soon as she could speak she implored the governor with frantic earnestness to send for me as this was not only quite useless in the opinion of that official but against the rules the prisoner s request was not complied with the however thinking it might be as well that i should know of her desire to see me had of his own accord sent me this note he thought that possibly the would permit me to have a brief interview with the condemned prisoner in the morning if i arrived sufficiently early and although it could avail nothing as regarded her fate in this world still it might perhaps calm the frightful tumult of emotion by which she was at present tossed and shaken and enable her to meet the inevitable hour with fortitude and resignation it was useless to return to bed after receiving such a communication and i forthwith dressed myself determined to sit up and read if i could till the hour at which i might hope to be admitted to the jail should strike slowly and heavily the dark night away and as the first rays of the cold wintry dawn reached the earth i forth a dense brutal crowd were already assembled in front of the prison and hundreds of si ht occupied the opposite windows eager for the rising of the curtain upon the mournful tragedy about to be i obtained admission without much difficulty but till the arrival of the no conference with the condemned prisoners could be possibly permitted those important happened on this morning jo arrive unusually late and i paced up and down the paved corridor in a fever of impatience and anxiety they were at last announced but before i could in the hurry and confusion obtain speech of either of them the
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dismal bell out and i felt with a s c i il that it was no longer possible to effect my object perhaps it is better so observed the reverend in a whisper she has been more composed for the last two or three hours and is now i trust in a better frame of mind for death i turned sick at heart to leave the place and in my agitation missing the right way came directly in view of the terrible procession jane saw me and a terrific scream followed by frantic heart appeals to me ix save her burst with effort from her white quivering lips never will the horror of that moment pass from my remembrance i staggered back as if every word struck me like a blow and then directed by one of the sped in an opposite direction as fast as my trembling limbs could carry me the shrieks of the wretched victim the of the dreadful bell and the and of the foul crowd through which i had to force my way a confused tumult of disgust and horror in my brain which if long continued would have driven me mad on reaching home i was freely and got to bed this treatment i have no doubt prevented a violent access of fever for as it was several days passed before i could be safely permitted to re engage in business on the office a fragment of a letter written by jane a few hours previous to her death nd evidently addressed to mrs was placed by mr flint who had by this time returned before me the following is an exact copy of it with the exception that the intervals which i have marked with were filled with and and that every word seemed to have been traced by a hand smitten with j r li from my death place midnight dear madam no beloved friend mother let me call you oh kind gentle mother i am to die to be killed in a few hours by cruel men i so young so unprepared for death and yet oh never doubt that i am of the offence for which they will have the heart to hang me nobody they say can save me now yet if i could see the lawyer i have been deceived cruelly deceived madam up by lying hopes till just now the thunder burst and i oh god as they spoke the fearful chapter in the testament came bodily before me the of the in twain the terrible darkness and the opened graves i did not write for this but my brain i and it is too late too late they all tell me ah if these dreadful laws were not so swift i might yet but no he clearly proved to me how useless i must not think of that it is of my nephew of your j henry child of my affections that i would speak oh would i that i but hark they are coming the day ii has dawned to me the day of judgment i this only confirmed my previous suspicions but it was useless to dwell further on the melancholy subject the great axe had fallen and whether justly or would i feared as in many very many other cases never be clearly ascertained in this world i was mistaken another case of uttering bank of england notes knowing them to be which came under our a few months afterwards revived the fading memory of jane s early doom and cleared up every obscurity connected with it the in this new case was a tall dark j i handsome man of about thirty years of age of the name of his lady mother whose real name i shall conceal under that of retained us for her son s defence and from her and other sources we learned the following particulars was the lady s son by a former marriage mrs a still splendid woman had in second a very wealthy person and from time to time had supplied s extravagance thi however from the wild course the young man pursued could not be forever continued and after many the supplies were stopped incapable of in order to obtain the means of connected himself with a cleverly organized band of and who so managed their business that till his capture they had contrived to keep themselves clear of the law the inferior tools and having been alone caught in its fatal the defence under these circumstances necessarily a difficult almost impossible one was undertaken by mr flint and conducted by him with his accustomed skill and energy i took a very slight interest in the matter and heard very little concerning it till its conclusion by the conviction of the and his condemnation to death the decision on the s report was this time communicated to the authorities of on a saturday so that the ordered for execution amongst whom was would not be hanged till the monday morning rather late in the evening a note once more reached me from the of the prison wished to see me me not mr flint he had something of importance to communicate he said relative to a person in whom i had once felt great interest it flashed across me that might be the brother of jane and i determined to see him i immediately sought out one of the and obtained an order me to see the prisoner on the afternoon of the morrow sunday i found that the had expressed great anxiety lest i should decline to see him my hoped for visit was the only matter which appeared to occupy the mind or excite the of the mocking desperate young man even the early and termination of his own life on the morrow he seemed to
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be utterly reckless of thus prepared i was the less surprised at the scene which awaited me in the prisoner s cell where i found him in angry with the pale and i had never seen before this i was convinced of the instant i saw him but he knew and greeted me instantly by name his excited features were flushed and angry and after briefly thanking me for with his wishes he added in a violent rapid tone this good man has been me he says and truly that i have defied ood by my life and now he wishes me to mock that inscrutable being on the eve of death by words without sense meaning or truth no no no ejaculated the reverend gentleman i you to true repentance to peace charity to true repentance peace charity broke in the prisoner with a scornful burst when my heart is full of rage and bitterness and me time for this repentance which you say is so needful time to back long since banished hope and peace and faith you but me with words without meaning i am unfit you say for the presence of men but qui e fit for that of god before whom you are i about to cast me it so my deeds are upon my bead it is at least not my fault tbat i am to judgment before the eternal judge commanded my presence he may be unworthy to live murmured the scared but oh how utterly unfit to die that is true rejoined with vehemence those if you will are words of truth and sense go you and preach them to the makers and of english law in the meantime i would speak privately with this gentleman the reverend with a mute gesture of compassion sorrow and regret was about to leave the cell when he was stayed by the prisoner who exclaimed now i think of it you had better sir remain the statement i am about to make cannot for the sake of the victim s reputation and for her friends sake have too many witnesses you both remember jane a broken exclamation from both of us answered him and he quickly added ah you already guess the truth i see well i do not wonder you should start and turn pale it was a cruel deed a murder if there was ever one in as few words as possible bo you interrupt me not i will relate my share in the business he spoke rapidly and once or twice during the brief recital the eye and voice betrayed emotions which his pride would have concealed jane and i were born in within a short distance of each other i knew her from a child she was better off then i worse than we subsequently became she by her father s i by my mo by mrs s wealthy marriage she was about nineteen i twenty four when i left t i i i the country for london that she loved me with all the of a trusting woman i well knew and i had too for some time known that she must be either or not at all that with me was out of the question and as i told you i came about that time to london you can i dare say imagine the rest we were i and my friends i mean at a loss for agents to dispose of our wares and at the same time pressed for money i met jane by accident genteel of graceful address and winning manners she was just fitted for our purpose i feigned re awakened love proffered marriage and a home across the atlantic as soon as certain trifling but troublesome affairs which harassed me were arranged she believed me i got her to change a considerable number of notes under various but that they were she had not and could not have the remotest suspicion tou know the catastrophe after her apprehension i visited this prison as her brother and her up to the last with illusions of certain pardon and release whatever the verdict through the influence of my wealthy father in law of our immediate union afterwards and tranquil american home it is needless to say more she trusted me and i sacrificed her less instances of a like nature occur every day and now gentlemen i would fain be alone villain could not help exclaiming under my breath as he moved away he turned quickly back and looking me in the face without the slightest anger said an villain if you not a one her death alone sits near and troubles my to all else hardened conscience and let me tell you reverend sir he continued his former bitterness as he the let mo tell you that it was not the solemn words of the judge the other d j but her pale image standing suddenly beside me in the dock just as she looked when i passed my last deception on her that caused the tremor and complacently attributed by that grave to his own eloquence after all her death cannot be exclusively laid to my charge those who tried her would not believe her story and yet it was true as death had they not been so confident in their own wisdom they might have doomed her to some punishment short of the and could now have their error but i am weary and would i repeat be alone farewell he threw himself on the rude and we silently withdrew a paper s declaration was forwarded to the secretary of state and duly acknowledged accompanied by an official expression of mild regret that it had not been made in time to save the life of jane no notice was taken of the matter and the record of the young woman s sacrifice still
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doubtless the of the home office forming with numerous others of like character the dark sanguine background upon which the achievements o the great and good men who have so successfully the old code that now a faint only of the old remains stands out in bright relief and lustre r f ti every man his own lawyer a a of the tendencies to a rise or fall in produce more than john of lane it would have been difficult to point out in the wide city of london he was not so immensely rich as many others engaged in the same merchant traffic as himself nothing at all like it indeed for i doubt that he could at any have been esteemed worth more than from eighty to ninety thousand pounds but his transactions although limited in extent when compared with those of the houses almost always returned more or less of profit the result of his remarkable and sagacity in black and bills whilst yet or deemed afar off by less sensitive at least to this wonderful of sugar value did mr himself attribute his rise in the world and gradual increase in riches and respectability this constant success as it is too apt to do conceit self esteem vanity there was scarcely a social or economical problem which he did not believe himself capable of as easily as he could eat his dinner when hungry common sense business habits his favorite phrase he believed to be quite sufficient for the of the most difficult question in law or divinity the science of law especially he held to be an which any i i i j man own lawyer of common sense and business could as easily master as he could count five on his fingers and there was no end to his ridicule of the men with horse hair head dresses and their cases and such like devil s lawyers according to him were a set of thorough and who gained their living by false pretence that of affording advice and counsel which every sane man could better render himself he was mad upon this subject and he carried his insane theory into practice he drew his own examined the titles of some house property he purchased and set his hand and seal to the final deeds guided only by his own common sense spectacles once he bid at the as high as fifty three thousand pounds for the estate and had he not been by young son of the then recently deceased eminent who was eager to obtain the property with a view to a seat in parliament which its possession was said to almost he would i had not at the time the slightest doubt have completed the purchase without for a moment dreaming of the s title to the scrutiny of a professional adviser mr i should mention had been for some time desirous of his business in lane to his son thomas the only child born to by his deceased wife and of retiring an squire arch to the or as the case might be of a country life and this disposition had of late been much quickened by daily increasing apprehensions of negro and interference with duties changes which in with others of similar character would bring about that utter commercial ruin which mr like every other rich and about to retire merchant or every man his own lawyer whom i have ever constantly to be near at hand and inevitable with such a gentleman the firm of flint sharp had only professional inter when or doubtful i that he should put on the screw a process which i have no doubt he would himself have confidently performed but for the waste of valuable time which doing so would necessarily involve both flint and myself were however privately intimate with him flint more especially who had known him from boyhood and we frequently dined with him on a sunday at his little box at we had on these met there a mrs and her daughter an apparently amiable and certainly very pretty and interesting young person to whom mr informed us his son tom had been for some time engaged i don t know much about her family observed mr one day in the com se of a gossip at the office but she moves in very respectable society tom met her at the but i do know she has something like thirty five thousand pounds in the funds the instant i was informed how matters stood with the young folk i as a matter of common sense and business asked the mother mrs for a reference to her banker or there being no doubt that a woman and a minor would be in lawyers leading strings and she referred me to messrs of lane tou know the perfectly what was the reply that when she came of age it but a very short time of that now would be entitled to the capital of thirty four thousand hundred pounds by an uncle and now lodged in the funds in the names of the of i i i man his own lawyer street by whom the interest on that was paid half yearly through the messrs for the maintenance and education of the a common sense business like letter in every respect and extremely satisfactory and as soon as he pleases after comes of age and into actual possession of her fortune tom may have her with my blessing over the bargain i dined at laurel villa about two months after this conversation and and i found ourselves alone over the the young people having gone out for a stroll attracted doubtless by the gay aspect of the thames which flows past the miniature grounds attached to the villa
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never had i seen mr in so gay so a mood pass the he exclaimed the instant the door had closed upon tom and e pass the sharp i have news for you my boy now they are gone indeed and what may the news be fill a for yourself and i ll give you a toast here s to the health and prosperity of the proprietor of the estate and may he live a thousand years and one over hip he swallowed his glass of wine and then in his intensity of glee laughed himself purple you needn t stare so he said as soon as he had partially recovered breath i am the proprietor of the pro bought it for fifty six thousand pounds of that young scant grace and fifteen pounds less than what it cost him with the he has made upon it signed sealed delivered paid for yesterday ha ha ho leave john alone for a bargain it s worth seventy pounds if it s worth a shilling i say he ii m his own lawyer after a renewed of mirth not a word about it to anybody mind i promised who is quietly packing up to be off to italy or or the devil all of them perhaps in succession not to mention a word about it till he was well off you understand ha ha ho ho again burst out mr i pity the poor though bless you i should nt have had it at anything like the price only for his knowing that i was not likely to be running about exposing the affair by asking lawyers whether an estate in a family s possession as this was in s for three hundred years had a good title or not so be not to drop a word even to tom for my honor s sake a delicious bargain and no mistake worth if a penny seventy thousand pounds ha ha ho ho then you have really parted with that enormous sum of money without having had the title to the estate examined r title i looked over the deeds myself besides haven t i told you the ancestors of from whose purchased the estate were in possession of it for centuries what better title than can there be that may be true enough but still i ought you think to have risked losing the bargain by delay and have time and money upon fellows in horse hair in order to ascertain what i sufficiently well knew already i am not in my second childhood yet it was useless to argue with him besides the mischief if mischief there was had been done and the not long delayed entrance of the young couple a change of topic i innocently inquired what he thought of the negro k i c u k m mr aa the of bad a few was rewarded m perfect of m in of words i to mj i ic t exclaimed mr flint x king op from the times blew paper he held in his hand ic what is it we know about j the was addressed to me and i like my partner i not at the moment recall those names i upon oar ears with a certain d of interest as well j i echoed true what lo we know about oh i have it they are the of a will under which young s pretty bride that is to be her fortune ah v exclaimed mr flint as he put down the paper and mo gravely in the face i remember now their names in of a failure in the gambling too i hope they have not been with the woman money the were scarcely out of his mouth when mr announced and presently in walked that gentleman in a of excitement t told you be began some time ago about k being the persons in whose names s the funds f flint and t see by the they are m by your face that they have with l m p h money and lost it mv mr with great heat t r j drew it out months ago but they have exceedingly wealthy connections at least has who will i sup pose arrange miss s claim rather than their relative should be for you are mistaken my good sir there is no no legal i mean in the matter miss can only prove against the estate like any other the devil she can t tom then must look out for another wife for i am informed there wont be a shilling in the pound and so it turned out the great corn firm had been in for years and after desperately and to a extent with a view to recover themselves had failed to an enormous amount their comparatively speaking proving to be the ruin spread around chiefly on account of the vast quantity of accommodation paper they had afloat was terrible but upon no one did the blow fall with greater severity than on young and his promised wife his father ordered him to instantly break off all acquaintance with miss and on the son who was deeply attached to her refusing to do so senior threatened to turn him out of doors and ultimately him angry indignant and in love thomas did a very rash and foolish thing he persuaded to consent to a private marriage arguing that if the knot were once fairly tied his father would as a matter of course he being an only child become reconciled to what he could no longer hope to prevent or remedy the young man deceived both himself and her who trusted in his pleasing ten minutes after he had disclosed the marriage to his father be was
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turned almost i every man his own lawyer oat of doors and the exasperated and inexorable old man refused to listen to any representation in his favor by proffered and finally even to permit the mention of his name in his hearing it s of no use said mr flint on returning for the last time from a mission undertaken to if possible some provision against absolute starvation for the newly wedded couple he is as and hard as and i think if possible even more of a tiger than before he will be here presently to give instructions for his will his will surely he will draw that up himself after his own common sense business fashion he would unquestionably have done so a short time since but some events that have lately occurred have shaken his estimate of his own and he is moreover determined he says that there shall be no mistake as to effectually his son he has made two or three heavy losses and his is altogether in a very state mr called as he had promised to do and gave us the written heads of a will which he desired to have at once formally drawn up by this instrument he devised the estate and all other property real and personal of which he might die possessed to certain charitable institutions in varying proportions as soon after his death as the property could be turned into money the of does not give me much uneasiness remarked the old man with a bitter smile i shall last some time yet i would have left it all to you flint ho added only that i knew you would defeat my purpose by giving it back to that worthless boy x wan h m lawyer do leave it to me rejoined mr flint with grave emphasis and i promise you faithfully this that the wish respecting it whatever it may be which on your lip as you are about to leave this world for another and when it may be too late to formally the testament you now propose strictly carried out that time cannot be a very distant one john for a man whose hair is white as yours it was preaching to the winds he was deaf blind mute to every attempt at changing his resolve the will was drawn in accordance with his instructions and duly sealed and not very long afterwards mr disposed of his business in lane and retired to but with nothing like the money fortune be had once calculated the losses alluded to by mr flint and followed by others having considerably diminished his wealth we ultimately obtained a respectable and situation for thomas in a house at with which we were acquainted and after securing in the steamer he with his wife and mother came with a kind of hopeful sadness in their looks and to bid us farewell for a very long time they and we also feared for an eternity it seemed on reading the account of the loss of the a few days afterwards with every soul on board their names were published with those of the other passengers who had embarked and we had of course concluded that they had perished when a letter reached us from stating that through some delay on the part of mrs they had happily lost their passage in the and embarked in the next steamer for where they arrived in perfect safety we forwarded this intelligence to but it no reply j every man his own lawyer we heard nothing of mr for about two months except by occasional notices in the times which he regularly forwarded to the office relative to the improvements on the estate either actually begun or contemplated by its new proprietor he very suddenly reappeared i was my heels in the waiting room of the chambers of the of the lane awaiting my turn of admission when one of our clerks came in half breathless with haste you are wanted sir immediately mr flint is out and mr is at the office like a mad man i instantly transferred the business i was in attendance at chambers upon to the clerk and with the help of a cab soon reached home mr was not when i arrived the violence of the of rage and terror by which he was possessed had passed away and he looked as i entered the image of pale rigid iron dumb despair he held a letter and a strip of in his hand these he presented and with white lips bade me read the letter was from an attorney of the name of giving notice of an action of to him from the possession of the estate the property according to mr of one and the strip of was the writ by which the letter had been quickly followed i was astounded and my scared looks questioned mr for further information i do not quite understand it he said in a hoarse voice no possession or title in the a niece not of age no power to discovered it robbed me and i oh god am a miserable beggar the last words were uttered with a scream and after a few struggles he fell down in a fit i had him every own lawyer conveyed to bed and as soon as he was somewhat recovered i hastened off to ascertain from whom i knew very intimately the nature of the claim intended to be set up for the i met just as he was leaving his office and as he was in too great a hurry to turn back i walked along with him and he rapidly detailed the chief facts about to be embodied in the s declaration once a london merchant and who died a bachelor had his estate real and personal to his brother charles and a niece his sister s
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child two thirds to the niece and one third to the brother the property the will directed should be sold by public when the niece came of age unless she by marriage or otherwise was enabled within six months after her majority to pay over to charles his third in money according to a made for the purpose by competent the brother charles had urged upon the to anticipate the time directed by the will for the sale of the property and having persuaded the niece to give a written for the immediate sale the chiefly supposed prompted by their own necessities sold the estate accordingly but the niece not being of age when she signed the authority to sell her consent was of no legal value and she having since died her cousin and heir at law for the property could not have passed from her even by marriage now claimed the estate charles the brother was dead and continued mr the worst of it is will never get a of his purchase money from the for they are nor from who has made permanent arrangements for abroad out of harm s reach it is every m a n his own lawyer as i tell you he added as we shook hands at parting but you will of course see the will and satisfy yourself g ood by here was a precious result of amateur common sense could only have examined the abstract of title furnished him by s attorney and not the right of s to sell or had not been aware that the niece could not during her an effective legal consent i found mr flint at the office and quickly imparted the news he was as much taken as myself the obstinate pig headed old ass he exclaimed it almost serves him right if only for his tom fool nonsense of every man his own lawyer what did you say was the niece s name well i don t remember that told me he was in such a hurry but suppose you go at once and look over the will true i will do so and away he went this is a very singular affair sharp said mr flint on his return from doctors at the same time himself his into the arm holes of his waistcoat crossing his legs and his chair back on its hind legs a very singular affair whom in the name of the god of thieves wasn t he called do you suppose the to be no other continued mr flint with a sudden burst than the devil and the niece then is tom s wife supposed to have been drowned i the that s check mate i rather fancy not only to mr but some one else we ii ii li every man his lawyer know of the old fellow up stairs wont refuse to acknowledge liis in law now i fancy this was indeed a happy change in the fortunes of the house of and we discussed with much alacrity the best mode of turning so momentous and surprising to the best account as a first step a letter with an was to requiring the return of thomas and family immediately and the next was to plead in form to the action this done we awaited s arrival in london and mr senior s for his mental agitation had resulted in a sharp fit of illness to effect a satisfactory and just arrangement mr and mrs thomas and mrs arrived by the earliest steamer that left after the receipt of our letter and much astonished were they by the intelligence that awaited them was for the of the sale of the estate by her now consent at once as a mere act of common justice and good ith but this looking at the total loss of fortune she had sustained by the of the and the obstinate temper of the father in law from whom she had already received such harsh treatment could not for a moment be permitted and it was finally resolved to take advantage of the legal position in which she stood to enforce a due present provision for herself and husband and their ultimate succession to the estate john gradually recovered and as soon as it was deemed prudent to do so we informed him that the niece was not dead as the in the action of had supposed and that of course if she could now be persuaded to the imperative consent she had formerly he u tis every man own might retain at first he received the intelligence fi a gleam of light and hope but he soon into doubt and gloom what chance was there he hopelessly argued that holding the legal power she would not exercise it it was not he said in human nature to do otherwise and he us to make liberal offers for a compromise half he would be content to lose half his purchase money even a greater sacrifice than that he would agree to anything indeed that would not be utter ruin that did not involve utter and in old age three days after this conversation i announced to him that the and her husband were below and desirous of seeing him what do they say he eagerly demanded will they accept of half two thirds what do they say i cannot precisely tell you they wish to see you alone and you can urge your own views and offers he trembled violently and shrank nervously back as i placed my hand on the door handle of the private office he presently recovered in some degree his self possession passed in and i withdrew from the humiliating but spectacle of compelled to humble itself before those whom it had previously scorned and trampled upon the legal arrangements which flint
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and i had suggested were effected and senior accompanied by his son daughter in law and mrs set off in restored for house abandoned his action and finding that matters were arranged retired to england we afterwards knew that he had discovered the defect of title on applying to a well known to raise a considerable sum by way of and that his first every man his own lawyer i step was to threaten legal proceedings against for the recovery of his money bat a hint he obtained of the of proceedings against them determined him to offer j the estate at a low figure to upon that gentle r man s contempt of lawyers that the blot in the subjected only to his own common would not be f i i i i i i i i il i i i il i il i v h m it r m i ll i ti the chest of i am about to relate a rather curious piece of domestic history some of the incidents of which revealed at the time of their occurrence in contemporary law reports may be in the remembrance of many readers it took place in one of the and at a place which i shall call the names of the chief actors who figured in it must also to spare their modesty or their as the case may be be changed and should one of those persons spite of these precautions apprehend unpleasant recognition he will be able to console himself with the reflection that all i state beyond that which may be gathered from the records of the law courts will be generally ascribed to the fancy or invention of the writer and it is as well perhaps that it should be so a using the last word in its genuine classical sense and by no means according to the modern interpretation by which it is held to signify a genteel or he was anything but that occupied some twelve or thirteen years ago a stall at which according to the traditions of the place had been hereditary in his family for several generations he may also be said to have flourished there after the manner of for this it must be remembered was in the good old times before the revolution had carried ruin and dismay into the those of which in considerable numbers f the chest of drawers existed throughout the kingdom like all his whom i have ever fallen in with or heard of was a sturdy radical of the major and henry hunt school and being withal industrious tolerably not prone to the of saint possessed moreover of a neatly furnished sleeping and eating apartment in the house of which the projecting first floor supported on stone pillars his humble work place he himself to be as really rich as an squire and far more independent there was some truth in this boast as the case which procured us the honor of mr s acquaintance sufficiently proved we were employed to bring an action against a wealthy gentleman of the vicinity of for a brutal and assault he had committed when in a state of partial upon a respectable london who had visited the place on business on the day of trial our witnesses appeared to have become suddenly afflicted with an almost total loss of memory and we were only saved from an adverse verdict by the plain straight forward evidence of upon whose sturdy nature the various arts which soften or hostile evidence had been tried in vain mr flint who personally the case took quite a liking to the man and it thus happened that we were called upon sometime afterwards to aid the said in himself from the extraordinary and difficulty in which he suddenly and found himself involved the projecting first floor of the house beneath which the humble work shop of modestly disclosed itself had been occupied for many years by an and somewhat aged gentleman of the name of this mr was a native of and had been a prosperous merchant of the city of london since his return after about twenty years absence he had shut himself up in almost total seclusion a cynical bitterness and of temper which gradually withered up the sources of health and life till at length it became as visible to himself as it had for sometime been to others that the oil of existence was expended burnt up and that but a few weak more and the man s and would be hushed in the dark silence of the grave mr had no relatives at and the only individual with whom he was on terms of personal intimacy was mr peter an attorney of the place who had for many years all his business this man visited mr most evenings played at with him and gradually acquired an influence over his which that weak gentleman had once or twice feebly but endeavored to shake off to this clever attorney it was mr had all his wealth this piece of information had been put in circulation by who was a sort of humble favorite of mr s or at all events was regarded by the with less dislike than he manifested towards others a few flowers in a little plot of ground at the back of the house and mr would sometimes accept a rose or a bunch of from him other slight services especially since the recent death of his old and woman servant may who had accompanied him from london and with whom mr had always been upon terms of had led to certain of intercourse and it thus happened that the inquisitive became partially acquainted with the history of the wrongs and which i i il r i the chest of drawers upon and the life of the
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aged man the substance of this every day common place story as related to us by and subsequently enlarged and colored from other sources may be very briefly told in consequence of an accident which occurred in his infancy was slightly his right shoulder as i understood for i never saw him grew out giving an and somewhat twist to his figure which in female eyes youthful ones at least sadly the effect of his intelligent and handsome countenance this personal defect rendered him shy and awkward in the presence of women of his own class of society and he had attained the ripe age of thirty seven years and was a rich and prosperous man before he gave the slightest token of an inclination towards matrimony about a previous to that period of his life the quickly following each other of a mr and mrs threw their eldest daughter upon mr l isle s hands mr had been an orphan at a very early age and mrs his aunt and then a maiden lady had in accordance with his father s will taken charge of himself and brother till they attained their majority long however before that she married mr by whom she had two children and her husband whom she survived but two months died and in obedience to the dying wishes of his aunt for whom he appears to have felt the tenderest esteem he took the eldest of her orphan children to his home intending to regard and provide for her i as his own adopted child and the other sister found refuge in the house of a still more distant relative than himself j i i i i h the chest op drawers the had gone to live in a remote part of england i believe and it thus fell out that till his cousin arrived at her new home he had not seen her for more than ten years the pale and somewhat plain child as he had esteemed her he was startled to find had become a charming woman and her naturally gay and joyous temperament quick talents and fresh young beauty rapidly acquired an overwhelming influence over him but vainly he struggled against the growing argued reasoned with himself passed in review the objections to such a union the difference of age he leading towards thirty seven she barely twenty one he crooked of reserved temper she full of young life and grace and beauty it was useless and nearly a year had passed in the struggle when who had vainly to blind herself to the nature of the emotions by which her cousin and guardian was animated towards her intimated a wish to accept her sister s invitation to pass two or three months with her this brought the affair to a crisis himself up with the illusions which people in such an frame of mind create for themselves he suddenly entered the sitting room set apart for her private use with the desperate of making his beautiful cousin a formal offer of his hand she was not in the apartment but her opened writing desk and a partly finished letter lying on it showed that she had been recently there and would probably soon return mr took two or three agitated turns about the room one of which brought him close to the desk and his glance involuntarily fell upon the unfinished letter had a deadly serpent leaped suddenly at his throat the shock could not have been greater at the head of the sheet of paper was a clever the chest of drawers and ink sketch of and himself he kneeling to her in a ludicrous attitude and she laughing at his and pitiful aspect and speech the letter was addressed to her sister and the enraged lover saw not only that his supposed secret was fully known but that he himself was laughed at for his folly at least this was his interpretation of the words which swam before his eyes at the instant returned and a torrent of burst from the furious man in which wounded pride and long pent up passion found utterance in wild and bitter words half an hour afterwards had left the merchant s house for ever as it proved she indeed on arriving at her sister s sent a letter forgiveness for the thoughtless and as he deemed it insulting sketch intended only for s eye but he replied merely by a note written by one of his clerks informing miss that mr declined any further correspondence with her the ire of the and man had however begun sensibly to and old thoughts memories duties suggested partly by the blank which s absence made in his house partly by remembrance of the solemn promise he had made her mother were strongly in his mind when he read the announcement of marriage in a provincial journal directed to him as he believed in the bride s hand writing but this was an error her sister having sent the newspaper mr also this into a deliberate mockery and insult and from that hour strove to banish all images and thoughts connected with his cousin from his heart and memory he unfortunately adopted the very worst course possible for this object had he remained amid the and tumult of active life a mere sentimental disappointment as thousands of ns have sustained and afterwards forgotten there can be doubt have soon ceased to him he to retire from business visited and habits of growing rapidly upon his mind never afterwards removed from the lodgings he had hired on first arriving i there thus madly to himself sharp pointed memories which a sensible man would have speedily cast off and forgotten the sour passed a useless cheerless weary existence to which death
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must have been a welcome relief matters were in this state with the and aged man aged mentally and although his years were but fifty eight when mr flint made mr s acquaintance another month or so had passed away when s attention was one day about noon claimed by a young man dressed in mourning accompanied by a female attired and from their resemblance to each other he were brother and sister the stranger wished to know if that was the house in which mr resided said it was and with civil alacrity left his stall and rang the front door bell the summons was answered by the landlady s servant who since may s death had waited on the first floor and the visitors were invited to go up stairs much wondering who they might be returned to his stall and from thence passed into his eating and sleeping room just below mr s apartments he was in the act of taking a pipe from the mantel shelf in order to the more deliberate and satisfactory on such an unusual event when be was startled by a loud shout or scream rather from above the quivering and excited voice was that of mr and the was immediately followed by an explosion of unintelligible i m m the chest of drawers exclamations from several persons was stairs in an instant and found himself in the midst of a strangely and distracted scene mr pale as his shirt shaking in every limb and his eyes on fire with passion was forth a torrent of and reproach at the young woman whom he evidently for some one else whilst she extremely terrified and unable to stand but for the assistance of her companion was a letter in her outstretched hand and uttering broken sentences which her own agitation and the fury of mr s rendered totally incomprehensible at last the fierce old man struck the letter from her hand and with frantic rage ordered both the strangers to leave the room urged them to and them down stairs when they reached the street he observed a woman on the other side of the way dressed in mourning and much older apparently though he could not well see her face through the thick veil she wore than she who had thrown mr into such an agony of rage apparently waiting t them to her the young people immediately hastened and after a brief conference the three turned away up the street and mr saw no more of them a quarter of an hour afterwards the house servant informed that mr had retired to bed and although still in great agitation and as she feared seriously would not permit dr to be sent for so sudden and violent a in the usually dull and drowsy atmosphere in which lived excited and disturbed him greatly the hours however flew past without bringing any relief to his curiosity and evening was falling when a peculiar knocking on the floor over head announced that mr desired his presence that gentleman was sitting up in bed and in the growing darkness the chest of drawers his face could not be very distinctly seen but instantly observed a vivid and unusual light in the old man s eyes the letter so strangely delivered was lying open before him and unless the shoe was greatly mistaken there were of recent tears upon mr s and hollow cheeks the voice too it struck though eager was gentle and wavering it was a mistake he said i was mad for the moment are they gone he added in a yet more subdued and gentle tone informed him of what he had seen and as he did so the strange light in the old man s eyes seemed to quiver and sparkle with a yet emotion than before presently he shaded them with his hand and remained several minutes he then said with a firmer voice i shall be glad if you will step to mr and tell him i am too to see him this evening but be sure to say nothing else he eagerly added as turned away in compliance with his request and when you come back let me see you again when returned he found to his great surprise mr up and nearly dressed and his astonishment increased a hundred fold upon hearing that gentleman say in a quick but perfectly collected and decided manner that he should set off for london by the mail train for london and by night exclaimed scarcely sure that he heard aright yes yes i shall not be observed in the dark sharply rejoined mr and you must keep my secret from every body especially from i shall be here in time to see him to morrow night and he will be none the wiser this was said with a slight chuckle and as soon as his simple preparations were complete mr well the chest of drawers i wrapped up and his face almost hidden by locked his door and assisted by stole down stairs and reached the railway station just in time for the train it was quite dark the next evening when mr returned and so well had he managed that mr who paid his usual visit about half an hour afterwards had evidently heard nothing of the suspicious absence of his esteemed from the old man over the success of his deception to the next morning but dropped no hint as to tbe object of his sudden journey three days passed without the occurrence of any incident tending to the pf mr upon these mysterious events which however he plainly saw had shaken the long since failing man on the afternoon of the fourth day mr walked or rather into s stall and seated himself on the only vacant stool it contained his manner was and frequently and there was an anxious expression in
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his face which did not at all like he remained silent for some time with the exception of partially of comment or apparently addressed to himself at last he said i shall take a longer journey to morrow longer let me see where did i say ah yes to to be sure to i to and to morrow exclaimed the astounded j no no not they have removed feebly rejoined mr but has written it down for me true true and to morrow i shall set out the strange expression of mr s face became moment the chest of drawers more strongly marked and greatly alarmed said you are ill mr let me run for dr no no he murmured al the same time striving to rise from his seat which he could only accomplish by s assistance and so supported he staggered indoors i shall be better to morrow he said faintly and then slowly added to morrow and to morrow and to morrow ah me yes as i said to morrow i he paused abruptly and they gained his apartment he seated himself and then at his mute assisted him to bed he lay some time with his eyes closed and could feel for mr held him firmly by the hand as if to prevent his going away a shudder pass over his frame at last he slowly opened his eyes and saw that he was indeed about to depart upon the long journey from which there is no return the lips of the dying man worked for some moments and then with a mighty effort as it seemed he said whilst his trembling hand pointed feebly to a chest of drawers that stood in the room there there for there the secret place is some words followed and then after a still struggle than before he gasped out no word no word to to for her more was but by mortal ear and after gazing with an expression of indescribable in the scared face of his awe struck listener the wearied eyes slowly the deep silence flowed past then the shudder came again and he was dead summoned the house servant and the landlady and was still pondering the broken sentences uttered by the dying man when mr hurriedly the chest of drawers arrived the attorney s first care was to assume the direction of affairs and to place upon every article containing or likely to contain anything of value belonging to the deceased this done he went away to give directions for the funeral which took place a few days afterwards and it was then formally announced that mr succeeded by will to the large property of under trust however for the family if any of robert the deceased s brother who had gone when very young to india and had not been heard of for many years a condition which did not at all mar the joy of the lawyer he having long since private inquiries which perfectly satisfied him that the said robert had died unmarried at mr was in a state of great and consternation had emptied the chest of drawers of every valuable it contained and unless he had missed the secret mr had spoken of the deceased s intentions whatever they might have been were clearly defeated and if he had not discovered it how could he get at the drawers to examine them a fortunate chance brought some relief to his s furniture was advertised to be sold by and resolved to purchase the chest of drawers at almost any price although to do so would oblige him to break into his rent money then nearly due the day of sale came and the important lot in its turn was put up in one of the drawers there were a number of loose newspapers and other scraps and with a sly grin asked the if he sold the article with all its contents oh yes said who was watching the sale the may have all it contains over his bargain and much good may it do him a laugh followed the attorney s re i mi the chest f drawers mark and the went on i want it observed because it just fits a recess like this one in my room underneath this he said to quiet a suspicion he thought he saw upon the attorney s brow it was finally knocked down to at o s a sum considerably beyond its real value and he had to borrow a sovereign in order to clear his purchase this done he carried off his prize and as soon as the closing of the house for the night secured him from interruption he set eagerly to work in search of the secret drawer a long and patient examination was richly rewarded behind one of the small drawers of the portion of the piece of furniture was another small one curiously concealed which contained bank of england notes to the amount of i tied up with a letter upon the back of which was written in the deceased s hand writing to take with me the letter which although he read print with facility had much difficulty in making out was that which mr had struck from the young woman s hand a few weeks before and proved to be a very affecting appeal from now and a widow with two grown up children her husband had died in circumstances and she and her sister who was still single were to carry on a school at which to be sufficiently prosperous if the sum of about j could be raised to save the furniture from her deceased husband s the claim was pressing for mr had been dead nearly a year and mr being the only relative mrs had in the world she had ventured
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to entreat his assistance for her mother s sake there could be no moral doubt therefore that this money was intended for mrs s relief and early in the morning mr dressed himself in his sunday s suit and with a brief the chest of drawers i announcement to his landlady that he was about to leave for a day or two on a visit to a friend set off for the railway station he had not proceeded far when a difficulty struck him the bank notes were all and were he to change a twenty pound note at the station where he was well known great would be the and if nothing worse that would so tried his credit again borrowed sufficient for his journey to london and there changed one of the notes i he soon reached and blessed was the relief which the i sum of money he brought afforded mrs she expressed much sorrow for the death of mr and great gratitude to the worthy man accepted with some reluctance one of the notes or at least as much as remained of that which he had changed and after exchanging promises with the widow and her relatives to keep the matter secret departed the young woman mrs s daughter who had brought the letter to was noticed the very image of her mother or rather of what her mother must have been when young this remarkable resemblance it was no doubt which had for the moment so confounded and agitated mr nothing occurred for about a fortnight after s to him and he had begun to feel tolerably sure that his discovery of the notes would remain when one afternoon the sudden and impetuous entrance of mr into his stall caused him to jump up from his seat with surprise and alarm the attorney s face was white his eyes glared like a wild beast s and his whole appearance exhibited agitation a word with you mr he gasped a word in private and at once in ii ii ii i ii the chest of drawers i m i w m m ml m li i less consternation than his visitor led the way into hia inner room and closed the door restore give back screamed the attorney vainly straggling to the agitation which him that that which you have from the chest of drawers the hot blood rushed to s face and temples the wild vehemence and suddenness of the demand confounded him and certain previous dim suspicions that the law might not only pronounce what he had done but possibly returned upon him with terrible force and he quite lost his presence of mind i can t i can t he stammered it s gone given away gone shouted or more correctly howled at the same time flying at s throat as if he would him gone given away you lie you want to drive a bargain with me dog liar rascal thief this was a species of attack which was at no loss how to meet he shook the attorney roughly off and hurled him in the midst of his to the further end of the room they then stood glaring at each other in silence till the attorney himself as well as he could another and more rational mode of his purpose come come he said don t be a fool let us understand each other i have just discovered a paper a of what you have found in the drawers and to obtain which you bought them i don t care for the money keep it only give me the documents papers documents ejaculated in surprise i the chest of drawers yes yes of use to me only you i remember cannot read writing but they are of great consequence to me to me only i tell you you can t mean mrs s letter no no curse the letter you are playing with a tiger keep the money i tell you but give up the papers documents or i ll transport you shouted with thoroughly bewildered could only mechanically late that he had no papers or documents the rage of the attorney when he found he could extract nothing from was frightful he literally with passion uttered the wildest threats and then suddenly changing his key offered the astounded one two three thousand pounds any sum he chose to name for the papers documents this scene of alternate violence and lasted nearly an hour and then rushed from the house as if pursued by the and leaving his in a state of thorough bewilderment and dismay it occurred to as soon as his mind had settled into something like order that there might be another secret drawer and the recollection of mr s journey to london to him another long and eager search however proved fruitless and the suspicion was given up or more correctly weakened as soon as it was light the next morning mr was again with him he was more guarded now and was at length convinced that had no paper or document to give up it was only some important observed the attorney carelessly that would save me a world of trouble in a i shall have to bring some heavy to mr s estate but i must do as well as i can without them the chest of drawers good morning just as he reached the door a sudden thought appeared to strike him he stopped and said by the way in the hurry of business i
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forgot mr had told me the chest of drawers you bought and a few other articles were family relics which he wished to be given to certain parties he named the other things i have got and you i suppose will let me have the drawers for say a pound profit on your bargain was not the man in the world but this sudden proposition carelessly as it was made suggested curious thoughts no he answered i shall not part with it i shall keep it as a memorial of mr s face assumed as spoke a ferocious shall you said he then be sure my fine fellow that you shall also have something to remember me by as long as you live he then went away and a few days afterwards was served with a writ for the recovery of the two hundred pounds the affair made a great noise in the place and s conduct being very generally approved a was set on foot to the cost of defending the action one a rival attorney to having asserted that the words used by the proprietor of the chest of drawers at the sale barred his claim to the money found in them this wise gentleman was with the defence and strange to say the jury a common one spite of the direction of the judge returned a verdict for the upon the ground that s or remark amounted to a serious leave and license to sell two hundred pounds for five pounds ten shillings obtained as a matter of course a rule for a new the t f drawers trial and a fresh action was brought all at once to go on deficiency of funds he told that in his opinion it would be better that he should give in to s whim who only wanted the drawers in order to with the s wishes besides remarked in conclusion he is sure to get the article you know when it comes to be sold under a writ of fi fa a few days after this conversation it was ascertained that was to succeed to s business the latter gentleman being about to retire upon the fortune him by mr at last driven nearly out of his senses though still obstinate by the in which he found himself thought of applying to us a very curious affair upon my word remarked mr flint as soon as had himself of the story of his woes and cares and in my opinion by no means by s anxiety to the s wishes he cannot expect to get two hundred pence out of you and mrs you say is equally unable to pay very odd indeed perhaps if we could get time something might turn up with this view flint looked over the papers had brought and found the declaration was in a manifest error the notes never having been in s actual possession we accordingly to the form of action and the proceedings were set aside this however proved of no ultimate benefit and a fresh action was against the unhappy so and was poor that he determined to give up the drawers which was all even now required and so wash his hands of the unfortunate business previous however to this being done s the chest of h was and lion of the mv piece of fur ii should be made and far this i m mr obtained a workman skilled in the of the desk and in street and proceeded with him to the man performed his task with great care and skill every depth and width was and in order to ascertain if there were any false or and the workman finally that there was no concealed in the article i am sore there is persisted flint whom disappointment as usual rendered bat the more obstinate and so is and he knows too that it is so c as to be except by a person in the secret which he no i at first imagined to be i ll tell yon what we ll do you have the necessary tools with you split the confounded chest of drawers into i ll be for the consequences this was done carefully and but for time without result at length the large drawer next the floor had to be knocked to pieces ind as it fell apart one section of the bottom which like all the others was divided into two dropped asunder and discovered a laid flat between the two thin leaves which when pressed together in the of the drawer presented precisely the same appearance as the rest flint snatched up the and his eager eye had scarcely rested an instant on the writing when a shout of triumph burst from him it was the last will and testament of dated august s h the day of his last visit to london it the chest of drawers the former will and the whole of his property in equal portions to his cousins and with succession to their children but with of one half to his brother or children should he be alive or have left ofi great it may be supposed was the of at this discovery and all by his agency was in a short space of time in a very similar state of excitement it was very late that night when he reached his bed and how he got there at all and what precisely had happened except indeed that he had somewhere picked up a headache was r some time after he awoke the next morning very remembered mr flint by reflection was by no means so as the worthy shoe the odd mode of packing away a deed of such importance with no motive for doing so except the needless awe with which was said to have inspired his feeble spirited together with what had ud
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of the shattered state of the deceased s mind after the interview with mrs s daughter suggested fears that might dispute and perhaps successfully the of this last will my excellent partner however determined as was his wont to put a bold face on the matter and first clearly settling in his own mind what he should and what he should say waited upon mr the news had preceded him and he was at once surprised and delighted to find that the nervous crest fallen attorney was quite unaware of the advantages of his position on condition of not being called to account for the he had received and expended about he destroyed the former will in mr flint s presence and gave up at once all the deceased s papers from these we learned that mr had written a letter to mrs stating what he had done and where the mil would be found and that only herself and would know the secret from infirmity of purpose or from having subsequently determined on a personal interview the was not posted and subsequently discovered it together with a of the numbers of the bank notes found by in the secret drawer the eccentric gentleman appears to have had quite a for such hiding of a writing desk the was thus happily terminated mrs her children and sister were enriched and was set up in a good way of business in his native place where he still over the centre of his shop there is a large sign surmounted by a golden boot which upon a close inspection is found to bear a resemblance to a huge chest of drawers all the circumstances connected with which may be heard for the asking and in much fuller detail than i have given from the lips of the owner of the establishment by any lady or gentleman who will take the trouble of a journey to for that purpose j the puzzle the space of but a few brief seems to have passed since the occurrence of the following the way incidents out of the way even in our profession fertile as it is in startling experiences and yet the faithful and tell tale and me that a quarter of a century has nearly slipped by since the first scene in the complicated play of circumstances opened upon me the date i remember well for the tower guns had been with their thunder throats the victory of but a short time before a clerk announced william martin with a message from major this william martin was a rather sorry curiosity in his way he was now in the service of our old major and a tall good looking fellow enough spite of a very decided cast in his eyes which the rascal when in his cups no unusual he had caught from his former masters edward esq an rich and exceedingly yellow east india and his son mr henry with whom until lately transferred to major s service he had lived from infancy his mother and ther having formed part of the elder s establishment when he was bom he had a notion in his head that he had better blood in his veins than the world supposed and was excessively fond of the gentleman and this he did i must say with the ease and assurance of a stage player his name was scarcely out of the clerk s lips when he entered the inner office with a great effort at and deliberation closed the door very carefully and hung his hat with much precision on a brass and then himself by the door handle surveyed the situation and myself with staring lack lustre eyes and infinite gravity i saw what was the matter you have been in the sun mr martin a wink by words replied to me and i could see by the motion of the fellow s lips that speech was at tempted but it came so thick that it was several minutes before i made out that he meant to say the british had been knocking the about like bricks and that he had been drinking the of the said british or bricks have the goodness sir to deliver your message and then instantly leave the office old tho o o was the reply has smoked the the plot young s done for ma a in a false name of course what is this about old and young do you not come from major ye e es that s right the route s arrived for the old wishes to to see you major dying why you are a more than i believed you to be send this fellow away t added to a clerk who answered my summons i then hastened off and was speedily rattling over the stones towards baker street square where major resided as i the office i heard martin beg the clerk to lead him to the pump previous to sending him off no doubt for the purpose of himself previous to before the major whose motives for or retaining such a fellow in his modest establishment i could not understand were expected more than an hour ago said dr who was just leaving the house the major is now i fear incapable of business there was no time for explanation and i hastily entered the sick chamber major though rapidly recognized me and in obedience to a gesture from her master the aged weeping house keeper left the room the major s daughter had been absent with her aunt her ther s maiden sister on a visit i understood to some friends in scotland and had not i concluded been made acquainted with the major s illness which had only assumed a dangerous character a few days previously the old soldier was dying calmly and rather from exhaustion of strength a general failure of the powers
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of life than from any especial disease a slight flush tinged the mortal of his face as i entered and the eyes a slightly expression it is not more my dear sir i replied softly but eagerly to his look than a quarter of an hour ago that i received your message i do not know whether he comprehended or even distinctly heard what i said for his feeble but extremely anxious glance was directed whilst i spoke to a large oil portrait of suspended over the mantel piece the young lady was a splendid dark eyed beauty and of course the pride and darling of her father presently as it were his eyes from the picture he looked in my face with great earnestness and bending my ear close to his lips i heard him feebly and say a question to ask you that s all read read m his hand towards a letter which lay open on the bed i ran it over and the major s anxiety was at once explained had i found been a short time previously married in scotland to henry the son of the wealthy east india finding his illness becoming serious the major had anticipated the time and mode in which the young people had determined to break the intelligence to the father of the bridegroom and the result was the furious and angry letter in reply which i was mr would never he declared recognize the marriage of his nephew nephew not son he was the letter announced the child of an only sister whose marriage had also offended mr and had been brought up from infancy as his mr s son in order that the hated name of to which the boy was alone entitled might never offend his ear there was added of a doubt of the of the marriage in consequence of the of the bridegroom at the ceremony one question muttered the major as i finished th perusal of the letter is s marriage legal no question about it how could any one suppose that an involuntary can affect such a contract enough enough he gasped a great load is gone the rest is with god beloved the slight whisper was no longer audible sighs becoming fainter and weaker ceased and in little more than ten minutes after the last word was spoken life was extinct i rang the bell and turned to leave the room and as i did so surprised martin on the other side of the bed he had been listening by the thick curtains and appeared to be a good deal i made no remark and proceeded on down stairs the man followed and as soon as we had gained the hall said quickly yet hesitatingly sir sir well what have you to say nothing very particular sh but did i understand you to say just now that it was of no consequence if a man married in n false name that depends upon circumstances why do you ask oh nothing nothing only i have heard it s especially if there s money perhaps you are right anything else no said he opening the door that s mere curiosity i heard nothing more of the family for some time except with reference to major s personal property about d to his daughter with a charge of an of i a year for mrs the aged house keeper the necessary business connected with which we but about a after the major s death the marriage of the with a widow of the san e name as himself and a cousin the paper stated was announced and pretty nearly a year and a half subsequent to the appearance of this ominous paragraph the of mr henry at in who had left it was added in the newspaper stock phrase of a young widow and two sons to mourn their loss silence again as far as we were concerned settled upon the of the descendants of our old military till one fine morning a letter from dr informed us of the sudden death by a few days previously of the east india dr further hinted that he should have occasion to write d i us again in a day or two relative to the deceased s which owing to mr s aversion to making a will had it was feared been left in an extremely unsatisfactory state dr had written to us at the widow s request in consequence of his having informed her that we had been the professional of major and were in all probability those of his daughter mrs henry we did not quite comprehend the drift of this curious but although not specially instructed we determined at once to write to mrs or who with her family was still abroad and in the meantime take such formal steps in her behalf as might appear necessary we were not long in doubt as to the motives of the extremely civil application to ourselves on the part of the widow of the east india the deceased s wealth had been almost all invested in land which went he having died to his nephew s son and the in which the widow would share were consequently of very small amount mrs was therefore anxious to propose through us a more satisfactory and arrangement we could of course say nothing till the arrival of mrs for which however we had only a brief time to wait there were we found no on that lady s part to act with generosity towards mr s widow a person by the way of about forty years of age but there was a legal difficulty in the way in consequence of the heir at law being a minor mrs became at length terribly and talked a good deal of angry nonsense about the claim of henry
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s son tb the estates on the ground that his marriage having been in a wrong name was and void several got in consequence into the sunday newspapers and these brought about a terrible disclosure about twelve o clock one day the widow into the office dragging in with her d comely and rather interesting looking young woman but of a decidedly rustic complexion and accent and followed by a grave middle aged clergyman the widow s large eyes sparkled with strong excitement and her somewhat features were flushed with hot blood i have brought you she burst out abruptly the real mrs and no no interrupted the young woman who appeared much agitated not i know child i know but that is nothing to the purpose this young person mr sharp is i repeat the true and lawful mrs henry i answered do you take us for this i added with some is either a ridiculous or an attempt at and i am very careless which it may be you are mistaken sir rejoined the clergyman mildly this young woman was certainly married by me at church to a gentleman of the name of henry who it appears from the newspapers confirmed by this lady was no other than mr henry this marriage we find took place six months previously to that contracted with i have further to say that this young woman maria is a very respectable person and that her marriage portion of a little more than eight hundred pounds was given to her husband whom she has only seen thrice since her marriage to support himself till the death of his father constantly asserted by him to be imminent a story very smoothly told and i have no doubt in your opinion quite satisfactory but there is one slight matter which i fancy you will find somewhat difficult of proof i mean the identity of maria s husband with the son or nephew of the late mr he always said he was the son of the rich east indian mr said the young woman with a hysterical sob and here she added is his picture in his wedding ess that of an officer of the he gave it me the day before the wedding i almost snatched the portrait sure enough it was a miniature of henry could be no doubt about that mr flint who had been busy with some papers here approached and glanced at the miniature i was utterly confounded and my partner i saw was equally dismayed and no wonder entertaining as we both did the highest respect and for the high minded and beautiful daughter of major the widow s exultation was as this only legal marriage said she has been blessed with no issue i am of course as you must be aware the legitimate at law as my deceased husband s nearest i shall however she added take care to amply provide for my niece in law the young woman made a profound rustic courtesy and tears of unaffected gratitude i observed filled her eyes the game was not however to be quite so easily surrendered as they appeared to imagine tut tut exclaimed mr i this may be mere practice who knows how the portrait has been obtained the girl s eyes flashed with honest anger there was no practice about her i felt assured here are other proofs my s ring accidentally i think with me and two letters which i from curiosity took out of his coat pocket the day i am pretty it was after we were married if this evidence does not convince you gentlemen added the rev mr i have direct personal testimony to offer you know mr of bath i do well mr henry or was at the time this marriage took place on a visit to that gentleman and i myself saw the bridegroom whom i had united a fortnight previously in church walking arm and arm with mr in gardens bath i was at some little distance but i recognized both distinctly and bowed mr returned my salutation and he the circumstance distinctly the gentleman walking with him in the uniform of the was mr is prepared to mr henry or you waste time reverend sir said mr flint with an affectation of firmness and he was i knew far from feeling we are the of mrs and shall i dare say if you push us to it be able to tear this colored of yours to if you determine on going to law your can serve us we will enter an appearance and our will be spared unnecessary annoyance they were about to leave when as ill luck would have it i l one of the clerks who deceived bj the momentary silence and from not having been at home when the unwelcome visitors believed we were disengaged opened the door and admitted mrs and her aunt miss before we could with a word the widow burst out with the whole story in a torrent of that it was to check or restrain for awhile contemptuous incredulity indignant scorn the assailed lady but as proof after proof was hurled at her by the grave of the clergyman and the weeping sympathy of the young woman her firmness gave way and she in her aunt s arms we should have more interfered but for our unfortunate s gestures she seemed determined to hear the worst at once now however we had the office cleared of the without much ceremony and as soon as the lady was sufficiently recovered she was conducted to her carriage and after arranging for an early interview on the morrow was driven off i found our interesting and i feared deeply injured much recovered from the shock which on the previous day had overwhelmed her and although exceedingly pale so as polished
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marble and still painfully agitated there was hope almost confidence in her eye and tone there is some terrible in this frightful mr sharp she began henry my husband was utterly incapable of a mean or act much less of such utter as this of which he is accused they also say do they not she continued with a smile of haughty contempt that he robbed the young woman of her poor some eight hundred pounds a proper story i i the puzzle that i confess from what little i knew of mr henry the whole affair as a and yet ihe reverend mr a gentleman of high character i understand is very positive the young woman too appeared truthful and sincere yes it cannot be denied let me say for it is best to look at the subject on its darkest side i find on looking over my letters that my husband was staying with mr at the time stated he was also at that period in the i gave william martin but the other day a suit of his very little the worse for wear you forget to state said miss who was sitting beside her niece that martin who was with his young master at bath is willing to make oath that no such marriage took place as asserted at church that alone would i fear my good madam very little avail can i see william martin certainly the bell was rung and the necessary order given this martin is much changed for tire better i hear o yes entirely so said miss he is also exceedingly attached to us all the children especially and his grief and anger when informed of what had occurred thoroughly his and sincerity martin entered and was i thought somewhat ed by my apparently unexpected presence a look at his face and head dissipated a half suspicion that had arisen in both flint s mind and my own i asked him a few questions relative to the of his master at bath and then said i wish you to go with me and see this maria the puzzle as i spoke something seemed to attract martin s attention in the street and suddenly turning round his arm swept a silver stand off the table he stooped down to gather up the dispersed and as he did so said in answer to my request that he had not the slightest objection to do so that being the case we will set off at once as she and her friends are probably at the office by this time they are desirous of the matter off hand i added with a smile addressing mrs and avoiding if possible the and of the law as i anticipated the formidable were with mr flint i introduced martin and as i did so watched with an anxiety i could hardly have given a reason for the effect of his appearance upon the young woman i observed nothing he was evidently an utter stranger to her although from the involuntary flush which crossed his features it occurred to me that he was in some way an with his deceased master in the cruel and infamous crime which had i strongly feared been was this person present at your marriage i asked certainly not but i think now i look at him that i have seen him somewhere about it must have been william martin out that he had never been in neither he was sure had his master what is said the girl looking sharply up and suddenly what is that martin a good deal abashed again out his belief that young mr as he was then called had never been at the indignant scarlet deepened on the young woman s face and temples and she looked at martin with fixed attention and h the puzzle surprise presently recovering as if from some vague of mind she said what you believe can be no consequence truth is truth for all that the rev mr here interposed remarking that as it was quite apparent we were determined to defend the by miss a lady to be greatly pitied no doubt of another s right it was useless to or renew the interview and all three took immediate leave a few minutes afterward martin also departed still vehemently asserting that no such marriage ever took place at or anywhere else no stone as people say was left by us in the hope of discovering some clue that might enable us to the tangled web of yet looking at the character of young mr improbable circumstance we were unsuccessful and unfortunately many other particulars which came to light but deepened the adverse complexion of the case two respectable persons living at were ready to on oath that they had on more than one occasion seen maria s sweetheart with mr at bath once especially at the theatre upon the benefit night of the great who had been playing there for a few nights the entire case fully stated was ultimately laid by us before eminent counsel one of whom is now by the by a chief justice and we were advised that the evidence as set forth by us could not be against with any chance of success this sad result was communicated by me to mrs as she still believed herself to be and was borne with more constancy and firmness than i had expected her faith in her husband s truth and honor was not in the slightest degree shaken by the accumulated she would not however attempt i the p to resist them before a court of law something would she was confident thereafter come to light that would the truth and confiding in our zeal and she her aunt and children would in the meantime shelter themselves from the gaze of
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the world in their former retreat at this being the unhappy lady s final determination i gave the other side notice that we should be ready on a given day to surrender possession of the house and in south street which the widow had given up to supposed niece in law and family on their arrival in england and to re obtain which and thereby decide the whole question in dispute legal proceedings had already been commenced on the morning appointed for the purpose taken leave of the ladies the day previously i proceeded to south street to formally give up possession under protest however the niece and aunt were not yet gone this i found was owing to martin who according to the ladies was so beside himself with grief and rage that he had been unable to as he ought to have done the packing to his care i was vexed at this as the widow her e and the rev mr accompanied by a were shortly expected and it was desirable that a meeting of the parties should be avoided i descended to the lower regions to with and hurry martin and found as i feared that his former evil habits had returned upon him it was not yet twelve o clock and he was already partially and pale trembling and nervous from the effects it was clear to me of the previous night s your mistress is deceived in you i angrily exclaimed and if my advice were taken you would be turned out of the house at once without a character there don t mi the puzzle attempt to me with that nonsense i ve seen fellows crying drunk before now he stammered out some broken excuses to which i very impatiently listened and so thoroughly did his brain appear that he either could not or would not comprehend the possibility of mrs and her children being turned out of house and home as he expressed it and over and over again asked me if nothing could yet be done to prevent it i was completely disgusted with the fellow and sharply bidding him hasten his preparations for departure rejoined the ladies who were by this time assembled in the back drawing room ready and for their journey it was a sad sight s splendid face was by deep and bitter grief borne it is true with pride and fortitude but it was easy to see its throbbing through all the forced calmness of the surface her aunt of a weaker nature sobbed loudly in the of her grief and the children shrinking instinctively in the atmosphere of a great calamity clung trembling and half terrified the eldest especially to their mother i did not insult them with phrases of but turned the conversation if such it could be called upon their future home and prospects in some time had thus elapsed when my were suddenly aroused by the loud dash of a carriage to the door and ihe rat which followed i felt my cheek flame as i said they demand as if in possession of an assured decided right it is not yet too late to refuse possession and take the chances of the law s uncertainty mrs shook her head th decisive meaning i could not bear it she said in a tone of gentleness but i trust we not be upon the puzzle i out of the apartment and met tlie i explained the cause of the and that mrs and her friends could amuse in the garden whilst the and i ran over the of the chief to be surrendered together this was agreed to a minute or two h the of this necessary formality i received a message from the ladies of a wish to be gone at once if i would escort them to the hotel and martin who was nowhere to be found follow i hastened to with their wishes and we w re about to issue from the front drawing room into which we had through the folding doors when we were confronted hy widow and her party who had just reached the landing of staircase we drew back in silence the mutual union into which we were thrown caused a momentary hesitation only and wo were passing on when the butler suddenly appeared a gentleman ho said an officer is at the door who to see a miss maria formerly of i at the man discerned a strange expression in his and it me at the same moment that i had no knock at the door him exclaimed the widow there is no such person here pardon madam i cried catching eagerly at the as n drowning man is said to do at a straw this young wo a at miss desire the officer to walk up tho butler vanished instantly and we all huddled into tho drawing room some one closing the door h i tho grasp of mrs s arm round mine and her breath i heard came quick and was hardly less agitated myself i the puzzle steps slow and deliberate steps were presently heard ascending the stairs the door opened and in walked a gentleman in the uniform of a officer whom at the first glance i could have sworn to be the mr henry a slight exclamation of terror escaped mrs followed by a loud hysterical scream from the young woman as she staggered forward towards the stranger exclaiming oh merciful god my husband and then fell overcome with emotion in his outstretched arms yes said the rev mr promptly that is certainly the gentleman i united to maria what can be the meaning of this scene is that sufficient mr sharp exclaimed the officer in a voice that removed all doubt quite quite i shouted more than enough very well then said william martin dashing off his black
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curling wig removing bis whiskers of the same color and giving his own light but now head of hair and to view now then send for the police and let them transport me i richly merit it i married this young woman in a false name i robbed her of her money and i deserve the if anybody ever did you might have heard a pin drop in the apartment whilst the rascal thus spoke and when he ceased mrs un le to bear up against the tumultuous emotion which his words excited sank without breath or sensation upon a sofa assistance was summoned and whilst the as yet informed servants were running from one to another with i had leisure to look around the widow who had dropped into a chair sat gazing in bewildered dismay upon the stranger who still held her lately i h i i ii i i l the puzzle discovered iu in his arms and i could see the hot perspiration which had gathered on her brow run in large drops down the white channels which they traced through the thick of lier cheeks but the reader s fancy will supply the best image of this unexpected and extraordinary scene i cleared the of and visitors speedily as possible well assured that matters would now themselves without and so it proved martin was not sent to the though no question that he amply deserved a punishment as great as the self sacrifice as he deemed it which he at last pleaded for him and so did his pretty looking wife and the was that the mistaken bride s was restored with something over and that a tavern was taken for them in the white bear i think it was where they lived comfortably and happily i have heard for a considerable time and having considerably added to their capital removed to a hotel of a higher grade in the city where they now reside it was not at all surprising that the clergyman and others had been deceived the disguise and martin s talent might have persons on their guard much more men of deception the cast in the eyes as well as a general resemblance of features also of course greatly aided the of mrs i have only to say for it is all i know that she is rich and still splendidly beautiful though of course somewhat pass e compared with herself twenty years since happy too i have no doubt she is judging from the placid brightness of her aspect the last time i saw her beneath the of the crystal palace on the occasion of its opening by the queen i remember wondering at the time if she often recalled to mind the passage in her life which i have here recorded j i the one black spot on the evening of a bleak cold march day in an early year of this century a woman clad led a boy about eight years old along the high road towards the old city of they crept close to the hedge side to shelter themselves from the clouds of dust which the sudden of east wind blew in their faces they had walked many miles and the boy painfully he often looked up anxiously into his mother s face and asked if they had much farther to go she scarcely appeared to notice his inquiries her fixed eyes and sunken cheek gave evidence that sorrow absorbed all her thoughts when he spoke she drew him closer to her side but made no reply until at length the child wondering at her silence began to sob she stopped and looked at her child for a moment her eyes filled with tears they had gained the top of a hill from which was visible in the distance the dark massive towers of the cathedral and the church of the city she pointed them out and said we shall soon be there ned then sitting down on a tree that was by the road side she took ned on her lap and bending over him wept aloud are you very tired mother said the boy trying to comfort her tis a long way but don t cry we shall see father when we come there yes you will see your father once more r t i the one black spot she checked herself and striving to dry her tears sat look ing towards the place of her destination the tramp of horses coming up the hill they had just as drew the boy s attention to that direction in a mo ment he had sprung from his mother and was shouting with child like delight at the appearance of a gay which approached about thirty men on horseback in crimson surrounded two carriages one of which contained two of his majesty s judges accompanied by the high of the county who with his men was conducting them to the city in which the lent w about to be held the woman knelt until carriages and the gaudy had turned the corner at the foot of a hill and were no longer visible with her together she had prayed to god to temper with mercy the heart of the judge before whom her unfortunate now in jail would have to stand his trial taking the boy again by the hand to explain u him what he had seen she pursued her way with him y along the dusty road as they drew nearer to the city they overtook various groups of who had deemed it their duty in spite of the weather to wander some miles out of the city to catch an early glimpse of my lord judge and the gay s officers troops also of ballad singers rope dancers and of wild beasts still followed the judges as they had done throughout the circuit walk
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more slowly ned said the mother checking the boy s desire to follow the shows i am very tired let us rest a little here they lingered until the crowd was far ahead of them and were left alone on the road late in the evening as the last were returning the one black spot ill home the found themselves in the of the and the forlorn woman looked around anxiously for a lodging she feared the noisy people in the streets and turning timidly towards an old citizen who stood by his to his housekeeper and watching the by there was a kindness in his look which gave her confidence so with a homely courtesy she ventured to inquire of him where she might find a decent resting place have you never been here l fore he asked never but once sir when was a child many years ago what part of the country do you come from how did you get here we have walked you don t say that you have all the way with that the housekeeper drowned the reply by loudly announcing to the old gentleman that his supper was waiting we have no lodgings my good woman she said turning away from the gate stop stop said the citizen can t we direct them somewhere you see they are strangers i wonder where they could get a lodging i am sure i don t know replied your supper will be cold come in wi e had no supper said the boy poor little fellow said the old gentleman then i am sure you shall not go without the bread and cheese and opening the garden gate he made the enter and sit down in the h use whilst he went to fetch them a draught of the one black spot in spite of s grumbling le managed to get a but it grieved him that the woman though she thanked him very gratefully and humbly appeared unable to eat your boy eats heartily said he but i am afraid you don t enjoy it with a choking utterance she thanked him but could not eat the good old man was striving as well as he could to explain to them their way to a part of the city where they might find a lodging when the garden gate opened and a young man gave to the host a hearty greeting at the sound of his voice the cup the woman held in her hand fell to the ground this drew the youth s attention to her he looked earnestly at her for a moment and with an exclamation of surprise said why this is the woman hid her face in her hands and moaned do you know her alfred said the uncle she nursed me when i was a little sickly boy replied tho youth she lived many years in my father s house then i am sure you will take her to some lodging to night for she is quite a stranger here there is calling to me again she is not in the best temper to night so i had better go in and i leave them to your care oh tell me mr gray have you seen him cried the woman eagerly i have been with him to day said gray kindly taking her hand do not be cast down all that can be done for martin shall be done let me take you where you can rest to night and to morrow you can be with him the weary little boy had fallen asleep on the seat the mother strove to him but alfred gray prevented her i i i id the one black spot by taking the little fellow in his arms he carried him by her side through the streets she could utter no words of gratitude but her tears flowed fast and told how the young man s sympathy had fallen like upon her wounded heart god has taken pity on me she said when they parted with a step alfred regained his uncle s cottage he had a task to accomplish martin now awaiting his trial for and for being concerned in an sir george game had once been his father s young gray had been to procure for him all the legal help which the laws then allowed but his own means were limited and when he met and her boy in the garden he had come to visit his uncle to ask his assistance he had now returned on the same errand he pleaded earnestly and with caution but was it was in vain he urged the poverty of agricultural at that season and the temptation which an abundance of game afforded to half starved men and their wretched families nonsense alfred said old mr gray i would not grudge you the money if you did not want it for a bad purpose you must not excuse men who go out with guns and fire at their fellow creatures in the dark martin did not fire uncle that is what i want to prove and save him if i can from he has a wife and child wife and child repeated the old man thoughtfully you did not tell me he had a wife and child that poor woman came from providence must have guided her said the younger gray it was indeed s wife and son whom you so lately relieved the one black spot you shall have the money i have all through life prayed that my heart may not be hardened and i find old as i am that every day i have fresh lessons to learn the t morning while alfred held anxious consultation with the lawyers the wife and husband met within the prison walls they sat together in silence for neither could speak a single word of hope the
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boy never forgot that long and dreary day during which he watched with wondering thoughts the sad faces of his ruined parents the crown court of the castle was next morning crowded to overflowing among the struggling crowd that vainly sought to gain admission was martin s wife she was rudely by the door who wondered what women wanted in such places she still strove to keep her ground and watched with piteous looks the doors of the court she the heat and pressure for some time but a sickly at length came over her she was to retreat into the open air when she felt some one touch her shoulder and turning saw alfred gray making his way toward her after a moment s pause in the cool air he led her round to a side door through which there was a private entrance into the court he whispered a word to an of who admitted them and pointed to a seat behind the dock where they were from observation and where the woman could see her husband standing between his two fellow prisoners the prisoners were listening anxiously to the evidence which the principal game keeper was offering against them the first a man about sixty excited greater interest than the others he earnestly attended to what was going on but gave no sign of fear as to the result brushing back his gray locks he gazed round the court with something like a smile this one black spot man s life had been a strange one early in his career he had been from a farm which he had held under the father of the present sir george he soon after lost what little property had been left hun and m despair was sent abroad with his regiment and for many years shared in the toils and achievements of our east indian warfare returning home on a small he fixed his abode in his native village and sought to indulge his old enmity against the family that had injured him by every kind of annoyance in his power the present a narrow minded man afforded by his good opportunity to old to induce others to join him in his schemes of mischief and revenge the game which was plentiful on the estate and the preservation of which was sir george s chief delight formed the principal object of attack the poverty of the tempted them to follow the old soldier who managed affairs so that for nine years he had been an object of the utmost terror and hatred to sir george and his whilst all their efforts to detect and capture him had until now been fruitless martin who stood by his side with his shattered arm in a bore marks of acute mental suffering and remorse but his countenance was stamped with its original open manly expression a face often to be seen among a group of english farm expressive of a warm heart fall of both courage and kindness the evidence was soon given the game on the night of the th of february were that were in the taking with them a stronger force than usual all well armed they discovered the objects of their search in a lane leading out into the fields and shouted to them t the one black spot to surrender they distinctly saw their figures flying before them and when they approached them one of the turned round and fired one of the legs with a quantity of small shot the keeper immediately fired in return and brought down a old s voice was heard shouting to them to and upon coming up they found him standing by the side of martin who had fallen severely wounded three guns lay by them one of which had been discharged but no one could swear who had fired it search was made all night for the other man but without success when the prisoners were called on for their defence they looked at one another for a moment as if neither wished to speak first however began he had little to say casting a look of defiance at sir george and his lady who sat in a side gallery above the court he freely confessed that hatred to the man who had injured him in his youth and who had treated him with on his return from abroad had been the motive of his encouraging and in these midnight he expressed sorrow for having occasioned trouble to his neighbor what i can say will be of little use to me here said martin in a hollow voice i am ruined beyond but i was a very poor man when i first joined with others in game i often wanted bread and saw my wife and child pinched for food also the rich people say game belongs to them but well all i can say more is that i take god to witness i never lifted a gun against my fellow man he who did it has escaped and i have suffered this broken limb but that i don t mind i have worse than that to bear i have broken my wife s heart and my child will be left an orphan his voice failed there was an uneasy movement among the the one black spot and a lady who lad been leaning over the rails of the side gallery listening with deep attention fainted and was carried out of court the prisoner s pale wife who had bowed her head behind him in silent endurance heard a whisper among the that it was lady and a hope entered her mind that the lady s tender heart might feel for them have you any witnesses to call asked the judge martin looked round with a vacant gaze the attorney whispered to him and beckoned to alfred gray alfred went into the
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witness box and told of the honesty and good conduct of martin during all the years he was in his father s house he was there before i was born said the young man and only left when i was obliged to leave also sixteen years after a better man never broke bread he was beloved by every body who knew him till now his character was never it s the one black spot the judge commenced up it was evident to all who had paid attention to the evidence that the conviction of two of the prisoners was certain alfred gray knew this and strove to induce the wife to leave with him before the fatal close of proceedings but she shook her head and would not go i shall have strength to bear it she said he sat down by her side and heard the fearful verdict of guilty pronounced against her husband and and then the dreaded doom of for life to them as they turned to leave the dock martin looked down upon the crushed and broken hearted being whom he had sworn to protect and cherish through life and in spite of every effort to repress it a cry of agony burst from his lips it was answered by a fainter sound and alfred q ray lifted the helpless lifeless woman from the ground and carried her into the open air months passed and on the day w en the ship with its freight of heavy hearts began its silent course over the great waters the wife took her child by the hand and again traversed the weary road which led them to their home the kindness of the had supplied a few immediate necessaries some one had told her of women having by the aid of friends managed to meet their husbands once more in those distant parts of the earth and this knowledge once in her agitated mind raised a hope which inspired her to pursue her daily task without fainting and to watch an opportunity of making an attempt which she had meditated even during that dreadful day of martin s trial she resolved to seek admission into sir george mansion and appeal to the pity of his wife it was told in the village that lady had implored her husband to in behalf of the men that his angry and passionate refusal had caused a breach between them that they had lived unhappily ever since that he had strictly forbidden any one to mention the subject or to convey to lady any remarks that were made in the neighborhood trembled when she entered the mansion and timidly asked leave to speak to lady the servant she addressed had known her husband and pitied her distress and fearing lest sir george might pass he led her into his watching an opportunity to let the lady know of her being there after a time lady maid came and beckoned her the one black spot to follow up stairs in a few moments the soft voice of the lady of the mansion was cheering her with kind words and encouraging her to disclose her wishes before had concluded a step was heard without at which the lady started and turned pale before there was time for retreat sir george hastily entered the apartment who have you here lady one who has a request to make i believe said the lady mildly i wish a few moments with her have the goodness to walk out of this house said the to lady i know this woman and i will not allow you to harbor such people here although the s wife never again ventured into that house her wants and those of her child were during three years to by the secret agency of the heart that lived so sadly there and when at the of that period lady died a messenger brought to the cottage a little sufficient if ever news came of martin to enable the wife and child from whom he was separated to make their way across the earth to meet him again but during those weary years no tidings of his fate had reached either his wife or alfred gray to whom he had promised to write when he reached his destination another year dragged its slow course over the home of affliction and poor s hopes grew fainter day by day her sinking frame gave evidence of the sickness that from the heart one summer evening in the next year alfred gray entered his uncle s garden with a letter and was soon seated in the summer house it aloud to his uncle and tears stood in the old man s eyes as some detail of suffering or was related and indeed the letter told of little the one black spot beside it was fi om martin soon after his arrival in the settlement martin had written to alfred but the letter had never reached england not an unusual occurrence in those times after waiting long and getting no reply he was driven by harsh treatment and the degradation attending the life he led to attempt with old an escape from the settlement in simple language he recorded the dreary life they led in the woods how a time old and died and how in a desolate place where the footsteps of man had perhaps never trod before martin had dug a grave and buried his old companion after that unable to endure the terrible solitude he had sought his way back to his former master and had been treated more harshly than before fever and disease had wasted his frame until he had prayed that he might die and be at rest but god had been merciful to him and had inclined the heart of one for whom he labored who listened with compassion to his story took him under his
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roof and restored him to health and now martin had obtained a ticket of leave and served his kind master for wages which he was carefully to send to alfred as soon as he should hear from him that those he loved were still preserved and would come and embrace him once more in that distant land they shall go at once alfred said old mr gray the moment the last sentence was read they shall not wait we will provide the means hey he did not now fear to appeal to his companion had grown kinder of late and she confessed she had learned of her cousin what gives most comfort to those who are drawing near their journey s end i can help them a little she said we will all help a little alfred replied i shall be oflf i l t break of day to morrow on neighbor pony and shall ve him no rest he sets me down at accordingly early next morning alfred gray was riding briskly along through the pleasant green lanes which led toward his native village it was the middle of june bright warm sunny weather and the young man s spirits was unusually gay everything around him tending to the delight which the good news he carried had inspired him with the pony stepped out bravely and was only checked when alfred came in sight of the dear old home of his childhood and heard the well known calling the villagers to their morning service for it was sunday then for a few moments the young man proceeded more slowly and his countenance wore a more look as the blessed recollections of early loves and affections with which the scene was associated in his mind claimed their power over all other thoughts the voice of an old friend from an apple orchard hard by recalled him from his he shook hands through the hedge i will come and see you in the evening i must hasten on now she will go to church this morning and i must go with her who asked the other alfred pointed to the cottage where dwelt i bring her good news i have a letter martin is living and well the friend shook his head alfred dismounted and walked towards s cot the door was closed and when he looked through the window he could see no one inside he lifted the latch softly and entered there was no one there but his entrance had been heard and a moment after a fine stout lad came out of i the one black spot the inner chamber took alfred s proffered hand and in answer to his inquiries burst into tears she says she cannot live long sir but she told me last night that before she died you would come and tell us news of father she has been saying all the past week that we should hear from him soon whilst the boy spoke alfred heard a weak voice calling his name from the inner room go in he said and tell her i am here the boy did so and then beckoned him to enter s features were but little changed from the time when her husband was taken from her but the weak and wasted form that strove to raise itself in vain as alfred approached the bed side too plainly revealed that the was drawing to a close that the time of rest was at hand thank god you are come she said j you have heard from him tell me quickly for my time is short i come to tell you good news you may yet be restored to him i shall not see martin in this world again mr gray but i shall close my eyes in peace if you know where he is and can tell me that my boy shall go and be with him and tell him how through these long weary years we loved him and thought of him and prayed for him here she broke off and beckoned the boy to her she held his hands within her own whilst alfred gray read from the letter all that would comfort her when he had done she said god will bless you you have been very good to us in our misery now will you promise me one thing more will you send my boy to his father when i am gone p i h h i ml i j the promise was made and the boy knelt long by her bedside listening to the words of love and consolation which with her latest breath she uttered for the sake of him who she hoped would hear them again from his child s lips nearly forty have passed since they laid her among the graves of the humble villagers of few remain now who remember her story or her name but on the other side of the world amid scenery all unlike to that in which she dwelt there stands a cheerful s home and under the shadow of tall trees which surround the little garden in which some few english flowers are blooming there are sitting in the cool of the summer evening a group whose faces are all of the saxon mould a happy looking couple in the prime of life are there with children playing around them and one little gentle girl they call is sitting on the knee of an aged white haired man looking lovingly into his face and wondering why his eye so watches the setting sun every night as it sinks behind the blue waters in the distance two tall handsome lads with guns on their shoulders enter the garden and hasten to show the old man the fruits of their day s exploits we have been lucky to day grandfather says
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the younger but alfred says these birds are not like the birds in old england you should hear the sailors talk about the game in england martin replies the brother grandfather has told us all about england except the birds he thinks we should run away if he were to describe them the old man looks steadily at the boys for a moment and k black spot eyes fill with tears it b a glorious land he says with a voice it is our country but alfred martin you will never leave this happy home to go there birds there are the rich man s property and yon not dare carry those of over english ground if ever you go there your will tell you where there is a church yard and among the graves of the poor there is one he stopped for edward came to the place where his ther sat and took his trembling hand within his own the boys obeyed their mother s and followed her into the house the two men sitting together until the silent stars came out then the aged man leaning on his son s arm rejoined the family at the supper table and the peace of god rested on the solitary home edward ey had kept within his heart the memory of his mother s dying commands s his had nobly the one black spot l w j i i m til ml i ib t n i m mm the gentleman beggar one morning about five years ago i called by appointment on mr john balance the fashionable to accompany him to liverpool in pursuit of a customer for balance in addition to does a little business in the sixty per cent line it rained in torrents when the cab stopped at the passage which leads past the boxes to his private door the rang twice and at length balance appeared through the mist and rain in the entry illuminated by his perpetual cigar as i eyed him rather impatiently remembering that train wait for no man something like a hairy dog or a bundle ot rags rose up at his feet and barred his passage for a moment then balance cried out with an exclamation in answer apparently to a something i could not hear what man alive slept in the passage there take that and get some breakfast for heaven s sake so saying he jumped into the and we away at ten miles an hour just catching the express as the doors of the station were closing my curiosity was full set for although balance can be free with his money it is not exactly to beggars that his generosity is usually displayed so when comfortably in a i finished with you are liberal with your money this morning pray how often do you give silver to street because i shall r the gentleman beggar know now what walk to take when and leave off buying law who would have made an excellent parson if he had not been bred to a case trade and has still a soft bit left in his heart that is always fighting with his hard head did not smile at all but looked as grim as if a into his saturday night s punch he answered slowly a yes a beggar a miserable wretch he is now but let me tell you master david that that miserable bundle of rags was bom and bred a gentleman the son of a nobleman the husband of an and has sat and dined at tables where you and i master david are only allowed to view the plate by favor of the butler i have lent him thousands and been well paid the last thing i had om him was his court suit and i hold now his bill for one hundred pounds that will be paid i expect when he dies why what nonsense you are talking you must be dreaming this morning however we are alone i ll light a weed m defiance of railway law while you spin that for true or it will fill up the time to liverpool as for replied balance the whole story is short enough and as for truth that you may easily find out if you like to take the trouble i thought the poor wretch was dead i own it put me out meeting him this morning for i had a curious dream last night oh hang your dreams tell us about this gentleman beggar that you of half crowns that the heart even of a well then that beggar is the son of the late of by a spanish lady of rank he received a first rate education and was brought up in his father s i i the gentleman beggar t house at a very early age he obtained an appointment in a office was presented by the at court and received into the first society where his handsome person and agreeable manners made him a great favorite soon after coming of age he married the daughter of sir e who brought him a very handsome fortune which was strictly settled on herself they lived in splendid style kept several carriages a house in town and a place in the country for some reason or other idleness or to please his lady s pride he said he resigned his appointment his father died and left him nothing indeed he deemed at that time very handsomely provided for very soon mr and mrs began to she was cold correct he was hot and random he was quite dependent on her and she made him feel it when he began to get into debt he came to me at length some shocking quarrel occurred some case
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of jealousy on the wife s side not without reason i believe and the end of it was mr was turned out of doors the house was his wife s the furniture was his wife s and the fortune was his wife s he was in fact her he left with a few pounds ready money and some personal and went to a hotel on these and credit he lived being he had no relations being a when he spent his money he lost his the world took his wife s part when they found she had the fortune and the only parties who interfered were her relatives who did their best to make the quarrel to crown all one night he was run over by a cab was carried to a hospital and lay there for months and was during several weeks of the time unconscious a message to the wife by the hands of one of his companions sent by a l mane obtained an intimation that if he died mr the to the family had orders to see to the funeral and that mrs was on the point of starting for the continent not to return for some years when was discharged he came to me on two sticks to his court suit and told me his story i was really sorry for the fellow such a handsome looking man he was going then into the west somewhere to try to hunt out a friend what to do balance he said i don t know i can t dig and unless somebody will make me their i must starve or beg as my bade me when we parted i lost sight of for a long time and when i next came upon him it was in the of westminster in a low lodging house where i was searching with an officer for stolen goods he was pointed out to me as the gentleman because he was so free with his money when in luck he recognized me but turned away then i have since seen him and relieved him more than once although he never asks for anything how he lives heaven knows without money without friends without useful education of any kind he the country as you saw him perhaps doing a little hop picking or hay making in season only happy when he the means to get drunk i have heard through the kitchen whispers that you know come to me that he is entitled to some property and i expect if he were to die his wife would pay the hundred pound bill i hold at any rate what i have told you i know to he true and the bundle of rags i relieved just now is known in every thieves lodging in england as the gentleman this story produced an impression on me i am fond of speculation and like the excitement of a legal hunt as much the gentle m n beggar as some do a fox chase a gentleman a beggar a wife rolling in wealth of unknown property due to the husband it seemed as if there were for me amidst this of before returning from liverpool i had purchased the gentleman beggar s acceptance from balance i then inserted in the times the following advertisement if this gentleman will apply to david esq st james s he will hear of something to his advantage any person furnishing mr f s correct address shall receive s reward he was last seen c within twenty four hours i had ample proof of the wide circulation of the times my office was with beggars of every degree men and women lame and blind irish scotch and english some on some in some in go carts they all knew him as the gentleman and i must do the regular of the justice to say that not one would answer a question until he made certain that i meant the gentleman no harm one evening about three weeks after the appearance of the advertisement my clerk announced another beggar there came in an old man leaning upon a staff clad in a soldier s all patched and torn with a battered hat from under which a mass of tangled hair fell over his shoulders and half concealed his face the beggar in a weak hesitating tone said you have for i hope you don t mean him any harm he is sunk i think too low for enmity now and surely no one would sport with such misery as his these last words were uttered in a sort of piteous whisper i answered quickly heaven forbid i should sport with misery i mean and hope to do him good as well as myself then sir i am while we were conversing candles had been brought in i have not very tender nerves my head would not agree with them but i own i started and shuddered when i saw and knew that the wretched creature before me was under thirty years of age and once a gentleman sharp es reduced to skin and bone were and covered with dry fair hair the white teeth of the half open mouth with eagerness and made more hideous the foul of the rest of the countenance as he stood leaning on a f half bent his long yellow bony fingers clasped over the head of his stick he was indeed a picture of misery famine and premature age too horrible to dwell upon i made him sit down sent for some refreshment which he devoured like a and set to work to his story it was difficult to keep hun to the point but with pains i learned what convinced me that he was entitled to some property whether great or small there was no evidence on parting i said now mr
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f you must stay in town while i make proper inquiries what allowance will be enough to keep you comfortably he answered humbly after much pressing would you think ten shillings too much i don t like if i do those things at all to do them so i said come every saturday and you shall have a pound he was in thanks of course as all such men are as long as distress lasts i had previously learned that my ragged s wife was in england living in a splendid house in park gardens under her maiden name on the following day the earl of owing called upon me wanting five thousand pounds by five o clock the same evening it was a case of life or death with m m the gentleman beggar him so i made my terms and took advantage of his pressure to execute a de main i proposed that he should drive me home to receive the money calling at mrs in park gardens on our way i knew that the and of his father the would me an audience with mrs my scheme answered i was introduced into the lady s presence she was and probably is a very stately handsome woman with a pale complexion high solid forehead regular features thin pinched self satisfied mouth my interview was very short i plunged into the middle of the affair but had scarcely mentioned the word husband when she interrupted me with i presume you have lent this person money and want me to pay you she paused and then said he shall not have a as she spoke her white face became scarlet but madam the man is starving i have strong reasons for believing he is entitled to property and if you any assistance i must take other measures she rang the bell wrote something rapidly on a card and as the footman appeared pushed it towards me across the table with the air of touching a saying there sir h the address of my apply to them if you think you have any claim robert show the person out and take care he is not admitted again so far i had effected nothing and to tell the truth felt rather crest mien under the influence of that grand manner peculiar to certain great ladies and to all great my next visit was to the messrs and of s inn square and there i was at home i had dealings with the firm before they are agents for is i i i the gentleman beggar half the aristocracy who always run in crowds like sheep after the same wine merchants the same the same and the same law agents it may be whether the quality of law and land management they get on this principle is quite equal lo their wine and horses at any rate my friends of s inn like others of the same class are distinguished by their courteous manners deliberate proceedings innocence of legal long credit and heavy charges the elder partner wears powder and a huge bunch of lives in queen square drives a gives the dinners and does the cordial department he is so strict in performing the latter duty that he once addressed a who had shot a duke s keeper as my dear creature although he afterwards hung him has chambers in st james street drives a cab wears a tip and does the grand style my business lay with the and letters passing were numerous however it came at last to the following dialogue well my dear mr began mr who hates me like poison i m really very sorry for that poor dear knew his father well a great man a perfect gentleman but you know what women are eh mr my won t advance a shilling she knows it would be wasted in low now don t you think this was said very don t you think he had better be sent to the work house r very comfortable accommodation there i can assure you meat twice a week and excellent soup and then mr d we might consider about allowing you something for that bill mr can you reconcile it to your conscience to the gentleman beggar make such an arrangement here s a wife rolling in luxury and a husband starving no mr not starving there is the work house as i observed before besides allow me to suggest that these appeals to feeling are quite quite but mr touching this property which the poor man is entitled to why there again mr d you must excuse me you really must i don t say he is i don t say he is not if you know he is entitled to property i am sure you know how to proceed the law is open to you mr the law is open and a man of your talent will know how to use it then mr you mean that i must in order to right this starving man file a bill of discovery to extract from you the particulars of his rights you have the marriage settlement and all the information and you decline to allow a or afford any information the man is to starve or go to the work house why mr d you are so quick and violent it really is not professional but you see here a subdued smile of triumph it has been decided that a is not bound to afford such information as you ask to the injury of his then you mean that this poor may rot and starve while you keep secret from him at his wife s request his title to an income and that the court of will back you in this i kept repeating the word starve because i saw it made my respectable opponent well then just listen to me i know
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that in the happy state of our law can t help my but i have another plan i shall go the gentleman beggar hence to my office issue a writ and take your s husband in execution as soon as he is lodged in jail i shall file his in the court and when he comes up for his discharge i shall put you in the witness box and examine you on oath touching any property of which you know the to be possessed and where will be your privileged communications then r the respectable s face lengthened in a twinkling his comfortable confident air vanished he ceased his gold chain and at length he muttered suppose we pay the debt why then i ll arrest him the day after for another but my dear mr surely such conduct would not be quite respectable that s my business my has been wronged i am determined to right him and when the aristocratic firm of and takes refuge according to the custom of respectable in the cool of the court of why a mere bill attorney like david need not hesitate about cutting a out of the court well well mr d you are so warm so fiery we must deliberate we must consult you will give me until the day after to morrow and then we ll write you our final determination meantime send us a copy of your authority to act for mr of course i lost no time in getting the gentleman beggar to sign a proper letter on the appointed day came a communication with the l and f seal which i opened not without eagerness it was as follows w the gentleman beggar in re and another sir in answer to your application on behalf of mr we beg to inform you that under the administration of a paternal aunt who died your is entitled to two thousand five hundred pounds eight shillings and sixpence three per cents one thousand five pounds nineteen shillings and three per cents one thousand pounds long five hundred pounds bank stock three thousand five hundred pounds india stock besides other making up about ten thousand pounds which we are prepared to transfer over to mr s direction forthwith here was a it quite took away my breath at dusk came my gentleman beggar and what puzzled me was how to break the news to him being very much overwhelmed with business that day i had not much time for consideration he came in rather better dressed than when i first saw him with only a week s beard on his chin but as usual not quite sober six weeks had elapsed since our first interview he was still the humble trembling low creature i first knew him after a i said i find mr f you are entitled to something pray what do you mean to give me in addition to my bill for obtaining it he answered rapidly oh take half if there is one hundred pounds take half if there is five hundred pounds take half no no mr f i don t do business in that way i shall be satisfied with ten per cent it was so settled i then led him cat into the street impelled to tell him the news yet the effect not daring to make the revelation in my office for fear of a scene j the gentleman il i began hesitatingly mr i am happy to say that i find you are entitled to ten thousand pounds ten thousand pounds he echoed ten thousand pounds he shrieked ten thousand pounds he seizing my arm violently you are a brick here cab cab several drove up the shout might have been heard a mile off he jumped in the first where to said the driver to a tailor s you rascal ten thousand pounds ha ha ha he repeated when in the cab and every moment grasping my arm presently he subsided looked me straight the face and muttered with what a jolly brick you are the tailor the the boot maker the hair were in turn visited by this poor pagan of as by degrees under their hands he emerged from the beggar to the gentleman his spirits rose his eyes brightened he walked erect but always nervously grasping my arm fearing apparently to lose sight of me for a moment lest his fortune should vanish with me the impatient pride with which he gave his orders to the astonished for the finest and best of everything and the amazed air of the fashionable when he presented his locks and chin to be cut and shaved may be acted it cannot be described by the time the external was complete and i sat down in a in the opposite a haggard but handsome looking man whose air with the exception of the wild eyes and deeply face did not differ from the men about town sitting around us mr the gentleman b had already almost forgotten the past he the waiter and the wine as if he had done nothing else but dine and drink and there all the days of his life once he wished to drink my health and would have proclaimed his whole story to the coffee room assembly in a style when i left he almost wept in terror at the idea of losing sight of me but allowing for these the natural result of such a whirl of events he was calm and self possessed the next day his first care was to fifty pounds among his friends the at a house of call in and formally to his connection with them those present undertaking for the that for the he should never be noticed by them in public or private i cannot follow his career further had taught him nothing
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bill to run now about a fortnight t k a fashionable did you it i did mr sparkle required me to do so to show that tiie bill came properly into his possession this second bill you say is required to enable miss to leave town yes she is going to for the winter i gave mr a steady piercing look of inquiry pray sir i said could you meet that one hundred pounds bill supposing it could not be paid by the meet it the poor fellow wiped from his forehead the perspiration which suddenly broke out at the bare hint of a probability that the bill would be meet it no i am a married man with a family and have nothing but my salary to depend on then the sooner you get it taken up and the less you have to do with miss s bill af the better she has always been punctual hitherto that may be i pointed to the cross writing on the document and said deliberately this bill is a at these words the poor man turned pale he snatched up the document and with many rushing toward the door when i called to him in an tone to stop he paused his manner indicating not only doubt but fear i said to him don t yourself i only want to serve you you tell me that you are a married man with children dependent on daily labor for daily bread and that you have done a little for miss out of your e now although i am a bill i don t like to see such men look at the body of this bill look at the signature of your lady customer the drawer don t you detect the same fine thin sharp pointed handwriting in the words a fashionable accepted the man convinced against his will was at first overcome when he recovered he he would expose the honorable miss if it cost him his bread he would go at once to the police office i stopped him by saying roughly don t be a fool any such steps would seal your ruin take my advice return the bill to the lady saying simply that you cannot get it leave the rest to me and i think the bill you have to sparkle will be paid comforted by this assurance fearfully changed from the nervous but hopeful man of the morning departed it now remained for me to exert what skill i possessed to bring about the desired result i lost no time in writing a letter to the honorable of which the following is a copy madam a bill to be drawn by you has been offered to me for there is something wrong about it and though a stranger to you i advise you to lose no time in getting it back into your own hands d d i intended to deal with the affair and without any view to profit the fact is that i was sorry you may laugh but i really was sorry to think that a young girl might have given way to temptation under pressure f pecuniary difficulties if it had been a man s case i doubt whether i should have interfered by the return of post a lady s maid entered my room decorated with lace and with she brought a letter from her mistress it ran thus sir i cannot sufficiently express my thanks for your kindness in writing to me on the subject of t bills of which i had a fashionable also heard a few hours previously as a perfect stranger to you i cannot estimate your kind consideration at too high a value i trust the matter will be explained but i should much like to see you if you would be kind enough to write a note as soon as you receive this i will order it to be sent to me at once to square i will wait on you at any hour on friday you may i believe that i am not mistaken in supposing that you business for my friend sir john and you will therefore know the to be his handwriting again thanking you most allow me to remain your much and deeply obliged this note was written upon delicate french paper with a coat of arms it was in a fancy envelope the whole richly and rank and fashion its contents were an implied confession of silence or three lines of indignation would have been the only innocent answer to my letter but miss thanked me she let me know by that she was on intimate terms with a name good on a west end bill my answer was that i should be alone on the following afternoon at five at the hour fixed punctual to a moment a drew up at the corner of the street next to my chambers the honorable miss s card was handed in presently she entered swimming into my room richly yet simply dressed in the extreme of good taste she was pale or rather she had fair hair fine teeth and a fashionable voice she threw herself gracefully into the chair i handed to her and began by a string of phrases to the effect that her visit was merely to consult me on pecuniary difficulties a fashionable according to my mode i allowed her to talk putting in only an occasional word of question that seemed rather a random observation than a significant at length after walking round and round the subject like a timid horse in a field around a groom with a of she came nearer and nearer the subject when she had fairly approached the point she stopped as if her courage had failed her but she soon recovered and observed i cannot think why you
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should take the trouble to write so to me a perfect stranger another pause i wonder no one ever suspected me before here was a confession and a key to character the cold gray eye the thin compressed lips which i had had time to observe were true to the lady s inner heart selfish calculating utterly devoid of conscience unable to conceive the existence of spontaneous kindness utterly indifferent to anything except discovery and almost indifferent to that because convinced that no consequences could affect a lady of her rank and influence madam i replied as long as you dealt with accustomed to depend on aristocratic customers your rank and position and their large profits protected you from suspicion but you have made a mistake in descending from your ground to make a poor your innocent a man who will be keenly alive to anything that may injure his wife or children his terrors but for my would have ruined you utterly tell me how many of these things have you put afloat she seemed a little taken a back by this speech but was wonderfully firm she passed her white hand over her eyes seemed calculating and then whispered with a confiding look of innocent helplessness admirably assumed about as many as amount to twelve hundred pounds il a fashionable and what means have yon for meeting them at so plainly pat her face flashed she half rose from her chair and exclaimed in the tone of aristocratic really sir i do not know what right you have to ask me that question i a little though not very loud it was i own but who could have helped it i replied speaking low but slowly and distinctly you forget i did not send for you you came to me you have bills to the amount of twelve hundred pounds yours is not the case of a ruined merchant or an ignorant over tempted clerk in your case a she shuddered at that word would find no circumstances and if you should fall into the hands of justice you will be convicted degraded clothed in a and transported for life i do not want to speak harshly but i that you find means to take up the bill which mr has so the honorable miss s grand manner melted away she wept she seized and pressed my hand she cast up her eyes full of tears and went through the part of a victim with great she would do anything anything in the world to save the poor man indeed she had intended to appropriate part of the two hundred pound bill to that purpose she forgot her first statement that she wanted the money to go out of town without interrupting i let her go on and herself by a passion of repentance regret and to me under which she hid her fear and her mortification at being detected i at length put an end to a scene of admirable acting by her to go abroad immediately to place herself out of reach of any sudden discovery and then lay her case fully before her friends who would no i h a fashionable feel bound to come forward with the full amount of the bills but she exclaimed with an air i have no money i cannot without money to that observation i did not respond although i am sure she expected that i should check book in hand offer her a loan i do not say so without reason for the very next week this honorable young lady came again and with sublime assurance and a number of charming winning speeches which might ha e had their effect upon a younger man asked me to lend her one hundred pounds in order that she might take the advice i had so given her and retire into private life for a certain time in the country i do meet with a great many impudent people in the course of my calling i am not very deficient in assurance myself but this actually took away my breath really madam i answered you pay a very ill compliment to my gray hairs and would fain make me a very ill return for the service i have done you when you ask me to lend a hundred pounds to a young lady who owns to having to the extent of one thousand two hundred pounds and to owing eight hundred pounds besides i wished to save a personage of your years and position from a disgraceful career but am too good a for my children to lend money to anybody in such a dangerous position as yourself oh she answered quite without a trace of the fearful tender pleading of the previous week s interview quite t if i had been an i can give you excellent security that the case i can lend any amount on good security well sir i can get the acceptance of three friends of ample means do you mean to tell me miss that you will write i i i i i down the n of three parties who will accept a bill for one hundred pounds for you r tes she could and did actually write down the names of three men now i knew for certain that not one of those would have put his name to a bill on any account whatever for his dearest friend but in her self confidence she thought of passing another on me the conference by saying i cannot assist you and he retired with the ir of an injured person in the course of few days i heard from mr that his of one hundred pounds had been duly honored in my active and exciting life one day the recollection of the events of the preceding day and for a time i thought
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i have i ji a a hi known that excellent man these twenty years and have paid him hundreds on hundreds but never so much by ten per cent as you offered me for your bill sir i cannot have anything to do with your then violently the check string stop she gasped and will you have the goodness to get out and so i got out continued and lost my time and the heavy i made in getting myself up for the new gloves and a shilling to the hair hang her but did you ever know anything like the prejudices that must prevail against you i am disgusted with human nature you lend me half a sovereign till saturday i smiled i the half sovereign and let him go for he is not exactly the person to whom it was advisable to all the secrets relating to the honorable miss since that day i look each morning in the police reports with considerable interest but up to the present hour the honorable miss has lived and in the best society of english law by charles words i a si the of in marsh stands a building better known than honored the wealthy merchant knows it as the place where an unfortunate friend who made that speculation during the recent sugar panic is now a the man about town knows it as a spot to which several of his friends have been driven at full gallop by fleet race horses and dear dog carts the lawyer knows it as the last scene of all the catastrophe of a large proportion of law suits the father knows it as a bear wherewith to warn his son but the uncle knows it better as the place whence date of reform and piteous appeals this once for few indeed are there who has not heard of the queen s prison or as it is more briefly and emphatically termed the bench awful sound what visions of folly and of and of ruin and are up to the imagination in these two words it is the of commerce the of fortune within its grim walls surmounted by a de termed lord s teeth dwell at this moment members of almost every class of society debt the grim riding on the shoulders of his victim like the hideous old man m the eastern fable has here his safely under lock and key and within walls the church the army the navy the bar the press the turf the trade of england have each and all their representatives in this house every grade from the ruined man of fortune to the petty who has been undone by giving the of credit to others still poorer than himself sends its members ti this parliament nineteen in this royal house of owe their misfortunes directly or indirectly to themselves and foi them every free and prosperous man has his cut and dry moral or scrap of pity or of advice but there is a proportion of prisoners happily a small one within those huge brick boundaries who have committed no crime broken no law no they are the victims of a system which has been to us from the dark days of the star chambers and courts of high commission we mean the of these unhappy persons were formerly confined in the fleet prison but on the of that edifice were transferred to the queen s unlike prisoners of any other tion they are frequently ignorant of the cause of their imprisonment and frequently still are unable to obtain their by any acts or of their own there is no act of which they are permitted to take the benefit no door left open for them in the court of a prisoner is in fact a far more hopeless mortal than a to for the latter knows that at the of a certain period he will in any event be a free man the prisoner has no such certainty he may and he frequently does waste a life time in the walls of a jail whither i he was sent in innocence because perchance he had the ill luck to be one of the next of kin of some who made a will which no one could comprehend or the heir of some who made none any other party interested in the estate a suit which he must defend or be com to prison for contempt a prison is his portion what ii i the of ever lie does for if he answers the bill filed against him and cannot pay the costs he is also clapped in jail for contempt thus what in ordinary life is but an irrepressible expression of opinion or a small is in a high crime with imprisonment sometimes perpetual whoever is pronounced guilty of contempt in a sense is taken from his family his profession or his trade perhaps his sole means of and consigned to a jail where he must starve or live on a miserable of three shillings and sixpence a week out to him from the county rate of an order of the court of though that order may command you to pay more money than you ever had or to hand over property which is not yours and was never in your possession is contempt of court no matter how great your natural reverence for the time honored institutions of your native land no matter though you regard the lord high of great britain as the most wonderful man upon earth and his court as the purest of justice where she sits weighing out justice with a pair of s you may yet be pronounced to have been guilty of contempt for this there is no pardon you are in the catalogue of the doomed and
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are doomed accordingly a popular a notion that no one need go into unless he pleases nothing but an utter and happy innocence of the bitter irony of proceedings keeps such an idea current men have been imprisoned for many years some for a life time on account of proceedings of the very existence of which they were almost in ignorance before they somehow or other were found in contempt see yonder old man in garments with i i i i the op pinched features telling of long years of anxiety and and want he has a weak starved voice that sounds as though years of have shrunk it as much as his cheek he always looks cold and god help him feels so too for tells us that no quantity of clothing will cold without the aid of plenty of food and little of that passes his lips his eye has an timid look as if he could not look you straight in the face for lack of energy his step is a hurried though he seldom leaves his room and when he does he at the players as if they were beings of a different race from himself no one ever sees his hands they are plunged desperately into hb pockets which never contain anything else he is like a dried fruit exhausted and flung aside by the whole world he is a man without hope a prisoner he has lived in a jail for twenty eight weary years his history has many it is this it was his misfortune to have an uncle who died leaving him his the uncle like most men who make their own wills forgot an essential part of it he named no our poor friend administered and all parties interested received their be last of all taking but a small sum it was his only fortune and having received it he looked about for an there were no in those days or he might have in the but there were companies and south sea fishing companies and various other companies termed our friend thought these companies were not safe and he was quite right in his supposition so he determined to his money to no speculation but to invest it in spanish bonds after all our i i i the op poor mend had better have tried the mines for the bonds proved worth very little more than the paper on which they were written his most catholic majesty did not like certain states but up his pockets and told his he had no money some five years after our friend was startled by being requested to come up to doctors and tell the worthy there all about his uncle s will which one of the after receiving all he was entitled to under it and probably spending the money suddenly took it into his head to dispute the of meanwhile the court of also stepped in and ordered him the suit to pay over into court that little trifle he had received what could the poor man do his catholic majesty had got the money he the had not a of it nor of any other money whatsoever he was in contempt an officer tapped him on the shoulder displayed a little piece of and he found that he was the victim of an unfortunate attachment he was walked to the fleet prison where and in the queen s prison he has remained ever since a period of twenty eight years yet no less a personage than a lord has pronounced his opinion that the will after all was a good and will though the little family party of doctors thought otherwise there is another miserable looking object yonder greasy dirty and he too is a prisoner he has been so for twenty years why he has not the slightest idea he can only tell you that he was found out to be one of the relations of some one who had left a good bit of money the lawyers put the will into and at last i was ordered to do something or other i can t recollect r i the of what which i was also told i couldn t do if i would so they said i was in contempt and they took and put me into the fleet it s a matter of twenty years i have been in prison of course i d like to get out but i m told there s no way of doing it anyhow he is an and works at his trade in the prison by which he gains just enough to keep him without coming upon the county rate in that room over the chapel is the there was a death lately the deceased was an old man of sixty eight and nearly blind he had not been many years in prison but the confinement and the anxiety and the separation from his family had upon his mind and body he was too for after being used to all the comforts of life he had to live in jail on sixpence a day yet there was one thousand pounds in the hands of the general of the court of which was justly due to him he was in contempt for not paying some three hundred pounds but death his contempt and a decree was afterwards made for paying over the one thousand pounds to his personal representatives yet himself had died for want of a twentieth part of it of slow starvation it must not however be supposed that never its victims we must be just to the laws of there is actually a man now in london whom they have positively let out of prison they had however prolonged his agonies during seventeen years he was committed for contempt in not paying certain costs as
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he had been ordered he appealed from the order but until his appeal was heard he had to remain in vile the court of like all dignified bodies is never in a hurry and therefore from having no great influence and a very small stock of money to i i the of forward his interest the poor man could only get his cause finally heard and decided on in december seventeen years from the date of his imprisonment and after all the court decided that the original order was wrong so that he had been committed for seventeen years hy mistake how familiar to him must have been the face of that poor tottering man creeping along to rest on the bench under the wall yonder he is very old but not so old as he looks he is a poor prisoner and another victim to he has long ago forgotten if he ever knew the particulars of his own case or the order which sent him to a jail he can tell you more of the history of this gloomy place and its brother the fleet than any other man he will relate you stories of the days of the fleet when great and renowned men were frequently its when soldiers and sailors authors and actors whose names even then filled england with their renown were prisoners within its walls when whistling shops and were when lodgings in the prison were dearer than rooms at the west end of the town and when a young man was not considered to have finished his education until he had spent a month or two in the bench or the fleet he knows nothing of the world outside it is dead to him relations and friends have long ceased to think of him or perhaps even to know of his existence hi thoughts range not beyond the high walls which surround him and probably if he had but a little better supply of food and clothing he might almost be considered a happy man but it is the happiness of not of the intelligence and the the condition of a trance rather than the joyous feeling which has hope its bright eyed minister what has ac to do with hope he has the of been eight years a prisoner he is another oat of twenty four still prisoners here more than half of whom have been prisoners for above ten years and not one of whom has any hope of release a few have done something in contempt of all law and but is not even their punishment greater than their crime let us turn away surely we have seen enough though many other sad tales may be told the horrors of and french de law at a low price low narrow dark and frowning are the of our of court if there is one of these of which i have more dread than another it is that leading out of to gray s inn i never remember to have met a cheerful face at it until the other morning when i encountered mr at law in a few minutes we found ourselves arm in arm and straining our voices to the utmost amid the noise of passing mr stretched himself on in a frantic effort to inform me that he was going to a county court but perhaps you have not heard of these places i assured mr that the concerning them had made me very anxious to see how justice was administered in these for low law i am going to one now but he added you must understand that i do not approve of their working there can be no doubt that they seriously prejudice the regular course of law comparing the three quarters preceding with three quarters subsequent to the establishment of these courts there was a of nearly issued by the court of queen s bench alone or of nearly on the year we soon arrived at the county court it is a plain looking building wholly without but at the same time not devoid of some little elegance of exterior we entered by a far less austere than that of gray s inn a long well lighted passage on either side of which were i law at a low price offices connected with the court one of these was the summons office and i observed on the wall a table of and as i saw mr consulting it with a view to his own business i asked him his opinion of the charges why said he the scale of is too large for the and too small for the lawyer but object less to the amount than to the and of the table in some districts the expense of recovering a sum of money is more than it is in others though in both the same scale of is in operation this arises from the variety of which different judges and officers put upon the charges passing out of the summons office we entered a large hall with lists of trials for the week there were more than one hundred of them set down for trial on nearly every day i am glad i said to think that this is not all additional i presume these are the thousands of causes a year withdrawn from the superior courts the of them said mr with a sigh there were some out of the old processes but i am afraid there is nothing but the bone here i see here said i pointing to one of the lists a single entered as proceeding against six and twenty in succession ah said mr rubbing his hands a knowing fellow that quite awake to the business of these courts a cheap and easy way sir of recovering old debts i don t know who the fellow is a tailor very likely but no doubt
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you will find his name in the list in this way once every half year if his and christmas bills are not paid it is far cheaper to come here and get a summons served than to send law at a low price all over london to collect the accounts with the chance of not finding the customer at home and this is one way you see in which we are no doubt this fellow formerly employed an attorney to write letters for him payment of the amount of his bill and s d for the cost of the application now instead of going to an attorney he comes here and gets the served for s a knowing hand that a knowing hand but i said surely no respectable said mr i said nothing about respectability this sort of thing is very common among a certain class of trades people especially puffing and boot makers such people rely less on regular than on chance custom and therefore they care less about proceeding against those who deal with them but said i this is a decided abuse of the power of the court such fellows ought to be exposed said mr they are probably known here and then if the judge does his duty they get bare justice and nothing more i am not sure indeed that sometimes their appearance here may not injure rather than be of advantage to them for the may fix a distant date for payment of a debt which the by a little civility might have obtained from his customer a good deal sooner the court i found to be a lofty room somewhat larger and than the apartment in which the are hung up in the national one half was separated from the other by a low on the outer side of which stood a miscellaneous crowd of persons who appeared to be waiting their turn to be called forward though the appearance of the court was new and handsome everything was plain and simple law at a low price i was by the appearance and manner of the he was a man but i fancied that he displayed the characteristics of experience his attention to the proceedings was his appeared admirable and there was a calm self possession about him that bordered upon dignity the who attended were of class and character there were professional men and a peer among the there were specimens of the considerate the angry the cautious the bold the energetic the the female the nervous and the each was allowed to state his or her case in his or her own way an l to call witnesses i i if there were any when the debt appeared to he fade proved the turned to the and perhaps asked him if he disputed it i the characteristics of the were quite as different as the characteristics of the there was the and the upon principle the stormy and the who was timid the impertinent aud the who left his case entirely to the court the who would never pay and the who would if he could the causes of action i found to be as as the parties were besides suits by for every description of goods supplied there were claims for every sort and kind of service that can belong to humanity from the claim of a monthly nurse to the claim of the under s assistant i in these claims the judge was strict in that a proper account should have been delivered and that the best i law at a low price should be produced as to the of the no one could come to the court and receive a sum of money merely by swearing that mr so and so owes me so much with regard to the worst thing they could do was to remain away when summoned to attend it has o en been observed that those persons about whose dignity there is any doubt are the most in its it is with courts as it is with men and as small debt courts are sometimes apt to be held in some contempt i found the judge here very prompt in his decision whenever a did not appear by self or agent take a case in point to the clerk of the court make an order in favor of the attorney your honor will give us speedy recovery will a month do mr s attorney the is not here to any reason for delay your honor very well then let him pay in a fortnight i was much struck in some of the cases by a friendly sort of confidence which some of the proceedings here again the effect in a great measure was to the he seemed to act as indeed he is rather as an than ad a judge he advised rather than ordered i really think he said to one i really think sir you have made yourself liable do you sir said the man pulling out his purse without more then sir i am sure i will pay it struck me too as remarkable that though some of the were hotly none of the defeated parties com m law at a low price of the decision in several instances the parties even appeared to in the propriety of the verdict a scotch smith summoned a man who from his appearance i judged to be a hard keen dealing he claimed a sum of money for putting shoes upon thirty horses his claim was just but there was an error in his particulars of demand which it the took some trouble to point out that in consequence of this error even if he gave a decision in his favor he should be doing him an injury the case was a hard one and i could
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not help that the poor should be non suited did he complain neither by word or action folding up his papers he said sorrowfully well sir i assure you i would not have come here if it had not been a just claim the evidently believed him for he advised a compromise and the case that the parties might try to come to terms ut the would not arrange and the was driven to elect a non suit the mode of dealing with evidence afforded me considerable satisfaction private letters such as the tender of love are not as in the higher courts thrust one after the other into the dirty face of a witness who was called to prove the handwriting sent the round of the twelve in the box and finally passed to the that they might copy certain sentences and a few from which the short hand writers could not catch but are handed up to the judge who looks through them carefully and then passes them over without observation for the re perusal of the not a word except such as require comment there was a claim against a gentleman for a butcher s bill law at a low price he had the best of all for he had paid ready money for every item as it was delivered the was the younger partner of a but firm which had broken up leaving him in possession of the books and his partner in possession of the credit the proprietor of the book debts proved the order and delivery of certain joints prior to a certain date and swore they had not been paid for to show his title to recover the value of them he somewhat thrust before the the deed which constituted him a partner the judge instantly compared the deed with the bill why he said turning to the butcher all the you have sworn to were purchased to the date of your entering into if any one is entitled to recover it is your partner whom the he has paid in one as they are called of the superior courts i very much doubt whether either judge or jury would have discovered for themselves this important the evidence was not confined to deeds and writings stamped or even during the short time i was present i saw some curious produced before the records as primitive in their way as those the of the used to keep in the office before i the comparatively recent introduction of book keeping into the department of our national among other things received in evidence were a s score and a baker s mr appeared inclined to think that no weight ought to be attached to such evidence as this but when i recollect that there have occasionally been such things as produced in evidence before lord in his own particular court the house of lords the highest as they call it in the realm i see no good reason why mrs chalk the should not be per i law at a low price to produce her in a county court for every practical purpose the score upon the one seems just as good a document as the upon the other i was vastly pleased by the great consideration which appeared to be displayed towards misfortune and these courts are emphatically courts for the recovery of debts and inasmuch as they afford great to it is therefore the more incumbent that should be protected against hardship and oppression a man was summoned to show why he had not paid a debt to a previous order of the court the attended to press the case against i him and displayed some why have you not paid sir demanded the judge sternly your honor said the man i have been out of employment six months and within the last fortnight everything i have in the world has been seized in execution in the superior courts this would have been no excuse the man would probably have gone to prison leaving his wife and family upon the parish but here that novel sentiment in law proceedings sympathy peeped forth i believe this man would pay said the if possible but he has lost everything in the world at present i shall make no order it did not appear to that the generally in this court were anxious to press very hardly upon indeed it would be bad policy to do so give a man time and he can often meet demands that it would be impossible for him to if pressed at once immediate execution in this court seemed to be payment within a fortnight an order to pay in weekly in is a common mode of arranging a case and as it is usually made by law at a low price m i t agreement between the parties both of them are satisfied in ct the rule of the court seemed not from that of trades people who want to do a quick business and who proceed upon the principle that no reasonable offer is refused i had been in the court sufficiently long to make these and other observations when mr introduced me to the clerk on leaving the court by a side door we repaired to mr s room where we found that gentleman an old attorney prepared to do the honors of a glass of and a of course the conversation turned upon the county court doing a pretty good business here said mr business we re at it all day replied mr i ll show you this is an account of the business of the county courts in england and wales in the year the account for is not yet made up take six months i suppose to make it said mr rather ill total number of or causes entered read the clerk total amount
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of money sought to be recovered by the continued mr ib gracious exclaimed his face expressing envy and indignation what a benefit would have been conferred upon society if all this property had been got into the legitimate law courts what a benefit to the of all this wealth i have no doubt whatever that during the past year the who have recovered this million and a quarter have spent the whole of it it upon what they called necessaries of life look at the difference if it had only been locked up for them say in it would have been pre i i i i i i r i i i law at a low price served with the greatest possible safety accounted for every of it in the books of the general and we sir we the respectable in the profession should have gone down three or four times every year to the master s offices to see that it was all right and to have had a little consultation as to the best means of holding it safely for our until his suit was properly and disposed of but perhaps i suggested these poor make better use of their own money after all than the courts of law and could make it for them then the costs said mr with an attorney s ready eye to business let us hear about them the total amount of costs to be paid by tm the amount for which judgment was obtained was is was the answer being an addition of per cent on the amount ordered to be paid well said mr that s not so very bad per cent turning to me is a small amount undoubtedly for the costs of an action duly brought to trial but as the greater part of these costs are costs of court twenty five per cent cannot be considered inadequate it seems to me a great deal too much said i justice ought to be much cheaper all the to counsel and are included in the amount remarked the clerk and so are to witnesses the on causes amounted to very nearly of this sum the officers were in and the general fund not so bad said mr smiling the judges amounted to nearly this would have given them all each but the treasury has fixed i law at a low price their at a uniform sum of so that the sixty judges only draw ie of the where does the remainder go i inquired the county court clerk shook his head but you don t mean said i that the arc made to pay ie a year for what only costs p i am afraid it is so said mr dear me said mr i never heard of such a thing in all my professional experience i am sure the lord would never sanction that in his court you ought to apply to the courts above mr you ought indeed and yet said i i think i have heard something about a fee fund in those courts above eh ah hem yes said mr certainly but the cases are not at all by the way how are the other distributed the clerks said mr ie nearly as much as the judges as there are clerks the average would be a year to each but as the clerks in each court according to the business of course the division is very unequal in one court in the clerk only got s in in another court in york his only amounted to s d but some of my made a good thing of it the clerks in some of the principal courts are very comfortable the clerk of westminster received a year and upwards law at a low price but our friend three of the clerks get less than i a year now said ir tell us what you all do for money altogether said the clerk the courts sat in days or an average for each judge of days the greatest of was in westminster where the judge sat days at there were on days the number of trials as i have before mentioned was or an average of about to each judge and to each court in some of the courts however as many as cases are tried in a year why said mr they can t give five minutes to each case is this administration of justice when said the clerk a case is a appears to his debt and an order for its payment which takes scarcely two minutes how long does a defended case take on the average i should say a quarter of an hour that is provided counsel are not employed jury cases occupy much longer undoubtedly are the jury cases frequent i inquired some feeling of respect for our time honored institution coming across me as i spoke nothing said our friend is more remarkable in the history of the county courts than the very limited resort which have to it is within the power of either party to cause the jury to be summoned in any case where the is upwards of d the total number of tried in was of these wards of were cases in which s law at a low price might have been summoned but there were only jury in all the courts or one jury for about every trials the party requiring the jury obtained a verdict in out of the cases or exactly one half at any rate then there is no on the said mr the power of to them is very valuable said our friend there is a strong disposition among the public to rely upon the decision of the and that reliance is not without good foundation for certainly justice in
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these courts have been well administered but there may be occasions when it would be very desirable that a jury should be interposed between a party to a cause and the judge and certainly if the of these courts is extended it will be most desirable that should be able to satisfy themselves that every opportunity is open to them of obtaining justice for my own part said i i as soon have the decision of one honest man as of twelve honest men and perhaps i would prefer it if the judge is a liberal minded and enlightened man i would rather take his judgment than submit my case to a dozen selected by chance and among whom there would most probably be at least a couple of by the way why should not the same be given to in westminster hall as is given in the county courts what exclaimed mr trial by jury the of british liberty have you no respect for antiquity we must ourselves to the altered state of society observe the great proportion of cases tried in these more than sixty per cent of the entire number of law at a low price entered this is vastly greater than the number in the superior courts where there is said to be scarcely one cause tried for fifty issued why is this simply because the cost parties from continuing the actions they settle rather than go to a jury and a great advantage too said mr under the new bill said our friend the clerk s s will all be coming to us they will be able to in these courts without paying a single s unless they have a peculiar taste for law expenses and a hideous amount of and will be the consequence said mr you will make these courts mere courts sir courts to which every rogue will bo dragging the first man who he thinks can pay him is if he only hard enough that it is due to him i foresee the greatest danger from this extension of under the pretence of providing cheap law fifty pounds said i is to a large proportion of the people a sum of money of very considerable importance i must say i think it would be quite right that inferior courts should not have the right of dealing with so much of a man s property without giving him a power of appeal at least under but at the same time looking at the satisfactory way in which this great experiment has worked seeing how many righteous claims have been established and just maintained which would have been denied under any other system i cannot but hope to see the day when attended by proper for the due administration of justice these courts will be open to even a more numerous class of than at present it is proposed that small charitable trust cases shall be submitted to the judges of these courts why law at a low price not also refer to them cases in which local cannot now act without suspicion of cases for example under the game laws or the laws and more than all against the act which essentially matters of account why not said i preparing for a burst of eloquence why not overthrow at once the seat of justice the letter of the law and our glorious constitution in church and state it was mr who spoke and he had rushed from the room ere i could reply no one to argue the point ther with i made my bow to mr and retired also l l ii i i i the law the most fellow i ever knew was a named bones he had got possession by some means of a bit of waste ground behind a public house in street adjoining this land was a yard belonging to the parish of st which the parish were in with a wall bones alleged that one corner of their wall was about ten inches on his ground and as they declined to remove it back he kicked down the brick work before the mortar was dry the having satisfied themselves that they were not only within their boundary but that they had left bones some feet of the parish land to boot built up the wall again bones kicked it down again the put it up a third time under the protection of a policeman the inexorable bones in spite of the awful presence of this not only kicked down the wall again but kicked the brick into the bargain this was too much and bones was marched off to for the brick the magistrate rather the complaint but bound over bones to keep the peace the j the wall was re a fourth time but when the the place next morning it was again in ruins while they were in consultation this last insult they were politely waited on by an attorney s clerk who served them all with in an action of at the suit of bones for on his land th is war was declared about a piece of dirty land literally i i p the law not so big as a door step and the whole fee simple of which would not sell for a shilling the however thought they ought not to give up the rights of the parish to the obstinacy of a perverse fellow like bones and resolved to bones for the workmen accordingly the action and the went on together the action was tried first and as the evidence clearly showed the had kept within their own boundary they got the verdict bones moved for a new trial that failed the now thought they would let the matter rest as it had cost the parish about one hundred and pounds and they
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supposed bones had had enough of it but they had mistaken their man he brought a writ of error in the action which carried the cause into the court and tied it up nearly two years and in the meantime he forced them to try the when the trial came on the judge said that as the whole question had been decided in the action there was no occasion for any further proceedings and therefore the had better be and so make an end of it accordingly bones was and the very next thing bones did was to sue the in a new action for the against him without reasonable cause the new action went on to trial and it being proved that one of the had been overheard to say that they would punish him this was taken as evidence of malice and bones got a verdict for forty shillings besides all the costs elated with this victory bones pushed on his old action in the chamber to a hearing but the court affirmed the judgment without hearing the counsel r r the l i w t the were now sick of the very name of bones which had become a sort of so that if a met a friend in the street he would be greeted with an inquiry after the health of his friend mr bones they would have gladly let the whole matter drop into oblivion but and bones had determined otherwise for the brought a of error in the house of lords on the judgment of the chamber the unhappy had caught a and follow him into the lords they must accordingly after another year or two s delay the case came on in the lords their pronounced it the most writ of error m they had ever seen and again affirmed the judgment with costs i against bones the now their costs and found j that they had spent not less than five hundred pounds in defending their claims to a bit of ground that was not of the value of an old shoe but then bones was condemned to pay the costs true so they issued execution against bones caught him after some trouble and locked him up in jail the next week bones the court got out of prison and on examination of his his effects appeared to be od bones had in fact been fighting the on credit for the last three years for his own attorney was put down as a to a large amount which was the only satisfaction the obtained firom his they were now obliged to have recourse to the parish funds to pay their own law expenses and were themselves with the reflection that these did not come out of their own pockets when they received the usual that a bill in had been filed against them at mr bones s suit to their accounts with the parish and prevent the the law of the parish money to the payment of their law costs i this was the climax and being myself a of i have heard nothing further of it being unwilling as well perhaps as to the case into the of the court of the catastrophe if this were a tale could be mended so the true story may end here m im i m i i k j n i il the duties of witnesses and i am not a young man and have much of my life in our criminal courts i am and have been in active practice at the bar and i believe myself capable of offering some hints toward an improved administration of justice i do not allude to any reform in the law i believe much to be needed i mean to confine myself to which it is in the power of the people to make for themselves and indeed which no however enlightened can make for them in no country can the laws be well administered where the popular mind stands at a low point in the scale of intelligence or where the moral tone is the latter defect is of course the most important but it is so intimately connected with the former that they commonly prevail together and the causes which remove the one have almost without exception a effect upon the other that the general of morals and intelligence is essential to the healthy working of in all countries will be admitted when it is recollected that no however can arrive at the truth by any other way than by the testimony of witnesses and that consequently on their the enjoyment of property character and life must of necessity depend again wherever trial by jury is established a further demand arises for morals and intelligence among the people it follows then as a consequence almost too obvious to justify the remark that whatever in any country and these great attributes of civilization raises its capacity for performing that noblest duty of social man the administration of justice let me first speak of witnesses and their testimony it is sometimes supposed that the desire to be is the only quality essential to form a witness and an essential quality it is beyond all doubt but it is possessed by many who are nevertheless very guides to truth in the first place this general desire for truth in a mind not carefully regulated is apt to give way unconsciously to impressions which habitual it may be laid down as a general rule that witnesses are and that often without knowing it their evidence takes a color from the feeling of which gives it all the injurious of falsehood nay it is frequently more the witness who the truth often his by his voice his countenance or
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his choice of words while the unconscious gives his testimony with all the force of sincerity let the witness who to give evidence worthy of confidence be on his guard against the temptations to become a witnesses ought to avoid together on the eve of a trial still more discussing the matters in dispute and comparing their intended statements have observed that if two instruments not in exact accordance are played together they have a tendency to run into harmony witnesses are precisely such instruments and act on each other in like manner so with regard to the moral tone of the witness but the difficulties which i have pointed out may be surmounted and yet leave his evidence a very distorted narrative of the real facts consideration must be given to the intellectual of a witness it was the just remark of dr johnson that i of the memory were often very unjust toward that faculty which was reproached with not retaining what had never been confided to its care the defect is not a failure of memory but a lack of observation the ideas have not run out of the mind they never went into it this is a deficiency which cannot be dealt with in any special relation to the subject in hand it can only be corrected by a general habit of observation which considering that the dearest interests of others may be by errors arising out of the neglect to observe accurately must be looked upon in the light of a duty a still greater defect is the absence of the power of fact and nothing but a long experience in courts of justice can give a notion of the extent to which testimony is by this defect it is often in the of witnesses or rather in the comparison between the which as your readers know are taken in writing before the committing magistrate and the evidence given on the trial circumstances on which the witness had been silent when examined before the shortly after the event make their appearance in his evidence on the day of trial so that his memory to in proportion to their time which has elapsed since the transaction of which he speaks i have observed this effect produced in a degree in cases of new trial which in civil suits are often and which frequently take place years after the event to which they relate the comparison of the evidence of the same witness as it stands upon the short hand writer s notes of the two trials would lead an r to the conclusion that nothing but could account for he and this impression i i i i the duties of witnesses and would be confirmed if he should find as in all probability he would that the points on which the latter memory was better supplied than the earlier were just those on which the greatest doubt had prevailed on the former occasion and which were m de in favor of the party on whose side the witness had been called but the critic would be mistaken the witness was not but had failed to keep watch over the operations of his own mind he had perhaps often to the subject and often upon it until at length he confounded the facts which had occurred with the which he had drawn from such facts in establishment of the existence of others which had in reality no place except in his own but which after a time took rank in his memory with its original impressions the best a witness could employ to preserve the memory of transactions is to commit his narrative to writing as soon after the event as he shall have learned that his evidence them is likely to be required j and yet i can hardly recommend such a course because so little is the world and even that portion of the world which passes its life in courts of justice acquainted with what may be called the philosophy of evidence that a conscientious endeavor of this kind to preserve his testimony in its purity might draw upon him the of having his narrative and this is the more probable because false witnesses have not taken means for abiding by their it is worthy of note how much these disturbing causes both moral and intellectual fasten upon these portions of evidence which are most liable to words as distinguished from facts the truth of this position every witness ought to feel great distrust c himself in giving evidence the duties of witnesses and of a conversation language if it runs to any length ip very liable to be misunderstood at least in passages but it to be well understood at the moment the exact of it can rarely be recalled unless the witness s memory were in and accuracy to the record of a short hand writer he is consequently permitted to give an abstract or as it is usually called the substance of what occurred but here a new difficulty arises to abstract correctly is an intellectual effort of no mean order and is rarely accomplished with a decent approach to perfection let the bear this in mind he will be often tempted to rely on alleged of prisoners sworn to by witnesses who certainly desire to speak the truth these often go so straight to the point that they offer to the a of relief from that state of doubt which to minds in weighing is irksome almost beyond description speaking from the experience of thirty years i should pronounce the evidence of words to be so dangerous in its nature as to demand the utmost vigilance in all cases before it is allowed to influence the verdict to any extent while i am on the subject of evidence in its nature i must not pass over that of identity of person the number of persons who
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into a conclusion either for or against the prisoner to perform the duties of his office so that the days which he in the jury box will bear his eye his ears and his intellect must be ever on the watch a witness in the box and the same man in common life are creatures coming to give evidence he doth suffer a law change sometimes he becomes more as he ought to do if any change is necessary but unhappily this is not always so and least of all in the case of those whose testimony is often required i remember a person whom i frequently heard to ve evidence quite out of harmony with the facts but i shall state neither his name nor his profession a gentleman who knew perfectly well the which his evidence deserved told me of his death i ventured to think it was a loss which might be borne and touched upon his infirmity to which my friend replied in perfect sincerity of heart well after all i do not think he ever told a falsehood in his life of th box i ii i i z bank note from household words chapter i s of playing into two great classes good playing and bad playing is to bank note making we shall now cover a few pages with a faint outline of the various arts and employed in bad bank notes the picture cannot be drawn with very distinct or strong the from which it is copied are so and complicated with clever slippery ingenious that a finished of it would be worse than morally it would be tedious all arts require time and experience for their development when anything great is to be done first attempts are nearly always failures the first bank note was no this rule and its story has a of romance in it the has never been told but some us to detail it in the month of august a gentleman living in the neighborhood of s inn fields named bliss advertised for a clerk there were as was usual at that time many but the successful one was a young man of named richard william his manners were so winning and his so much that of a gentleman he belonged indeed to a good county family in and had been a student at hall oxford that mr bliss at once engaged him nor had he occasion during the time bank note the new clerk served him to repent the step was intelligent and steady that not even when it that he was speaking under a cloud did his master lessen confidence in him some inquiry into his showed that he had while at college heen extravagant that his friends had removed him thence set him up in as a linen with a in street london that he had failed and that there was some difficulty his but so well did he excuse his early and account for his misfortunes that his employer did not check the regard he felt growing towards him their intercourse was not merely that of master and servant was a frequent guest at bliss s table by and by a daily visitor to his wife and to his ward miss bliss was a young lady of some attractions not the smallest of which was a fortune young made the most of his opportunities he was well looking dressed well and evidently made love well for he won the young lady s heart the guardian was not and acted like a sensible man of the world it was not he said on a subsequent and painful occasion till i learned from the servants and observed by the girl s behavior that she greatly approved richard that i consented but on condition that he should make it appear that he could maintain her i had no doubt of his character as a servant and i knew his family were respectable his brother is an eminent attorney boasted that his mother his father was dead was willing to re him in business with a thousand pounds five hundred of which was to be settled upon miss bliss for her separate use l bank note so far all went on providing richard could attain a position satisfactory to the the marriage was to take place on the monday following which the tells us happened early in april with this understanding he left mr bliss s service to push his fortune months passed on and appears to have made no way in the world he had not even obtained his s his visits to his were frequent and his passionate but he had effected nothing substantial towards a happy union miss bliss s guardian grew impatient and although there is no evidence to prove that the young lady s affection for was otherwise than deep and sincere yet even she began to lose confidence in him his excuses were evidently and not always true the time fixed for the wedding was fast approaching and saw that something must be done to restore the young lady s confidence about three weeks before the appointed tuesday went to his mistress in high spirits au was right his was to be granted in a day or two his family had come forward with the money and he was to continue the business he had previously carried on as a branch of the trade the capital he had waited so long for was at length in fact here were two hundred and forty pounds of the five hundred he was to settle on his beloved then produced twelve twenty pound notes miss bliss could scarcely believe her ey s she examined them the paper she remarked seemed thicker than usual oh said bliss all bank bills are not alike the girl was naturally much pleased she would
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hasten to mistress bliss of the good news i i ji i i j bank note not for world so far from letting any living soul know he had placed so much money in her hands an oath of from her and sealed the notes up in a with his own seal making her swear that she would on no account open it till after their marriage some days after that is on the twenty second of march we are the scene in mr bliss s own words i was sitting with my wife by the fireside the prisoner and the girl were sitting in the same room which was a small one and although they whispered i could distinguish that was very urgent to have something returned which he had previously given to her she refused and went away in an angry mood i then studied the girl s face and saw that it expressed much dissatisfaction presently a tear broke out i then spoke and insisted on knowing the dispute she refused to tell and i told her that until she did i would not see her the next day i asked the same question of j he hesitated oh t said i dare say it is some ten or twelve pound matter something to buy a wedding with he answered that it was much more than that it was near three hundred pounds but why all this secrecy i said and he answered that it was not proper for people to know that he had so much money till his was signed i then asked him to what intent he had left the notes with the young lady he said as i had of late suspected h m he designed to give her a proof of his affection and truth i said you have demanded them in such a way that it must be as an of your affection towards her was again exceedingly urgent in asking back the packet but bliss remembering his many and supposing that this was a trick declined his niece to restore n bank note t the parcel without proper consideration the very day it j was discovered that the notes were j this occasioned inquiries into s previous career it turned out that he bore the character in his native place of a dissipated and not very scrupulous person the intention of his mother to assist him was an entire and he had given miss bliss the notes solely for the purpose of deceiving her on that matter meanwhile the became known to the authorities and he was arrested by what means does not clearly appear the annual register says that one of the gave information but we find nothing in the newspapers of the time to support that statement neither was it at s trial when was arrested he thrust a piece of paper into his mouth and began to it violently it was however rescued and proved to be one of the notes fourteen of them were found on his person and when his lodgings were searched twenty more were discovered was tried at the old on the seventh of april before lord the manner of the was detailed at the trial on the first of march about a week before he gave the twelve notes to the young lady called on mr john an and gave an order for a note to be with these words no i promise to pay to or bearer london there was to be a in the comer when it waa done mr for that was the adopted bank note came again but objected to the execution of the work the was not good and the words i promise were too near the edge of the plate another was in consequence engraved and on the fourth of march took it away he immediately repaired to a and had forty eight impressions taken on thin paper provided by himself meanwhile he had ordered on the same morning of mr charles another a second plate with what he called a direction in the words for the governor and company of the bank of england this was done and about a week later he brought some paper each sheet folded up said the witness very curiously so that i could not see what was in them i was going to take the papers from him but he said he must go upstairs with me and see them worked off himself i took him up stairs he would not let me have them out of his hands i took a and them and put them one by one on the plate in order for them after my boy had done two or three of them i went down stairs and my boy worked the rest off and the prisoner came down and paid me here the court asked what imagination had you when a man thus came to you to print on secret paper the governor and company of the bank of england the s reply was i then did not suspect anything but i shall take care for the future as this was the first bank of england note that was ever the was held excused it may be mentioned as an evidence of the delicacy of the that in their account of the trial miss bliss s name is not mentioned her is a young lady wo the notes of her evidence a young lady sworn the prisoner me some bills these are the same producing twelve bank notes sealed up in a cover for twenty pounds each said they were bank bills i said they were thicker paper he said all bills are not alike i was to keep them till we were married he put them into my hands to
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show he put confidence in me and desired me not to show them to anybody sealed them up with his own seal and obliged me by an oath not to discover them to anybody and i did not till he discovered em himself he was to settle so much in stock on me urged in his defence that his sole object was to deceive his and that he intended to destroy all the notes after his marriage but it had been proved that the prisoner had asked one john to change first one and then twenty of the notes but which that person was unable to do besides had his sole object been to miss bliss with his wealth he would most probably have more if not all the notes to her keeping he was found guilty and passed the day that had been fixed for his wedding as a condemned criminal on the th may richard william was executed at by his side on the same gallows there was another william a military officer who had a draught on an army agent named and the offence with the first of bank of england notes the gallows may seem hard measure to have out to when it is considered that none of his notes were and no person suffered by his fraud not one of the forty eight notes except the twelve delivered to miss bliss had i i l l i n i bank note i i been out of his possession indeed the imitation most hare been very executed and detection would have instantly jl followed any attempt to pass the there was no endeavor to copy the style of on a real bank note that as left to the and as sheet passed through the press twice the words added at the second for the governor and company of the bank of england could have fallen into their proper place on any one of the sheets only by a miracle but what would have made the clear to even superficial observer was the singular of the second n in the word england the criticism on s note of a bank clerk examined on the trial was there is some resemblance to be sure but this note that upon which the prisoner was tried is numbered thirteen thousand eight hundred and forty and we never reach so high a number besides there was no water mark in the paper the note of which a appeared in our number and dated so early as has a regular design in the texture of the paper showing that the is as old as the bank notes themselves was greatly but despite the of the and the insignificant consequences which followed it the crime was considered of too dangerous a character not to be marked from its very novelty with punishment hanging created at that time no remorse in the public mind and it was thought necessary to set up as a warning to all future bank note the crime was too dangerous not to be marked with the bad was by no means uncommon in the most important documents at that period the days of the week in the by books of the bank of itself are in a variety of ways ii bank note from other crimes not less in the magnitude of the spoil it may obtain and of the injury it than in the attending its accomplishment the common thief finds a limit to his in the of his which is generally confined to such property as he can carry about his person the raises and obstacles to his if the amount he seeks to obtain is so considerable as to awaken close vigilance or inquiry to carry their projects to any very profitable extent these are reduced to the necessity of acting in concert and thus infinitely increasing the risks of detection but the need have no he is with no and suspicious property he needs no to assist his the skill of his own individual right hand can command thousands often with the certainty of not being detected and oftener with such rapidity as to enable him to the pursuit of justice it was a long time before s rude attempt was improved upon but in the same year another department of the crime was commenced with perfect success namely an ingenious alteration for purposes of real bank notes a few months after s execution one of the northern was stopped and robbed by a several bank notes were in the spoil and the robber setting up with these as a gentleman went boldly to the post office ordered a chaise and four rattled away down the road and changed a note at every change of horses the robbery was of course soon made known and the numbers and dates of the stolen notes were advertised as having been stopped at the bank to the genius of a this offered but a small obstacle and the gentleman thief changed all the fig bank note f i i i he could find into s these notes passed our j i enough hut on reaching the bank the alteration was j detected and the last was refused payment as that person had given a consideration for the note he brought an action for the recovery of the amount and at the trial it was ruled by the lord chief justice that any person paying a valuable consideration for a bank note to bearer in a fair course of business has an understood right to receive the money of the bank it took a quarter of a century to bring the art of bank notes to perfection in this was nearly attained by an ingenious gentleman named a watch maker from the matrimonial village of green having
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learnt the arts of and of he tried his hand at the of the bank but with the confidence of skill was not cautious in passing them was suspected and to to let his talent be wasted be favored the public with many bank of s notes and regularly his way by their aid to london at the end of february he took handsome lodgings in the strand opposite street his industry was remarkable for by the th of march he had planned and polished rough pieces of copper engraved them the water mark printed and several impressions his plan was to travel and to purchase articles in shops he bought a pair of shoe at with a note which was eventually detected at the bank of england he had got so bold that he paid such frequent visits in street that the bank clerks became familiar with his person he was continually changing notes of one for another these were his which he procured to make bank note copies of one day seven thousand pounds came in from the stamp office there was a dispute about one of the notes who was present though at some distance declared that the note was a good one how could he know well a dawn of suspicion arose in the minds of the clerks one trail led into another and was finally apprehended so well were his notes that on the trial an experienced bank clerk declared he could not tell whether the note handed him to examine was or not offered to reveal his secret of the water mark if mercy were shown to him this was refused and he suffered the penalty of his crime was a genius in his criminal way but a greater than he appeared in in that year perfection seemed to have been reached so considerable was the circulation of paper money that it appeared as if some unknown power had set up a bank of its own notes were issued from it and readily passed current in hundreds and thousands they were not to be distinguished from the genuine paper of street indeed when one was presented there in due course so complete were all its parts so the so correct the so the water mark that it was promptly paid and only discovered to be a when it reached a particular department from that period paper continued to be presented especially at the time of were held with the police plans were laid to help detection every effort was made to trace the the best of his day went like a hound on the track for in those days the expressive word blood money was known up to a certain point there was little difficulty but beyond that art defied the i bank note ingenuity of the officer in whatever way the notes came the train of discovery always paused at the offices offering large rewards were but the unknown detection while this base paper was in full there appeared an advertisement in the daily for a servant the successful was a young man in the employment of a musical instrument maker who some time after was called upon by a coachman and informed that the was waiting in a coach to see him the young man was desired to enter the conveyance where he beheld a person with something of the appearance of a foreigner sixty or seventy years old ap troubled with the a was round his mouth a large patch was placed over his eye and nearly every part of his face was concealed he affected much infirmity he had a faint cough and invariably presented the patched side to the view of the servant after some conversation in the course of which he represented himself as guardian to a young nobleman of great fortune the interview concluded with the engagement of the and the new servant was directed to call on mr at street oxford street at this interview against his ward for his love of in tickets and told the servant that his principal duty would be to purchase them after one or two meetings at each of which kept his face muffled he handed a forty and twenty pound bank note told the servant to be very careful not to lose them and directed him to buy tickets at separate offices the young man fulfilled his instructions and at the moment he was returning was suddenly called by his employer from the other side of the street congratulated on his i i bank note f rapidity and then told to go to various other offices in the neighborhood of the royal exchange and to purchase more shares four hundred pounds in bank of england notes were handed him and the wishes of the mysterious mr were satisfactorily effected these scenes were continually notes to a large amount were thus tickets purchased and mr always in a coach with his face concealed was ever ready on the spot to receive them the surprise of the servant was somewhat excited but had he known that from the period he left his master to purchase the tickets one female figure accompanied all his movements that when he entered the offices it waited at the door peered cautiously in at the window hovered round him like a second shadow watched him carefully and never left him until once more he was in the company of his employer that surprise would have been greatly increased again and again were these extraordinary scenes at last the bank obtained a clue and the servant was taken into the imagined that the had secured the actor of so many parts that the flood of notes which had that establishment would at length be up at his source their hopes proved and it was found that old patch as the
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more extraordinary case is on record a note was traced to the possession of a which had been pronounced by the bank to have been the man would not give it up and was taken before a magistrate charged with having a note in his possession well knowing it to be he was to prison on evidence of the bank but was afterwards released on to appear when called on he was not called on and at the of twelve months having the note all that time he brought an action i t bank note against the bank for false imprisonment on the trial the note was proved to be genuine and the was of one hundred pounds it is a fact sufficiently dreadful that three hundred and thirty human lives should have been sacrificed in twenty one years but when we relate a circumstance which admits the merest probability that some even one of those lives may have been sacrificed in innocence of the offence for which they suffered the consideration becomes appalling some time after the of the crime had in other respects subsided there was a sort of bloody at in wales several prisoners were tried for and uttering and thirteen were chiefly on the evidence of mr christmas a bank who swore positively in case that the document named in the w not an impression from a bank of england plate was not printed on the paper with the ink or water mark of the bank neither was it in the handwriting of the clerk upon this testimony the prisoner together with twelve in similar crimes were condemned to be hanged the morning after the trial mr christmas was leaving his lodging when an acquaintance stepped up and asked him as a to give his opinion on a note he had that morning received it was a bright day mr christmas put on his spectacles and carefully the document in a business like and leisurely manner he pronounced it to be the gentleman a little brought it away with him to town it is not a little singular that he happened to know r of whom he accidentally met and to whom he showed the note mr was evidently a capital judge of bank paper he said nothing but slipping his hand into one b bank note n pocket handed to the astonished gentleman full change and put the note into another it cannot be a good note exclaimed the latter for my friend christmas told me at that it is a but as mr had backed his opinion to the amount of twenty shillings he declined to re tract it and lost no time in writing to mr henry s successor to test its accuracy it was lucky that he did so for this little circumstance saved thirteen lives mr christmas s co at the bank of england actually reversed his non official judgment that the note was a it was pronounced to be a good note yet upon the evidence of mr christmas as regards other notes the thirteen human beings at were trembling at the foot of the gallows it was promptly and argued that as mr christmas s judgment had failed him in the deliberate examination of one note it might also as to others and the were the converse of this sort of mistake often happened bad notes were pronounced to be genuine by the bank early in january a well dressed woman entered the shop of mr james of street without and having purchased three pounds worth of goods in payment a ten pound note there was something hesitating and odd in her manner and although mr could see nothing the matter with the note yet he was enough to suspect from the uncomfortable of his customer that all was ot right he hoped she was not in a hurry for he had no change he must send to a neighbor for it he immediately his to the most of all his neighbors to her of street the delay nm bank note the lady to remark i suppose he is gone to the bank mr answered in the affirmative engaged his customer in conversation and they freely discussed the current topics of the day till the young man returned with ten one pound bank of england notes mr felt a little remorse at having suspected his who departed with the purchases with the utmost she had not been gone half an hour before two gentlemen rushed into the shop in a state of grievous one was the bank clerk who had changed the note he begged mr would be good enough to give him another for it why asked the puzzled why sir replied the distressed clerk it is of course his request was not complied with the clerk declared that his dismissal was highly probable but mr was inexorable the arguments in favor of death never fail so as when brought to the test of the and its effect on bank when these were most numerous although from twenty to thirty persons were put to death in one year the gallows was never deprived of an equal share of prey during the next as long as notes could be passed with ease and detected with difficulty the old had no terrors for clever and of the of the bank of england at length public alarm at the of and the difficulty of knowing them as such arose to the height of demanding some sort of relief in a committee was by the q t to inquire into the best means of one hundred and eighty projects were submitted they mostly consisted of intricate designs such as rendered great expense necessary to imitate but none were adopted bank note for the obvious reason that ever so indifferent and executed imitation of an elaborate note is quite sufficient to deceive an eye as
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had been abundantly proved in the instance of the irish black note the bank had not been indifferent or idle on the subject for it had spent some hundred thousand pounds in projects for notes at last not long before the commission was appointed they were on the eve of an ingenious and costly for a note so precisely alike on both sides as to appear as one impression when one of the bank it exactly by the simple contrivance of two plates and a this may serve as a of the other one hundred and seventy nine projects neither the gallows nor expensive and elaborate works of art having been found effectual in preventing the true expedient for af least the crime was adopted in the issue of small notes was wholly and sovereigns were brought into circulation the s trade was nearly criminal le turns inform us that during the nine years after the of gold the number of convictions for having to the bank of england notes were less than one hundred and the only eight this the argument against the of the gallows in death were for all minor and although the cases of bank note slightly increased for a yet there is no reason to suppose that they are greater now than they were between and at present bank paper are not numerous one of the latest was that of the twenty pound note of which about sixty specimens found their way into the bank it was well executed in by foreigners and the impressions were t i bank note es passed among the change agents in various towns in france and the the speculation did not succeed for the notes got into and were detected at the bank a little too soon to profit the much the most considerable now are not but are done upon the plan of the mentioned in our first chapter in order to give to stolen or lost notes which have been stopped at the bank lists of which are supplied to every banker in the country the numbers and dates are altered some years since a gentleman who had been receiving a large sum of money t the bank was robbed of it in an the notes gradually came in but all were altered the last was one for five hundred pounds dated the th march and numbered on the monday rd june the last day amid the twenty five thousand pieces of paper that were examined by the bank there was one note for five hundred pounds dated th march and numbered at that note an suddenly arrested his rapid examination of the pile of which it was one he it for a minute and pronounced it altered on the next day that same note with a perfect one for five hundred pounds is shown to us with an intimation of the fact we look at every letter we trace every line follow every flourish we hold both up to die light we our with the waves of the water mark we confess that we cannot pronounce but we have an opinion derived from a slight in the fine stroke of the figure that no is the so indeed it was yet the bank had picked it out from the hundred genuine notes as upon it as rapidly as if it had been printed with green ink upon card board bank note this then gentlemen and sporting note k the kind of odds which is against you a minute investigation of the note assured us of your exceeding skill and ingenuity but it also convinced us of the superiority of the ordeal which you have to blind and to pass in this instance you had followed the s plan and had put with great cunning the additional marks to the in to make it into a to hide the out of the top or of the to make the angle which to draw the fine line of the you had inserted with a pen the figures as if that sum had been received from a person bearing a name that you had written above you had with extraordinary neatness cut out the from and filled up the hole with an abstracted from some of lesser value yon had fitted it with remarkable precision only you had not got the quite upright enough to pass the shrewd glance of the bank we have seen a one note made up of refuse pieces of a hundred other bank notes and on a piece of paper like a note that had been accidentally torn so as to present an entire and whole to alter with a pen a into a is an easy task to cut out the from the date in one note and it into another needs only a in paper cutting but to change the special number by which each note is distinguished is a feat only second in impossibility to every court card of every suit six times running in a rubber of yet we have seen a note so cleverly altered by this expedient that it was actually paid by the bank if the reader will take a bank note out of his purse and examine its number be will at at once appreciate the combination of chances required to find on any other note any other figure that shall d any one of the i li ii bank note t i iii i m r so as to avoid detection the number of every bank note is printed twice on one line first on the words t promise secondly on the words or bearer sometimes the figures cover the whole of those words sometimes they only partly obscure them no now lies before us suppose we wished to substitute the of another note for the
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first of the one now under our eye we see that the covers a little bit of the p and in three places the r in promise now to give this alteration the smallest chance we must look through hundreds of other notes till we find an which not only covers a part of the p and the r in places but in precisely the same places as the on our note does else the strokes of those letters would not meet when the was let in and instant detection would but even then the job would only be half done the second stands upon the or in or bearer and we should have to investigate hundred more notes to find an that that little word exactly in the same manner and then let it in with such that not the part of a hair s breath of the transferred paper should fail to range with the rest of the letters and figures on the altered note to say nothing of hiding the in the paper this is the triumph of dexterity it is a species of patch work far beyond he most sublime achievements of old patch himself time has proved that the steady perseverance of the bank despite the most furious in gradually improving their original note and thus preserving those most essential qualities simplicity and has been a better to than any one of the hundreds of plans pictures and colors which have been forced upon the i i bank note f notice whole note is nearly extinct the lives of eminent need only wait for a single fi r only one man is left who can claim superiority over and he was unfortunately for the bank of england bom a little too late to trip up hi heels or those of the late mr charles price he can do everything with a note that the and and can do and a great deal more as a bank note is to a proverb he can split it into three perfect continuous flat and even leaves he has more than one design sent into the bank as an to you may if you like lend him a hundred pound note he will undertake to discharge every trace of ink from it and return it to you perfectly and a perfect blank we are not quite sure that if you were to bum a bank note and hand him the black that he would not it and join it and it back again into a very piece of but we are sure of the truth of the following story which we have from our friend the referred to and who is no other than the chief of the and department of the bank of england some years ago in the days of the thirty shilling notes a certain saved up the sum of eighty seven pounds ten in notes of the bank of ireland as a sure means of securing this valuable property he put it in the foot of an old and buried it in his garden where bank note paper couldn t fail to keep dry and to come out when wanted in the best preservation after leaving his treasure in this excellent place of deposit for some months it occurred to the to take a look at it and see how it was getting on he found the foot bank note full of the fragments of and broken no other shadow of a shade of eighty pounds ten in the midst of his despair the man had the sense not to disturb the ashes of his property he took the foot in his hand posted off to the bank in entered it one morning as soon as it was opened and staring at the clerk with a most extraordinary absence of all expression in his face said ah look at that sir can ye do anything for me what do you call this said the clerk eighty pound ten praise the lord as i m a sinner there waa a twenty as was paid to me by mr o sir and a ten as was changed by pat and a five as was by tim and ted he to ould well never mind old you have done it my friend oh lord sir and it s done it i have most com plate oh good luck to you sir can you do nothing for me i don t know what s to be done with such a mess as this tell me first of all what you put in the you unfortunate oh yes sir and tell you true as if it was the last word i had to entirely and the lord be good to you and ted he to ould the five as was by tim and not of the ten which was changed by pat you didn t put pat or ould into the did you is it pat or ould as was ever the of pound ten lost and gone and the five as waa by tim and ted then tell me what yon did put in the let me take it down and then hold tongue if you can and go your way and come back to morrow the particulars of the notes were taken without any reference to ould who could not however by any means be kept out of the story and the man departed when he was gone the foot was to the then chief of the notes who said that if anybody could settle the business his son could and he proposed that the particulars of the notes should not be communicated to his son who was then employed in his department of the bank but should be put away under lock and key and that if his son s ingenuity should enable him to discover from these ashes what notes had
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m to lasted lasted lasted lasted lasted lasted lasted lasted lasted lasted table and table of contents to volume i chapter i ancient england and the from before christ to the year of our lord chapter ii ancient england under the from the year to the year s chapter iii england under the good saxon alfred and ed ward the elder from the year to the year s chapter iv land under and the six boy kings from the year to the year s chapter v england under the from the year to the year chapter vi england under and edward the f m the year to the year m chapter vii england under the second and con by the all in the same year a child s history of england chapter i ancient england and the if you look at a map of the world you will see in the left hand upper comer of the eastern two islands lying in the sea they are england and scotland and ireland england and scotland form the greater part of these islands ireland is the next in size the little neighboring islands which are so small upon the map as to be mere are chiefly little bits of scotland broken off i dare say in the course of a great length of time by the power of the restless water in the old days a long long while ago before oar was bom on earth and lay asleep in a these islands were in the same place and the stormy sea roared round them just as it now but the sea was not alive then with great ships and brave sailors sailing to and from all parts of the world it was very lonely the islands lay solitary in the great expanse of water the foaming a child s history of england waves dashed against their and the bleak winds over their rests but the winds and s brought no to land upon the islands and the savage knew nothing of the rest of the world and the rest of the world knew nothing of them it is supposed that the who were an ancient people famous for carrying on trade in ships to these islands and found that they produced tin and lead both very useful things as you know and both produced to this very hour upon the sea coast the most celebrated tin mines in are stiu close to the sea one of them which i have seen is so close to i that it is put underneath the ocean and the say that in stormy weather when they are at work down in that deep place they can hear the noise of the thundering above their heads so the about the islands would come without much difficulty to where the tin and lead were the with the these and gave the some other things in exchange the were at poor savages going almost naked or only dressed in the rough skins of beasts and their bodies as other savages do with colored and the of plants but the sailing over to the opposite of france and and saying to the people there we have been to those white across die water which you can see in fine weather and from that country which is called b we bring this tin and lead tempted some french and to come over also th ancient england and the people settled on the south coast of which is now called and although they were a people too they taught the savage some useful arts and improved that part of the islands it is that other people came over from spain to ireland and settled there thus by little and little strangers became mixed with the and the savage grew into a wild bold people almost savage still especially in the interior of the country away from the sea where the foreign seldom went but hardy brave and strong the whole country was covered with forests and the greater part of it was very misty and cold there were no roads no bridges no streets no houses that you would think deserving of the name a town was nothing but a collection of straw covered huts hidden in a thick wood with a ditch all round and a low wall made of mud or the trunks of trees placed one upon another the people planted little or no com but upon the flesh of their flocks and cattle they made no but used metal rings for money they clever in basket work as savage people often are and they could make a coarse kind of doth and some very bad but in building they were much more clever they boats of basket work covered with the skins of animals but seldom if ever ventured far the shore they made swords of copper mixed with tin but these swords were of an awkward shape and so soft that a heavy blow would bend one they made light short pointed is a child s history of england and which they jerked back after they had thrown them at an enemy by a long strip of leather fastened to the stem the butt end was a rattle to frighten an enemy s horse the ancient being divided into as many as thirty or forty tribes each commanded by its own little king were constantly fighting with one another as savage people usually do and they always fought these weapons they were very fond of horses the of was the picture of a white horse they could break them in and manage them wonderfully well indeed the horses of which they had an abundance though they were rather small were so well taught in those days that they can scarcely be said to have improved since though the men are so much wiser they understood and obeyed every word of command and
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in there was a battle fought near in there was a battle fought near a little town in a wood the capital of that part of britain which belonged to and which was probably near what is now saint in however brave had the worst of it on the whole though he and his men always fought like lions as the other british chiefs were jealous of him and were always with him and with one another he gave up and proposed peace was very glad to grant peace easily and to go away again with all his remaining ships and men he had expected to find pearls in britain and he may have found a few for any thing i know but at all events he found delicious and i am sure he found tough of whom i dare say he made the same complaint as napoleon the great french general did eighteen hundred years afterward when he said they were such unreasonable fellows that they never knew when they were beaten they never did know i believe and never wiu nearly a hundred years passed on and all that time there was peace in britain the improved their towns and mode of life became more civilized and learnt a great deal from the and at last the roman emperor sent a general with a mighty force to subdue the island and shortly afterward arrived himself they did httle and ancient england and the another general came some of the british chiefs of tribes submitted others resolved to fight to the death of these brave men the was or who gave battle to the with his army among the of north wales this day said he to his soldiers the fate of britain your liberty or your eternal slavery dates from this hour remember your brave ancestors who drove the great caesar himself across the sea on hearing these words his men with a great shout rushed upon the but the strong roman swords and were too much for the weaker british weapons in close conflict the lost the day the wife and daughter of the brave were taken prisoners his brothers delivered themselves up he himself was betrayed into the hands of the by his false and base step mother and they carried him and all his family in triumph to rome but a great man will be great in misfortune great in prison great in chains noble air and dignified endurance of distress so touched the roman people who thronged the streets to see him that he and his family were restored to freedom no one knows whether his great heart broke and he died in rome or whether he ever returned to his own dear country english oaks have grown up from and withered away when they were hundreds of years old and other oaks have sprung up in their places and died too very aged the rest of the history of the brave was forgotten still the would not yield they rose a child s history of england again and again and died by thousands sword in hand they rose on every possible occasion another roman general came and the island of then called which was supposed to be sacred and he burnt the in their own by their own fires but even while he was in britain with his victorious troops the rose because a british queen the widow of the ring of the and people resisted the of her property by the who were settled in england she was by order of a roman officer and her two daughters were insulted in her presence and her husband s relations were made slaves to this injury the rose with all their might and rage they drove into ci they laid the roman possessions waste they forced the out of london then a poor little town but a trading place they hanged burnt and by the sword seventy thousand in a few strengthened his army and advanced to give them battle they strengthened their army and desperately attacked his on the field where it was strongly posted before the first charge of the was made in a war chariot with her fair hair streaming in the wind and her injured daughters lying at her feet drove among the troops and cried to them for vengeance on their the the fought to the last but they were with great slaughter and the unhappy queen took poison still the spirit of the was not broken f ancient england and the left the country they fell upon his troops and the island of the emperor came fifteen or twenty years afterward and it once more and devoted seven years to the country especially that part of it which is now called scotland hut its people the resisted him at every inch of ground they fought the with him they killed their very wives and children to prevent his making prisoners of them they fell fighting in such great that certain hills in scotland are yet supposed to he vast heaps of stones piled up their graves the emperor came thirty years afterward and stiu they resisted him the emperor came nearly a hundred years afterward and they worried his great army like dogs and rejoiced to see them die hy thousands in the and the son and successor of did the most to conquer them for a time hut not hy force of arms he knew how little that would do he yielded up a quantity of land to the and gave the the same privileges as the possessed there was peace after this for seventy years then new enemies arose they were the a fierce people from the countries to the north of the b the great river of germany on the of which the grapes grow to make the german wine they to come in ships to the sea coast of and britain
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and to plunder them they were hy a native either of or of britain who was by the b to the command and a child s history of england under whom the first began to fight upon the sea after his time they renewed their a few years more and the which was then the name for the people of ireland and the a northern people began to make frequent into the south of britain all these attacks were repeated at intervals during two hundred years and through a long succession of roman and chiefs during all which length of time the rose against the over and over again at last in the days of the roman emperor when the roman power all over the world was fast declining and when rome wanted all her soldiers at home the abandoned all hope of conquering britain and went away and still at last as at first the rose against them in their old brave manner for a very little while before they had turned away the roman and declared themselves an independent people five hundred years had passed since s first invasion of the island when the ro departed from it forever in the course of that time although they had been the cause of terrible fighting and they had done much to improve the condition of the they had made great military roads they had built they had taught them how to dress and arm themselves much better than they had ever known how to do before they had refined the whole british way of living had built a great wall of earth more than seventy miles long extending from to beyond for the purpose of keeping a england and the ont the and had it finding it much in want of repair had built it afresh of stone above all it was in the roman time and by means of roman ships that the religion was first brought into britain and its people first taught the great lesson that to be good in he sight of they must love their neighbors as themselves and do unto others as they would be done by the declared it was very wicked to believe any such thing and cursed all the people who did believe it very heartily but when the people found that they were none the better for the blessings of the and none the worse for the curses of the but that the sun shone and the rain fell without consulting the at all they just began to think that the were mere men and that it signified very little whether they cursed or blessed after which the pupils of the fell off greatly in numbers and the took to other trades thus i have come to the end of the roman time in england it is but little that is known of those five hundred years but some remains of them are still found often when are digging up the ground to make foundations for houses or churches they light on rusty money that once belonged to the fragments of plates firom which they ate of from which they drank and of pavement on which they trod are discovered among the earth that is broken by the or the dust that is by the gardener s wells that the sunk still yield water roads that the made form part of our in some old bat a child s history of england tie fields british spear heads and roman have been found mingled together in decay as they fell in the thick pressure of the fight traces of roman overgrown with grass and of that are the burial places of heaps of are to be seen in almost all parts of the country across the bleak of the wall of over run with moss and weeds still stretches a strong ruin and the and their dogs lie sleeping on it in the summer weather on plain yet stands a monument of the earlier time when the roman name was unknown in britain and when the with their best magic could not have written it in the sands of the wild sea shore chapter ii ancient england the ly the b had scarcely gone away from when the began to wish they had never left it for the roman soldiers being gone and the being much reduced in numbers by their long wars the and came pouring in over the broken and wall of in they the richest towns and killed the people and came back so often for more and more slaughter that the unfortunate lived a life of terror as if the and were not bad enough on land the attacked the by sea and as if something more were still wanting to make them miserable they bitterly among themselves as to what prayers they ought to say and how they ought to say them the priests being angry with one another on these questions cursed one another in the manner and uncommonly like the old cursed all the people whom they could not persuade so altogether the were very badly off you may believe they were in such distress in short that they sent a letter to rome help which they called the groans of the and in which they said a child s of england the chase us into the sea the sea throws us back upon the and we have only the hard choice left us of by the sword or by the waves but the could not help them even if they were so inclined for they had enough to do to defend themselves against their own enemies who were then veiy fierce and strong at last the unable to bear their hard condition any longer resolved to make peace with the and to invite the to come into their country and help them to keep out the and it was a british
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the greatly for they believed it to be enchanted woven by the three daughters of one father in a single af moon and had a story among themselves that wh i they were victorious in battle the stretched his wings and seemed to fly and that when they were defeated he would he had good reason to now if he could have done any thing half so sensible for king alfred joined the men made a camp with them on a piece of firm ground in the midst of a in and prepared for a great attempt for vengeance on the and the of oppressed people but first as it was important to know how numerous these were and how they were fortified king alfred being a good disguised himself as a or and went with his harp to the camp he played and sang in the very tent of the leader and entertained the as they while he seemed to think of nothing but his music he was watchful of their tents their arms their discipline every thing that he desired to know and right soon did this great king entertain them to a tune for all his true followers to meet him at an appointed place where they received him with joyful shouts and tears as the monarch whom many of them had given up for lost or dead he put himself at their head marched on the camp defeated the with great slaughter and ed alfred the great for fourteen days to prevent their escape bat being as merciful as lie was good and brave he then instead of killing them proposed peace on condition that they should altogether depart from that western part of england and settle in the east and that should become a in remembrance of the divine religion which now taught his conqueror the noble alfred to forgive the enemy who had often injured him this did at his king alfred was his god and was an honorable chief who well deserved that for ever afterward he was loyal and faithful to the king the under him were faithful too they and burned no more but worked like honest men they and and and led good honest english and i hope the children of those played many a time with saxon children in the sunny fields and that young men fell in love with saxon girls and married them and that english at the doors of cottages often went in for shelter until morning and that and sat by the red fire friends talking of king alfred the great all the were not like these under r af r some years more of them came over in the old and burning way among them a fierce of the name of who had the boldness to sail up the thames to with eighty ships for three years there was a war with these and there was a famine in the country too and a plague both upon human creatures and beasts but a child s history of england ed whose mighty heart never failed him built large ships nevertheless with which to pursue the on the sea and he encouraged his soldiers by his brave example to fight against them on the shore at last he drove them all away and then there was repose in england as great and good in peace as he was great and good in war king alfred never rested from his labors to improve his people he loved to talk with clever men and with from foreign countries and to write down what they told for his people to read he had studied latin after learning to read english and now another of his labors was to latin books into the english saxon tongue that his people might be interested and improved by their contents he made just laws that they might live more happily and freely he turned away all partial judges that no wrong might be done them he was so careful of their property and punished robbers so severely that it was a common thing to say that under the great king alfred of golden chains and jewels might have hung across the streets and no man would have touched one he founded schools he patiently heard causes himself in his court of justice the great desires of his heart were to do right to all his subjects and to leave england better wiser happier in all ways than he found it his industry in these was quite astonishing every day he divided into certain portions and in each portion devoted himself to a certain pursuit that he might divide his time exactly he had wax or candles made which were all of the same size were across at regular distances and alfred the great were always kept burning thus as the candles burnt down he divided the day into almost as accurately as we now divide it into hours upon the clock but when the candles were first invented it was found that the wind and draughts of air blowing into the palace through the doors and windows and through the in the walls caused them to and bum to prevent this the king had them put into cases formed of wood and white horn and these were the ever made in england all this time he was with a terrible unknown disease which caused him violent and frequent pain that nothing could relieve he bore it as he had borne all the troubles of his life like a brave good man until he was fifty three years old and then having reigned thirty years he died he died in the year nine hundred and one but long ago as that is his fame and the love and gratitude with which his subjects regarded him are remembered to the present hour in the next reign which was the reign of
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edward the elder who was chosen in council to succeed a nephew of alfred troubled the country by trying to obtain the throne the in the east of england took part with this perhaps because they had honored his undo so much and honored him for his uncle s sake and there was hard fighting but the king with the assistance of his sister gained the day and reigned in peace for four and twenty years he gradually extended his power over the whole of england and so the seven were united into one a child s history of england when england thus became one kingdom ruled over by one saxon king the had been settled in the more than four hundred and fifty years great changes had taken place in its customs during that time the were still greedy and great and their were often of a noisy and drunken kind but many new comforts and even had become known and were fast increasing for the walls of rooms where in these modem days we up paper are known to have been sometimes made of silk ed with birds and flowers in tables and chairs were curiously carved in woods were sometimes decorated with gold or silver sometimes even made of those precious knives and were used at table golden ornaments were worn with silk and cloth and golden and dishes were made of gold and silver brass and bone there were varieties of musical instruments a harp was passed round at a feast like the drinking bowl from guest to guest and each one usually sang or played when his turn came the weapons of the were stoutly made and among them was a terrible iron hammer that gave deadly blows and was long remembered the themselves were a handsome people the men were proud of their long fair hair parted on the forehead their ample their fresh and clear eyes the beauty of the saxon women filled all england with a new delight and grace i have more to tell of the yet but i stop to say this now because under the great alfred all the beat points of the english saxon first and in him first shown it has been the greatest character among the nations o the earth wherever the descendants of the saxon race haye gone have sailed or otherwise made their way even to the remotest regions of the world they have been patient never to he broken in spirit never to be turned aside from on which they have resolved in europe asia africa america the whole world over in the desert in the forest on the sea by a burning sun or by ice that never the saxon blood remains unchanged that race goes there law and industry and safety for life and property and all the great results of steady perseverance are certain to arise i pause to think with admiration of the noble king who in his single person possessed all the saxon virtues whom misfortune could not subdue whom prosperity could not spoil whose perseverance nothing could shake who was hopeful in defeat and generous in success who loved justice freedom truth and knowledge who in his care to instruct his people probably did more to preserve the beautiful old saxon language than i can imagine without whom the english tongue in which i tell his story might have wanted half its meaning as it is said that his spirit still some of our best english laws so let you and i pray that it may our english hearts at least to this to resolve when we see of our fellow creatures left in ignorance that we will do our best while life is in us to have them taught and to tell those rulers whose duty it is to a child s history of england teach them and who neglect their duty that they have very little by all the years that have rolled away since the year nine hundred and one and that they are far behind the bright example of alfred the great chapter iv england under and the six kings the son of edward the elder succeeded that king he reigned only years but he remembered the glory of his grandfather the great alfred and governed england well he reduced the turbulent people of wales and obliged them to pay him a tribute in money and in cattle and to send him their best and hounds he was victorious over the men who were not yet quiet under the saxon government he restored such of the old laws as were good and had fallen into made some wise new laws and took care of the poor and weak a strong alliance made against him by a prince king of the and the people of north wales he broke and defeated in one great battle long famous for the vast numbers slain in it after that he had a quiet reign the lords and ladies about him had leisure to become polite and agreeable and foreign princes were glad as they have sometimes been since to come to england on visits to the english court when died at forty seven years old his brother who was only eighteen became king he was the first of six boy kings as you will presently know a child s history op england they called him the magnificent because he showed a taste for improvement and refinement but he was beset by the and had a short and troubled reign which came to a troubled end one night when he was in his hall and had eaten much and drunk deep he saw among the company a noted robber named who had been banished from england made very angry by the boldness of this man the king turned to his cup bearer and said there is a robber sitting at the table yonder who for his
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crimes is an in the land a hunted wolf whose life any man may take at any time command that robber to depart i will not depart said no cried the king no by the lord said upon that the king arose from his seat and making passionately at the robber and seizing him by his long hair tried to throw him down but the robber had a dagger underneath his cloak and in the the king to death that done he set his back against the wall and fought so desperately that although he was soon cut to pieces by the king s armed men and the wall and pavement were with his blood yet it was not before he had killed and wounded many of them you may imagine what rough lives the kings of those times led when one of them could struggle half drunk with a public robber in his own dining hall and be in presence of the company who ate and drank with him then succeeded the boy king who was weak and sickly in body but of a strong mind and his armies fought the the and or the sea kings as they were and the six b y kin s called and beat them for the time and in nine years died and passed away then came the boy king fifteen years of age but the real king who had the real power was a named a clever priest a little mad and not a little proud and cruel was then of abbey whither the body of king the magnificent was carried to be buried while yet a boy he had got out of his bed one night being then in a fever and walked about church while it was under repair and because he did not tumble off some that were there and break his neck it was reported that he had been shown over the building by an angel he had also a harp that was said to play of itself which it very likely did as which are played by the wind and are understood now always do for these wonders he had been once by his enemies who were jealous of his favor with the late king as a and had been bound hand and foot and thrown into a marsh but he got out again somehow to cause a great deal of trouble yet the priests of those days were generally the only scholars they were learned in many things having to make their own and on grounds that were granted to them by the crown it was necessary that they should be good farmers and good or their lands would have been too poor to support them f ff the of the where they prayed and for the comfort of the where they ate and a a child s history of england drank it was necessary that there should be good good good painters among them for their greater safety in sickness and accident living alone by themselves in solitary places it was necessary that they should study tho virtues of plants and and should know how to dress cuts burns and and how to set broken limbs accordingly they taught themselves and one another a great of variety useful arts and became in medicine and and when they wanted the aid of any little piece of machinery which would be simple enough now but was then to impose a trick upon the poor they knew very well how to make it and did make it many a time and often i have no doubt of abbey was one of the most sagacious of these he was an ingenious smith and worked at a in his little cell this cell was made too short to admit of his lying at full length when he went to as if that did any good to any body and he used to tell the most extraordinary lies about and spirits who he said came there to him for instance he related that one day when he was at work the devil looked in at the little window and tried to tempt him to lead a life of idle pleasure whereupon having his in the fire red hot he seized the devil by the nose and put him to such pain that his were heard for miles and miles some people are inclined to think this nonsense a part of s madness for his head never quite recovered the fever but i think not i observe that it in s and the six boy the ignorant people to him a holy man and that it made him very powerful which was exactly what he always wanted on the day of the of the handsome it was remarked by odd of who was a by birth that the king quietly left the feast while all the company were there much displeased sent his friend to seek him finding him in the company of his beautiful young wife el her mother a good and virtuous lady not only abused them but dragged the young king back into the hall by force some think did this because the young king s fair wife was his own cousin and the objected to people marrying their own cousins but i believe he did it because he was an imperious audacious ill priest who having loved a yoimg lady himself before he became a sour hated all love now and every thing belonging to it the young king was quite old enough to feel this insult had been in the last reign and he soon charged with having taken some of the last king s money the fled to very narrowly escaping some who were sent to put out his eyes as you will wish they had when you read what follows and his abbey was given to priests who were
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whom they loved were killed with fire and sword and so the sea kings came to england in many great ships each bearing the flag of its own commander golden beasts of and the six kings prey threatened england from the of those ships as they came onward through the water and were reflected in the shining that hung upon their sides the ship that bore the standard of the king of the sea kings was carved and painted like a mighty serpent and the in his anger prayed that the in whom he trusted might all desert him if his serpent did not strike its into england s heart and indeed it did for the great army landing from the great fleet near went forward laying england waste and striking their in the earth as they advanced or throwing them into rivers in token of their making all the island theirs in remembrance of the black november night when the were murdered the came they made the prepare and spread for them great and when they had eaten those and had drunk a curse to england with wild they drew their swords and killed their saxon and marched on for six long years they carried on this war burning the crops houses mills killing the in the fields preventing the seed from being sown in the ground causing famine and starvation leaving only heaps of ruin and smoking ashes where they had found rich towns to crown this misery english officers and men deserted and even the of the becoming seized many of the english ships turned against their own and aided by a storm occasioned the loss of nearly the whole english navy there was but one man of note at this miserable pass who was true to his country and the feeble a child s history of england he was a priest and a brave one for twenty days the of defended that city against its and when a traitor in the town threw the gates open and admitted them he said in chains i will not buy my life with money that must be from th people do with me what you please again and again he steadily refused to purchase his release with gold wrung from the poor at last the being tired of this and being assembled at a drunken had him brought into the hall now bishop they we want gold he looked round on the crowd of angry faces from the shaggy close to him to the shaggy against the walls where men were mounted on tables and forms to see him over the heads of others and he knew that his time was come i have no gold said he get it bishop i they all thundered that i have told you i will not said he they gathered closer round him threatening but he stood unmoved then one man struck him then another then a cursing soldier picked up from a heap in a comer of the hall where fragments had been rudely thrown at dinner a great ox bone and cast it at his face from which the blood came forth then others ran to the same heap and knocked him down with other bones and bruised and battered him until one soldier whom he had as i hope for the sake of that soldier s soul to the of the good man struck him dead with his battle ax and the six if had had the heart to the of this he might have done something yet but he paid the forty eight thousand pounds instead and gained so little hy the act that soon afterward came over to all england so was the attach ment of the english people hy this time to their incapable king and their forlorn country which could not protect them that they welcomed on all sides as a london faithfully stood out as long as the king was within its walls but when he away it also welcomed the then all was over and the king took refuge abroad with the duke of who had already given shelter to the king s wife once the flower of that country and to her children still the english people in spite of their sad could not quite forget the great king alfred and the saxon race when died suddenly in little more than a month after he had been proclaimed king of england they generously sent to to say that they wo aid have him for their king again if he would only govern them better than he had governed them before the instead of coming himself sent edward one of his sons to make promises for him at last he followed and the english declared him king the declared the son of king thus war began again and lasted for three years when the died and i know of nothing better that he did in all his reign of eight and thirty years was to be king now not over the they said they must have one of a child s of england the sons of the who was because of his strength and stature and thereupon fell to and fought five battles o unhappy england what a fighting ground it was and then who was a big man proposed to who was a little man that they two should fight it out in single combat if had been the big man he would probably have said yes but being the little man he decidedly said no however he declared that he was willing to divide the kingdom to take au that lay north of as the old roman military road from to was called and to give all that lay south of it most men being weary of so much this was done but soon became sole king of england for died suddenly within two months some think that
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he was killed and killed by s orders no one knows chapter v england under the reigned eighteen years he was a merciless king at first after he had clasped the hands of the saxon chiefs in token of the sincerity with which he swore to he just and good to them in return for their acknowledging him he and many of them as well as many relations of the late king he who me the head of one of my enemies he used to say shall be dearer to me than a brother and he was so severe in hunting down his enemies that he must have got together a pretty large family of these dear brothers he was strongly inclined to kill and edward two children sons of poor but being afraid to do so in england he sent them over to the king of with a request that the king would be so good as to dispose of them if the king of had been like many many other men of that day he would have had their innocent throats cut but he was a kind man and brought them up tenderly ran much in s mind in were the two children of the late king edward and alfred by name and their uncle the duke might one day claim the crown for them a child s history of england but the duke showed so little inclination to do so now that he proposed to to marry his sister the widow of the who being but a flower and caring for nothing so much as becoming a queen again left her children and was wedded to him successful and triumphant assisted by the of the english in his foreign wars and with little strife to trouble him at home had a prosperous reign and made many improvements he was a poet and a he grew sorry as he grew older for the blood he had shed at first and went to rome in a pilgrim s dress by way of washing it out he gave a great deal of money to foreigners on his journey but he took it from the english before he started on the whole however he certainly became a far better man when he had no opposition to contend with and was as great a king as england had known for some time the old writers of history relate how was one day disgusted with his for their flattery and how he caused his chair to be set on the sea shore and feigned to command the tide as it came up not to wet the edge of his robe for the land was his how the tide came up of course without regarding him and how he then turned to his and them saying what was the might of any earthly king to the might of the creator who could say unto the sea thus far shalt thou go and no farther v we may learn from this i think that a little sense will go a long way in a king and that are not easily cured of flattery nor kings of a liking for it if the of had not the known long before that the king was fond of flattery they would ha e known better than to it in such large and if they had not known that he was vain of this speech any thing but a wonderful speech it seems to me if a good child had made it they would not have been at such great pains to it i fancy i see them all on the sea shore together the king s chair sinking in the sand the king in a mighty good humor with his own wisdom and the pretending to be quite stunned by it it is not the sea alone that is to go thus far and no farther the great command goes forth to all the kings upon the earth and went to in the year one thousand and thirty five and stretched dead upon his bed beside it stood his wife perhaps as the king looked his last upon her he who had so often thought of long ago thought once more of the two princes in their uncle s court and of the little they could feel for either or and of a rising cloud in that slowly moved toward england chapter vi england under and edward the left three sons by name and but his queen once the flower of was the mother of only c had wished his to be divided between the three and had wished to have england but the saxon people in the south of england headed by a nobleman with great possessions called the powerful earl who is said to have been originally a poor cow boy opposed this and desired to have instead either or one of the two princes who were over in it seemed so certain that there would be more to settle this dispute that many people left their homes and took refuge in the woods and happily however it was agreed to refer the whole question to a great meeting at oxford which decided that should have all the country north of the thames with london for his capital city and that should have all the south the quarrel was so arranged and as was in troubling himself very little about any thing but eating and getting drunk his mother and earl governed the south for him and they had hardly begun to do bo and the people who had hidden themselves were scarcely at home again when edward the elder of the two princes came over from with a few followers to claim the english crown his mother however who only cared for her last son instead of assisting him as he expected opposed him so strongly with all her influence that he was very
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soon glad to get safely back his brother alfred was not so fortunate believing in an letter written some time afterward to him and his brother in his mother s name but whether really with or without his mother s knowledge is now uncertain he allowed himself to be tempted over to england with a good force of soldiers and landing on the coast and being met and welcomed by earl proceeded into as far as the town of here he and his men halted in the evening to rest having still the earl in their company who had ordered lodgings and good cheer for them but in the dead of night when they were ofl their guard being divided into small parties sleeping soundly a long march and a plentiful supper in houses they were set upon by the king s troops and taken prisoners next morning they were drawn out in a line to the number of six hundred men and were tortured and killed with the exception of every tenth who was sold into slavery as to the wretched prince he was stripped naked tied to a horse and sent away into the isle of where bis eyes were torn out of his head and where in a few days he miserably died i am not sure that a child s history of england the earl had him but i suspect it strongly was now all over england though it is doubtful whether the of the greater part of the priests were and not to the ever consented to crown him crowned or with the s leave or without it he was king for four years after which short reign he died and was buried having never done much in life but go a hunting he was such a fast at this his favorite sport that the people called him was then at in with his step mother who had gone over there after the cruel murder of prince alfred for the invasion of england the and finding themselves without a king and new made common cause and joined in inviting him to occupy the throne he consented and soon troubled them enough for he brought over numbers of and the people so to those greedy that there were many especially one at where the citizens rose and killed his tax in revenge for which he burned their city he was a brutal king whose first public act was to order the dead body of poor to be dug up and thrown into the river his end was worthy of such a beginning he fell down drunk with a of wine in his hand at a wedding feast at given in honor of the marriage of his standard bearer a named the proud and he never spoke again and edward edward afterward called by the the succeeded and his first act was to oblige his mother who had favored him so little to retire into the country where she died some ten years he was the prince whose brother alfred had been so killed he had been invited over from by in the course of his short reign of two years and had been handsomely treated at court his cause was now favored by the powerful earl and he was soon made king this earl had been suspected by the people ever since prince alfred s cruel death he had even been tried in the last reign for the prince s murder but had been pronounced not guilty chiefly as it was supposed because of a present he had made to the king of a gilded ship with a figure head of solid gold and a crew of eighty splendidly armed men it was his interest to help the new king with his power if the new king would help him against the popular distrust and hatred so they made a bargain edward the got the throne the earl got more power and more land and his daughter was made queen for it was a part of their compact that the king should e her for his wife but although she was a gentle lady in all things worthy to be beloved good beautiful sensible and kind the king from the first neglected her her father and her six proud brothers this cold treatment harassed the king greatly by all their power to make him having lived bo long in he preferred the to the english he made a and vol i e a child s history of england his great officers and were all he introduced the fashions and the language in imitation of the state custom of he attached a great seal to his state documents instead of merely marking them as the saxon kings had done with the sign of the cross just as poor people who have never heen taught to write now make the same mark for their names all this the powerful earl and his six proud sons represented to the people as shown toward the english and thus they daily increased their own power and daily diminished the power of the king they were greatly helped by an event that occurred when he had reigned eight years earl of who had married the s sister came to england on a visit after staying at the court some time he set forth with his numerous train of attendants to return home they were to at entering that peaceful town in they took possession of the best houses and demanded to be lodged and entertained without payment one of the bold men of who would not endure to have these strangers their heavy swords and iron up and down his house eating his meat and drinking his strong liquor stood in his doorway and refused admission to the first armed man who came there the armed man drew and wounded him the man of struck the armed man
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dead intelligence of what he had done spreading through the streets to where the count and his men were standing by their horses bridle in hand they passionately and edward mounted galloped to the house surrounded it forced their way in the doors and windows being closed when they came up and killed the man of at his own fire side they then through the streets cutting down and riding over men women and children this did not last long you may believe the men of set upon them with great fury killed nineteen of the foreigners wounded many more and the road to the port so that they should not beat them out of the town by the way they had come count rides as hard as man can ride to where edward is surrounded by and lords justice cries the count upon the men of who have set upon and slain my people i the king sends immediately for the powerful earl who happens to be near reminds him that is under his government and orders him to repair to and do military execution on the inhabitants it does not become you says the proud earl in reply to condemn without a hearing those whom you have sworn to protect i will not do it the therefore summoned the earl on pain of and the loss of his titles and property to appear before the court to answer this the earl refused to appear he his eldest son and his second son hastily raised as many fighting men as their utmost power could collect and demanded to have count and his followers surrendered to the justice of the country the king in his turn refused to give them up and raised a strong force after some treaty and delay a child s history of england tbe troops of the great earl and his sons to fall off the earl with a part of his family and abundance of treasure sailed to escaped to ireland and the power of the great family was for that time gone in england but the people did not forget them then edward the with the true meanness of a mean spirit visited his dislike of the once powerful father and sons upon the helpless daughter and sister his wife whom all who saw her her husband and his loved he seized upon her fortune and her jewels and allowing her only one attendant confined her in a gloomy of which a sister of his no doubt an unpleasant lady after his own heart was or having got earl and his six sons well out of his way the king favored the more than ever he invited over william duke op the son of that duke who had received him and his murdered brother long ago and of a peasant girl a s daughter with whom that duke had fallen in love for her beauty as he saw her washing clothes in a brook william who was a great warrior with a passion for fine horses dogs and arms accepted the invitation and the in england finding themselves more numerous than ever when he arrived with his and held in still greater honor at court than before became more and more haughty toward the people and were more and more disliked by them the old earl though he was abroad knew well how the people felt for with part of the and edward treasure he had carried away with him he kept and agents in his pay all over england accordingly he thought the time was come for fitting out a great expedition against the loving king with it he sailed to the isle of where he was joined by his son the most gallant and brave of all his family and so the father and son came sailing up the thames to great numbers of the people declaring for them and shouting for the english earl and the english against the the king was at first as blind and stubborn as kings usually have been they have been in the hands of but the people rallied so thickly round the old earl and his son and the old earl was so steady in demanding without the restoration of himself and his family to their rights that at last the court took the alarm the of and the bishop of london surrounded by their fought their way out of london and escaped from to france in a fishing boat the other dispersed in all directions the old earl and his sons except who had committed crimes against the law were restored to their possessions and the virtuous and lovely queen of the king was triumphantly released from her prison the and once more sat in her chair of state arrayed in the jewels of which when she had no champion to support her rights her cold blooded husband had deprived her the old earl did not long enjoy his restored fortune he fell down in a fit at the king s a child s history of england table and died upon the third day afterward succeeded to his power and to a far higher place in the attachment of the people than his father had ever held by his he subdued the king s enemies in many bloody fights he was vigorous against in scotland this was the time when upon which event our english hundreds of years afterward wrote his great tragedy and he killed the restless king and brought his head to england what was doing at sea when he was driven on the french coast by a tempest is not at all certain nor does it at all matter that his ship was forced by a storm on that shore and that he was taken prisoner there is no doubt in those barbarous days all strangers were taken prisoners and to pay so a certain count who
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was the lord of where s disaster happened seized him instead of him like a hospitable and christian lord as he ought to have done and expected to make a very good thing of it but sent off immediately to duke william of complaining of this treatment and the duke no sooner heard of it than he ordered to be escorted to the ancient town of where he then was and where he received him as an honored guest now some writers tell us that edward the who was by this time old and had no children had made a will duke william of his successor and had informed the duke of his having done so there is no doubt that he was anxious about his successor be and edward cause he had even invited over from abroad edward the a son of who had come to england with his wife and three children but whom the king had strangely refused to see when he did come and who had died in london suddenly princes were terribly liable to sudden death in those days and had been buried in saint paul s cathedral the king might possibly have made such a will or having always been fond of the he might have encouraged william to to the english crown by something that he said to him when he was staying at the court but certainly william did now to it and knowing that would be a powerful rival he called together a great assembly of his his daughter in marriage informed him that he meant on king edward s death to claim the english crown as his own inheritance and required then and there to swear to aid him being in the duke s power took this oath upon the or prayer book it is a good example of the of the that this instead of being placed upon a table was placed upon a tub which when had sworn was uncovered and shown to be full of dead men s bones bones as the pretended of saints this was supposed to make s oath a great deal more impressive and binding as if the great name of the creator of heaven and earth could be made more solemn by a bone or a double tooth or a finger nail of within a week or two after s return to england the dreary old was found to be a child s history of england dying after wandering in his mind like a very weak old man he died as he had put himself entirely in the hands of the when he was alive they praised him when he was dead they had gone so far already as to persuade him that he could work miracles and had brought people afflicted with a bad disorder of the skin to him to be touched and cured this was called touching for the king s evil which afterward became a royal custom you know however who really touched the sick and healed them and you know his sacred name is not among the dusty line of human kings chapter vii england under the second and conquered by the was crowned king of england on the very day of the s funeral he had good need to he quick it when the news reached william hunting in his park at he dropped his how returned to his palace called his to council and presently sent to calling on him to keep his oath and resign the crown would do no such thing the of france together round duke william for the invasion of england duke william promised freely to english wealth and english lands among them the pope sent to a consecrated and a ring containing a hair which he to have grown on the head of saint peter he blessed the enterprise and cursed and requested that the would pay peter s pence or a tax to himself of a penny a year on every house a little more regularly in future if they could make it convenient king had a rebel brother in who was a of king of this brother and this king joining their forces against england with duke william s help a child s history of england won a fight in which the english were commanded hy two and then york who was waiting for the on the coast at with his army marched to bridge upon the river to give them instant battle he found them drawn up in a hollow circle marked out by their shining hiding round this circle at a distance to survey it he saw a brave figure on horseback in a blue mantle and a bright whose horse suddenly stumbled and threw him who is that man who has fallen v asked of one of his captains the ring of he replied he is a tall and stately king said but his end is near he added in a little while go yonder to my brother and tell him if he withdraw his troops he shall be earl of and rich and powerful in england the captain rode away and gave the message what will he give to my friend the king of asked the brother seven feet of earth for a grave replied the captain no more returned the brother with a smile the king of being a tall man perhaps a little more replied the captain ride back said the brother and tell to make ready for the fight he did so very soon and such a fight king led against that force that his brother and the king and every chief of note in all their host except the king s son the second to whom he gave honorable were left dead upon the field the victorious army marched to york as king sat there at the feast in the midst of all his company
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of battle abbey was a rich and splendid place through many a troubled year though now it is a gray ruin overgrown with ivy but the first work he had to do was to conquer the english thoroughly and that as you know by this time was hard work for any man he several he burned and many towns he laid waste scores upon scores of miles of pleasant country he destroyed innumerable lives at length of can with other representatives of the clergy and the people went to his camp and submitted to him the insignificant son of was proclaimed king by others but nothing came of it he fled to scotland afterward where his sister who was young and beautiful married the king himself was not important enough for any body to care much about him on christmas day william was crowned in westminster abbey under the title of william the first but he is best known as william the conqueror a child s history of england it was a strange one of the who performed the ceremony asked the in french if they have duke william for their king they answered yes another of the put the same question to the in english they too answered yes with a loud shout the noise being heard by a guard of horse soldiers outside was mistaken for resistance on the part of the english the guard instantly set fire to the neighboring houses and a tumult ensued in the midst of which the king being left alone in the abbey with a few priests and they all being in a terrible fright together was hurriedly crowned when the crown was placed upon his head he swore to govern the english as well as the best of their own i dare say you think as i do that if we except the great alfred he might pretty easily have done that numbers of the english had been killed in the last disastrous battle their estates and the estates of all the who had fought against him there king william seized upon and gave to his own knights and many great english families of the present time acquired their english lands in this way and are very proud of it but what is got by force must be maintained by force these were obliged to build castles all over england to defend their new property and do what he would the king could neither soothe nor the nation as he wished he gradually introduced the language and the customs yet for a long time the great body of the english remained sullen and on his going over to to visit his subjects there the the conqueror of his half brother whom he left in charge of his english kingdom drove the people mad the men of even over to take possession of their old enemy count of who had led the when the man was slain at his own fire side the men of aided by the and commanded by a chief named the wild drove the out of their some of those who had been of their lands together in the north of england some in scotland some in the thick woods and and they could fall upon the or upon the english who had submitted to the they fought and murdered like the desperate that they were were set on foot for a general of the like the old of the in short the english were in a mood all through the kingdom king william fearing he might lose his conquest came back and tried to the london people by soft words he then set forth to repress the country people by stem deeds among the towns which he and where he killed and the inhabitants without any distinction none young or old armed or were oxford york in all these places and in many others fire and sword worked their utmost horrors and made the land dreadful to behold the streams and rivers were with blood the sky was blackened with smoke the fields were of ashes the were heaped up with dead such are the fatal re vol i f a child s history of england suits of conquest and ambition although william was a harsh and angry man i do not suppose that he deliberately meant to work this shocking ruin when he invaded england but what he had got by the strong hand he could only keep by the strong hand and in so doing he made england a great grave two sons of by name and came over from ireland with some ships against the but were defeated this was scarcely done when the in the woods so harassed york that the governor sent to the king for help the king a general and a large force to occupy the town of the bishop of that place met the general outside the town and warned him not to enter as he would be in danger there the general cared nothing for the warning and went in with all his men that night on every hill within sight of signal fires were seen to blaze when the morning dawned the english who had assembled in great strength forced the gates rushed into the town and the every one the english afterward the to come and help them the came with two hundred and forty ships the joined them they captured york and drove the out of that city then william the to go away and took such vengeance oa the english that all the former fire and sword smoke and ashes death and ruin were nothing compared with it in melancholy songs and stories it was still sung and told by cottage fires on winter evenings a hundred years afterward how in those william the dreadful days of the there was not from the river to the river one inhabited village left nor one
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cultivated field how there was nothing but a dismal ruin where the human creatures and the beasts lay dead together the had at this time what they called a camp of refuge in the midst of the of protected by those grounds which were difficult of approach they lay among the and rushes and were hidden by the mists that rose up from the watery earth now there also was at that time over the sea in an englishman named whose father had died in his absence and whose property had been given to a when he heard of this wrong that had been done him from such of the english as chanced to wander into that country he longed for revenge and joining the in their camp of refuge became their commander he was so good a soldier that the supposed him to be aided by enchantment william even after he had made a road three miles in length across the on purpose to attack this supposed thought it necessary to engage an old lady who pretended to be a to come and do a little enchantment in the royal cause for this purpose she was pushed on before the troops in a wooden tower but very soon disposed of this unfortunate by burning her tower and all the of the of near at hand however who were fond of good living and who found it very uncomfortable to have the country and their supplies of meat and drink cut a child s history of england off showed the king a secret way of the camp so was soon defeated whether he afterward died quietly or whether he was killed after killing sixteen of the men who attacked him as some old relate that he did i can not say his defeat put an end to the camp of refuge and very soon afterward the king victorious in scotland and in england the last english noble he then surrounded himself with lords enriched by the property of english had a great survey made of all the land in england which was entered as the property of its new owners on a roll called book obliged the people to put out their and candles at a certain hour every night on the ringing of a bell which was called the introduced the dresses and manners made the masters every where and the english servants turned out the english and put in their places and showed himself to be the conqueror indeed but even with his own he had a restless life they were always and for the riches of the english and the more he gave the more they wanted his priests were as greedy as his soldiers we know of only one who plainly told his master the king that he had come with him to england to do his duty as a faithful servant and that property taken by force from other men had no charms for him his name was we should not forget his name for it is good to remember and to honor honest men besides all these troubles william the conqueror was troubled by quarrels among his sons he had william the conqueror three living robert called because of his short legs william called or the red from the color of his hair and henry fond of learning and called in the language or fine scholar when robert grew up he asked of his father the of which he had possessed as a child under his mother the king refusing to grant it robert became jealous and discontented and happening one day while in this temper to be by his brothers who threw water on him from a balcony as he was walking before the door he drew his sword rushed up stairs and was only prevented by the king himself from putting them to death that same night he hotly departed with some followers from his father s court and endeavored to take the castle of by surprise failing in this he shut himself up in another castle in which the king and where robert one day and nearly killed him without knowing who he was his submission when he discovered his father and the of the queen and others reconciled them but not soundly for robert soon strayed abroad and went from court to court with his complaints he was a gay careless thoughtless fellow spending all he got on and dancers but his mother loved him and often against the king s command supplied him with money through a messenger named at length the king swore he would tear out s eyes and thinking that his only hope of safety was in becoming a became one went on such errands no more and kept his eyes in his head a child s history of england all this time from the turbulent day of his strange the conqueror had been struggling you see at any cost of cruelty and to maintain what he had seized all his reign he struggled still with the same object ever before him he was a stern bold man and he succeeded in it he loved money and was particular in his eating but he had only leisure to indulge one other passion and that was his love of hunting he carried it to such a height that he ordered whole villages and towns to be swept away to make forests for the deer not satisfied with sixty eight royal forests he laid waste an immense tract of country to form another in called the new forest the many thousands of miserable who saw their little houses pulled down and themselves and children turned into the open country without a shelter detested him for this merciless addition to their many and when in the twenty first year of his reign which proved to be the last he went over to england was as full of hatred
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