CHAPTER XXXII
But when the bully with assuming pace, Cocks his broad hat, edged round with tarnish'd lace, Yield not the way--defy his strutting pride, And thrust him to the muddy kennel's side, Yet rather bear the shower and toils of mud, Than in the doubtful quarrel risk thy blood. --GAY'S TRIVIA.
Julian Peveril, half-leading, half-supporting, Alice Bridgenorth, hadreached the middle of Saint Jame's Street ere the doubt occurred to himwhich way they should bend their course. He then asked Alice whitherhe should conduct her, and learned, to his surprise and embarrassment,that, far from knowing where her father was to be found, she had nocertain knowledge that he was in London, and only hoped that hehad arrived, from the expressions which he had used at parting. Shementioned her uncle Christian's address, but it was with doubt andhesitation, arising from the hands in which he had already placedher; and her reluctance to go again under his protection was stronglyconfirmed by her youthful guide, when a few words had established to hisconviction the identity of Ganlesse and Christian.--What then was to bedone?
"Alice," said Julian, after a moment's reflection, "you must seek yourearliest and best friend--I mean my mother. She has now no castle inwhich to receive you--she has but a miserable lodging, so near the jailin which my father is confined, that it seems almost a cell of the sameprison. I have not seen her since my coming hither; but thus much haveI learned by inquiry. We will now go to her apartment; such as it is,I know she will share it with one so innocent and so unprotected as youare."
"Gracious Heaven!" said the poor girl, "am I then so totally deserted,that I must throw myself on the mercy of her who, of all the world,has most reason to spurn me from her?--Julian, can you advise me tothis?--Is there none else who will afford me a few hours' refuge, till Ican hear from my father?--No other protectress but her whose ruin has,I fear, been accelerated by----Julian, I dare not appear before yourmother! she must hate me for my family, and despise me for my meanness.To be a second time cast on her protection, when the first has been soevil repaid--Julian, I dare not go with you."
"She has never ceased to love you, Alice," said her conductor, whosesteps she continued to attend, even while declaring her resolution notto go with him, "she never felt anything but kindness towards you, nay,towards your father; for though his dealings with us have been harsh,she can allow much for the provocation which he has received. Believeme, with her you will be safe as with a mother--perhaps it may be themeans of reconciling the divisions by which we have suffered so much."
"Might God grant it!" said Alice. "Yet how shall I face your mother? Andwill she be able to protect me against these powerful men--against myuncle Christian? Alas, that I must call him my worst enemy!"
"She has the ascendancy which honour hath over infamy, and virtue overvice," said Julian; "and to no human power but your father's will sheresign you, if you consent to choose her for your protectress. Come,then, with me, Alice; and----"
Julian was interrupted by some one, who, laying an unceremonious hold ofhis cloak, pulled it with so much force as compelled him to stop and layhis hand on his sword. He turned at the same time, and, when he turned,beheld Fenella. The cheek of the mute glowed like fire; her eyessparkled, and her lips were forcibly drawn together, as if she haddifficulty to repress those wild screams which usually attendedher agonies of passion, and which, uttered in the open street, mustinstantly have collected a crowd. As it was, her appearance was sosingular, and her emotion so evident, that men gazed as they came on,and looked back after they had passed, at the singular vivacity of hergestures; while, holding Peveril's cloak with one hand, she made withthe other the most eager and imperious signs that he should leave AliceBridgenorth and follow her. She touched the plume in her bonnetto remind him of the Earl--pointed to her heart, to imitate theCountess--raised her closed hand, as if to command him in theirname--and next moment folded both, as if to supplicate him in her own;while pointing to Alice with an expression at once of angry and scornfulderision, she waved her hand repeatedly and disdainfully, to intimatethat Peveril ought to cast her off, as something undeserving hisprotection.
Frightened, she knew not why, at these wild gestures, Alice clung closerto Julian's arm than she had at first dared to do; and this mark ofconfidence in his protection seemed to increase the passion of Fenella.
Julian was dreadfully embarrassed; his situation was sufficientlyprecarious, even before Fenella's ungovernable passions threatened toruin the only plan which he had been able to suggest. What she wantedwith him--how far the fate of the Earl and Countess might depend onhis following her, he could not even conjecture; but be the call howperemptory soever, he resolved not to comply with it until he had seenAlice placed in safety. In the meantime, he determined not to lose sightof Fenella; and disregarding her repeated, disdainful, and impetuousrejection of the hand which he offered her, he at length seemed so farto have soothed her, that she seized upon his right arm, and, as ifdespairing of his following _her_ path, appeared reconciled to attendhim on that which he himself should choose.
Thus, with a youthful female clinging to each arm, and both remarkablycalculated to attract the public eye, though from very differentreasons, Julian resolved to make the shortest road to the water-side,and there to take boat for Blackfriars, as the nearest point of landingto Newgate, where he concluded that Lance had already announced hisarrival in London to Sir Geoffrey, then inhabiting that dismal region,and to his lady, who, so far as the jailer's rigour permitted, sharedand softened his imprisonment.
Julian's embarrassment in passing Charing Cross and Northumberland Housewas so great as to excite the attention of the passengers; for he hadto compose his steps so as to moderate the unequal and rapid pace ofFenella to the timid and faint progress of his left-hand companion; andwhile it would have been needless to address himself to the former, whocould not comprehend him, he dared not speak himself to Alice, for fearof awakening into frenzy the jealousy, or at least the impatience ofFenella.
Many passengers looked at them with wonder, and some with smiles; butJulian remarked that there were two who never lost sight of them, andto whom his situation, and the demeanour of his companions, seemed toafford matter of undisguised merriment. These were young men, such asmay be seen in the same precincts in the present day, allowing for thedifference in the fashion of their apparel. They abounded in periwig,and fluttered with many hundred yards of ribbon, disposed in bow-knotsupon their sleeves, their breeches, and their waistcoats, in the veryextremity of the existing mode. A quantity of lace and embroidery madetheir habits rather fine than tasteful. In a word, they were dressed inthat caricature of the fashion, which sometimes denotes a harebrainedman of quality who has a mind to be distinguished as a fop of the firstorder, but is much more frequently in the disguise of those who desireto be esteemed men of rank on account of their dress, having no otherpretension to the distinction.
These two gallants passed Peveril more than once, linked arm in arm,then sauntered, so as to oblige him to pass them in turn, laughing andwhispering during these manoeuvres--staring broadly at Peveril and hisfemale companions--and affording them, as they came into contact, noneof those facilities of giving place which are required on such occasionsby the ordinary rules of the pave.
Peveril did not immediately observe their impertinence; but when itwas too gross to escape his notice, his gall began to arise; and, inaddition to all the other embarrassments of his situation, he had tocombat the longing desire which he felt to cudgel handsomely the twocoxcombs who seemed thus determined on insulting him. Patience andsufferance were indeed strongly imposed on him by circumstances; but atlength it became scarcely possible to observe their dictates any longer.
When, for the third time, Julian found himself obliged, with hiscompanions, to pass this troublesome brace of fops, they kept walkingclose behind him, speaking so loud as to be heard, and in a tone ofperfect indifference whether he listened to them or not.
"This is bumpkin's best luck," said the taller of the two (who wasindeed a man of remarkable size, alluding to the plainness of Peveril'sdress, which was scarce fit for the streets of London)--"Two such finewenches, and under guard of a grey frock and an oaken riding-rod!"
"Nay, Puritan's luck rather, and more than enough of it," said hiscompanion. "You may read Puritan in his pace and in his patience."
"Right as a pint bumper, Tom," said his friend--"Isschar is an ass thatstoopeth between two burdens."
"I have a mind to ease long-eared Laurence of one of his encumbrances,"said the shorter fellow. "That black-eyed sparkler looks as if she had amind to run away from him."
"Ay," answered the taller, "and the blue-eyed trembler looks as if shewould fall behind into my loving arms."
At these words, Alice, holding still closer by Peveril's arm thanformerly, mended her pace almost to running, in order to escape from menwhose language was so alarming; and Fenella walked hastily forward inthe same manner, having perhaps caught, from the men's gestures anddemeanour, that apprehension which Alice had taken from their language.
Fearful of the consequences of a fray in the streets, which mustnecessarily separate him from these unprotected females, Peverilendeavoured to compound betwixt the prudence necessary for theirprotection and his own rising resentment; and as this troublesome pairof attendants endeavoured again to pass them close to HungerfordStairs, he said to them with constrained calmness, "Gentlemen, I oweyou something for the attention you have bestowed on the affairs of astranger. If you have any pretension to the name I have given you, youwill tell me where you are to be found."
"And with what purpose," said the taller of the two sneeringly, "doesyour most rustic gravity, or your most grave rusticity, require of ussuch information?"
So saying, they both faced about, in such a manner as to make itimpossible for Julian to advance any farther.
"Make for the stairs, Alice," he said; "I will be with you in aninstant." Then freeing himself with difficulty from the grasp of hiscompanions, he cast his cloak hastily round his left arm, and said,sternly, to his opponents, "Will you give me your names, sirs; or willyou be pleased to make way?"
"Not till we know for whom we are to give place," said one of them.
"For one who will else teach you what you want--good manners," saidPeveril, and advanced as if to push between them.
They separated, but one of them stretched forth his foot before Peveril,as if he meant to trip him. The blood of his ancestors was alreadyboiling within him; he struck the man on the face with the oaken rodwhich he had just sneered at, and throwing it from him, instantlyunsheathed his sword. Both the others drew, and pushed at once; but hecaught the point of the one rapier in his cloak, and parried the otherthrust with his own weapon. He must have been less lucky in the secondclose, but a cry arose among the watermen, of "Shame, shame! two uponone!"
"They are men of the Duke of Buckingham's," said one fellow--"there's nosafe meddling with them."
"They may be the devil's men, if they will," said an ancient Triton,flourishing his stretcher; "but I say fair play, and old England forever; and, I say, knock the gold-laced puppies down, unless theywill fight turn about with grey jerkin, like honest fellows. Onedown--t'other come on."
The lower orders of London have in all times been remarkable for thedelight which they have taken in club-law, or fist-law; and for theequity and impartiality with which they see it administered. The noblescience of defence was then so generally known, that a bout at singlerapier excited at that time as much interest and as little wonder asa boxing-match in our own days. The bystanders experienced in suchaffrays, presently formed a ring, within which Peveril and the tallerand more forward of his antagonists were soon engaged in close combatwith their swords, whilst the other, overawed by the spectators, wasprevented from interfering.
"Well done the tall fellow!"--"Well thrust, long-legs!'--"Huzza for twoells and a quarter!" were the sounds with which the fray was at firstcheered; for Peveril's opponent not only showed great activity and skillin fence, but had also a decided advantage, from the anxiety with whichJulian looked out for Alice Bridgenorth; the care for whose safetydiverted him in the beginning of the onset from that which he oughtto have exclusively bestowed on the defence of his own life. A slightflesh-wound in the side at once punished, and warned him of, hisinadvertence; when, turning his whole thoughts on the business inwhich he was engaged, and animated with anger against his impertinentintruder, the rencontre speedily began to assume another face,amidst cries of "Well done, grey jerkin!"--"Try the metal of his golddoublet!"--"Finely thrust!"--"Curiously parried!"--"There went anothereyelet-hole to his broidered jerkin!"--"Fairly pinked, by G--d!" Inapplause, accompanying a successful and conclusive lunge, by whichPeveril ran his gigantic antagonist through the body. He looked at hisprostrate foe for a moment; then, recovering himself, called loudly toknow what had become of the lady.
"Never mind the lady, if you be wise," said one of the watermen; "theconstable will be here in an instant. I'll give your honour a castacross the water in a moment. It may be as much as your neck's worth.Shall only charge a Jacobus."
"You be d--d!" said one of his rivals in profession, "as your father wasbefore you; for a Jacobus, I'll set the gentleman into Alsatia, whereneither bailiff nor constable dare trespass."
"The lady, you scoundrels, the lady!" exclaimed Peveril---"Where is thelady?"
"I'll carry your honour where you shall have enough of ladies, if thatbe your want," said the old Triton; and as he spoke, the clamour amongstthe watermen was renewed, each hoping to cut his own profit out of theemergency of Julian's situation.
"A sculler will be least suspected, your honour," said one fellow.
"A pair of oars will carry you through the water like a wild-duck," saidanother.
"But you have got never a tilt, brother," said a third. "Now I can putthe gentleman as snug as if he were under hatches."
In the midst of the oaths and clamour attending this aquatic controversyfor his custom, Peveril at length made them understand that hewould bestow a Jacobus, not on him whose boat was first oars, but onwhomsoever should inform him of the fate of the lady.
"Of which lady?" said a sharp fellow: "for, to my thought, there was apair of them."
"Of both, of both," answered Peveril; "but first, of the fair-hairedlady?"
"Ay, ay, that was she that shrieked so when gold-jacket's companionhanded her into No. 20."
"Who--what--who dared to hand her?" exclaimed Peveril.
"Nay, master, you have heard enough of my tale without a fee," said thewaterman.
"Sordid rascal!" said Peveril, giving him a gold piece, "speak out, orI'll run my sword through you!"
"For the matter of that, master," answered the fellow, "not while I canhandle this trunnion--but a bargain's a bargain; and so I'll tell you,for your gold piece, that the comrade of the fellow forced one of yourwenches, her with the fair hair, will she, nill she, into Tickling Tom'swherry; and they are far enough up Thames by this time, with wind andtide."
"Sacred Heaven, and I stand here!" exclaimed Julian.
"Why, that is because your honour will not take a boat."
"You are right, my friend--a boat--a boat instantly!"
"Follow me, then, squire.--Here, Tom, bear a hand--the gentleman is ourfare."
A volley of water language was exchanged betwixt the successfulcandidate for Peveril's custom and his disappointed brethren, whichconcluded by the ancient Triton's bellowing out, in a tone above themall, "that the gentleman was in a fair way to make a voyage to the isleof gulls, for that sly Jack was only bantering him--No. 20 had rowed forYork Buildings."
"To the isle of gallows," cried another; "for here comes one who willmar his trip up Thames, and carry him down to Execution Dock."
In fact, as he spoke the word, a constable, with three or four of hisassistants, armed with the old-fashioned brown bills, which were stillused for arming those guardians o
f the peace, cut off our hero's fartherprogress to the water's edge, by arresting him in the King's name. Toattempt resistance would have been madness, as he was surrounded on allsides; so Peveril was disarmed, and carried before the nearest Justiceof the Peace, for examination and committal.
The legal sage before whom Julian was taken was a man very honest inhis intentions, very bounded in his talents, and rather timid in hisdisposition. Before the general alarm given to England, and to the cityof London in particular, by the notable discovery of the Popish Plot,Master Maulstatute had taken serene and undisturbed pride and pleasurein the discharge of his duties as a Justice of the Peace, with theexercise of all its honorary privileges and awful authority. But themurder of Sir Edmondsbury Godfrey had made a strong, nay, an indelibleimpression on his mind; and he walked the Courts of Themis with fear andtrembling after that memorable and melancholy event.
Having a high idea of his official importance, and rather an exaltednotion of his personal consequence, his honour saw nothing from thattime but cords and daggers before his eyes, and never stepped out ofhis own house, which he fortified, and in some measure garrisoned,with half-a-dozen tall watchmen and constables, without seeing himselfwatched by a Papist in disguise, with a drawn sword under his cloak. Itwas even whispered, that, in the agonies of his fears, the worshipfulMaster Maulstatute mistook the kitchen-wench with a tinderbox, for aJesuit with a pistol; but if any one dared to laugh at such an error, hewould have done well to conceal his mirth, lest he fell under the heavyinculpation of being a banterer and stifler of the Plot--a crime almostas deep as that of being himself a plotter. In fact, the fears of thehonest Justice, however ridiculously exorbitant, were kept so much incountenance by the outcry of the day, and the general nervous fever,which afflicted every good Protestant, that Master Maulstatute wasaccounted the bolder man and the better magistrate, while, under theterror of the air-drawn dagger which fancy placed continually before hiseyes, he continued to dole forth Justice in the recesses of his privatechamber, nay, occasionally to attend Quarter-Sessions, when the hallwas guarded by a sufficient body of the militia. Such was the wight, atwhose door, well chained and doubly bolted, the constable who had Julianin custody now gave his important and well-known knock.
Notwithstanding this official signal, the party was not admitted untilthe clerk, who acted the part of high-warder, had reconnoitred themthrough a grated wicket; for who could say whether the Papists mightnot have made themselves master of Master Constable's sign, and haveprepared a pseudo watch to burst in and murder the Justice, underpretence of bringing in a criminal before him?--Less hopeful projectshad figured in the Narrative of the Popish Plot.
All being found right, the key was turned, the bolts were drawn, and thechain unhooked, so as to permit entrance to the constable, the prisoner,and the assistants; and the door was then a suddenly shut against thewitnesses, who, as less trustworthy persons, were requested (throughthe wicket) to remain in the yard, until they should be called in theirrespective turns.
Had Julian been inclined for mirth, as was far from being the case,he must have smiled at the incongruity of the clerk's apparel, whohad belted over his black buckram suit a buff baldric, sustaining abroadsword, and a pair of huge horse-pistols; and, instead of the lowflat hat, which, coming in place of the city cap, completed the dressof a scrivener, had placed on his greasy locks a rusted steel-cap, whichhad seen Marston-Moor; across which projected his well-used quill, inthe guise of a plume--the shape of the morion not admitting of its beingstuck, as usual, behind his ear.
This whimsical figure conducted the constable, his assistants, and theprisoner, into the low hall, where his principal dealt forth justice;who presented an appearance still more singular than that of hisdependant.
Sundry good Protestants, who thought so highly of themselves as tosuppose they were worthy to be distinguished as objects of Catholiccruelty, had taken to defensive arms on the occasion. But it was quicklyfound that a breast-plate and back-plate of proof, fastened togetherwith iron clasps, was no convenient enclosure for a man who meant to eatvenison and custard; and that a buff-coat or shirt of mail was scarcelymore accommodating to the exertions necessary on such active occasions.Besides, there were other objections, as the alarming and menacingaspects which such warlike habiliments gave to the Exchange, and otherplaces, where merchants most do congregate; and excoriations werebitterly complained of by many, who, not belonging to the artillerycompany, or trained bands, had no experience in bearing defensivearmour.
To obviate these objections, and, at the same time, to secure thepersons of all true Protestant citizens against open force or privyassassinations on the part of the Papists, some ingenious artist,belonging, we may presume, to the worshipful Mercers' Company, hadcontrived a species of armour, of which neither the horse-armory inthe Tower, nor Gwynnap's Gothic Hall, no, nor Dr. Meyrick's invaluablecollection of ancient arms, has preserved any specimen. It was calledsilk-armour, being composed of a doublet and breeches of quilted silk,so closely stitched, and of such thickness, as to be proof againsteither bullet or steel; while a thick bonnet of the same materials, withear-flaps attached to it, and on the whole, much resembling a nightcap,completed the equipment and ascertained the security of the wearer fromthe head to the knee.
Master Maulstatute, among other worthy citizens, had adopted thissingular panoply, which had the advantage of being soft, and warm, andflexible, as well as safe. And he now sat in his judicial elbow-chair--ashort, rotund figure, hung round, as it were, with cushions, for suchwas the appearance of the quilted garments; and with a nose protrudedfrom under the silken casque, the size of which, together with theunwieldiness of the whole figure, gave his worship no indifferentresemblance to the sign of the Hog in Armour, which was considerablyimproved by the defensive garment being of dusty orange colour, notaltogether unlike the hue of those half-wild swine which are to be foundin the forest of Hampshire.
Secure in these invulnerable envelopments, his worship had restedcontent, although severed from his own death-doing weapons, of rapier,poniard, and pistols, which were placed nevertheless, at no greatdistance from his chair. One offensive implement, indeed, he thought itprudent to keep on the table beside his huge Coke upon Lyttleton. Thiswas a sort of pocket flail, consisting of a piece of strong ash,about eighteen inches long, to which was attached a swinging club of_lignum-vitae_, nearly twice as long as the handle, but jointed so asto be easily folded up. This instrument, which bore at that time thesingular name of the Protestant flail, might be concealed under thecoat, until circumstances demanded its public appearance. A betterprecaution against surprise than his arms, whether offensive ordefensive, was a strong iron grating, which, crossing the room in frontof the justice's table, and communicating by a grated door, which wasusually kept locked, effectually separated the accused party from hisjudge.
Justice Maulstatute, such as we have described him, chose to hear theaccusation of the witnesses before calling on Peveril for his defence.The detail of the affray was briefly given by the bystanders, and seemeddeeply to touch the spirit of the examinator. He shook his silken casqueemphatically, when he understood that, after some language betwixt theparties, which the witnesses did not quite understand, the young manin custody struck the first blow, and drew his sword before the woundedparty had unsheathed his weapon. Again he shook his crested head yetmore solemnly, when the result of the conflict was known; and yet again,when one of the witnesses declared, that, to the best of his knowledge,the sufferer in the fray was a gentleman belonging to the household ofhis Grace the Duke of Buckingham.
"A worthy peer," quoth the armed magistrate--"a true Protestant, and afriend to his country. Mercy on us, to what a height of audacity haththis age arisen! We see well, and could, were we as blind as a mole, outof what quiver this shaft hath been drawn."
He then put on his spectacles, and having desired Julian to be broughtforward, he glared upon him awfully with those glazen eyes, from underthe shade of his quilted turban.
"So young," he said, "and so hardened--lack-a-day!--and a Papist, I'llwarrant."
Peveril had time enough to recollect the necessity of his being atlarge, if he could possibly obtain his freedom, and interposed here acivil contradiction of his worship's gracious supposition. "He was noCatholic," he said, "but an unworthy member of the Church of England."
"Perhaps but a lukewarm Protestant, notwithstanding," said the sageJustice; "there are those amongst us who ride tantivy to Rome, and havealready made out half the journey--ahem!"
Peveril disowned his being any such.
"And who art thou, then?" said the Justice; "for, friend, to tell youplainly, I like not your visage--ahem!"
These short and emphatic coughs were accompanied each by a succinct nod,intimating the perfect conviction of the speaker that he had made thebest, the wisest, and the most acute observation, of which the premisesadmitted.
Julian, irritated by the whole circumstances of his detention, answeredthe Justice's interrogation in rather a lofty tone. "My name is JulianPeveril!"
"Now, Heaven be around us!" said the terrified Justice--"the son of thatblack-hearted Papist and traitor, Sir Geoffrey Peveril, now in hands,and on the verge of trial!"
"How, sir!" exclaimed Julian, forgetting his situation, and, steppingforward to the grating, with a violence which made the bars clatter, heso startled the appalled Justice, that, snatching his Protestant flail,Master Maulstatute aimed a blow at his prisoner, to repel what heapprehended was a premeditated attack. But whether it was owing to theJustice's hurry of mind, or inexperience in managing the weapon, he notonly missed his aim, but brought the swinging part of the machine roundhis own skull, with such a severe counter-buff, as completely to trythe efficacy of his cushioned helmet, and, in spite of its defence,to convey a stunning sensation, which he rather hastily imputed to theconsequence of a blow received from Peveril.
His assistants did not directly confirm the opinion which the Justicehad so unwarrantably adopted; but all with one voice agreed that,but for their own active and instantaneous interference, there was noknowing what mischief might have been done by a person so dangerous asthe prisoner. The general opinion that he meant to proceed in the matterof his own rescue, _par voie du fait_, was indeed so deeply impressed onall present, that Julian saw it would be in vain to offer any defence,especially being but too conscious that the alarming and probablythe fatal consequences of his rencontre with the bully, rendered hiscommitment inevitable. He contented himself with asking into what prisonhe was to be thrown; and when the formidable word Newgate was returnedas full answer, he had at least the satisfaction to reflect, that, sternand dangerous as was the shelter of that roof, he should at least enjoyit in company with his father; and that, by some means or other, theymight perhaps obtain the satisfaction of a melancholy meeting, underthe circumstances of mutual calamity, which seemed impending over theirhouse.
Assuming the virtue of more patience than he actually possessed, Juliangave the magistrate (to whom all the mildness of his demeanour couldnot, however, reconcile him), the direction to the house where helodged, together with a request that his servant, Lance Outram, mightbe permitted to send him his money and wearing apparel; adding, thatall which might be in his possession, either of arms or writings,--theformer amounting to a pair of travelling pistols, and the last to a fewmemoranda of little consequence, he willingly consented to place at thedisposal of the magistrate. It was in that moment that he entertained,with sincere satisfaction, the comforting reflection, that the importantpapers of Lady Derby were already in the possession of the sovereign.
The Justice promised attention to his requests; but reminded him, withgreat dignity, that his present complacent and submissive behaviourought, for his own sake, to have been adopted from the beginning,instead of disturbing the presence of magistracy with such atrociousmarks of the malignant, rebellious, and murderous spirit of Popery, ashe had at first exhibited. "Yet," he said, "as he was a goodly youngman, and of honourable quality, he would not suffer him to be draggedthrough the streets as a felon, but had ordered a coach for hisaccommodation."
His honour, Master Maulstatute, uttered the word "coach" with theimportance of one who, as Dr. Johnson saith of later date, is consciousof the dignity of putting horses to his chariot. The worshipful MasterMaulstatute did not, however on this occasion, do Julian the honour ofyoking to his huge family caroche the two "frampal jades" (to use theterm of the period), which were wont to drag that ark to the meetinghouse of pure and precious Master Howlaglass, on a Thursday's eveningfor lecture, and on a Sunday for a four-hours' sermon. He had recourseto a leathern convenience, then more rare, but just introduced, withevery prospect of the great facility which has since been afforded byhackney coaches, to all manner of communication, honest and dishonest,legal and illegal. Our friend Julian, hitherto much more accustomed tothe saddle than to any other conveyance, soon found himself in a hackneycarriage, with the constable and two assistants for his companions,armed up to the teeth--the port of destination being, as they hadalready intimated, the ancient fortress of Newgate.