CHAPTER IX
NEWGATE
A man must be made of brass or wrought-iron who can enter the gloomyportals of Newgate as a prisoner without a trembling of the limbs and asinking of the heart. Not even consciousness of innocence is sufficientto sustain a prisoner, for alas! even the innocent are sometimes foundguilty. Once within the first doors I was fain to lay hold upon thenearest turnkey or I should have fallen into a swoon; a thing which,they tell me, happens with many, for the first entrance into prison isworse to the imagination even than the standing up in the dock to takeone's trial in open court. There is, in the external aspect of theprison: in the gloom which hangs over the prison: in the mixture ofdespair and misery and drunkenness and madness and remorse which fillsthe prison, an air which strikes terror to the very soul. They took meinto a large vaulted ante-room, lit by windows high up, with theturnkey's private room opening out of it, and doors leading into theinterior parts of the Prison. The room was filled with people waitingtheir turn to visit the prisoners; they carried baskets and packages andbottles; their provisions, in a word, for the Prison allows theprisoners no more than one small loaf of bread every day. Some of thevisitors were quiet, sober people: some were women on whose cheeks laytears: some were noisy, reckless young men, who laughed over the comingfate of their friends; spoke of Tyburn Fair; of kicking off the shoes atthe gallows; of dying game; of Newgate music--meaning the clatter of theirons; of whining and snivelling; and so forth. They took in wine, orperhaps rum under the name of wine. There were also girls whoseappearance and manner certainly did not seem as if sorrow and sympathywith the unfortunate had alone brought them to this place. Some of thegirls also carried bottles of wine with them in baskets.
I was then brought before the Governor who, I thought, would perhapshear me if I declared the truth. But I was wrong. He barely looked atme; he entered my name and occupation, and the nature of the crime withwhich I was charged. Then he coldly ordered me to be taken in andironed.
The turnkey led me into a room hung with irons. 'What side?' he asked.
I told him I knew nothing about any sides.
'Why,' he said, 'I thought all the world knew so much. There's the Stateside. If you go there you will pay for admission three guineas; forgarnish and a pair of light irons, one guinea; for rent of a bed half aguinea a week; and for another guinea you can have coals and candles,plates and a knife. Will that suit you?' He looked disdainfully at thedirt and blood with which I was covered, as if he thought the State sidewas not for the likes of me.
'Alas!' I replied, 'I cannot go to the State side.'
'I thought not, by the look of you. Well, there's the master's sidenext; the fee for admission is only thirteen and sixpence: irons, half aguinea: the rent of a bed or part of a bed half a crown, and as for yourfood, what you like to order and pay for. No credit at this tavern,which is the sign of the Clinking Iron. Will that suit you?'
'No, I can pay nothing.'
'Then why waste time asking questions? There's the common side; you'vegot to go into that, and very grateful you ought to be that there is acommon side at all for such a filthy Beast as you.'
My choice must needs be the last because I had no money at all: not asingle solitary shilling--my obliging friends when they put their purseinto my pocket as a proof of the alleged robbery, abstracted myown--which no doubt the worthy Professor of Sacred Theology had in hispocket while he was explaining the nature of the attack to theConstable.
The turnkey while he grumbled about waste of time--a prisoner ought tosay at once if he had no money: officers of the Prison were not paid totell stories to every ragged, filthy footpad; the common side was asgood as any other on the way to Tyburn: what could a ragamuffin coveredwith blood and filth expect?--picked out a pair of irons: they were therustiest and the heaviest that he could find: as he hammered them on hesaid that for half a crown he would drive the rivet into my heel onlythat he would rob his friend Jack Ketch of the pleasure of turning off apoor whining devil who came into Newgate without a copper. 'Damme!' hecried, as he finished his work, 'if I believe you ever tried to robanyone!'
'I did not,' I replied. At which he laughed, recovering his good temper,and opening a door shoved me through and shut it behind me.
The common side of Newgate is a place which, though I was in it no morethan two hours or so, remains fixed in my memory and will stay there aslong as life remains. The yard was filled to overflowing with a companyof the vilest, the filthiest, and the most shameless that it is possibleto imagine. They were pickpockets, footpads, shoplifters, robbers ofevery kind; they were in rags; they were unwashed and unshaven; some ofthem were drunk; some of them were emaciated by insufficient food--apenny loaf a day was doled out to those who had no money and no friends:that was actually all that the poor wretches had to keep body and soultogether: the place was crowded not only with the prisoners, but withtheir friends and relations of both sexes; the noise, the cursings, theribald laugh; the drunken song; the fighting and quarrelling can neverbe imagined. And, in the narrow space of the yard which is like thebottom of a deep well, there is no air moving, so that the stench isenough, at first, to make a horse sick.
I can liken it to nothing but a sty too narrow for the swine thatcrowded it; so full of unclean beasts was it, so full of noise andpushing and quarrelling: so full of passions, jealousies, and suspicionsungoverned, was it. Or I would liken it to a chamber in hell when thesharp agony of physical suffering is for a while changed for the equalpains of such companionship and such discourse as those of the commonside. I stood near the door as the turnkey had pushed me in, staringstupidly about. Some sat on the stone bench with tobacco-pipes and potsof beer: some played cards on the bench: some walked about: there werewomen visitors, but not one whose face showed shame or sorrow. To suchpeople as these Newgate is like an occasional attack of sickness; awhipping is but one symptom of the disease: imprisonment is the naturalcure of the disease; hanging is only the natural common and inevitableend when the disease is incurable, just as death in his bed happens to aman with fever.
While I looked about me, a man stepped out of the crowd. 'Garnish!' hecried, holding out his hand. Then they all crowded round, crying'Garnish! garnish!' I held up my hands: I assured them that I waspenniless. The man who had first spoken waved back the others with hishand. 'Friend,' he said, 'if you have no money, off with your coat.'
Then, I know not what happened, because I think I must have fallen intoa kind of fit. When I recovered I was lying along the stone bench: mycoat was gone: my waistcoat was gone; my shirt was in rags; my shoes--onwhich were silver buckles, were gone; and my stockings, which were ofblack silk. My head was in a woman's lap.
'Well done,' she said, 'I thought you'd come round. 'Twas the touchingof the wound on your head. Brutes and beasts you are, all of you! all ofyou! One comfort is you'll all be hanged, and that very soon. It'll be ahappy world without you.'
'Come, Nan,' one of the men said, 'you know it's the rule. If agentleman won't pay his garnish he must give up his coat.'
'Give up his coat! You've stripped him to the skin. And him with an openwound in his head bleeding again like a pig!'
The people melted away: they offered no further apology; but the coatand the rest of the things were not returned.
My good Samaritan, to judge by her dress and appearance, was one of thecommonest of common women--the wife or the mistress of a Gaol-bird; thecompanion of thieves; the accomplice of villains. Yet there was left onher still, whatever the habit of her life, this touch of human kindnessthat made her come to the assistance of a helpless stranger. NoChristian could have done more. 'Forasmuch,' said Christ, 'as you did itunto one of these you did it unto Me.' When I read these words I thinkof this poor woman, and I pray for her.
'Lie still a minute,' she said, 'I will stanch the bleeding with alittle gin,' she pulled out a flat bottle. 'It is good gin. I will poura little on the wound. That can't hurt--so.' But it did hurt. 'Now, mypretty gentleman, for you are a gentlema
n, though maybe only a gentlemanrider and woundily in want of a wash. Take a sip for yourself, don't beafraid. Take a long sip. I brought it here for my man, but he's dead. Hedied in the night after a fight in the yard here. He got a knife betweenhis ribs,' she spoke of this occurrence as if such a conclusion to afight was quite in the common way. 'Look here, sir, you've no businessin this place. Haven't you got any friends to pay for the Master's side?Now you're easier, and the bleeding has stopped. Can you stand, do youthink?'
I made a shift to get to my feet, shivering in the cold damp Novemberair. She had a bundle laying on the bench. ''Tis my man's clothes,' shesaid. 'Take his coat and shoes. You must. Else with nothing but theboards to sleep upon you'll be starved to death. Now I must go and tellhis friends that my man is dead. Well--he won't be hanged. I never didlike to think that I should be the widow of a Tyburn bird.'
She put on me the warm thick coat that had been her husband's; she puton his shoes. I was still stupid and dull of understanding. But I triedto thank her.
Some weeks afterwards, when I was at length released, I ventured backinto the prison in hopes of finding the name and the residence of thewoman--Samaritan, if ever there was one. The turnkeys could tell menothing. The gaol was full of women, they said. My friend was named Nan.They were all Nans. She was the wife of a prisoner who died in theplace. They were always dying on the common side. That was nothing. Theyall know each other by name; but it was six weeks ago; prisoners changeevery day; they are brought in; they are sent out to be hanged,pilloried, whipped or transported. In a word they knew nothing and wouldnot take the trouble to inquire. What did it matter to these men madecallous by intimacy with suffering, that a woman of the lower kind haddone a kind and charitable action? Nevertheless, we have Christ's ownassurance--His words--His promise. The woman's action will be rememberedon the day when her sins shall be passed before a merciful Judge. Hersins! Alas! she was what she was brought up to be; her sins lie upon thehead of those who suffer her, and those like to her, to grow up withoutreligion, or virtue, or example, or admonition.
By this time I was growing faint with hunger as well as with loss ofblood and fatigue. I had taken nothing for fourteen hours; namely, sincesupper the evening before the attack. The first effect of hunger is tostop the power of thought. There fell upon me a feeling of carelessnessas if nothing mattered: the night in the watch-house: the appearancebefore the magistrate: my reception on the common side: all passedacross my brain as if they belonged to someone else. I rose withdifficulty, but staggered and fell back upon the bench. My head waslight: I seemed strangely happy. This lightness of head was quicklyfollowed by a drowsiness which became stupor. How long I lay there Iknow not. I remember nothing until a heavy hand was laid on my shoulder.'Come,' it was the voice of a turnkey. 'This is not the kind of placefor an afternoon nap in November. Come this way. A lady wants to seeyou.'
He led me to the door of the common side: and threw it open: in thewaiting-room was none other than Jenny herself. How had she learned whathad happened?
'Oh! my poor Will!' she cried, the tears running down her cheeks. 'Thisis even worse than I expected. But first you must be made comfortable.Here, you fellow,' she called the turnkey. 'Take him away. I will payfor everything. Let him be washed and get his wound dressed; give him aclean shirt and get him at once new clothes.'
'If your ladyship pleases--'
'Change these rusty irons for the lightest you have. Put him into thebest cell that you have on the State side. Get a dinner for him:anything that is quickest--cold beef--ham--bread--a bottle of Madeira.Go--quick.' She stamped her foot with authority; she put into the man'shand enough money to pay for half a dozen prisoners on the State side.'Now, fly--don't crawl--fly!--one would think you were all asleep. Apretty place this is to sleep in!'
The man knocked off my heavy irons and substituted a pair of lighterones, highly polished and even ornamental. He took me away and washedme; it was in the turnkeys' room on the right hand of the entrance; healso with some dexterity dressed my wound, dressed and cleaned myhair--it was filled with clotted blood; he fitted me with new clothes,and in less time than one would think possible, I was taken backlooking once more like a respectable person, even a gentleman if I choseto consider myself entitled to claim that empty rank. I found Jennywaiting for me in the best cell that Newgate could offer on the Stateside: a meal was spread for me, with a bottle of wine.
'Before we say a word, Will, sit down and eat. Heavens! You have hadnothing since our supper last night.'
I checked an impulse to thank her: I drove back the swelling in myheart. Reader--I was too hungry for these emotions: I had first tosatisfy starving nature. While I ate and drank Jenny talked.
'You shall tell me the whole story presently, Will. Meantime, go on withyour dinner. You must want it, my poor friend. Now let me tell you why Iam here. You know I was uneasy about the conspiracy that was hatching. Ifeared it might be meant for you. So great was my uneasiness that I bademy sister to keep watching and listening: this morning about one o'clockI went to the Black Jack myself to learn if she had discovered anything.
'Well, she had discovered everything. She said that at eleven o'clockthis morning the two fellows called the Bishop and the Captain, whom Ihad taken out of the King's Bench, came to the Black Jack, laughing andvery merry: they called for a mug of purl and a pack of cards: thatwhile they played they talked out loud because there was no one in thehouse except themselves. Doll they disregarded as they always do,because Doll is generally occupied with her slate and her scores, whichshe adds up as wrong as she can. They said that it was as good as a playto see the Attorney playing the indignant friend of the family, and howtheir own evidence could not possibly be set aside, and the case was asgood as finished and done with; that the fellow went off to Newgate asdumb as an ox to the shambles; and the poor devil had no money and nofriends, and must needs swing, and the whole job was as clean andcreditable piece of work as had ever been turned out. It must behanging: nobody could get him off. Then they fell to wondering as well,what Mr. Probus had done it for; and what he would get by it; andwhether (a speculation which pleased them most) he had not put himselfinto Mr. Merridew's power, in which case they might have the holy joy ofseeing the attorney himself, when his rope was out, sitting in the cart.And they congratulated each other on their own share in the job; tenguineas apiece, down, and a promise of more when the man was out of theway: with a long extension of time.' I condense Jenny's narrative whichwas long, and I alter the language which was wandering.
'When Doll told me all this,' she concluded, 'I had no longer any doubtthat the man whom they had succeeded in placing in Newgate was noneother than yourself, my poor Will--so I took a coach and drove here.'
I then told her exactly how everything had happened.
'I hope,' she said, 'that Matthew, if he is in the conspiracy, does notknow what has been done. Besides, the chief gainer will be Probus, notMatthew. Remember, Will, it is just a race; if he can compass your deathbefore Matthew becomes bankrupt, then he will get back all hismoney--all his money. Think of that: if not, he will lose the whole.Well, Will, he thinks nobody knows except himself. He is mistaken. Weshall see--we shall see.' So she fell to considering again.
'If there is a loophole of escape,' she went on, 'he will wriggle out.Let us think. What do we know?'
'We only know through Ramage,' I replied. 'Is that enough to prove theconspiracy? I know what those two men are who are the leadingwitnesses--how can I prove it? I know that they were suborned by Probusand that they are in the power of Merridew. How can I prove it? I knowthat Probus has talked to my cousin about my possible death, but whatdoes that prove? I know that he will benefit by my death to the amountof many thousands, but how can I prove it? My mouth will be closed.Where are my witnesses?'
'You can't prove anything, Will. And therefore you had better not try.'
'Jenny.' The tears came to my unmanly eyes. 'Leave me. Go, break thenews to Alice, and prepare her mind to see me die
.'
'I will break the news to Alice, but I will not prepare her mind to seeyou die. For, my dear cousin, you shall not die.' She spoke withassurance. She was standing up and she brought her hand down upon thetable with a slap which with her flashing eyes and coloured cheekinspired confidence for the moment. 'You shall not die by the conspiracyof these villains.'
'How to prevent them?'
'It would be easy if their friends would bear evidence against them.But they will not. They will sit in the Court and admire the tragicperjuries of the witnesses. There is one rule among my people which isnever broken; no one must peach on his brother. Shall dog bite dog? Ifthat rule is broken it is never forgiven--never--so long as the offenderlives.'
'Then, what can we do?'
'The short way would be to buy them. But in this respect they cannot bebought. They will rob or murder or perjure themselves with cheerfulness,but they will not peach on their brother. Money will not tempt them.Jealousy might, but there are no women in this case. Revenge might, butthere is here no private quarrel. Besides, they are all in the hands ofthe man Merridew. To thwart him would bring certain destruction on theirheads. And if there was any other reason, they are naturally anxious toavoid a Court of Justice. They would rather see their own childrenhanged than go into a court to give evidence, true or false.'
'Then I must suffer, Jenny.'
'Nay, Will, I said not so much--I was only putting the case beforemyself. I see many difficulties but there is always a way out--always anend.'
'Always an end.' I repeated. 'Oh! Jenny. What an end!'
A Newgate fit was on me; that is, a fit of despondency which is almostdespair. All the inmates of Newgate know what it means; the rattling ofthe irons; the recollection of the trial to come; a word that jars; andthe Newgate shuddering seizes a man and shakes him up and down till itis spent. Jenny made me drink a glass of wine. The fit passed away.
'I feel,' I said at last, 'as if the rope was already round my neck. Mypoor Alice! My poor child! Thou wilt be the son of a highwayman and aTyburn bird. To the third and fourth generation ...'
'I know nothing about generations,' Jenny interrupted. 'All I know isthat you are going to be saved. Why, man, consider. Probus knows nothingabout me; these conspirators know nothing about Madame Vallance; none ofthem have the least suspicion; and must not have: that you know Jenny ofthe Black Jack. Now I shall try to get a case as to the conspiracy clearwithout attacking the loyalty of the gang to each other. I have thoughtof such a plan. And I know an attorney. You have seen him. He istolerably honest. He shall advise us--I will send him here. Be of goodcheer, Will. I go to fetch Alice. Put on a smiling countenance to greether. Come, you are a man. Lift the drooping spirit of the woman wholoves you. Keep up her heart if not your own.'
She came back at about five: the day was already over; the yards andcourts of the Prison were already dark. My cell was lit with a pair ofcandles when Jenny brought Alice and her brother Tom to see me.
Alice, poor child! fell into my arms and so lay for a long time, unableto speak for the sobs that tore her almost in pieces, yet unwilling tolet me see her weakness.
Tom--the good fellow--assumed the same air of cheerfulness which he hadlearned to show in the King's Bench. He sniffed the air approvingly. Helooked round with pretended satisfaction. 'Ha!' he said, 'this placehath been misrepresented. The room is convenient, if small; thefurniture solid: the air is not so close as one might expect. For abrief residence--a temporary residence--a man might ... might--I say--'He cleared his throat; the tears came into his eyes: he sank into achair. 'Oh! Will ... Will,' he cried, breaking down, and unable topretend any longer.
Then no one spoke. Indeed all our hearts were full.
'It is not so much on your account, Will,' said Jenny--I observed thatshe wore a domino, and indeed, she never came to the prison after thefirst visit without a domino, a precaution by no means unusual, becauseladies might not like to be seen in Newgate, and in any case it mightarouse suspicions if Jenny were recognised. 'I say it is not on youraccount, so much as for the sake of this dear creature. Madam--Alice--Iimplore you--take courage; we have the proofs of the conspiracy in ourhands. It is a black and hellish plot. The only difficulty is as to thebest means of using our knowledge, and here, I confess, for the moment,I am not certain--'
Alice recovered herself and stood up, holding my hand. 'I cannotbelieve,' she said, 'that such wickedness as this will be permitted tosucceed. It would bring shame and sorrow on children and grandchildrento the third and fourth generations.'
'You all talk about generations,' said Jenny. 'For my part I think ofyou that are alive, not those who are to come. Well, so far it has notsucceeded. For the conspirators are known to me and I am Will'scousin--and this they know not.'
They stayed talking till nine o'clock when visitors had to leave thePrison. Jenny cheered all our hearts. She would hear of no difficulties:all was clear: all was easy: she had the conspirators in her power.To-morrow she would return with her honest and clever attorney. So Alicewent away with a lighter heart, and I was left for the night alone in mycell with a gleam of hope. In the morning that gleam left me, and theday broke upon the place of gloom and brought with it only misery anddespair.
In the forenoon Jenny returned with her attorney. He was the man who hadalready acted for me. His name was Dewberry; he was possessed of amanner easy and assured, which inspired confidence: in face and figurehe was attractive, and he betrayed no eagerness to possess himself ofhis client's money. I observed also, at the outset, that, like all therest he was the servant (who would, if he could, become the lover) ofJenny.
'Now, Mr. Halliday,' he said, 'I have heard some part of your story fromMadame Vallance. I want, next, to hear your own version.' So I told it,while he listened gravely, making notes.
'It is certainly,' he said, 'a very strong point that your death wouldgive Probus the chance of recovering his money. Your cousin could thenpay him off, if he wished, in full. Whether he would do so is anotherquestion. If bankruptcy arrives and finds you still living, all thecreditors would be considered together. Madame,' he turned to Jenny,'you who have so fine a head for management, let us hear your opinion.'
'I think of nothing else,' she said. 'Yet I cannot satisfy myself. Ihave thought that my sister Doll might warn the Captain that both he andthe Bishop would be exposed in Court. But what would happen? They wouldinstantly go off with the news to Merridew. And then? An informationagainst Doll and my mother for receiving stolen goods. And what wouldhappen then? You know very well, Mr. Dewberry. They would have to buytheir release by forbidding the exposure! Why, they are the mostnotorious receivers living. Or, suppose Doll plainly told them that hersister Jenny knew the whole case--they don't know at present--at least,I think not--where I am--but they can easily find out--that I knew thewhole case and meant to expose them. What would happen next? Murder, mymasters. I should be found on my bed with my throat cut, and a letter toshow that it was done by one of my maids.'
'Jenny, for Heaven's sake, do not run these risks.'
'Not if I can help it, Will. Do you know what I think of--besides? It isa doubt whether Matthew would be more rejoiced to see the conspiracysucceed and you put out of the way, or to witness the conviction ofProbus for conspiracy.'
'Softly--softly, Madam,' said the attorney; 'we are a long way yet fromthe trial, even, of Mr. Probus.'
'Jenny,' I said, 'your words bring me confidence.'
'If you feel all the confidence that there is in Newgate it will not beenough, Will, for the confidence that you ought to have. But we mustwork in silence. If our friends only knew what we are talking here, whythen--the Lord help the landlady of the Black Jack and her twodaughters, Jenny and Doll!'
'You must be aware, Sir,' said Mr. Dewberry, 'that it is absolutelynecessary for us to preserve silence upon everything connected with yourdefence. You must not communicate any details upon the subject to yourmost intimate friends and relations.'
'He means Alice,' said Jen
ny.
'We must have secrecy.'
'You may trust a man whose life is at stake.'
'Yes. Now the principal witnesses are the pretended Divine and thepretended country gentleman. They rest in the assurance that none oftheir friends will betray them. We must see what can be done. If weprove that your Irish Divine is a common rogue we make his evidencesuspected, but we do not prove the conspiracy. The fellow might brave itout, and still swear to the attempted robbery. Then as to the otherworthy, we may prove that he is a notorious rogue. Still he may swearstoutly to his evidence. We must prove, in addition, that these tworogues are known to each other--'
'That can be proved by any who were in the King's Bench Prison withthem--'
'And we must connect them with Probus and Merridew.'
'I can prove that as well,' said Jenny. 'That is, if--'
She paused.
'If your witnesses will give evidence. Madam, I would not pour coldwater on your confidence--but--will your witnesses go into the box?'
Jenny smiled. 'I believe,' she said, 'that I can fill the Court withwitnesses.'
'I want more than belief--I want certainty.'
'There is another way,' said Jenny. 'If we could let Mr. Probusunderstand that the sudden and unexpected appearance of a new set ofcreditors would force on Bankruptcy immediately--'
Mr. Dewberry interposed hastily. 'Madam, I implore you. There is nonecessity at all. Sir, this lady would actually sacrifice her ownfortune and her future prospects in your cause.'
'For his safety and for his life--everything.'
'I assure you, dear Madam, there is no need. Your affairs want onlypatience, and they will adjust themselves. To throw them also upon yourhusband's other liabilities would not help this gentleman. For thisreason. There are a thousand tricks and subtleties which a man of Mr.Probus's knowledge may employ for the postponement of bankruptcy untilafter the trial of our friend here. You know not the resources of thelaw in a trained hand. I mean that, supposing Mr. Probus to reckon onthe success of this conspiracy--in which I grieve to find a brother inthe profession involved; he may cause these delays to extend until hisend is accomplished or defeated. A man of the Law, Madam, has greatpowers.'
I groaned.
'Another point is that, unless I am much mistaken, this conspiracy isintended to intimidate and not to be carried out. Mr. Probus will offeryou, I take it, your liberty on condition of your yielding in the matterof that money.'
'Never!' I declared. 'I will die first!'
'Then it remains to be seen if he will carry the thing through.'
So they went on arguing on this side and on that side: which line ofaction was best: which was dangerous: in the end, as you shall see,Jenny took the management of the case into her own hands with resultswhich astonished Mr. Dewberry as well as the Court, myself, and the fourheroes of the conspiracy.
Five weeks, I learned, would elapse before my case would be tried inCourt. It was a long and a tedious time to contemplate in advance.Meantime, I was kept in ignorance, for the most part, of what was beingdone. Afterwards I learned that Jenny carried on the work in secrecy, sothat not only the conspirators might not have the least suspicion butthat even Mr. Dewberry did not know what was doing until she placed thecase complete, in his hands a few days before the trial. Jenny contrivedall: Jenny paid for all: what the case cost her in money I neverlearned. She spared nothing, neither labour, nor travel, nor money.Meantime I lived on now in hope, now in despondency: to go outside amongmy fellow prisoners was to increase the wretchedness of prison. Everymorning Alice brought provisions for the day. Tom brought me my violinand music so that I was not without some consolations.
As I remember this gloomy period, I remember with thankfulness how I wasstayed and comforted by two women, of whom one was a Saint: and theother was--well, Heaven forbid that I should call her a Sinner, in whomI never found the least blemish: but not, at least, a Christian. Thefirst offered up prayers for me day and night, wrestling in prayer likeJacob, for the open manifestation of my innocence. Alice was filled witha sublime faith. The Lord whom she worshipped was very near to her. Hewould destroy His enemies; He would preserve the innocent; the wickedwould be cast down and put to perpetual shame. Never have I witnessed afaith so simple and so strong. Yet to all seeming; to the conspiratorsthemselves; I had not a single witness whom I could call in my defence:that a man was poor favoured the chance of his becoming a robber; that abrother-in-law, also a prisoner in the Rules, should be ready to saythat I was incapable of such an action could not help. What could weallege against the clear and strong evidence that the four perjuredvillains would offer when they should stand up, and swear away my life?'Have courage,' said Alice, 'Help cometh from the Lord. He will havemercy upon the child and--oh! Will--Will--He will have mercy upon thefather of the child.'
Mr. Dewberry came often. He had little to tell me. Jenny had gone away.Jenny had not told him what she was doing. 'Sir,' he said, 'but for theconfidence I have in that incomparable woman and in her assurances Ishould feel anxious. For as yet, and we are within a fortnight of thetrial, I have not a single witness who can prove the real character ofthe pretended Divine and the pretended country gentleman. But sinceMadam assures us--' He produced his snuff-box and offered it--'Why--then, Sir--in that case--I believe in the success of yourdefence.'
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