SZ3 XI442 W i^4 XI BRAINY OF THE U N IVLRS ITY Of ILLI NOIS 82 5 vl The person charging this material is re- sponsible for its return to the library from which it was withdrawn on or before the Latest Date stamped below\ Theft, mutilation, and underlining of books are reasons for disciplinary action and may result in dismissal from the University. To renew call Telephone Center, 333-8400 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS LIBRARY AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN m 3 1 w " ■ 8"" ^^ i L161— O-1096 Digitized by the Internet Arciiive in 2010 witin funding from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign http://www.archive.org/details/talesofmylandlor01fear TALES OF MY LANDLORD, CONTAINING PONTEFRACT CASTLE. Between the Calder and the Aire Shall be " great warfare." Dahe Shipton's Prophecies. IN THREE VOLUMES. VOL. L LONDON: PRINTED FOR WILLIAM FEARMAN, NEW BOND STREET. 1820. --- LONDON: PRINTED BY J. GILLET^ CROWN COURT, FLEET STREET. PROEM. The Author in his distant quiet seclusion has heard some rumour of various motives attributed to the present shape in which he appears ; and among others, the '' amor num- mi" has been unscrupulously sug- gested. The friends of the Author know well, that lucre is the last thing xj which enters his thoughts ; and that &d it is the only quarrel which he has ^ with his friends, because he makes ^ it the last thing. b What, then, was his motive for a ^ 11 PROEM. writing ? Perhaps his answer may not be very complimentary, but nevertheless, it is true. It was to please himself ; and the idea either of praise or dispraise, never once entered his contemplation. It was the pleasure of embodying a dream of imagination. It is very pro- bable that he never will be known as the Author. Were it otherwise, he should present the work to the public respectfully, but fearlessly ; because no man, even of mediocre talents, will stake much upon the good or ill success of a novel. In the Author's case, whatever may be the fate of this book, he will be as much beyond the reach of the cen- sure, as intangible by the praise. THE AUTHOR. THE PIBUSHERS PEEFACE. AS several harsh and unjusti- fiable things have been said of this undertaking, by persons who did not even wait for an opportunity of having the affair fully laid before them, I trust the public will not think it an intrusion on my part to precede the New Series of Tales of My Landlord, by my vindication. The affair is so stiaight forward, fair and honorable, that under any other circumstances than the pre- judgement adverted to, vindication w^ould be superfluous. I therefore, with great respect, entreat permis- vi publisher's preface sion to lay the ensuing papers un- der the eye of the public. First Advertisement, dated lAfh October, I8I9. On the First of November will be Puhlished NEW TALES OF MY LANDLORD, CONTAINING " PONTEFRACT CASTLE." Orders received by all the Booksellers in London. After this, by accident, my clerk inserted by way of saving time, another Advertisement copied from the corner of an old magazine, viz. Tales of My Landlord, collected and arranged by Jedediah Cleish- botham, &c. publisher's preface. vii Upon this Mr. John Ballantyne pounced with acumen and velocity of a welL bred hawk ; and the fol- lowing fulminating manifesto im- mediately appeared in all the Lon- don papers, TALES OF MY LANDLORD. SIR, I have observed in the Chro- nicle lately, the Advertisement of a Fourth Series, Tales of My Land- lord, by Jedediah Cleisbotham, &c. &c. to be published the 1st of No- vember. That the public may not be TAKEN IN, to suppose this work a production of the Author of Tales of My Landlord in three series ; viii publisher's preface- the first containing the Black Dwarf and the Old Mortality ; the second, the Heart of Mid Lothian; and the third, the Bride of Lammer- muir, and the Legend of Montrose ; I who have transacted betwixt the Publishers and the Author of these works, as his Agent, do, on my certain knowledge, assure you and the Public, that this Author has no concern whatever with the catch- penny Publication announced as above ; and although I have not his express authority for saying so, I am morally assured, he will at no period send any further work to the public under the title of Tales of My Landlord. The copy-right of the Tales of My Landlord, in twelve volumes, has been purchased by, and is now PUBLISHER S PREFACE. 1\* the property of Messrs. Constable and Co. ; who are taking legal MEASURES to interdict the publica- tion of this Spurious Work, under their title, and to PUNISH those concerned in it, when they shall be discovered. I am, Sir, Your obedient servant, John Ballantyne. Bookseller J or Scotland^ iv his R. //. the Prince Resent, Stimulated by so insulting, and so fool-hardy an attack, some people might have been impelled to have taken the foolish hint of the writer, and to have done what there is iiu doubt could have been done by law, not only with perfect safety, but cer- tain anticipation of prostrating and confounding any injunction X publisher's preface. that might ensue. The name of the Author, as Mr. Ballantyne icell knoivs, would never have beenforthcoming, to EFFECTUATE that mjutiction. Ver- bu)n sat. But the Publisher knew that his Work was perfectly honor- able, and his character restrained him from acting unbecomingly, how- ever resentment mi2;ht at first incite him to play for a short time with the *' jesses" of this fierce fluttering hawk, before the time came for '' whistling him down the wind.'' He accordingly replied with the fol- lowing letter, the concealed and harmless joke of which, ostensible to all but Mr. John Ballantyne, has been I understand received with much diversion by the public. publisher's preface. ±i TALES OF MY LANDLORD. " Non deficit alter Aureus." ViRo. SIR, That you are the Purchaser and Publisher of the First, Second, and Third Series of the Tales of My Landlord nobody questions. I also am the Purchaser and Publisher of the Fourth Series. If by the Autkor you mean Jedediah Cleishbotham, I think (to say the least of it) you presume too much, when without having read a line of the Fourth Series you pronounce it spurious. The Fourth Series collected and ar- ranged by Jedediah Cleishbotham, is no more spurious than the First, the Second, or the Third. It is for XU PUBLISHER .S PREFACE. the Public to judge of that when they see the Work, and certainly not for you who have never seen it. That Jedediah will prosecute Jedediah, because Jedediah's stores have happily furnished a Fourth Series, is as little to be believed as feared. I have the honor to be, Sir, your humble servant, William Fearman. 170, New Bond-street. Immediately after which I dis- tributed the following letter gratis for the further satisfaction of the Trade and the Public: PUBLISHER S PREFACE. XIU A Letter in Hephj to the ridiculous Threats of Mr, John Ballan- TYNE, BaokseUer for Scotland^ against the Publisher of the forth-- coming Series of '' Tales of my Landlord/^ containing '' Pon- TEFRACT Castle/^ Addressed to the Editors of the Daily Papers, but too long for Insertion. Quid enim est minus, non dico oratoris, sed ho- MINIS, quam id objicere adversario, quod ille si verbo negarit, longius progredi non possit, qui objecerit. Cicero, ^nd Pfiillip. Mr. Editor, Observing a letter in your pa- per of this (lay, signed by John Bal- lantyne, bookseller for Scotland to his Royal Highness the Prince Re- gent, affirming that a Fourth Series XIV PUBLISHER S PREFACE. of '' Tales of My Landlord/'^ is a spurious Work, and that though he has no express authority for saying so, he is morally assured that the Author will at no period, send any further work to the Public under the title of '^ Tales of My Landlord,^^ I think it my duty, as publisher of the '' New Tales of My Landlord,^' now in the press, to warn the Pub- lic against being taken in, (as that Gentleman elegantly expresses it), by the flagrant sophistry of Mr. John Ballantyne. He argues all through ah ignoto. The name of Jedediah Cleishbotham is notori- ously a fictitious name, and belongs to no one. To say that there is any one of that name having property in any thing, is 'di fraudulent asser- tion. It is open to any body to assume it, as it is to write a conti- PUBLISHERS PREFACE. XV nuation of the *' Tales of My Land- lord/^ No damage can result to the Publisher of the foregoing se- ries : and if injunctions could be obtained against continued Works, the best continuers of history would liave been in an aukward predica- ment. But how does Mr. John Ballantyne prove his case ? By ad- mitting that the New Tales may be genuine. The Author at the end of the Third Series, in so many words, assures the Public, that he has done with them ; but this sagacious ad- vocate comes forward to shake the only strong point he had, by con- fessing that he is not morally cer- tain of this? And it was but the other day, that one of the partners of Constable's house asserted, in presence of the trade, that the Au- thor would appear in several new XVI publisher's preface. shapes. Who is to pronounce that the forthcoming edition be not one of them ? The Pubhc, as well as the Trade, have been so used of late to rather ungentleman-like trickeries, shifts, and coquetries on the part of Publishers, Book-makers, and Authors, that it will be difficult for them to decide who is and who is not the Author of a new work, and the greedy motive is thus very likely to produce its own surfeit- to make a rod for its own back. There is one straight-forward and manly way of settling the question. Let the Author come forward and claim his own, not as Jedediah Cleishbotham, not as " the dream of a dream, and shadow of a shade ;^' not under the wing of Mr, John Ballantyne, Bookseller for Scot- land, who can onlv ofter the brass publisher's preface, xvii of his assertions in lieu of current coin. I shall then be enabled to decide whether the MS. I hold is or is not by the same person ; cer- tainly I cannot, till then, take upon me to pronounce. But my con- viction is, tliat it is, and such is the opinion of others, from the in- ternal evidence of the Work ; ne- vertheless, if it be not, it is certainly legal for any person that chuses to continue the subject : the more espe- cially, if it be true that the original Author has dropt it. Indeed, that Author particularly recommends the continuation, and even points out a particular individual for the purpose. What has Mr. John Bal- lantyne to say to that? It would appear that he is not so much be- hind the curtain as he imagines. Who knows but it may be some xviii publisher's preface. known or unknown friend of the Author's, who has taken up his hint ? It is a great desideratum, that the Tales should be continued by- some one, and particularly to con- nect the great drama of events therein recorded, Avith similar scenes and actors in the sister country. The New Tales embrace this ob- ject, and, in the opinion of those who have seen them, with a master's grasp. But perhaps Mr. John Bal- lantyne, Bookseller for Scotland, wishes to monopolize the scene as well as the Author, to his own coun- try. The title which he assumes, is certainly very magnificent and very imposing, and the Scotch air of his residence may perhaps sharpen his power of discrimination, endow- ing him with a kind of second publisher's preface, xix sight, and enabling him to see, what other men cannot see. But it is rather too much to pronounce, by his ipse dixit only, which is the real Simon Pure, when the means of ending the question are in the hands of the two parties most concerned, the Author and the Bookseller. There is, at all events, something suspicious in this unnecessary shuf- fling out of the direct road. The dictatorial tone he assumes may suit the zenith of his shop, and the na- ture of northern criticism ; but it is rather too presumptuous — rather too great an insult to English com- mon sense, to pronounce that to be a catch-penny publication which he has never seen. It is for the public to decide whether the New Tales are worthy of comparison with the old. It remains to be XX PUBLISHER'S PREFACE seen whether they are inferior, or equal, or superior: the public also will no doubt pronounce whether they are spurious or not ; cer- tainly it will not take Mr. John Ballantyne's bare word in lieu of proof, on so nice a matter, and will not readily believe that the author is bound up from offering any por- tion of his mental labours to a Lon- don Publisher, without making him his counsellor. In the meanwhile, that publisher laughs at the ridi- culous threat of punishment, which is another indiscretion of Mr. John Ballantyne, Bookseller for Scotland. There is an old proverb, which he would do well to remember — not to extend the arm further than it can be withdrawn with safety. The Work excommunicated by this Scotch bull ex cathedra is yet in nu^ publisher's preface. xxi bibus. Perhaps it may suit Mr, John Ballantyne's idea of law to punish an offence before it is com- niitted; but I rather think neither his law nor his reason will acquire him many converts on thisside of the Tweed. When the work appears, it will be time enough to pronounce whether it is legal or illegal ; it will not appear without the very best advice as to its perfect security. I, as publisher, disclaim all ideas of acting in the least degree disho- r.ourably by the Author, whoever he may be. I have no means of judg- ing what is his, or what is not his composition. Were I sure that my MS, were not his, and the publica- tion contrary to his wish, I would drop the title, and trust, as I well might, to the intrinsic merit of the Work. But the case stands thus : — . if it is his, Mr, Ballantyne has been xxii publisher's preface. talking nonsense without authority> and throwing his brutumfulmen at a shadow ; if it is not, then I maintain that it is not only legal and justifi- able for another to continue any suspended work ; but in this case it is at the express recommendation of the Author himself. I am, Sir, Your obedient servant, WILLIAM FEARMAN. 170, New Bond Street, October 28, 1819. After having taken this step, and finding that the thunder-storm from Scotland had rolled back again to- wards the north, and died away in distant murmurs over the High- street, Edinburgh, I began to make up my mind to enjoy this publisher's preface, xxiii glimpse of sunshine — '' The winter of our discontent'^ seemed " now- made glorious summer/' when a sudden dribbling shower, supposed to be generated by a Scotch mist in Conduit-street, for a moment ob- scured the prospect, and I saw the following very gentlemanlike epi- thets in a weekly Literary Criti- cism, not without thinking how well the phrases became the writer and his master : — But perhaps, it will be like break- ing a butterfly on the wheel to quote the Work, or at least will confer an ephemeral interest upon it, which it never will otherwise obtain. I had thoughts of gibbeting the pas- sage ill t error em y and leaving it as — " Fit garbage for the hell-hound Infamy." But as the wisest man once said : — *' He that toucheth pitch will be XXiv FUBLISHEU'S PREFACE. defiled thereb}^^^ I, therefore, ab- stain, and suffer the slanderer to take shelter from castigation behind my contempt. I only quote the more prominent epithets to prove that my retort was fair. The following is the ascending climax of this blow- fly's pyramid of offal : '' paltry and vile artifices ;" '' cheat ;^^ *' palm rubbish ;" '^pretenders and rascals.^^ The public will, no doubt, take upon themselves to enquire and to decide, whether the Author deserves the character of a pretender, or I that of a rascal. At first I took no further notice of this miserable drudge of a master as miserable— this literary Whackum of a literary Sidrophil, {lover of stars), than by these two additions to the ensuing advertisements : — publisher's preface. XXV Speedily will he published, TALES OF MY LANDLORD ; CONTAINING PONTEFRACT CASTLE, Printed for William Fearman, 170, New Bond- Street. The Publisher has observed in a weekly literary fraud, notoriously got up to puff off the publica- tions of a particular bookseller, (that bookseller as notorious for his literary frauds, under the shape of Vampyres, Stars, mock Harolds, mock Edgworths, mock Ortises, 7nock Giin^ nings,) a pre-judgment of the above Tales, though never seen by the cri- tic. To notice him further would be to increase his paltry circulation. The work will be his best answer. b xxvi publisher's preface TALES OF MY LANDLORD ; CONTAINING PONTEFRACT CASTLE, The MS. of the above Work coming from a great distance, the Publisher begs to offer that as an excuse for any apparent delay. He is fully aware of the great anxiety it excites, and he assures the Public that first-rate literary men who have seen the concluding sheets, agree in thinking it will form an era in the Annals of Romance. The characters are magically drawn, the pathos is deep-toned, and the reach of object grand and sublime. He pledges himself that when it appears, it will cover the *' Bookseller for Scot- land'^ and " the Critic for Conduit- publisher's preface, xxvii street/^ with confusion. — No. 170, New Bond-street. But, seeing an observation at the sarne time in a respectable literary print, apparently misled by the m- tentional equivociiie about di fourth series, (because a new. series may be a fourth, as well as a new dynasty,) I thought it better at once to com- press into one letter to the Editor a vindication of myself, and as full an explanation as I could give of the work^s transmission to my hands. To shew, however, that I am not so malignant as those who have as- saulted me, I have erased several observations first inserted, which seemed called for by the intem- perance of the attack. b2 Kxviii publisher's pbeface TALES OF MY LANDLORD. I prythee keep thy hands off from my throat. For though I am not splenetic and rash. Yet is there in me something dangerous. Which let thy wisdom fear. Hamlet, Sir, ^^ I have seen in a rival paper, the mechanism of which is pretty well understood by the public, as well as the string which sets the cri- tical puppet in motion, a pre-judg- ment of the above work. In thus showing his capacity for criticism, this gentleman has, at the same time, taken pains to shew his fool- hardiness, as well a s his vulgarity. A man (says aGermaii proverb) publisher's preface, xxix who has a glass-house should not throw stones. My character, I am proud to say, will bear investiga- tion ; but he has applied to it terms which, perhaps, are only applicable to his own. In the mean time,not con- sidering him as a critic, but rather as the miserable toad eating hireling of a particular bookseller, expressly bolstered up to puff off that book- seller's publications under the false colours of criticism : this is the ser- viceable piece of advice which I have to offer him : — First, to under- stand the works placed under his nose by his master for criticism, be- fore he takes the Munchausen leap of criticising a work he has never seen. When he has laid open tlie fraudulent tricks of Vampyres, Mock Harolds, Stars and No Stars, which are the ' secrets of his prison-house/ XXX PUBLISHER'S PREFACE. he maybe allowed to strut awhile in his borrowed plumage of mock scrupulous honor, wiiich, really, I cannot help saying, puts one in mind of the hollow braggadochio ofParolles. '^ There are also two other lapses which it may be well for him to explain to the Public. By what in- ducement was it that he who affects to be an anti-reformer, assisted the cause of reform lately with so much superrogatory ingenuity, in an arti- cle on the Carbonari and secret so- cieties ? The answer is, his master bade him, and a suspension act takes place ad interim in his political zeal. After settling this question, he will perhaps, explain by what means the same critic professing to be a friend of the church, puifs off a Work of PUBtlSHER^S PREFACE. XXxi notorious Atheism and Materialism, which strikes at the foundation pillars of society ? Answer !'^ — Perhaps, I can answer for him : his master is the publisher of the book ! ! When this knight-errant who '' pricks forward" with such a puritan countenance to defend the cause of morality, stands him- self rectus in curia, men who are so will condescend to enter into further discussion with him. As for the Author he is as much above the sphere of the critic's associates, as his character is intan2;ible bv the slime of this '' poor snaiPs'' malignity. '' Permit me now, sir, to say one word to a concluding remark made by you purporting a wish that I had dropt the title of Tales of My Land- lord, and retained that ofPontefract xxxii publisher's preface. . Castle only. To this I reply, that however well convinced I am, that the romance under any title will fix strong grappling irons on the public mind, I have no authority for doing so : as the author sent it in its present shape without comment or explanation. If, indeed, my doubts were stronger than my con- fidence in the originality of the Work, I certainly will not be brow- beatinto recantation. Nevertheless, considering it as a mooted point, and as I value my character among my brethren in trade, I have taken the opinion of a man as high in the prefession of the law, as he is cele- brated in literature, and unsullied in honour. His opinion is that (whether my MS. is by the first author or not) the mode of its pro- jected appearance is perfectly honor- publisher's preface, xxxiii able ; a thing by the bye which can- not be applied to the mode of the above critic's late disappearance. But this immaculate censor thinks it dishonorable, forsooth ! and here by the way I may just as well remark, what pretty advocates have taken up their brief against me ; they are really — Arcades ambo. Parum cantare parati. Two Scotch swains ready to shig small. '' First comes forward Mr. John Ballantyne, Bookseller, for Scot- land 1 who (as I believe, I have suc- cessfully shown elsewhere) with pro- digious energy and wide-put blows, destroys the only strong point in his own case ; convincing me more that I am riiiht. Then follows the Critic for Couduit-street, and while lie b 5^ xxxiv publisher's preface. strikes a blow at a shadow, cuts with his sword his nearest political ally. The New Tales of My Land- lord (leaving the identity of the au- thor out of the question) is no more fraudulent than the New Times. It is well known that a charge of this nature is thrown against the re- spectable editor of that paper by a rival notorious for his idolatry of lucre and time serving principles ; who in my case has shown his usual tact and perception of what con- cerns justice between man and man in denying me the defence to which I had a right. Certainly his charge against the editor of the New Times is as base as it is false ; and that editor, I scruple not to say it, is known to be as tenacious of ho- nor as any man living in this country. publisher's preface. XXXV *' Permit, me, now to state, the remainder of the opinion obtained from the counsel above mentioned, because it is very remarkable, and serves to place the head - strong folly of Mr. John Ballantyne, and his Scotch compeer in alto relievo. It is to this effect : — that if a pub- lisher scrupled not at a dishonorable trick for the sake of filling his pockets (a la mode of the above critic and his master) all fne particu- lars including the actual title page of the foregoing series might be copied word for word with probable secu- rity to that publisher. It is true an injunction might lay in that case ; but that injunction would most pro- bably be highly beneficial to such a fallacious work ; and this whether it failed or not. But it is almost ''mo- rally certain'' that the injunction xxxvi publisher's preface. would evaporate into an '' airy no Ihing'^; because to effectuate it the Author of all the foregoing tales must publicly reveal his name. Thus you may see what a pretty vista Mr. John Ballantyne has laid open to those who are not so scru- pulous as myself. It shows the fool-hardihood of provoking a blow as hard struck in retort as in at- tack. Neither can there be a doubt that such an imitation would excite a feverish interest in the public mind beyond all other pre- cedent. Such a Title Page, indeed, would act like the spell of an enchanter, dragging from his invisible castle, spite of himself and his guards, the gigantic archimage who has so long enchanted the denizens of the re- PUBLISHER .S PREFACE. XXXVU public of letters. There might be vain glory in this, but certainly no honor. It must be axiomatic that an Author will not hurt himself. And nothing conjfirms me so much in my belief, that my manuscript is ge- nuine, as this fact ; that theAuthor has avoided the most obvious road of profitable trickery ; laying open for himself, as it were, a new career, at the same time, as he in no ways injures the copyright of his former Publications. The only cause of complaiut which is likely to rise against it will spring from the Scotch Book- sellers, whose monopoly it will break. The London Booksellers have long felt this galling yoke xxxviii publisher's preface upon their necks, and the moment is now come when they may shake it off. Who knows but the Author may wish to prove himself a citizen of both countries ? Will Mr. Bal- lantyne, or Mess. Constable pre- sume to say that they hold a man of his gigantic talents in leading- strings? Oh fye, it is utterly un- w^orthy of belief. The Work as I have stated, Mr. Editor, is of a very different cha- racter to the obvious fraud whicli would have been suggested to a dis- honourable man. 1 have no power to alter its title. It was consigned to me without comment, under tlie ti- tle oiTales of my Landlord., a Nero Se- ries ; and although one Advertise- ment was by accident taken to the papers witli a view to save time, publisher's preface, xxxix. copied from an old Advertisement of the Tales; any unprejudiced person, that is not gifted with the second siiiht of the Edinburgh and Conduit Street Critic, might have seen that the title was in no ways copied, and that the motto was ob- viously different. This proves to me that it is a '' new shape/' of the Author, al- though still lingering round the en- chanted ground, which he had before clothed with so much beauty. My opinion is further corroborated by several literary men, who all agree in thinking, that if it be not by the Author, which is very doubtful, it is at least by some literary friend, at his recommendation. Certainly, my humble opinion xl publisher's preface. may not appear of much weight after '' the slashing Criticism of the Bookseller for Scotland, and the Critic for Conduit Street. But whether it be by the Author, or not, the forthcoming Tale bears marks of the powerful grasp of a master spirit. Many of the cha- racters appear to me of almost magical beauty, and in my judge- ment, however unequal it may be to the graphic power of the foregoing Tales, it is superior in its wide po- litical embrace, and the grand reach of its object. I pledge myself to the Public, that it will produce a strong sensation. By accident I am acquainted with the effects of some anonymous publications, sent pri- vately to thejournals; but to my knowledge, by the same Author, and I never knew them to fail : the PtJBLISHER^S PREFACE. xli vibration of the chord struck by his concealed and master hand has often been, and is at this moment, felt to the extremity of the country. Neither did I ever know him on these occasions to rise from a con- troversy, at whatever odds, with- out complete victory. Such a mind as that is not to be hermetically sealed, like a spirit, in the North. I have in fact no doubt thatPonte- fract Castle will create an era in the annals of Romance. I am. Sir, Your obedient, servant, William Fearman. 170, New Bond-street. xlii publisher's preface, I hope this vindication will be sa- tisfactory. j\Iy opinion remains un- sliaken : that there are strong evi- dences about the Work sufificient to warrant the inference, that the New Series is written by the same Author as the first, second, and third. Among other evidences, there are proverbs and phrases which the friends of the reputed Author will immediately recognize as peculiar to him. The unsupported assertions of Mess.Ballantyne and Constable, are worse than nothing. They only con- solidate my opinion ; and if this were not the case, the strange vacillating manner in which they have met my prompt straight-forward call upon them, would settle the question, in my mind, as it does with many others. I beg leave, in conclusion, to corroborate what I here suo;2[est. publisher's preface, xliii by the following very singular ex- tract evidently from the fountain- head, and smuggled into a country paper, because it happens to be near the scene of Pontefract Castle. Sheffield Mercury y October 30, ISig. '' In addition to the romance called Ivanhoe, which we last week announced as about to emanate from the pen of the author of Wa- verly, we can assure our readers, that the same writer has another work in the press, entitled The jSIo- nastery, which is speedily to make its appearance in London. It is sup- posed that it will be t\\Q foundation of a nexo series of Novels, which are to be brought forward as THE production OF SOME OTHER Xliv PUBLISHER'S PREFACE. WRITER. The Deception, how- ever, will be soon seen through.^' After this who will not exclaim ? f* Quern Deus vult perdere prius dementat." One thing is finally certain, that if this Work be not by the Author of the three foregoing Series, I can confidently aver that theAuthor will not disapprove this continuation. If he does, his own words rise in judgment against him. publisher's preface. xlv p. S. The publisher is aware that some explanatory notes would clear up many ambiguous points about the ensuing Work, and the Reader will be equally aware, on perusal, that an interesting appendix of at least one volume might have been added to the romance. Such addi- tion would lay the more obviously in the Author's path, inasmuch as it is well understood that the most ex- traordinary incidents of the work could be substantiated, not only by analogy, but by proof; and this, indeed, if the work were of a more historical character. As a history, it might be supported, but as a ro- mance, perhaps, the term '' authen- ticated" may apply. Nevertheless, the Author disdains to avail him- self of the a la mode manner of sneaking all manner of essays upon xlvi publisher's preface. the Public under the book-mak- ing mask of annotation. How- ever profitable it would have been to him, still he disdains it ; and he is of opinion, that as he has had few to set him the example of this contempt for lucre, so he wifl have few imitators. PONTEFRACT CASTLE. CHAPTER r. Good Lord, confound King Oliver, And all his saintly crew, With Rainsborough, the leveller, And Pride, that precious Jew. Genealogy of Parliament, 1648. SoMERs's Tracts. It was on the 5th of June, 1648, on a beautiful summer evening, that two cavaliers, arrayed in the peculiar military dress which characterized their party, stood conferring together, on the accli- vity of the enormous mound which forms the base of Pontefract Castle, and sur- veying, with admiration, the rich and mellow hue which was conferred on tlie- extensive prospect by a sun setting in the midst of a magnificent strata of gold and VOL. I. B ^ PONTEFRACT CASTLE. crimson-coloured clouds. Before them, to the north-west, lay a plain, skhted on each side by woods and young planta- tions, divided by the silver n\ aters of the meandering Aire, and bounded by a dis- tant ridge of empurpled hills. Villas, in abundance, were discovered, seated amidst gardens and orchards, and tower- ing, with their white fronts and chimnied roofs, from the umbrageous nooks which nearly concealed the less-aspiring farm- houses in their vicinity ; and now and then the acute and glittering spire of a Yinao;e church betraved the site of some embowered village. More towards the east, the ambitious turrets of York Min- ster were just discernible at the extremity of a boundless plain, the flatness of which was, in some degree, relieved by the jjcautifully sloping hills of Bray ton Barf and Hambleton Hough, which rose to the right in all the luxuriance of wooded cloathing ; above, radiant with the golden beams of the setting sun ; beneath, em- PONTEFIIACT CASTLE. «5 browned with the stealing shadows of evening. Of the two strangers, who now contemplated this magnificent scene, nei- ther were arrived at (he middle age of hfoj altliough one, from the more com- posed dignity of his person and manner, as well as from the traces which thought, not nnmixed with sorrow, left upon his countenance, appeared ccnsiderably the elder. His dress, which was that of a cavalier, was elegant and rich, and evi- dently arranged with that scrupulous attention, which seemed to imply a con- tra.^^t with the slovenly and uncouth ves- ture which characterized the republicans, among whom neglect of dress was a eon- jscientious principle, which they sup- f)orted by texts from scripture. He wore a Spanish slouched hat, with a large sable feather, which drooped over hi» forehead — his vest and doublet were of crimson velvet, slashed in the Spanish manner, and his ruff and ruffles of the finest Brussels lace, scolloped a la Faw- t/ifke. To these if the rosettes whicli b2 4 PONTEFRACT CASTLE. decorated his shoes and knees are added, the whole effect of his dress certainly gave to liis appearance something too effeminate, or, at least, too recherche for a soldier, if that effect had not been coun- teracted by his hardy and sun-burnt countenance, and the military air with which he negligently crossed his arms in the folds of his large red cloak. From the manner and dress of his companion, he appeared to be a subordinate officer : but there was an air of shrewdness^ united with audacious courage in his small and alert black eye, which shewed that his post in life, how^ever placed, could i^ot be unimportant; and the daring expression of his look was much set off' and lieiglitened bv the black and sturdy mustachios which covered his upper lip. The two strano'ers stood for some time in silent contemplation. At length the elder began to exhibit symptoms of im- patience — " Paulden 's late to-night," he said ; *' he's not true to his usual punc- tual character, and this is the more ex- PONTEFRACT CASTLE. O traordinary, since he is well aware that accuracy in such objects as we have un- dertaken, is almost the only chance of being successful. It must be near nine o'clock." — '' It cannot be far off," rejoin- ed his companion, '^ for the last gleam of the sun is now on the top of Brayton Barf. But, hark ! it strikes !" As he spoke, the deep-toned bell of the church of xVUhallows began to repeat the hour, and, at the same time, the distant tramp of horses' feet was distinctly heard. '* It is Paulden," said the superior stranger. '^ 1 am afraid not, colonel," replied the other, '^ for the sound is that of a troop, not of a single man ; and he w^ould scarcely allow any companions to participate in an affair of so much secrecy." '' Right: but tlie discussion may be easily shortened — that little bank on the right commands a view of the main-road — will you have the goodness to go there and reconnoitre ?" The young soldier departed, without f> PONTEFRACT CASTLE, further rejoinder ; and soon returned With the iriteiiigeiiee, that there was a large body of horse coming up the hill, and that, as far as he could discern through the deepening shadows of even- ing, they were a party of Parliamenta- rians. ^' Stand aside, then, lest we be disco- vered," said his companion ; " these gen- tlemen are generally suspicious, and it is as well to keep out of their way." They had, however, scarcely time to retire behind the proj ect iug mound, before-named, when a party of horse, in loose order,- passed them at a round trot. They were preceded by a large muscular man, on a rcan horse, who was talking with an air of condescen- sion to two officers, who rode on each side of him. They seemed very earnest ; but the subject of the conversation was rendered indistinguishal^le, from the tramp of the horses' feet : once or twice, however, they heard the name of Mor- PONTEFRACT CASTLE. i rice repeated in a tone more than usual! y vehement. The elder stranger started — ^' ByG — , colonel," said his compa- nion, *' they are talking about you : i distinctly — " " Hush !" said the colonel, " your voice may betray us. Stay — I think [ know the leader. Yes ; I cannot be de- ceived, notwithstanding the duskiness ot* the light. Depend upon it, no one owns that brawny shape and seamanlike stoop but Rainsborough." ^^ Impossible ! — Rainsborough ? what, Cromwell's right hand !" ** Speak lower, Lieutenant Austwick ; I am satisfied it is him^ and he is going to the castle, doubtless on some errand which bodes us no good. Paulden will not come to-night ; I shall therefore fol- low him, and learn what the purport of his visit is." So saying, he turned, fol- lowed by his companion, into the main road) which was now filled with dust, from the passage of the troop, and echoed 8 PONTEFRACT CASTLE. with the retiring sound of their horses' iect " Neither the actor nor the scene, I am afraid," said the elder stranger, " bode good to royalty. The march of evil has now become so rapid and overwhelming, that no one can pronounce at what point it is prepared to stop. A great crisis is evidently approaching. The king is in the way of these bloody-minded traitors ; and, what is worse, defenceless, and in their povver. Who knows the atrocities they are capable of executing ? Alas ! Pontefract Castle, which has been twice stained with royal blood, and once with that of a deposed sovereign, may be des- tined to consummate the fearfid tragedy of Puritanical Reform by the murder of another. * *' Oh, Pomfret, Pomfret ! oh, thou bloody prison ! Fatal and ominous to noble peers : Within the guilty closure of thy walls, Richard the Second here was hacked to death." PONTEFRACT CASTLE. U As thus the train of Morrice's tlioughts lod him to sohloquize aloud, he looked up despondently to the dark and frowning walls which over-hung the spot which he occupied, and harmonized but too well with the gloomy tenor of his anticipations. The ofround where he stood commanded a view of the walls of the ballium on the western side, and four of the seven towers with which it was flanked at regular in- tervals. Beneath the deep shadow which the massy walls produced, he could but just distinguish the barbican and draw- bridge on the opposite side of the moaf ^vhich defended the main entrance. But while the rest of these massy buildings sunk into gradual obscurity, the circulai outline of the gigantic keep which towered above the rest of the edifice, became more forcibly delineated on (he now starry heavens. It was a building wliich seemed U) recall the days of feodal virulence, and record the history of many a dreadful deed which had occurred within its walls, B o 10 PONTEFRACT CASTLE. thoKe v.'tiHs whose massive thickness i^eemed to bid defiance to force as well as time. Lights were glancing widely and rapidly through the merlins and oilets of the adjoining turrets and watch-towers ; giving intimation that Rainsboroiigh wa« arrived. A few minutes after, the range of windows on the second story of the keep, which Morrice knew to belong to the governor's apartments, were at once illuminated, antl the steady and strong ray, while it reddened the opposite flanks of the angular turrets, glanced over the rugged parapet, and through the salley- ports of the outward wall. *^ There is no further time to be lost, lieutenant Austwick," said Morrice, shak- ing; off the reserve vv^iich a survev of these " midacia saxa^'' erected by gothic energy and power had produced;—'! must go directly, or I shall not gain ad- mittance to the iTOvernor ; these streams of light which you see issuing from so wsany apertures, and playing upon the PONTEFRACT CASTLE. 11 boughs of the trees which surround us, are as ominous to the cause of royalty, as the lierv hair of the war-denouncino^ comet. We must devise some means of opposing this raaHfic aspect. Come let us hasten to the guard-house before the bridge is raised for the night. ^' But you are a pri- vileged man, colonel," said Austwick, *' and may have admittance at any time. It will not be easy for Rainsborouo:h, nor any other person to shake your credit with the governor. ' " Yes : at present you may be right, Austwick," rejoined his companion, as walking hastily on they approached the gate. '^ But it is a caprice : and like all friendship, in which the ima- gination enters more than the judgment mav not be of lono^ endurance. I have, besides, told you, that I discern an evil combination in the horoscope of Pom fret, which may obliterate the efficacy of my present ascendant. But hush ! was not that tlie sound of a horse's foot ?" 12 PONTEFRACT CASTLE. *^ By my faith, it seemed so," said Aust- wickj listening. '^ Sure there are no stragglers hnking about, or some of the party returned to reconnoitre us !" " No, no, the sound came from the Doncaster direction : and hark ! it is now close at hand." The sound was lost in the hollow of the road. As he spoke, a cuirrassier officer, having pistols at his belt and saddle bow, and riding for the life, came dashing up the hill towards the speakers. His horse was covered with foam, and so great was his precipitancy that he hardly gave them time to clear the passage before he was at tlieii' side. The quick eye of Morrice instantly discerned a friend; " Is it you captain?' Nonebiit Paulden could ride in that break-neck manner." A hearty laugh announced that the guess was right. " What a lucky dog I am." *' Sink me if I did not tliink I had missed you, colonel ; but you're in company : — who have we here ? Allen PONTEPR^CT CASTLE. 13 Austw icke; if this owl-light will suffer mie to know a friend." *' The same, Paulden ; but what has detained you? The colonel and myself have been kicking our heels for a good hour; while you, I suppose, have been breaking the unity of your epic exploits, by diverging into some love episode." ^'What is the news, captain?" said Morrice, interrupting him. ^^Bad," said Paulden: '^ Rainsborough is sent to Cottrell, by Cromwell." '^ We saw him pass." '• But do you know his errand ? ' inquir- ed the captain. ^* I guess it ;" was Mor- rice's reply. *•' Well then, I can inform you; and the reason of my delay was learning the secret. As luck would have it^ I occu- pied the next room to their's at the inn where the officers of the troop last put up, and from what I overheard, and what I gleaned from the servants at the inn, you, John Monice, are the cause, te caiisam belli, and object of their mission." 14 PON'TEFRACT CASTLE. " I had anticipated as much." *' Then, I can only tell yoa, it is high tirae to strike the blow. Now or never, colonel, depend on it ; for the crop ears begin to smoke your manoeuvres, and either intend arresting you, or forbidding you the castle." ^' Well," said Morrice, '* I am prepar- ed, whatever be the issue of the game : but we have yet to see who will give check-mate." '' So then the governor has still the same eyes, colonel?" A shade of severity passed over the brow of Morrice. ^' 'Sdeath, sir," said the lieutenant, tak- ing the answer upon himself, '' I believe there's witchcraft in it. He doats, sir, actually doats. In short, you may con- sider Colonel Morrice as governor de facto of Pontefract." ^' In short," interrupted Morrice, witli S9me asperity, '^ compress what you have to say, captain ; for time is precious. Do you bring news from vSir Marmaduke?" PONTEFRACT CASTLE. 15 ** Yes ; he approves your plan en- tirely : but recommends its instant ex- ecution. He is still at Carlisle, and he has reason to expect that a great blow will be struck by the levellers very shortly, and the possession of Pontefract Castle would be an important counter- poise to throw in the King's scaled' '' Have you any letters ?" *' Yes, from Sir John Digby and Lord Byron." ** Ah ! that's well !" said Morrice, tak- ing them, and musing a few seconds ; " but I detain you Captain Paulden. Tell Sir Marmaduke confidently, that by to- morrow night Pontefract will belong to Kins: Charles." *^ God's mercy, man ! what do you mean ? and Rainsborough there ?" " I mean what I say, Captain Paulden ; and that in spite of Rainsborough and his master to boot." '' Well, colonel, you have predicted and fulfilled so many wonders, that I take 16 PONTEFKACT CASTLE. your word as if it were Gospel. I shall deliver voiir messao-e." "- Then farewell ; longer stay mrtv breed suspicion : Addio, Camarado I'' said the captain, turning his horse ; " and may God prosper your undertaking." A few seconds carried him out of sight, and Morrice hastily parting with his remaining companion at the moat, directed his w^ay to the guard-house. PONTEFRACT CASTLE. 17 CHAPTER 11. * But that imperious, tliat unconquer'd soul. No law can limit, no respect control. Before his pride must his superiors fall, His will the law, and he the Lord of all ! — Hath foul reproach a privilege from heaven ? Pope's Iliad. It was not till the governor was seated at the supper-table with his daughter Matilda and their republican guest, that Colonel Morrice was announced. Co- lonel Cottrell, the name of the former, was a tall, pale, thin man, rather stricken in years, as the wrinkles in his forehead, and the few scattered grey hairs which time had left there, sufficiently testified. His look was mild, composed, and very far removed from the harshness which military habits in that age were calculated to produce. There w^as, indeed, both in his manner and countenance, a gentle- 18 PONTEFRACT CASTLE. manly ease and retenue^ which coincided more with the court party to wliich he was opposed, than to the vulgar and over- bearing characters with whom he was by principle associated. His features had certainly been handsome in hi-s youth, but they were small and inde- finite, and presented a striking contrast to those of the parliamentary chief who sate on his riolit hand. Rainsborousfh was a m.an of middle age, with a bony, muscular, but well-knitted frame, and with a hard and swarthy countenance, which bore in every feature tlie stamp of revolutionary ferocity and determination. His fixed and sullen eye, thick and bushy eye-brows, suited well with the unre- laxed scowl upon his forehead, and the resolute but contemptuous curl of his projecting nether lip. It was such a face altogether as suited well the enemy of authority, and the friend of that " brave bold man, with whose fortunes he had linked himself ;'' neither was the business in which he was employed, as Morrice PONTEFRACT CASTLE. 19 entered, of a nature to mellow and soften down the more rugged and prominent relievo of his physiognomical character. lie was in the act of laying some dis- patches before Cottreli on the ta])le, and while his keen, and rather malignant eye, perused the countenance of the reader, he occasionally commented on the omni- potence of the parliament, and the danger of gainsaying its resolves. While this was 2:oino; on at the table, from whence a slight refection had been removed, the governor's daughter, Matilda Cottreli, was seated near the window at a small read- ing-desk, and apparently occupied with a book. This young lady was a fine tall girl, to all appearance of about twenty years of age. No one could look, or did indeed ever look upon her widiout being unaccountably interested. And yet it was neither the faultlessness of her beautiful figure, displayed to full advantage by the tasteful simplicity of her dress, nor the contour of her face, which, in fact, could Bot be pronounced entirely and regularly 20 PONTEFRACT CASTLE. handsome, so much as the extraordinary expression of her features which rivetted and compelled, as it were, the attention. Indeed no Grecian sculptor ever formed a fairer, clearer foreliead, nor a more per- fectly arched eye-brow, nor a more rec- tilinear nose, nor a lip and chin which approached so near the beau ideal of the happiest imagination ; but her counte- nance wanted that which gives anima- tion to the plainest set of features, the lumen purpurea^ so characteristic of the spring of life. It was perfectly pale, though fair as an alabaster bust, and the spectator would have judged that the iieart to which it was the frozen index, could never have known the in- fluence of passion, but for the fixed and melancholy gaze of her large black eye. Her hair was raven black, but of a glossy brightness perfectly unusual, and where it escaped from the unornamented ban- deau that confined it, covered her neck and shoulder with a profusion of natural ringlets. Such was Matilda Cottrell, and PONTEFRACT CASTLE. 21 i^uch was the first object that attracted the eye of Morrice as he entered. He, indeed, saw that something unusual ei- tlier animated or disturbed her. It was e\ident, that although she wished to ap- pear uninterested, and solely occupied with her book, she hstened with deep anxiety to the turns of the conversation, and sometimes started as the loud and imperative voice of Rainsborough over- bore the gentle but repeated expostula- tions of her father. It was obvious, too, that she suppressed her feelings ; but to a stranger's eye, if any such had been present, the fluttering involuntary start she gave as Morrice made his entrt, and the slight hectic which passed over her countenance immediately after, would have sufficiently demonstrated her secret, •" Colonel Morrice," said the governor with an unsuppressed exposure, not only of pleasure but relief, which his polite- ness should have prompted him to con- ceal from Rainsborough, ^' I am beyond measure glad to see you. Give me leave 22 PONTEFIIACT CASTLE. to introduce you to one whom I am proud to call my friend, because he is the friend of liberty and its protecting palladium the Parliament — General Rainsborough." The general bowed stiiHy, and with an air of scorn ^Yhich he took no pains to suppress. The governor did not no- tice it, and went through the usual forms of introduction — Colonel Morrice — Ge- neral Rainsborough. '^ Oh ! you may spare ceremony," said Rainsborough, '•' I have the honour of being known to the colonel, and he to me." Morrice bowed. *' After beino' known at York, our acquaintance can receive no accession at Pontefract."- Morrice's lip quivered, but he v.'as silent. *'Gadso, Fm glad you are friends," resumed the governor, not remarking the general's bitter sneer at the vvoi;d. *' But how is it that 1 have not seen you lately, colonel ? Where have you liid yourself? 1 have sent message after mes- sage, urging your attendance every day during the past week." PONTEFRACT CASTLE. 23 Rainsboroiis^h shrusraed his shoulders. *' Well, well, Pontefract Castle is never safe as when John Morrice is in it. I am rather too old, it is true, to act the part of Telemachus to your Mentor, but I feel, when you are gone, as if the pre- siding genius of wisdom had departed with you and disorder takes her place. There's Matilda, too, as moping as pos- sible, deprived of her usual game at chess, and her never-ending argument about the old Republics." '^ Speak for yourself, my dear sir," said the young lady, affecting playfulness, '' and have the goodness to exclude me from your sponsorship. It may be very proper and very romantic for you and Colonel Morrice to coquette and quarrel, and make it up again ; but you will ex- cuse me if I prefer a calmer atmosphere ; I beg that I may be considered neuter. '-' Oh, very well, Matilda, ' said the governor in the same half-playful, half- earnest tone, ^' you shall be what you 24 PONTEFKACT CASTLE. please ; only please to recollect that you have erewhile been arUiter and inter- cessor too. And here," said he, leaning over her chair, ^' here's a proof I sup- pose of neutrality. May I ask if you are conjuring, that you read a book, fair daughter, with the title-page down- wards ?" A blush suffused the face of Matilda, and reddened her neck and bo- som, as she hardly knew how to evade this exposure. Rainsborough muttered and growled to himself, impatiently fum- bling among the papers which he had deposited on the table. There was a little embarrassment and Morrice hasten- ed to remove it. ^^ May I presume to ask what book Miss Cottreli is readino;?" said Morrice, ' advancing towards her. '^ Rather a singular subject you will think for a female, Colonel Morrice," she replied, *' and my inadequacy to follow its arguments may perhaps account for the little nedect I have been detected PONTEFRACT CASTLE. 25 in showing it. It is the reply of John Milton, the Republican, to the last pamph- let of Salmasiiis. " And what is your opinion of it?" *^ If I may be allowed to form an opi- nion on so abstruse a subject as the nature of governments ; I think that Milton has completely beaten his antagonist out of the field." Morrice bit his lip ; he evidently wished for a different reply. '' Still if the cham- pion fall on either side," he said, re- covering, *' through want of skill or ina- bility, the question between monarchy and republicanism is not settled on that account \ and in this case the combatants have been ill matched ; for it required something more sturdy and alert than the royalist gladiator to put by and overcome the arguments of so skilful a reasoner as Milton." ^, '^ That I admit ; but in my opinion both of the combatants have disgraced and weakened the force of their arguments, by VOL. T. c 26 PONTEFRACT CASTLK. the low scurrilities to which they have descended. It is wonderful how such a mind as Milton's could pollute itself with so base a weapon of attack ; he should have left that language to Birkenstead or Butler or the Merciirius Menippeiis : indeed there h something more than scurrility in this pamphlet ; for toward the end it sublimes itself into venomous raalio^nitv. Here is a passage in which he expresses a hope that what he writes will cost Salmasius Ills life.'^ '• It was because the royalist, bribed to attack him with a hundred Jacobuses/* said Rainsborough, '' triumphed first in fancying that he had caused him the loss O'f his eyes." ^'One may, however, argue from that,'* said Morrice,'^ what kind of life we should lead if such a man were dictator of liis proposed republic ; in short, that is the fmult which I find with all these repub- lican schemers ; their principles sound well on paper ; but they mingle so much PONTEFKACT CASTLE. 27 passion with the detail of them, as to warn us from putting them in practice." Rainsborough threw up hislip malignantly as Morice spoke, and whispered to the go- vernor. *' But it is generally supposed," said Cottrell, '^ that Milton is in his heart rather inclined to despotism, and thus the cause may be cleared from the stain of premeditated intemperance by imputing such expressions to the constitutional ha- bits of the temporary champion." *^ I have no doubt that he is a monarchist by habit," said Morrice, smiling, carelessly, at the contortions which Rainsborough was all this while making ; ^^ I have no doubt he is so, both, from common induction and some knowledge of the private character of the man. Extremes always meet. The prin- ciple of democracy overstrained, always performs the circle and ends in despotism. But Milton, like all men of a poetical imagination, is gratified and fond of c 2 28 POxN'TEFRACT CASTLE. power ; he is a despot in his private fa- rnily,to his wife^ to his brother, to his chil- dren. And indeed a number of strong and beautiful passages in an obscure poem on the Fall of Man, which he has lately pub- lished, shew clearly that the free tenor of his thoughts, if not forced from their bent by passion, perhaps revenge, is in fa- vour of established monarchy against every kind of rebellion. This poem is a satire upon his party ; he makes the devils the authors of the first rebellion. For instance, in this passage the cap might adapt itself to the heads of many of his bosom friends : And thou, sly hypocrite, who now would seem, Patron of Liberty, who, more than those. Once fawned and cringed, and servilely adored. Heaven's lawful monarch? wherefore, but in hope To dispossess him, and thyself to reign ? iVnd in another place he makes Satan arouse the rebellious angels to revolt by sounding words of liberty, and emanci- pation from the yoke." PONTEFRACT CASTLE. 29 " The colonel reasons feelingly," said Rainsborough, with a sneer. *^ Aiid i hope you will admit, convinc- ingly, general/' rejoined Matilda warm- ly. " In this respect do not accuse me of desertion if I yield to his logic ; but at the same time, I may retort his own words : the abilily or inability, of any Uyo champions, v\ ill not settle a ques- tion as old as thought. Neither will any failing of Milton vitiate his argument. The question formerly was whether the tree of freedom flourished best on the Ceoropian Acropolis, or on the banks of the Eurotas ; and it still remains a prob- lem. As for Milton, though a great genius, he is a true author, and it is pretty well believed, that if King- Charles — *^ Charles Stuart, if you please," said Rainsborough, knitting his brow : '' his reign is over." '' We mnst not q\iarrel upon that point," interposed Morricc. '^ We are speaking of V>0 PONTSFRACT CASTLE. Miiten. I agree with Miss CoUrell. He is a poet, and perhaps if he had been ad- mitted to those royal conferences ^\hich he envied to other authors ; if his Lyci- das had occupied the same place on the king's table with the plays of Shak- speare, we should not have found him ro zealoiiS in his attack on royalty." Cottrell was going to reply; but Rains- borougii, with a supercilious glance at Mori ice, and a harsh austere tone, turned towards the governor. ^'Permit me, Colonel Cottrel!, to re- mind yoii, that I have no time for the discussion of any thing but business ; my time is precious, and my instructions most urgent ; I must beg you to do me the ikvour of looking at these papers and returning; to the affair in hand." '^ Oh! yes, very true;" said the colonel, in a confused manner, which seemed to imply their disagreeable nature : " the pa- pers, Ihad forgot them : — I beg pardon, — I have somebusiness,it is true, in the castle, but al! must yield to you, my friend, and PONTEFRACT CASTLK. 31 the parliament; in the mean while, Ponte- fract is safe from malignant aspects. While Morrice is here our good planet may be said to hover over us, and treason hide itself in darkness." "A truce with this hyperbole," said Rainsborough cavalierly. " I should be sorry to act, Colonel Cottrell, in one par- ticular according to my instructions. I have hinted them to you and ' verbitm sat' But with regard to these papers, tliey require a categorical answer. I am sorry for your own interest that you avoid coming to the point ; but since that is the case, since your weakness (Fll axW it friendship, but I am a seaman and roughly spoken,) will not permit it, I think it my duty to say openly, that the parliament suspect Colonel Morrice, as you will see by casting your eyes oyer these papers." ^^They do me great honor," said the gentleman adverted to, with a voice and countenance perfectly composed, *" and §2 PONTEFRACT CASTLE. what is more they do honor to their own discrimination and gratitude." Matilda gazed with a breathless tremor on the speaker, and her face became still paler than usual. ^' You may treat the charge, Sir, as lightly, and as cavalierly as you please,'' said Rainsborough, losing his temper in proportion to the coolness of the person accused ; '' but let me tell you that the parliament has good reason to believe you in correspondence with the malignants ; yes, sir, you may think to carry it off in this careless manner; but it is known that you have meetings with royalist gen- tlemen near the castle ; deny if you can, that you do not meet them secretly, aye, at midnight, nay, that you do not discuss the means of surprising the castle, for him you call the king." As Rainsborough uttered this in a tone not far short of vituperation, the agi- tation of Miss Cottrell increased, her hand trembled so that she was obliged to PONTEFRACT CASTLE. 33 put down the book and she rose re- peatedly from her chair. The governor looked staggered, and half suspicious for the first time ; but the colonel was invin- cible and still preserved his accustomed sang-froid. ''I cannot but think^sir," said he, addres- sing Rainsborough, '^ that your charge against me might have been less sudden, and delivered with more politeness." ^' I am accustomed to speak my mind, sir.'' '' Well, sir, I shall not imitate your asperity. You know there is a text in scripture forbidding " a railing accusa- tion." But, perhaps, you will favour me with the names of the conspirators, with whom you say I correspond ?" '' Yes — here they are, sir," said Rains- borough, grasping the papers with eager pleasure, and selecting one. ^' Here is the deposition, upon oath, of a witness, who swears that you. Colonel Morrice, were present last Friday evening, at a c5 34 PONTEFRACT CASTLE. meeting of royalists, in Hatfield, in which it was agreed to seize this castle for the king ; and that there were also present, Sir John Digby, Captains Clavering and Paulden, Major Ash ton, and many more notorious malignants." Rainsborough was here interrupted by a gentle laugh from Morrice,and a stilllouder one from the governor. Rainsborough started from his chair. '^ Upon my word, general," said Cot- trell, ^' you are grossly duped — I can't forbear — you must excuse me, really — ha, ha ! this is too much." There w^as lightning in the menacing frown of the republican, and Morrice seized the moment to conduct it from the point at which it was going to discharge itself " ft may appear singular, general — ' " Not singular at all, sir. You have corrupted or bewitched a staunch Parlia- ment officer." '^ Allow me to speak. Colonel Cot- PONTKFRACT CASTLE. 35 trellj I appeal to you, whether the charge brought against me is not highly ridicu- lous ?" '' Ridiculous ! yes, sir; so ridiculous. as scarcely to deserve any other answer than what has been given to it." *' I again appeal to you. Col. Cottrell, whether it was not by your particular or- der that I was present at the meeting — whether I did not give you the names of the parties, and particularly state the in- tention of surprising the castle ?" *' Nothing can be more true," said the governor. '^ But the colonel's modesty prevents his adding, that twice or three times he has saved the castle from such intended assaults, by similar intelligence. He has been as vigilant as myself, in counteracting the designs of the royalists, clearing the castle of spies and malignants, and introducing men who are staunch and pledged parliamentarians : I con- ceive, indeed, that he has saved this castle. Gratitude is not only a virtue, but good 36 PONTEFRACT CASTLE. policy, general. On this occasion I speak nothing but the bare truth ; and I boldly affirm, that the Commonwealth has not a more faithful, tried, and effectual friend, than Colonel Morrice." This was unanswerable. Rainsbo- rough looked sullen and unsatisfied ; but there was nothing to quarrel with ; and the perfect good humour of the trium- phant adversary, who had turned the ta- bles upon him, added to his discomfiture and embarrassment. Nor was the latter willing to leave his victory incomplete. '^ General Rainsborough," said he, in the calm sotto voce tone that was peculiar to him, ^^ I hope you have now seen the absurdity of giving the weight of your character to groundless charges against an innocent man. Perhaps I may add, with some truth, an injured man." '' Sir," said Rainsborough, sullenly, *' there is no occasion to make any state- ment-of your affairs to me." '' I beg pardon — I must persist in PONTEFRACT CASTLE. ST thinking that there is occasion, genera], since it was you who introduced the busi- ness. I have served the Commonwealth as faithfully as you have * there is, how- ever, this distinction between us — that, while you are rewarded with favours and employments, my reward is to be de- prived of my post in the army, to be watched, spied upon, an& slandered."' " No, not slandered," said Cottrell, in- terposing. " Not to my face, indeed," resumed Colonel Morrice. '^ I have letters of thanks, and compliments, and praises enough fronn the party, but, privately, every species of calumny is encouraged against me ; and, to sum up all, lam suspended from my employments. Those who injure, suspect. You suspect me, because I once served under the banner of the king. Do not apply that test too often ; you may lay your hand upon a sore place, and lose some of the best friends of the Commonwealth. To speak gently 38 PONTEFRACT CASTLE. of it, it is bad policy ; but to designate it truly, dishonesty. Nay, it is vain to pro- test : you did me the honour to remind nie of York. Is it an unpardonable of- fence to come over to your party ? Is it honourable to act the part of a seducer, who reminds the woman he has corrupt- ed of the spot where she first sinned — where she sacrificed all for hihi? If the door is closed upon her retreat, what course is left her but to resume the sin ?" Rainsborouo^h started — he cauoht the implied threat in these words, although lie was too much cowed to bring it more into relievo, by echoing the phrase. ^' You have been so kind," proceeded the colonel, '' to put me in mind of York, allow me to remind you of the Down^. At York, General Rainsborough, the Commonwealth, through my exertions, gained an army — at the Downs, through your means, the Commonwealth lost a lleet" ^' Sir," said Rainsborough, striking PONTfiFRACT CASTLE. 39 the liilt of his sword, ^* Colonel Morrice, this is too much ; you shall answer for this gross insult." '' There is nothing which I say or do," replied the imperturbable colonel, *' which I am not ready to answer. I will give you any satisfaction, except that which vou have o:iven me — of actins; in a weak, unofentlemanlike, and ung^uarded man- es ' o ner." *^ Gentlemen, for Heaven's sake/' said the governor, alarmed, '' think what you are about — think under what roof you are. You are both my friends — you are both friends of the parliament. Be com- posed, general. Will you give the ene- mies of our cause so great a triumph as the spectacle of our divisions ? For shame ! — put up your swords, and keep them for the friends and abettors of ty- ranny." The governor's voice w^ould have scarcely calmed the fury of Rainsborough, if Morrice had not been aware of the in- 40 PONTEFRACT CASTLE. decency of the dispute, and forborne to add fuel to the flame. He had, besides, caught a glance from Matilda Cottrell — it was a beseeching glance, and spoke vo- Itrmes. She appeared agitated, and al- most ready to faint. At that view all his feel- ings were absorbed in one idea; his inju- ries,his insults were forgotten. He advanc- ed towards the general, with his hand extended : — ''Forgive me, general ; I have been to blame — I have irritated you be- yond what self-defence required — you are rny superior officer, and I feel no degra- dation in making this concession. It would, besides, ill become me to repay Colonel Cottrell's friendship, by making his abode the theatre of a foolish dispute. My feelings have been exacerbated bv the injustice done me, and I spoke as they impelled. Forgive me, General Rains- borough." — As he said this, he extended his hand. '' Come, be friends," said the gover- nor, '' forget and forgive." PONTEFRACT CASTLE. 41 '^ Sir/' said Rainsborough, morosely repelling the proffered signal of resigna- tion, " ray friends must be free from sus- picion." " Oh, but this," interposed Cottrell, *^ is but the suspicion of being suspected. Accept his hand." " No, sir : Colonel Morrice must first ^ 5tand rectus in curia. He has artfully baffled ray charge — he may have convinc- ed you, but he has not satisfied me. Look to what I tell you. Colonel Cottrell : — Urgent business requires my quitting you .to-morrow, and I have now letters to write in my chamber. In the meanw^hile, see, that under the rosy bed, which your confidence creates for you, there be no serpents — look to your friend — and look to your duty, I charge you, on your alle- giance to Parliaraent. I may not see you again, and you will do well to take my warning." So saying, with a slight bow to Miss Cottrell, he proudly stalked out of the room, slamming the door furiously 49 POXTEFHACT CASTLE. after him. The governor shrugged up his shoulders — Morrice quietly gazed at the door, on which his inexorable antago- nist had vented his suppressed wrath ; and, turning on his heel, sang a portion of a French air. Then advancins: to Miss Cottrell, with an air of calm good breed- ing, which, if he did not quite put her at ease, compelled her to appear so, chal- lenged her to their ordinary game at chess ; and, while the governor amused himself with the libellous and seditious matter of the Mercurius Riisticus, and the diurnals, they were soon lost in thepo** litic manoeuvres and interesting exploits of their mimic field of battle. rONTEFRACT CASTLE. 43 CHAPTER III. And hurry-skurry forth they go. Unheeding wet or dry ; And horse and rider snort and blow, And sparkling pebbles fly. Tramp, tramp across the land they speed. Splash, splash across the sea ; Hurrah ! the dead can ride apace, Dost fear to ride with me ? It sweeps the swarthie funeral train. The corse is on the biere ; Like croak of frogs from lonely moores. The chauiit doth meet the eare. Lenora. General Rainsborough did not arrive at Don caster till late at nio:hton the fol- lowing day ; and when he did, it was re- marked that4ie was exceedingly thought- ful and broken-spirited ; nor did he ever, from that moment, attend to business, with the energy, zeal, and ability, which he had always demonstrated before. A number of reasons w^ere assigned for this change, as good, perhaps, as those as- signed by Plutarch for the cowed spirit of the great Antiochus, before the battle that he lost : and both, perhaps, might be 44 PONTEFRACT CASTLE. more properly assignable to the encroach- ments of lethargy, over-fatigue, or disease. There are not wanting,however, many su- perstitious stories to account for this change which derived still greater colour and currency from subsequent events, and one in particular which was derived from the general's aid-de-camp is worthy comme- moration, since he assured the world that he had it from the general's lips. On ar- riving at Hatfield, he found some letters of importance there to which it was ne- cessary to make an immediate reply, and this, with the necessity of making arrange- ments for interposing a strong corps of troops between Pontefract and the ad- vance of Sir M. Langdale, occupied him till near nightfall. About eight o'clock, liaving sent away the orderly soldier who attended him, he mounted his horse and rode unattended towards Doncaster. His feelings had been left in a high state of irritation by the sarcastic reproof of Morrice, and the dispatches which he had just received did not contribute to allay PONTEFRACT CASTLE. 45 tlieir femient. They were from Crom- well, and couched in a tone of reproof and remonstrance, very unusual with that crafty leader, and which the stubborn a^d imperious character of Rainsborough was ill calculated to brook. These concurring causes had induced him to take a more than usual quantity of such wine as he could procure at the change house, which, so far from tranquillizing, had augmented the tumult and irritability of his thoughts. The night w as extremely dark and there was a little drizzling rain fell, w^iich was driven by a gusty interrupted wind di- rectly in the face of the traveller. Rains- borough, as is usual w ith men who wish to drown their thoughts, resorted to rapid motion, and putting his horse to full speed, did not perceive till too late that the ani- mal had quitted the main Don caster road, and was urging rapidly along a bye lane, which at its termination crossed the angle of an extensive waste. In this angle the grmmd was broken up here and there into 46 PONTEFRACT CASTLE. irregular hillocks resembling barrowg, which perhaps they were, as a variety of mossy and broken fragments indicated that the place had been formerly " a house for the dead of yore." It was tlie site of tlie famous and bloody battle which the first Christian king; of Eno^land, the heroic Edwin, maintained against the pa- gan squadrons of Penda and Cadvvallo,and lost in the struggle, his cause, his crown, and his life. There v/as at the time when Rainsborough passed, the broken remnant of an ancient monument, which was sup- posed to be the base of a cross set up in commemoration of that event. To this relic the neighbouring country people had attached a variety of superstitious notions ; among the rest there was a prediction connected with it very current, that before the end of the world a great battle of raany kings should take place on this spot, and that a raven perched upon the lowest stone should drink the blood of the slain. As the horse of Rainsborough approached PONTEFRACT CASTLE. 47 the stone, he stopped and snorted, and exhibited every sign of fear and trepida- tion peculiar to these animals. The ge- neral spurred and urged him in vain, and tried as vainly to detect some cause for this wnusual terror in his horse. At last he dismounted, and at that moment, the moon, which had been struggling by fits through a black mass of watery and quickly drifting clouds, broke through the impediment, and darted a strong descend- ing]: rav on the the white and fractured stone. But it was not the ruin alone which then caught the general's quick eye. The g^Iance : was momentary — but whether his heated fancy deceived him, or the quick transition of the moon's beam precluded calm and accurate survey, he thought he discerned a figure seated on the stone of unusually gigantic proportions. The back of the figure seemed towards him ; it ap- peared cloathed in a long grey cloak, similar to that which palmers at one time wore. Another ray of the moon assured 48 PONTEFRACT CASTLE. the general that his eyes had not deluded kim : he discerned a person with what seem- ed a cowl thrown back, and a long white beard descending to his waist. A re- verberating flash from some part of the figure shewed that he was armed. The face was indistinguishable, for Rains- borough's, horse rearing on his hind legs, nearly threw him from the saddle. It wa^ impossible to soothe the terrified agitation of the animal, and at last turning short round he set off with the velocity of wind. Rainsborough was unconscious how long he was passively hurried along in this impetuous manner, for his horse nei- ther attended to spur, or bridle, or whip ; terror predominated over every other feel- ing. At length he found himself violently dragged through a deep and apparently wide extended morass, in which the floun- dering animal slipped and stumbled by turns, but still urged on. After half an hour thus spent by Rainsborough, sometimes expecting that the morass would eugulpli PONTEFRACT CASTLE. 49 him and his ho se, he thought he distin- guished at distance a variety of lights, irregular in size or perspective, moving along in systematic progression. A»she ad- vanced further into this singular and ex- tensive marsli, he descried a black and moving mass, which appeared to him like a hea^e or bier, preceded and followed by fi^ires, which from their outline, ap- p'eared more like masques than human beings. Wfaat was he to think? Was it a supernatural procession that he v/it- nessed ? Liixht miaht be engendered by the exhalations of a marsh ; but here were figures such as he had heard were seen accompanying that visionary warning of death called deadmen's candles. Rains- borough was neither fearful nor supersti- tious, but his flesh crept as he endea- voured to account for this singular spec- tacle ; for how could he reconcile the idea of a funeral n)oving with slow and orderly regularity on the treacherous soil which threatened to swallow him up alive. His vol.. I. D 50 PONTEFRACT CASTLE. steed, however, gave him little time for reflection : he seemed to be struck with madness ; for instead of flying these mys- tic hghts, he dashed on towards them with his ears and mane erect, his nostrils ex- panded, and every nerve tremulous with agony or terror. At one time he sunk so deep in the rotten soil of which the bog was composed, that he could scarcely ex- tricate himself, and at another, clambered up some small island of firmer footing, which rose amidst the surrounding^ chaos. It was while he stood to breathe on one of these solid ridges, in preparation for a final venturous plunge, that Rainsborough dis- tinctly saw a body of uncouth figures car- ry iiig a coffin, and once he caught the ghastly and marble features of one of the attendants. At length he heard a low moan- iiig sound, between singing and groaning ; it was like nothioo; earthlv, and his steed now more terrified than before, plunged into the abyss like a mad creature ; now i3r£:in2:to this side now to that, and striv- PONTEFRACT CASTLE. 51 1112: with mio'ht and main to make o^oou his footing: on solid oi'oimd. Atlen2^th he shp- ped, and rolling upon one side, sunk at once over the haunches into the treache- rous slough. Rainsborough would then, without doubt, have perished, but by good fortune a part of his belt got entangled in a bog tree, and gave him time to grasp a more tenacious soil, on which he endea- voured to climb, after extricating his feet from the stirrup and saddle of his now sinking horse. His good fortune still further assisted him, for he found when he had for some time groped his way, like Milton's hero, as Dryden calls hira, in constant anticipation of sinking into some unexplored abyss, that his footing became more steady and secure as he ad- vanced — that the danger of the morass was over, and that he \a as now landed on a considerable extent of solid and com- pact ground. Perplexed and wearied, his boots stiff with mud, and his garments dangled by the impetuous flounderings of Q-ared like Instruments of torture. An open book, apparently the Bible, a cross, a dagger, a plummet, and a bowl contam- ing some dark liquid, were the more pro- minent appendages of the funereal look- ing table. The assembly preserved a dead silence, neither turning their eyes towards the captive, nor in any way noticing his presence. But if this sight staggered the unquestioned courage of Rainsborough, PONTEFRACT CASTLE. 55 the scene which followed filled him with more unmixed astonishment. A barba- rous jabbering was repeated, and turning his eye towards the point whence it came, he observed a door corresponding wntli that by which he entered ; and a moment after he discerned, or thought he discerned, by the aid of the flickering light which the central lamp afforded, a female figure. It was a form with the outline of which his memory furnished a counterpart. He hesitated to believe his eyes, but was soon to be convinced. Two of the familiars who had seized him suddenly emerged from a recess, and advanced towards the object of his doubts. The strong glare of their torches fell upon her remarkable fea- tures. The astonished cry of the general was audible. " Can it be possible ; or am I abused by sorcery ? It is — it must be Matilda Cottrell !" His wonder-ex- torted ejaculation caught the ear of that figure. Her eye was turned upon him, and a scream followed. '* You are de- 66 PONTEFRACT CASTLK. ceived," ihe )beard in accents -he could not mistake, ^^ it is iRainsboroiigb." There was a loud and general cry, and the name ofRainsboroiigh was a hundred times re- peated by the caverned echoes of the sub- terranean structure. In a moment, the figures vanished and the light was extin- guished. For a few seconds, there was a rushing noise as of people hastily retiring, and followed by the clang of distant doors in all directions of the subterranean laby- rinth. An unbroken, deathlike silence succeeded. Rainsborough a short time remained in a state of stupid torpor, in- capable of speech or effort. At last leco- verino' a little, he resolved to make an at- tempt at escape. *^ Where am I "he shout- ed, '' and who are you that have dared to violate my liberty? Restore it at your peril." The hollow intonation of his voice betrayed the factitious energy of despair, and was repeated in a thousand tell-tale echoes, as if in mockery. All was again buried in deathlike silence. It was hor« PONTEFRACT CASTLE. 67 rible. ''God of Heaven," he groaned, *' am I to perish in this den of darkness ?'* and was ao^ain collectino; his voice to call for assistance, when he received a blow on his shoulders which seemed to vibrate through his whole frame, and deprived him of recollection. On coming to himself, he found himself laying at the door of a neat white cottage which stood beneath a oTove of tall elms on the skirts of an extensive waste. Tlie first grey light of morning was rising from the red streaks of the eastern horizon, and yet contending with night, when he reco- vered. He rose from the ground like one still in a dream, and for a few seconds could not arrano:e his thoughts sufticientlv to distinguish what had passed. The cot- tagers were not stirring ; and the win- dows and the door were closed. After waitinor he ventured to knock. All was silence : he knocked again, and a shrill screaming voice asked who was there ?" d5 uS PONTEFKACT CASTLE. '^ I am a stranger," said Rainsborougb, *' who have lost my way, and wish to know the road to Doncaster." '•^ The road to destruction," screamed the same shrill voice, and at the next mo- ment the shutter of the little undazed window was opened and gave him a view of the speaker's face, v>'hich was that of a w^oman gaunt, distorted, and haggard. Perhaps more extraordinary features weie never assembled. The skin of her cheeks and forehead, marbled here and there with projecting rigid veins of a greenish hue, was yellow as that of a mummy. Her nose and mouth were Nubian ; the former more than usually expanded ; the latter large and projecting. One cheek was unna- turally extended and shining ; and the ac- companying eye was speckled, swollen, and considerably larger than the other. Her eye-brows were long, bushy, and grey, and the few wiry locks which cor- responded with them in hue, swept from beneath a peaked cap, as extraordinary PONTEFRACT CASTLE. 59 as her countenance, and played confused- ly over lier features. Rainsborough started, but repeated his question. '^ I wish to know the road to Doncaster. I am lost, good mother." The hag laughed. '' You are lost in deed — a lost man, Rainsborough. There is but one road from the place where you came from ;" she added, still grinning, and {X)inting significantly to an extensive marsh which the increased light now ren- dered visible on the left, '' and that is to heaven or to hell. Make your peace with God, and quickly ; for you have seen the hermit of Lindholme, and your hours are told. Yon is the way to Doncaster by that clump of trees ; but better were it for you that you never cast eye upon it. I tell you, as I have told your master, to beware of the Crown." So saying, she violently closed the case- ment, and left Rainsborough to ruminate on this fresh adventure ; sometimes con - sidering the woman as a maniac, and then 60 rONTEFPvACT CASTLE. again unable to account for her knowledge of his person. However he proceeded as she directed, and thus confused and be- wildered, he arrived at Doncaster. The general's friends and servants w^ere not a little astonished to find him return about eight o'clock, pale, haggard, covered wuth mud, and unaccompanied by his horse ; but his natural repulsive moroseness pre- vented the familiarity of enquiry ; and as lie seemed disinclined to intimate the cause of his strange absence and mysterious re- appearance, curiosity, for want of food, became at last wearied out w ith the ab- surdity and variety of its conjectures, and all the circumstances of the case, after a short interval, were forgotten or neglected. PONTEFRACT CASTLE. 61 CHAPTER IV. Villainy ! ho ! let the door be locked ! Treachery ! seek it out. Hamlet. MoRRicE \va.s singularly iinrortunate. The cciniiionv/ealth party whom he joined never forgave iiim for being page to the Earl of Stafford, whom they hunted to death, neither did the court party whom he rejoined, when disgusted by Puri- tan treachery, appear to have rejoiced over him, with that unfeigned pleasure which the angels are said to feel for a re- pentant sinner. My Lord Clarendon, in- deed, who was not suspected of being par- tial to his patron, seems never to have quite forgiven the lapse of the protege. And in this case, I am afraid he has thrown his loyalty into relief at the expense of his heart. When the attack on Pontefract Catle took place, which has been advert- 62 PONTEiRACT CASTLE. ed tOj as designed in the foregoing pages, his lordship asserts, that Morrice was in bed with the governor. Now, although the papers* consigned to me, demonstrate the bosom confidence which the latter gentleman reposed in the extraordinary man of whom I treat, there is no hint which agrees with this intimation. Cap- tain Thomas Paulden, one of the heroes of this story, gives the following account of it ; which on that account may be relied on ; for though an old man when he wrote, he enjoyed his faculties and jovial hu- mour to the last. Ke states as follows : '^ In the year 1648, the first war being- over, we that had served the king in it, * Till these MSS. reached the compiler, he con- fesses his own impression to have been, that Monice had seasoned his exploit witli a superabundance of that military artifice whicii Homer, in the character of Ulysses, designates as icisdom. But an inspec- tion of the papers, particularly the commission of the prince to seize the castle in the name of the king, re- moved the impression. There is but one road for a patriot; so Brutus thought. But that of military duty is still more narrow. — P. P. PONTEFRACT CASTl.E. 63 submitting to our comiuon fate, lived quietly in the country , till we heard of an intended invasion by Duke Hamilton. We thereupon met frequently, and resolved to attempt to seize the Castle of Ponte- fractj of which Colonel Cottrell was go- vernor for the parliament ; having under him, a garrison of a hundred men, most of them quartered in the town of Pon- tefract, and in no apprehension of an enemy. This design was laid by Colonel Mor- rice, who in his youth had been page to the Earl of Strafford, my two brothers, who w^ere captains of horse, and myself, captain of foot, with some others ; we had then about three hundred foot, and fifty horse of our old comrades privately listed. We had secret correspondence with some in the castle, and among the rest Avas a corporal, who promised on a cer- tain night to be on his guard, and to set a sentinel who would assist us in scaling the walls, by a ladder which we had pro- 64 PONTEPRACT CASTLE. vided and brouo;ht with us. But the cor- porai happened to be drunk at the hour appointed, and another sentinel was placed where w^e intended to put our ladders, who fired upon us, and gave alarm to the garrison." It was before the first gun was fired that Morrice was really in bed, but not with the governor ; for the attack having been made an hour before the time as^reed upon, he was not prepared for the result, and was awakened by Major Ashby, one of the party's correspondents in the castle, who came with the intelligence. '^ Get up, for God's sake, Morrice, or we shall be all mined ; Austwick, as usual, has been too impatient, and that stubborn rascal, Serjeant Brooke, who was left here by Rainsborough, swears there is treason stirring, and is on the watch like a lynx ; he says he saw men lurking about the counterscarp." " But where's Serjeant Floyd ?" *^ Expostulating with that marplot PONTEFIIACT CASTLE. 88 ^\lute, who is as drunk as a beast, and cannot be brought to his post. Oct up, and see whether you can remedy this con- tretemps ; while I have an eye on the go- vernor." ^lorricercse immediately, dressed him- self, and proceeded to the point where he expected the assault. On approaching the covered way which led to a parapeted walk upon the rampart, he heard the rough and sullen voice of Brooke, alter- cating with Seijeant Floyd, and refusing to be relieved from his post of sentinel, wliich he had, in fact, usurped. '^ There's treason in the castle," fie growled, '' and I have orders for what I do." " Who can give orders but the go- vernor?" *' No matter, I may be responsible to- morrow ; but here, to-night, I am, and here Til stay." ^' You'll repent of tliis, Brooke ; I shall 66 PONTEFRACT CASTLE, certainly report your conduct to Colonel Morrice." "^ Colonel Morrice !" was the sneering rejoinder, ^' what has he to do with reports or orders ? Is he o overnor ? You would give him a lift, I know^ ; but if he had his due, it would be another guess kind of ex- altation than this governorship. I believe when he joined us, he only wanted that proud Wentw orth, his wife's estate back : but my Lord Pulistone will take care of that. I mean she tliat died of a broken heart, and it is a pity that her friend, the queen, had not died in the same manner, before she came here w^ith her French in- trigues. He hinted the other day at my being a shoemaker." '' Because you assumed too much." "" What's Hewson, what's Pride, or Joyce ? Was not Cromw ell a brewer ? A pretty aristocrat, truly, to join with level- lers, and talk of liberty. He must alter the cavalier cut of his clothes first. I hate PONTEFRACT CASTLE. €7 such betwixt and betweens ; v.hy, he's neither cavalier nor roundhead ; and, al- though he holds his head so high, may be shorter by it than he is at present. Let him look to that. He is a malio:nant." '' You are a malignant fellow, Brooke : and I tell you, you shall not remain here — it is not your post, and 1 insist upon your going." '^ That I shall not," was the morose re- ply. '' This place is of importance to the Parliament, and I shall do my duty. Why, I can see lidits now movino; bevond the ditch, and a suspicious fellow lurking bv the fort of the e£ist tower. Use com- mon eyes, and see," JMorrice knew that every thing de- pended on a friendly sentinel occupying the post, and, therefore, affecting only to have heard the last of the conversation, he advanced cheerfully to the speakers — '^ What's the reason of this, my good fel- low?" he said, addressing Brooke. — '' I hope you know your duty better than to 'G8 PONTEFRACT CASTLE. commit a disobedience. You are aware that your refusal to go subjects you to martial law." The fellow grinned sulkily. '^ Touch a hair of my head, if you dare, sir — I shall not quit the spot. No, Co- lonel Mcrrice, you are not governor here, and till you are, which may be shortly," (he added with a sneer,) '* I shall not obey your orders." Morrice bit his lips , but he was too po- litic to shew^, outwardly, the perturbation which he felt. The hour was approaching, and his friends' lives might answer for the least deviation from prudence. He drew a gold embroidered purse from his pocket, and slid it into Brooke's hand. The latter examined it with a vulgar leer— '' Can you part with this ? and the fair hand that worked it — " 'Mnsolent!"— "Colonel Morrice, I'm not to be bribed. I know you w ell, and one day you will know me. It is not money I want." PONTEFIIACT CASTLE. 69 '' Perhaps it is blood," observed Floyd, '' like many o^yoiir friends." '• My friends, eh ?" replied Brooke, with an air of acute detection ; '^ that may be as it may. Take back j^oiir purse, colo- nel — ladies' gifts are not for such as me." '' Scoundrel !" said IMorrrice, on the point of losing his temper ; but, at that moment, he saw a light, as Brooke had observed, moving towards the ditch, and that usuiped all his attention. In the next moment, the clock of Allhallows told twelve — the appointed signal. What was to be done ? There was a ferocious cunning in the half-closed eyes of Brooke, visible by the torch that Mor- rice held, as the former grasped his lin- stock. Seijeant Floyd now became warmer in his expostulations, and was doubtful whether to proceed to force or not ; v.hile Brooke doggedly listened to his arguments, without reply ; and^ after coolly loading his matchlock, placed it with the same coolness in the rest, in or- 70 PONTEFRACT CASTLE. der to secure his raark, and directed it towards the light. Morrice now gave up the project and actors for lost. The light, which had moved along the edge of the ditch, became stationary, and the outline of a man's figure was obviously distin- guishable. In a moment after his voice was heard, whispering the signal word — '■ Rupert!" ^' Oh, Rupert ! is it so?" said Brooke ; " it's a good name that for our party, isnt it, colonel ?" — There was a malignancy in the manner, which made itself felt, as it were, though his face was concealed. ^' What do you mean to do Brooke ?"' Morrice enquired, soothingly. " Oh, you will see that presently," ho rejoined with vulgar derision. '^ There are some, wiiom I have in my eye, who wiil get moie sauce to their game this night than they expected. I only wish it was the master poacher of all, and not a little one. 1 would never give flight tu a leaden pudding with more pleasure." PGNTEFRACT CASTLE. 71 Morrice shuddered. — There is some- thino^ demoniac and awful in such con- firmed inveteracy. It was Austwicke's voice he heard, and in that voice a severe choice of evils. If the night had not tlirown lier veil over them, his agitation and emotion would have pleased and con- firmed his tormentor. But he smothered Ills feelings. Now, or never, it was ne- cessary to command himself. The trea- son was glaring ; to wink at it would compromise himself, without preserving his agent and friend. And yet, to allow him to be deliberately picked out, and murdered before his eyes, was a thing in- tolerable to think on. The case was im- minent, and his resolution was quickly made. Brooke's eye was on his mark, and his hand on the fatal tri;i'o;er. Mor- rice affected to stumble, and pushed the gun aside. Nevertheless, the contents partly lodged themselves in the body of some invisible person ; for (he discharge was followed by a deep groan ; and, in the 72 PONTEFRACT CASTLE. next instant, by Lieutenant Austwicke's voice from below — " Heigh, sirs, is it so ? Sink me, if they don't smell a rat." '^ Am I right?" said Brooke, turning exultingly to the colonel ; " your trip was unlucky, to be sure ; but my aim was o'ood, it seems." There was another groan. "Who's wounded?" enquired Aust- wieke, aloud. *' What a rash fellow Allen is !" Floyd whispered. " Never mind, my hearties," continued the voice : '^ cari^' him off the field — well give them a Rowland for their Oli- ver, I warrant ye." And in a moment, there was a volley of six carbines from the other side of the ditch, the glaring light of which detected the faces of a strong as- sailant party. The shot rattled over the heads of Morrice and his companions, and pattered fiercely against the parapet. — Brooke ducked to avoid them. "Stand up, sir," said the colonel, in a PONTEFRACT CASTLE. 73 lone of military command ; shew, at least, that you've courage to redeem your malice." • '' Oh, he's thinking of his last,'' added Floyd, with a laugh at his bad pun. Morrlce was gx)ing to call to Austwick, but the imprudent and audacious lieute- nant prevented the imprudence of his chief. ■ '' There are some leaden pence, my boys," he shouted, with military slang — ''. exchange is fair — we'll change them, if you don't like them. — Load — present — fire ! — Hurrah !" and a second volley pealed from beyond the ditch. One of the small shot tore Morrice's hand ; he quietly took out his handkerchief, and began to bind it up. '' You're wounded, sir," said Floyd, *• and it is improper to leave you." '' Oh, a scratch," said Morrice— " but the thing's getting serious, and the go- vernor should know it. Serjeant Brooke, VOL. J. E 74 PONTEFRACT CASTLE. f request — I command you to go to Col. Cottrell, and urge his attendance here directly." Brooke was overawed — ^he grumbled, but yet prepared to go. '' I perceive you are right, sir, in your surmise. You are an honest man, and I shall report your conduct favourably." ^' Don't trouble yourself," retorted Brooke, '^ I have done ray duty, and I do it now, in taking your message." '' Yes," said Floyd, as he went, " quar- ters here are hotter than you like." '' At them again," said Austwick — '^ double or quits for ever !" ^' For God's sake, Austwick," cried the colonel, " have a little thought! What do you mean by this ?" " Is it you, colonel ?" '' Yes — and is it you, I may well ask ? Do you want the hive upon your back ? — Retreat, as quickly as possible. They're ringing the alarm bell. — ^Right about. — I PONTEFRACT CASTLE. 75 must go to the governor ; but let me see you gone first." '^ Jones has mislaid the scaling-ladder, and be d d to him," grumbled the lieu- tenant, like a dog disturbed from his bone. '^ What a madman you are," said Floyd— ^' retire directly^ as the colonel bids you. Hang the ladder, it will tell no more tales than your pence, as you call it." The lieutenant now withdrew, but sternly,like Aj ax, with his face to the walls : and Morrice retired to the governor, to counteract, by his presence, the sugges- tions he anticipated from Brooke. E 2 T6 PONTEFRACT CASTLE. CHAPTER V. Are all the minutes, that we two have shared, The hours that we have spent : when we have chid. The nimble footed time for parting us. Oh! and is all forgot? And wiil you rend our mutual love asunder? Shakespeare. After the failure of this project for surprising the castle, every thing at Pon- tefract quietly relapsed into its original fetate — that is to say, the real government of the fortress reverted into the hands of Colonel Morrice, while the ostensible au- thority appeared to be vested in Colonel Cottrell. And certainly neither the craft of Ulysses nor Sinon ever devised more ingenious experiments for the destruction of Troy and its god-built wall, than the active and enterprising mind of the first- named officer. Indeed, the late assault, from the circumstances accompanying it, POXTEFRACT CASTLE. 77 from which it was natural to augur that he would have derived a decrease of his usual influence, rather augmented the absohite authority which he now^ exer- cised, without permitting the governor to suspect it. With the promptitude and energy pecuUar to genius, he contrived to elicit advantao:es from circumstances of the most wayward and unfortunate complexion. He had before introduced to the notice of the governor a large body of staunch republicans, whom he de- scribed as at any time ready to contri- bute to the defence of Pontefract. These men, who were notoriously disaffected, he had, however, no intention of employ- ing ; but they answered his purpose, as the proposal of employing them, and the respect with which they were induced to regard him, were pledges of his zeal for the Commonwealth, and at least acted as .soporifics in the Argus eyes of suspicion. Having contrived, by various pretexts, to remove these men out of the neighbour- 78 PONTEFRACT CASTLE. hood, he now took advantage of the alarm created by the unsuccessful assault of which he himself had been the author, to introduce into the castle a select body of picked men, who belonged to Sir John Digby's forces, and who had been school- ed to maintain an outward appearance of anti-royalism. There was, indeed, but one impediment to the full march of liis successful projects — and that was Brooke, whom he had now full reason to imagine a spy of Rainsborough's, to whom he was said to be related. To expel him, by an undisguised order to tiiat effect, was impossible, as he was a «ood soldier, always active and alert for the defence of the castle, and violently embarked in the party principles of those for whotn it was maintained. But Ser- jeant Brooke, like all other men, had a weak side — he was more fond of joviality and liquor than corresponded with his puritanical exterior ; and with this lever Morrice contrived to root up the serious PONTEFRACT CASTLE. 79 obstacle, which his zeal, suspicion, and obstinacy continually opposed to his de- signs. He contrived, by the aid of his confederates, to seduce him into a drink- ing party, which succeeded so completely, that, at the time when he ought to have been going the round of the ramparts, he w^as in a state of stupid intoxication ; and, bringing the governor to see him in this state, obtained, with facility, an order for his discharge on the next day. Nor did he suffer him to march out of the ground from which he had thus been beaten, with flying colours or arms in hand ; but, calling him to him privately on the follow- ing day, and apparently condoling with his accident, he caused him to understand that he was indebted to his intercession alone for escape from a disgraceful punish- ment ; adding, that as the scales of justice were still suspended in the hands, to which the governor had "consigned them, there was only one alternative : that he should immediately depart for London, without returning to Doncaster. The culprit find- 80 PONTEFRACT CASTLE, ing himself caught in a trap, and that lie had compromised himself, not only with Cottrell, but with Rainsborongh,willingIy assented to the terms, and in the evening quitted the castle. In the same manner, and by means of the spies which he now retained in all the offices and departments of the fortress, he was enabled to select those on whom he could principally de- pend, to increase the strength of his min- ing tools, and to clear the way for collect- ing and arranging the materials for the final explosion. But nothing could close the ever- watchful eyes of Rainsborough and the parliamentarians. In the course of a week, fresh letters were received from London by Cottrell, repeating their suspicions of Morrice, with the addition of such fresh particulars a& had been transmitted by their spies, and reiterating their advice, or rather order, that he should be dismissed the castle. Cottrell, as usual, shewed these fresh dispatches to his friend, and only laughed at the 1 PONTEFRACT CASTLE. 81 -contents ; observing, that Thurloe, with all his shrewdness, w^as but a silly fellow, to be bamboozled by his own spies ; and that the party put him in mind of some of the ancient priests, who, to shew their zeal for their divinity, mangled their own limbs. But Morrice, on this occa- sion, did not, as usual, join in the laugh. He stood, for sometime, in a deliberating attitude, and then addressed the gover- nor in the following manner : — '' My dear Colonel Cottrell : although I know that you have no mistrust of my friendship, and am assured, that you value it too highly, to deem me capable of so flagrant a tergiversation, I feel myself called upon to give you this advice : that, for your own sake, you give way to a sus- picion that appears unappeasable. Nei- ther do I think (I speak as if I were reasoning in your place,) that you ought so openly to slight the intimations which your friends are in the habit of supply- ing ; because, in time, your lukewarm- E 5 82 PONTEFIIACT CASTLE. ness and indifference may appear to their jealousy like a falling off from your prin- ciples, or, rather, a sacrifice of them to friendship, which statesmen never admit of: and you may be greatly compromised and prejudiced by the supposition. And, indeed, I cannot but confess, that they judge as most men would judge, from the intelli- gence which reaches them ; and as you would, perhaps, judge if you occupied their place. Neither would it be possible for friendship to prevent suspicion in your case, did I not constantly, as you know, administer an effectual antidote by full and unreserved communication. Seeing, therefore, that there is nothing mani- festly unjust in their conclusions or their advice, I shall take upon myself the means of clearing you from any future com- promise, by abstaining from the castle ; to which, I must confess, I am stron2:lv at- tracted, as well as to your company, which has always been to my solitary state a consolation and a pleasure," PONTEFRACT CASTLK. 8-3 He paused at this, for he saw the go- vernor was so much affected, that he had not words at command : liis heart smote Iiim, and he added — '^ It is for your good, and for our mutual good, governor ; — our separation will be only temporary — only till such time as the jealous watchfulness of your employers is appeased or remov- ed." Here the colonel interrupted him with an agony of remonstrance and expostula- tion, and employed every means, and every argument, which the real w armth of his friendship suggested, and that dread of change, which exerts a despotic influence over minds but feebly con- structed. " No, Colonel Cottrell," said Morrice, resolutely, '' I will not compromise you ; 1 should detest myself if my friendship did not extend to the preservation of your honour. I cannot be more explicit. If you could discern the hostile sentiments which are now struggling and combating. 84 PONTEFRACT CASTLl^. in my bosom — the clashing of the pas- sions — the dire conjuring up of all I wish- ed forgotten — if you saw the whirlpool within me, you would pity, but yet, I think, you would approve my resolution. Thus much I say — I am confident that the next attempt on the castle will suc- ceed, so mature and deeply based are the means of success. The parties concern- ed in this plot are supposed in colleague with me. Reflect on the consequences, if Pontefract be taken — ^^ou may be in- volved with me in the same suspicion. Can I be so base as to contemplate such a result, and put it to the hazard ? No, Colonel Cottrell; all that you say, will not deter me from my resolution ; for I have a monitor within my own breast w^hose ^ oice is superior even to that of friend- ship." So saying, he wrung the colonel's hand ■vs ith more emotion than he scarcely ever exhibited ; — and the latter, finding all his efforts to engage his stay ineffectual, em- PONTEFRACT CASTLE. 85 braced, and attended him to his horse, in the court of the castle. There the friends parted ; nor were they destined to meet again, till their reciprocal feelings and relative position had undergone a tho- rough revolution. 8B PONTEFRACT CASTLE. CHAPTER VI. Et tu Brute? It was on the 8th of June, 1647, as Col. Gottrell was passing to the state room from the chamber of his daughter, to which she was confined by a slight fever, that a note was put into his hands by an orderly sol- dier, which, at first, he imagined was an answer from Morrice to one of his repeat- ed applications to return ; but on open- ing it, he found it was w ithout name or address and merely contained these words : ' '- Take warning — be prepared. " Alarmed and puzzled by this laconic admonition, and with nerves discomposed and shaken, by the restless and feverish night, w^hich anxiety for his daughter's health had oc- PONTEFRACT CASTLE. 87 casioned him, he was passing hastily along the gallery to the great room in the keep where he commonly transacted bu- siness, w^hen, on looking into the main court at the foot of that circular tower, he observed a number of country boors, with their carts of provisions and vege- tables confusedly scattered about, and themselves standing under the entrance gate laughing and drinking with the sol- diery. As he had given orders for a thorough provisioning of the castle, so common an appearance would not have attracted his attention ; but there were two who stood aloof from the rest, w^iose anxious conversation, manner, and su- perior air, by no means corresponded either with their habits or the company with which they w^ere associated. One seemed calm and unembarrassed; but the colonel could not help being struck with the restless and rovins: srlances which his companion constantly cast towards the gate : once, indeed, as two dragoons 88 PONTKFRACT CASTLE. came galloping at full speed over the drawbridge, he instinctively, as it were, darted his hand to his side. His com- panion's face was turned from the go- vernor, but he saw him make a sign, and then taking him by the arm, draw him to a little seat, which was placed by the side of the guard-house under the archway of the main gate. As neither of them seemed engaged in selling or bargaining, the colonel's curiosity was stimulated by this, and he continued to watch their motions. At last the first men- tioned countryman, turning his head at some boisterous piece of mirth among the soldiery, discovered the contour of a face, which, although a deep shadow was thrown upon it from the projecting arch, seemed familiar with his recollection. At length the eyes of the stranger involunta- rily turned towards the window where he stood and were as evide itly withdrawn with momentary, but marked embarrass- ment. He immediately afterwards left PON'TEFRACT CASTLE. OST his companion and mingled with the rest of the crowd. While a confused presenti- ment of danoer was minoUno; itself in the colonel's thoughts, with the admonition he had just received, and he was endea- vouring to disentangle from his memory some clue to his half recoonizance of this peasant, he was startled by the flash of a pistol from behind the angle of a pro- jecting buttress, which concealed the hand that fired it ; a report followed, which echoed through the vaulted arch of the portal, and the low channelled passages of the keep. Immediately there ensued a loud outcry of many angi^ voices from the same spot, mixed with threats and execrations ; and there appeared to be a great scuffle: for thougli he could hear the speakers, he could distinguish but a few of their persons, on account of the heavy frame work of the window which he occupied. There was an evident skirmish ; the tumult increased, and pro- pagated itself to those who stood at the great 90 PONTEFRACT CASTLE. gate. The court-yard now filled with com- batants ; and echoed to the clash of swords; the struggle assumed every moment a more military character ; and at last there was a general discharge of carbines. The governor was now^ assured that the affair was a premeditated attack ; and ran back hastily to his room for his arms, calling upon the servants and attendants as he passed along to go down into the interior court and defend the entrance of the keep. He w^as quickly armed, and des- cending by a private passage, was startled by a second more violent discharge of musketry ; it was followed by three or four groans of those who had been shot, and a loud huzza. The colonel upon this looked through a narrow loophole on the seen of action ; he saw the peasant whose appearance had drawn his attention, with a pistol in his hand, and in the middle of a party, whom he was directing to open the gates. Immediately a strong body of horse rushed in and joined the assailantis. PONTEFRACT CASTLE. 91 There was another shout, and as they pas- sed he observed they dropped their swords to the peasant, and arrayed themselves before him, and then he heard him say: ** Gentlemen, you will act like honourable cavaliers ; shew mercy and give quarter : there is nothing can resist us, and there- fore use no violence ; above all, as you value my honor, save the governor." That voice could not be mistaken, it was that of Morrice. Good God ! how fraught with anguish it smote on the ear of Cottrell! It was like iron entering the soul. He stood a moment irresolute and incapable of thouo^ht. At that voice the conviction of his misfortune — of his abused friendship — of his betrayed confidence smote upon his heart like a dao:o^er : a cold sweat burst upon his brow, and he fell almost senseless upon a bed ; but indignation and a sense of -wrong came to his relief. He wiped away the dew-drops, from his forehead, and making an effort like one who " whistles friendship down the wind," or with one 92 PONTEFRACT CASTLE. convulsive drag, tears up from its deep- rooted seat in his heart — the love of years, furiously grasped his sword, and rushed to the door. A quick bounding step was upon the stairs, followed by the louder tramp of less Mercureal feet, and the ringing of matchlocks and carbines. It was the step of Captain William Paul- den, attended by a prisoner as his guide. " Surrender, governor," said the cap- tain, '• the castle is the king's, and you are my prisoner." Cottrell made no reply, but made a desperate thrust with a long sword which he snatched from the bed where it had been lying. Paulden was cool, and put aside his blows, waving his hands to his fol- lowers not to interfere, and repeatedly of- fering quarter. But the assailant heard nothino^ but the inw^ard crv of reven2;e. At last the skill of Paulden little availed against his desperate attacks. The blood gushed from his head and arms, but he heard nothing — felt nothing but the mad POiNTEFRACT CASTLE. yi iuipulse of revenge. Gatliering himself up, lie devoted all his energy to a final thrust of his sword, and well it was for Paiildeu that it missed him. It passed under liis arm, and, entering tlie bed-post, broke short at the hilt. Paulden, though ^vounded himself, felt for him, and gene- rously took no advantage of his situation, but readily granted him quarter, aud called his attendants to take care of him. In the mean time Morrire had been de- tained below by an obstacle, for which he was not prepared, and which was as ridi- culous as unexpected. At the momeiit when he thought resistance over and the prey secure, lie found the domestics of the ca«tle, to the auKmnt of fifty, ranged within tlie gateway of the inner court in regular, or rather irregular, line to oppose liis ingress. So absurd aiid laugiiable a motley crew was never arrayed since the time that Sir John Falstaff was ashamed U) march with his choice collec- tion through CV}vea*ry. T\k tt'^-ici^Ic, it is 94 PONTEFIiACT CASTLE. true, did not consist in the same featurCv'^. Thev had neither robbed the hedoes nor Hiy landlord of a half shirt, for they were well clothed and better fjsd ; but they would not have suited the great Frederick any more than Falstaff, for they were of every size, from six foot down to four, and from a foot round the slender waist to the gas- tric rotundity of three feet in girth, bear- ing no bad similitude to a rough fence or broken bottles on a wall. The hosts of Xerxes could not have assembled a greater variety of arras ; for there was every description, from the dung-fork to the frying pan. Nor was there wanting a Haniiibal to reconcile and mould toge- ther so many incongruous auxiliary. This was no other than Hezeklah Fight-the- good-fioht Purefoy, the pastor of Pontc- frac^, who, to add to the ridicule of his steep'e-like appearance, was mounted that day on ;*-. old vhite marc ; like him. as he said, wh(i '' goeth forth conquenno and to conquer." By the side of this worthy, as an PONTEFRACT CASTLE. 95 adjutant and Fidus Achates, was his friend and compeer, Master Ebenezer TurnbuU, grand scullion of the castle, and purveyor of white broths, custard, and plum-porridge to the craving diaphragms of the round-heads. This hero of the kitchen whose fair '^ round belly," appa- rently *' with good capon lined," seemed to throw an incumbrance in the way of his military efforts, was larding the earth and puffing and blowing, as with a loud bel- lowing voice he echoed the shrill pipe of his elect commander, and charged them to stand firm in the name of the Lord. In short the whole discipline, which con- sisted in singing psalms through the nose, was very laborious to a man of his con- stitutional complexion ; but there was a military fire in his nose and face which made amends for a defect of breath. As soon as Morrice made his appearance at the gate-way with a few cavaliers, he jX)ured his voice before him like Fingal, and led off the first psalm, which was re- 96 PONTEFRACT CASTLE. sponded to by the whole band in every variety and dissonance of accent. Then Hezekiah turning up the whites of his eyes, and Ufting up one hand to the clouds, bade them on and not fear, for the victorv was theirs. " For the Lord," snuffled he, '■ shall go before us, and his glory shall be our rearward, (hhugh, hhugh.) — Not by strength, not by power, but by my law, sayeth the God of Jacob. As birds fly- ino'j so will the Holy One deliver Israel. Passing over us, he will protect us, and redeem us from the hands of the scorners," (hhugh, hhugh.) " Have done with this blasphemy., Purefoy," said Morrice, '' betake yourself to the* peaceful duties that become you, and forbear to lead these poor creatures into trouble." '' And you, ye dogs," said some of the cavaliers, ^' be off to your kitchens and stables." '' For shame, get off your horse, Heze- kiah," repeated Morrice, '' no harm will I PONTEFRACT CASTLE. 97 be done to any one — I give quarter to all. — Disperse, and be sober." "Sober! I defy thee, false tongue," hiccupped Hezekiah. '' And ye, mine elect, in whom my soul rejoiceth, fight, I say, for the sake of the Lord and for Is-- rael. Have I not promised ye victory this day ? Hearken not to the voice of the charmer, charm he never so wisely — but gird your swords about your loins, and fight like valiant men. Behold, are ye not armed w ith armour of righteous- ness, which is musket-proof," " Oh, it's all as nice as ninepence like," responded his adjutant, the cook. '^ And this is the sign I give unto ye this day—Verily, while I lift up my staff, ye shall prevail over the Philistines. There- fore, I say unto thee, Ebenezer Turnbull, stay my arm, even as Aaron did stay the hand of Moses, until the going down of--*' Morrice gave a nod, and a volley of blank cartridges was discharged in tho VOL. i. F 9S PONTEFRACT CASTLE. faces of the redoubtable host ; and Black- burn, at the same moment, getting be- hind Purefoy, pulled him from the White Horse, and threw him on the ground, as a fisherman does a flounder. ^' The sons of Zeruiah have prevailed," he snufl[ledout. — (Hhuh, hhuh!) " Sink me," said Blackburn, ^'iftheras- eals are not all down. They're all fallen on the ground, and groan as if they were slain. How would you like a little cold lead, if you can't stand powder ? Ye scoundrels, you've no more spirit than fleas, and salt- petre IS wasted upon you. Get up, mas- ter Turnbull, or I will baste you with your own ladle." '' Ise going to give tid' colonel a bit of someit in excalpitation like," qucth mas- ter Turnbull. •' Hold your Yorkshire tongue, and let me hear what the colontl says." '' Quite am in cable, like, I assure thee : dommit, mun ! can't thee be civil to a hody.'^ PONTEFRACT CASTLE. 99 '' What's to be done with these fel- lows," said Austvvick, '' shall I put them into the keep, colonel ? it will hold two or three hundred, and they may seek the Lord there without molestation." " Yes, you may — but don't harm them, poor creatures ! You may clap a guard of two soldiers before the descent." " It will make them sober," said the lieutenant, " and cure them of this mili- tary mania." So saying', as Cylleneius drove the un- willing and terrified shades of the suitors down the descent of Dis, he pointed the way for the forlorn band ; and patting first one man and then another with the flat side of his sword, as a shepherd dog keeps the sheep in regular line, directed them down the thirty or forty steps which led into the subterraneous strong hold of the keep. The common herd were gentle, tame, and sullenly submitted, but the great heart of Hezekiah still resisted, and ever and anon kept turning round with interjections and pious ejaculations. f2 100 PONTEFRACT CASTLE. '^ Where are we (hhiih hhiih), what will the Indians say ? verily the sons of Zeruiah are too strone: for us — I'm going — of a surety there is some Achan among us — yea, we had among us the un- clean thing (hhuh hhuh). Hold off — ve- rily thy sword pricketh — I'm going. Who Siath done this ? behold thou art the Achan, Ebenezer— for of a surety the devil residcth in that temple of gluttony thy paunch, and hast marred God's work. I'm going — where are we? where are we? (hhuh, hhuh)." Morrice having thus got rid of this ab- surd impediment, proceeded with heavy step and a sad presentient heart, to the chamber of the governor; what a sight for a man of humanity was there ! what thorns for his already bleeding bosom [ Stretched on a couch, bleeding and faint, lay the friend so late of his bosom, whose pressure was yet upon his hand, whose friendly tone, and look of perfect con- fidence, when he last saw him, was en- PONTEFRACT CASTLE. lOl graved on his soul. It was then he drank of the bitterness of his cup, and sighed at the sad duty imposed upon him, by his country and his sovereign. And Matilda, too, his other soul, the woman he adored, the central point to which all his thoughts and all his hopes converged ; what misery to see her leaning over her only parent, lier long tresses stained with the blood of his wounds, and bedewing his face with irrepressible tears ! Could love do this, could friendship act so cruel a part ? He caught one glance of Cottrell's eyes, as he advanced. The wounded man spoke not, he was unable to speak ; but iu this glance were volumes ; there was hor- ror in it for the soul of Morrice : it com- prised scorn, agony, humiliation, and loath- ing : what a change ! and Matilda, too, no look of pity ? none. She rose scornfully as he entered, as if his presence contami- nated the air. There was the spirit of a Lacy in her eye and attitude ; pride but no grief. She rose and with many charges of 102 PONTKFRACT CASTLE. attention, committed her father to the care of his medical attendants, and turning her back hastily quitted the room. The heart of Morrice was riven — his triumph was turned into gall, and the conqueror was conquered. He could not weep, for his heart was too full, but he beat liis breast and wrung his hands like a madman, and rushing out of the room shut himself in his closet for a considerable time. And no dcubt he derived strength from that all- wise all-provident Father of all his children who can make the dark path light, and afflict none with more than he has strength to bear. PONTEFRACT CASTLE. 103 CHAPTER VII. Thoughts, whither have ye led me ? With what new Compulsion thus transported to forget What hither brought us ? Hate, not love, nor hope. Milton. So easy is t'appease the stormy winde Of malice in the calm of pleasaunt womankind. Spenser. The room which Matilda Cottrell ge- nerally occupied was small, and had been fitted up by her as a library. Hav- ing intimated his business to an attend- ant, the Colonel was ushered into the room with a cold formality which shewed the altered feeling of its mistress : she appeared now more calm and settled ; but curtsying coldly, without speaking, she pointed to a chair. * " I thought," said Morrice, rather em- barrassed, — " I expected — perhaps Miss Cottrell will think it proper that I should 104 PONTEFRACT CAeTLE. offer some explanation of the new circum- stances under which I appear before her." Her cold and sarcastic bow appeared to mark with malicious emphasis, as far as gesture could, the equivocal preamble he had employed. " I need not inform you, Madam, that my real political sentiments are different from what have been imputed to me ; I am no longer Colonel Morrice the inde- pendant," — Matilda smiled bitterly, '' but Colonel Morrice, the" — she eagerly fi- nished the sentence — '' the malignant — an enemy to the malignant foes of his king." '^ Madam," he said haughtily ; but soon resuming a humbler tone, '^ lam afraid — I cannot but perceive that to iNIiss Cottrell, this change of character is no advantage." He paused, but she was silent ; her con- temptuous eyes looked daggers, though she used none. lathis language the change he spoke of was pronounced to be a disgrace, and not an improvement. Morrice was liumbled, mortified, and piqued — but he PONTEFRACT CASTLE. 105 made another effort, and resumed. '' The die is now cast, and I have passed the Rubicon. There is a gulph henceforth between the covenanters and me : their ways are not my ways, nor their thoughts my thoughts. I know what I have to dread from their vengeance, and their utter scorn of all law that stands in the way of it. I may perish by violence or fraud, but I have chosen my path, and the con- sequences I leave to my Creator, who knows what is best for me. It is indeed unfortunately — lamentably for England, the weak side that I have chosen — but it was not so much the strength of the cause to which I looked as its goodness ; and in the future struggles which the choice involves, there is at least this equi- valent for its ill fortune, that whether I rise with it or fall with it — * Less glory will be lost, or more be won.' I have besides one other consolation to which I look with confidence : I hope, that* F o 106 PONTEFRACT CASTLE. however ray conduct in this affair may be traduced or blackened by my enemies, 1 shall not lose the good opinion of my friends ; that they will have the candour to think me unswayed by interested or im- proper motives, and that I am still entitled to the respect and esteem of those who have once not disdained to honour me with their love.''' Matilda smiled at this without replying : but it was a bitter smile, which almost amounted to a sneer, and there was an in- dicant flash in her eves w Inch seemed to repel the insinuation as an insult. He waited in hopes that she would have made some comment from which he could have appealed ; but he was disappointed. She seemed resolved on being silent. '^ I perceive," he resumed, with an airofiU disguised pique, ^' that my case is prejudged in a quarter where I expect- ed — I was going to say favour. Miss Cottrell's mind is, however, superior to any such weakness; but I did expect PONTEFRACT CASTLE. '^ what ought to be the natural element of such a mind, justice — I did expect, impar- tiality. I am aware of your thoughts, madam, and I in part respect their mo- tives. You perhaps excuse my difference of party ; if it be honest, as it is, you can- not do otherwise ; but you imagine that I have acted with too much dupHcity in this affair — that there is somewhat of treachery and intrigue, somewhat superro- gatory in the mode by which I have served my party. I venerate you the more for this proof how much your mind is hostile to perfidy, intrigue, and all that partakes of craft. It is the nature of noble spirits to make sincerity and openness their gospel ; but my cause, whatever may appear on the face of it, is capable of defence and vindication even on that score ; for be- sides that I have acted as becomes a sub- ordinate at the command of those above me ; it is certain that the stratagems al- lowed and commended in war (as saving blood, and superior in character to brute 108 PONTEFRACT CASTLE. farce) are in this struggle peculiarly ex- pedient and just, inasmuch as the suc- cessful side have at no time shrunk from every species of craft and cunning which might promote their cause." '' I congratulate you, sir, on you mas- tership in so scientific an art," said Ma- tilda Cottrell, '' as well as your logic in defending it." Morrice appeared not to notice this sally, and went on. '-I have said that the cause I have espoused is at this time weak, and at the lowest possible ebb. Its leader entrapped, partly by his own open and honourable nature, and partly by a system of treachery, as base as unjustifiable, is a victim of credulity, in the hands of those who seek his life. Shall I be blamed, therefore, if I have used the arms of weakness in a contest with the prepared artillery of strength. If in bearding the lion in his den I have resorted to the artifice of the fox — if in warring like a pigmy on a giaut, I have PONTEFRACT CASTLE. 109 not presumed that heaven will take charge of one so insignificant, so far as to measure a pebble against a rock, or a reed against a spear like a weaver's beam. So much for the vindication of party — but indivi- dually my conscience assures me that I stand rectus in curia — aye, even if strata- gem be treachery ; it is but the retort of injury for injury, and balanced wrong and injustice against the wrong and in- justice! have sustained. It is but return- ing the ' Ingredients of the poisoned chalice' to the lips of them who intended it for me." As he spoke his accents became animated, and his eyes darted fire : for he was piqued and irritated by the cold and premeditated silence of his beautiful umpire ; but the spark of his enthusiasm had kindled where it fell. -'To what does Colonel Morrice al- lude?" said Matilda hesitating and colour- ing, '' 1 always thought you had received no PONTEFRACT CASTLE. at our hands the most confiding, the most open-hearted treatment." ^' If by those words at our hands, ma- dam, you mean your family, I not only admit the inference, but am proud to pro- claim the obligation ; but ifj under favour, as I think, you refer to the party in which your respectable father is embarked, (and with it those inclinations on your part which I cannot discommend, since they are grounded in the virtuous feeling of filial duty,) then I answer most deliberately and decisively, no. The treatment I have received from those men whom I scorn to name, and who are even now quarrelling over their ill-gotten spoils, has been the cruellest, the basest, and the blackest. To injury they have added insult, and to insult calumny; not satisfied with throw- ing away the peel of the orange they had squeezed, but trampling it in the mire of their own lorsthsome imaginations. Any one might trample on Morrice ; he was a poor worm, that incommoded the sunny PONTEFRACT CASTLE. Ill path of their ascent, but they will find perhaps to their cost that the woim is become a serpent and — '' Perhaps a snake in the grass," said Matilda, with cutting bitterness, *^ one that carries poison and a sting for the senseless bosom that warmed it into life." Morrice started, and the fair speaker trembled ; for she saw she had gone too tar. '^ Madam, it is a wrong — which — Miss Cottrell — I command myself — I feel that my presence is painful —hateful : nothing else could — permit me to retire. *^No; stay, Colonel Morrice," she cried with an unfeigned emotion, '^ I have said too much, my grief, my humbled pride, my filial agony got the better of my jus- tice. My thoughts are yet amazed and staggered ; I see the wreck that you have caused, and yet, I know and feel that y^i' are incapable of injuring me or mine. Forgive me, or I cannot forgive myself." 112 PONTEFRACT CASTLE. Morrice now perceived that she had been acting a constrained part, for her voice trembled and a tear stood in her eye. " Miss Cottrell," said he calmly, '^you of all others should not accuse me of duplicity, because to you, I have con- fided my abhorrence of the hypocrites, who now riot in the blood of England ; neither have I deceived your father, and as far as was consistent with my duty to my king, I have kept aloof from all that might compromise his honour. You know, and he knows, my self-denial in refusing the greatest good which in my view this world contains ; you know, and he knows, how his open-heartedness would have granted it.to one so unworthy, so unhappy." — She looked down and blushed. — " Did I not then explicitly avow that an oath restrained me ; that insu- perable objections opposed the consum- mation of that union, that wedding of the mind, which the sympathy of good and rONTEFUACT CASTLE. U^ superior natures create in spite of party ? And ah, Matilda," he added, (as he took her hand which she either could not or ^vould not withdraw,) ''you that have been the centre of my thoughts, and source at once of my love and my despair, could you have seen the struggles of my mind, the contest between my duty and my feelings, you would not condemn but pity and grieve for me. But I have been pledged to the fearful task, and to that I have sacrificed my all ; my all indeed Avhen it has deprived me of your good opinion. I am a soldier, and it be- comes me to speak freely. I feel that we were made, but for these unhappy times, for the felicity of each other. You are the co-mate, the companion-spirit that I w ould have chosen to tread the same path and share the fortunes of my earthly pil- grimage — the friend that would have cheered me in disaster — that would have roused me in danjjer — that would have rejoiced with me in success : in distress 114 PONTEFRACT CASTLE. my comfort — in prosperity my better for* tune — in triumph my fairest laurel. But now * My glory is turned to corruption,' my triumph is disaster — my success the draining of the cup of bitterness. Eng- land and Europe will soon be filled with mingled cries of execration and applause. I cannot disguise it : tliis action, so bril- liant in appearance, has drawn the final veil over every delusive vista of the future, and sunk a gulph between us for ever ; leaving me as a desert stretched out in view of Eden, and withered up by the forbidding's word — a useless waste : for without you, no spring of feeling — no bud of hope — no dew of sympathy can rise from my cold and barren heart." He had sunk upon one knee, and still retained her beautiful hand, which trem- bled, but was not withdrawn. He felt a tear drop upon his — a scalding tear. It was a tear from the beautiful eyes of Ma- PONTEFRACT CASTLE. 115 tilda — of her whom he had pictured as beyond the range of mortal weakness, and like the coldly chaste and intellectual Cor- nelias of old, dwelling in setherial calm of mind, unapproachable by the tornadoes of passion. For once he was undeceived : how extatically undeceived ! The feelings of Matilda were suppressed, but not subdu- ed; and the dykes which her pride had raised gave way, and she sobbed hysterically. At this moment, while the tears and sighs of the lovers were mixed together — while the heart of Morrice was on his lips ready to be poured out in all the torrent of eloquence and passion before the feet of the enchan- tress who had evoked these quick suc- ceeding emotions from the hidden depths of his soul, an accident interrupted their sorrows, and reminded them of the world they had forgotten ; hasty feet were heard without, followed by a loud and impatient summons at the door. '' Go, Colonel Morrice," Matilda said, resuming her self-command, and gentlj 116 PONTEFRACT CASTLE. extricating her hand from his ; ^' go where your new duties and your prosperous star directs you. Far be it from me to allure you from one or dim the lustre of the other. The vague day-dreams of youthful hope and the illimitable speculations of unchas- tised inexperience are chimeras ; it is not by weakly indulging imagination, but by sternly employing the judgment to compress our passions that \^ e prove the sterling metal of our worth'^^'and come forth in brightness from the assay. God forbid that I should lay any wrong to your charge. You have no doubt acted as most men do, and as your conscience dic- tated. The applause of that is, after all, the most stationary good. You have moved straight forward in the narrow road of your duty ; nor was it wonderful that you jostled against hearts that loved you in so undeviating a career. Go, then, I repeat, still safe in your own esteem and mine, and let this moment of weakness be forgotten ; for to be weak, as one of the PONTEFRACT CASTLE. 117 poets has lately said, is to be miserable. Go, Colonel Morrice, and forget one who nourished from childhood in enmity to your party, has reserved for you perhaps too great and too unqualified a friendship — one who has loved not wisely, but too well — one whose heart, even now lacerated by the severe blow with which your way- ward fortune rather than your will, per- haps, has smote it, is doomed, wherever it beats, to feel a pulse which s\tnpathizes with the weal or woe of yours." So say- ing, she hastily quitted the room, and Mor- rice sisching: heavilv, as if the world con- tained no more to interest or benefit, pro- ceeded to enquire into the urgency of the business which had caused the interrup- tion, but with a passive and souUrooted distaste to the noisy congratulations of triumph, ill corresponding with the glory he had plucked from the haughty brows of those revolutionary Titans, who till now triumplied, and in excess of joy Sole reigning, held the sovereignty. 118 PONTEFRACT CASTLE. CHAPTER VIII, Fame is the spur that the clear spirit doth raise To scorn delights, and love laborious days. Milton's Lycidat. The scene at Pontefract Castle now underwent an entire change. The easy, jocular, and rather unrestrained habits of royalist soldiers had succeeded to the long prayers and self denying unsociality of thia puritan bigots ; and the contrast between the conflicting parties, always prominent and marked, was now brought into still stronger relief by the humiliation of defeat and the exultation of victory. It was in- deed some time befo 'e the festivities and congratulations consequent on this event among the king's party began to subside into a more orderly survey of their present PONTEFRACT CASTLE. 1 19 position. But the great cause of all this rejoicing was least affected by the delu- sions of hope so prematurely and vehe- mently indulged. He knew well that if the triumph were great, the danger con- sequent upon it was in every respect pro- portionate. Morrice knew the leader of the baffled party too well to imagine that they would leave any means untried of erasing this disgraceful blot out of the sano;uine escutcheon of reform. He knew that they would neither forgive nor forget so darino; a defiance of their authoritv, and so life-stirring a zeal for that cause which they had, without doubt, considered in articuUs mortis. In setting his ma- chines in motion, he had not omitted to calculate either on the attrition which might thwart their play in the onset, or in the subsequent friction and clashing of opposite opinions, as well as on the more direct violence which the enemy would bring to overwhelm them. Morris's tact was alwavs readv, and his ken into the 120 PONTEl-'RACT CASTLE. future almost intuitive. It was thus that his individual feelings as well as his pru- dence and foresio'ht combined to chastise and repress any exultation that he might otherwise have indulged : he remained calm and contemplative amidst the boon sallies and undiinking good fellowship of his companions, and often warned thenij though without moroseness, that they must prepare to retain with difficulty what they had acquired with ease. Often while they ridiculed his prophecy, he told them laughingly in the second- sight phraseology of Homer, that they hughed ivith other niens\f aces, and that he saw amidst the festivities of the banquet, the shadows of projecting ears and crop-< ped pericraniums upon the adjacent walL There was no man to whom the Frencli idiom of knowing his men applied better than to him. He knew men in cute, and ricver left to chance the combination or application of the instruments over which he exercised so masterly a power, Like PONTEFRACT CASTLE. 121 a chess player in the game of Hfe, he coinbined the various capabihties and faculties of his companions, in one ef- fectual plan of resistance, and concen- trated weakness and strength upon the single object of check-mating his antago- nists ; he foresaw from the first preliminary moves both the quality and quantity of re- sistance, and taking his measures accord- ingly, prepared dispassionately, though without much hope, to counteract and de- feat them. But while he arranoed the means of resistance, he resolved to prove that it was not ambition which had sti- mulated his loyalty ; and at the same time secured the cause effective co-operation, while he averted the bickerings and dis- unions which sometimes follow an as- sumption of power. It was with this view that he refused the urgent solicita- tions of his friends to take upon himself the government of Pontefract ; all that they could obtain from him was : that he would assume it if the king should give VOL. I. G 122 PONTEFRACT CASTLE. liiin his authority. Inflexibly firm in offer- ing so great an example of self-sacrifice to a public object, he caused the pro tern" pore choice to fall upon a gentleman with whom before he had not the slightest per- sonal intimacy. This was Sir John Digby, a man of family and fortune, as well as endowed w^ith such resolution and talent as fitted him for the charge ; who after the fatal and improvident battle of Mars- ton -moor had continued to keep a small remnant of the royalists together, and was now in the immediate neighbourhood of the castle. Upon this gentleman accord- ingly the choice of the confederates fell : and he, cheerfully assenting to their com- bined application, brought with him about 30 horse and 500 foot, and took possession of the castle in the name of the king. Most of the prisoners were libe- rated on their parole, and among the rest, the late governor, who, a few days after the surrender, retired accompanied by his daughter to a small villa which he pos- PONTEFRACT CASTLE. 123 sessed in the adjacent county. Till he went, he had excluded himself from all visits under the pretence of illness. He evidently still smarted under the in- fluence of exacerbated spirits, and sedu- lously avoided any communication either with the new governor, or the other guests of the castle. And he finally went away without beginning, or permitting the least kind of correspondence. Morricefor some time felt this conduct hke a dagger in his heart, but the constant succession of new duties at last succeeded in erasinu- the painful and galling reminiscence. Sir John Digby was a tall well looking cavalier, a relation of the famous Sir Ken elm, whose philosophical discoveries were then in every body's mouth. He had seen much service ; was a man of few words, rather precise, and recalling the memory of the good old school of Eliza- beth's 8Bra. His dress in no slight de- gree corresponded with this impression. I describe it from a picture I have seen of G 2 124 PONTEFRACT CASTLE. iiiiii at Gothurst in Cheshire. He wore a quilted rufF, white jacket, black cloak, purple hose, flow^ered belt, and a bonnet with a white feather in it. Besides this gentleman, tiie arrival of some cavaliers, from the armv of Sir Marmaduke Lans^- dale, contributed to the animated ap- pearance of the castle : and the com- pany was temporarily increased by the junction of Lord Byron, who was pro- i-eeding with a small retinue from Wales, ^v'iiere he had been fruitlessly contending i n favour of royalty, on a amission to Scot- land. This veteran nobleman had ad- Jiered to the party of the king with in- flexible firmness from the commencement of the civil war, of which he might indeed say, ^'^ quorum pars maxima fuij^ Origi- nally made governor of the Tower, im- peached by the refractory commons, and subsequently deprived of his post, he had fought by the side of his master through all his numerous battles from the moment of planting the standard at Nottingham, PONTEFRACT CASTLE. ^25 and was by him intrusted with the tu- torship of the young prince. Morris was extremely pleased at the arrival of this respectable nobleman, for they had been known to each other some years before ; at the time that the Earl of Strafford, to whom he had been page, was confined in the Tower. Sir John Byron had at that time done every thing in his power to mitigate the calamity of his noble captive, and the conduct was more deeply impressed on the grateful heart of Morrice, because Sir William Balfour, the former governor, who was a friend of Pym, and Haselrig had exhausted every means that malignancy could invent to embitter his confinement. Lord Byron was a man rather stricketi in years, of a noble prepossessing deport- ment, a face pale though full ; and rather handsome, though entrenched with the scars of many wounds. He was possessed of a clear courage, and unwearied patience in retrieving disaster, but withal not un- 126 PONTEFRACT CASTLE. tainted with that defect which characte- rized many of the royal party : too high a contempt for the characters and abihties as well as the persons and origin of the puritans. He valued them too hghtly : and the consequence was that in most of the battles in w^iich he was repeatedly engaged, his fortune did not correspond with his zeal, nor his fame with his sol- dier-like qualities. Yet was there some- thino^ in the unshaken de\ otedness of this brave man, something in the tenacity with which he clung to the wreck of royalty, in sickness or in health, in triumph or in af- fliction, in hope and in despair, which clothed misfortune wdth an air of superior dignity. It was a true picture of Horace's justum et tenacem propositi virum, or rather a counterpart of that affecting image w^hich a poet has in one line drawn of the faithful companions of his great descendant, the naval discoverer : "Pale, but intrepid; sad, but unsubdued.'* t^ONTEFRACT CASTLfi. 127 Indeed, the retinue which gradually contributed to garrison the castle, this forlorn hope of sinking royalty — this last remnant of so many warriors, who had perished in its cause, and which was now assembled to throw its last staks, and wage its final battle, presented food suf- ficient for melancholy, for sympathy, and sublime retrospection. Their waning cause was like the dim ray of the descend- ing sun of autumn, which reddened their polished cuirasses and helmets as they passed under the lofty portcullis of that monument of strength, which, to most of them, was to be a sepulchre. That sun, like the half-eclipsed orb of monarchy, was going down behind a mass of va- poury and heavy clouds, and whether it was to rise again in splendour, or to har- binger a train of long and dreary days, was hidden from human foresight. How few of that band, so gallant in bearing, and so intrepid in heart, so gorgeous in dress, and so animated in demeanour, 12^ PONTEFRACT CASTLE. were to issue from those gates alive ! But this sadness, which a spectator might have indulged as he surveyed them, in no degree operated on those brave and self- devoted leaders ; or, if a shade of melan- choly did cross their brows, it was soon dispelled by the glow of genius, glorying in self-immolation to principle, and ex- ulting in the future prominence of its deeds on the imperishable roll of heroic immortality. Besides the illustrious chiefs above- described, others came in their train to the castle, who were more peculiarly the friends of Morrice, and to whom the reader has been already introduced — Paulden, Austwick, Major Ashby and Blackburn. The two latter had served with Morrice in most of his campaigns, and had fought with him in the Dutch war. Ashby was a warm-hearted man , of gentlemanly demeanour and habits, very religious, but abhorring the hypo- crisy of the puritans. Blackburn had, PONTEFRACT CASTLE. 129 like Morrice, been suspended, in the new regulation of the army, introduced by Cromwell, either through caprice, or a suspicion of tendency to royaUsm. He was a mere honest soldier, with a rough exterior, but a warm and devoted heart, and believing that in Morrice he saw every thino^ that a man and a soldier ouoht to be. The Httle band was still farther in- creased by the arrival of Sir Hugh, and his son. Major Cartret : both gentlemen of considerable repute in the county, and now stepping forward with alacrity to the aid of principles they had been all along devoted to. As these gentlemen make no particular figure in this history, and the reader need not be burthened with too many characters in the picture, I shall pass them over ; but they brought with them three friends, alike singular in their habits. The first was Ignatius Car- tret, Sir Hugh's nephew, who, having read himself into infidelity, and not, as John- son afterwards advised, read himself out g5 130 PONTEFRACT CASTLE. again J had become the bigot and apostle of his new faith, and, in propagating it, dis- covered as much zeal as the fanatics did for the covenant. Indeed, he ought be rather called a polytheist than an infidel ; for, to say truth, his mind was a conge- ries of all the quackery which has dis- graced philosophy since it began its spe- culations. It w^as the sink w^hich receiv- ed its offal : and the ravings of the Alche- mists, the theogony of the Platonists, the magic of the Alchemists and Astrologists, were all united there with the pantheis- tical faith of Toland and Spinoza. He was a specimen of a small genus of that class of philosophical millenarians, o.nd il- luminati, whose spawn produced the Ja- cobins : who renounced Christianity, ex- cept as a code of earthly reform, expecting that man, in this world, could arrive at the same perfection it held out in another. In one word, he was a Platoiiist in its worse sense ; that is, as Platonism was corrupted by heretics and mystics. PONTEFRACT CASTLE. 131 The second was Clavering, then a cap- tain, and noticed on]y for the imperative decision of his manner, but destined af- terward to play a prominent part in the annals of this great and long-continued conflict. And the third was a young gen- tleman of o;ood family, one Sir Arthur Beaumont, who had but lately joined Lord Byron as a volunteer. This young gen- tleman would seem, from the extreme daintiness of his dress, and delicacy of his manner, less adapted to endure the hard- ships of a camp, than To caper nimbly in a lady's chamber, To the lascivious warblings of tlie lute. He was, indeed, an abstract of military dandyism, at that period : but, neverthe- less, had obtained, among his comrades, a liigh reputation for personal courage, as well as the more graceful accomplish- ments that interest, engage, or adorn. He was, indeed, a general favourite ; and although it was reported that no lady had 132 PONTEFRACT CASTLE, yet been able to resist the witcheries of his tongue, and the sweet expression of his smile, there was no exhibition of the usual coxcombry, concomitant on that success : his person, it was true, was highly perfumed ; the cut of his doublet and hose were in the most elegant taste, and such as exhibited his fine bust and perfect form to advantage. His beauti- ful hair, which descended, en cavalier, upon his shoulders, shone like the ringlets of the Deli an god, and his mustachios were trimmed after the newest decree of fashion. But, though frivolity reigned outwardly, it did not penetrate within. No one came within the reach of his piercing eagle eye without instantly finding there was rich metal in the soul, to the beauty and worth of which it served as the index, nor did the quiet, soft cadence of his Yoice pass over the ear without a strong impression ; there was something in it which pronounced the speaker to be either a singular, or a highly-gifted man PONTEFRACT CASTLE. 18S — even when the subject was trivial and unimportant. It could not be heard without drawing' the listener into its ma- gic circle, as they say the rattle of the snake attracts the squirrel ; and it was surprising to remark the quiet and im- perceptible degrees with which he ac- quired and retained the ear of a nume- rous assembly. For any other than Mor- rice here was a formidable rival ; but the heart of tliat generous chief, though spacious, had no room for envy, and he chose him for a friend. Frequent oppor- tunities of confidence, and a sympathy of thought displayed by the young Baronet soon ripened respect and intimacy into confidence and fiiendship ; and in a short time, both of them professed that neither had a thouo^ht concealed from the other. 134 PONTEPKACT CASTLE. CHAPTER IX. His wit was sent him for a token, But in the carriage cracked and broken. But as he got it freely, so He spent it frank and freely too : He could deep mysteries unriddle As easily as thread a needle. HUDIBRAS. Such were the chief actors now intro- duced upon the stage of Poiitefract Cas- tle. To compiete the piciurej it remains, however, to introduce the reader (though already slightly acquainted) to the more intimate knowledge of another. This was a character ratlier anomalous in the present collection, of whom honourable mention had been made in a former chap- ter, namely, Hezekiah Fight-the-Good- Fight Purefoy ; for such was the singu- lar name Vvith which, like Praise God PONTEFRACT CASTLE. 135 Barebones, he had been called to the mi- nistry by his sponsors. Having exer- cised the office of preaching minister in the castle, by the appointment of Parlia- ment, it was expected that he would have quitted with the expelled party, but, at the intercession of the inhabitants of Pon- tefract, by whom, in the absence of epis- copal order, he was looked up to as the spiritual pastor, it was admitted that he should have ingress and egress at all times, It is true the holy man was visited by sundry compunctions of conscience,atthus "^ walking in the way of the sinful, and sitting in the seat of the scorners," but his soul, as he confessed, lusted after the larder of the castle ; yea, his bowels yearned for the liesh-pots of Egypt ; and, after several buffetings with Satan, and struggling mightily with the evil one, the savoury steam of the kitchen overcame the odour of his sanctity, and he went greedily after the error of Baal, feedinghis belly with master Turnbull's '^ delicates." 136 PONTEFUACT CASTLE. And indeed if the elect, as he said, may fall seven times, and yet rise again, some excuse might be drawn for inability to resist temptation from the exceeding skill of the aforesaid master TurnbuU in pre- paring those delicious icheys, custards, and white broths, which were so attractive to his brethren, as to supply their after name and draw the notice of a contem- porary. In the beginning of Charles's reign, Purefoy had received a call from the lord to unite withPrynne andBastwick, in de- crying the players a/id the luxuries of the times. Finding sedition pay extremely well, he had proceeded in that cause, and began to have glimpses of the New- Jerusalem, '' whose streets are paved with gold," when an unlucky libel upon the queen subjected him to the censures of the Star Chamber ; which caused him to be publicly whipped and pilloried, and had given one of his ears a portentous height in comparison with the other, which had PONTEFRACT CASTLE. 187 been cropped close. But this was the sign and seal of martyrdom, and the ear- nest of preferment. He laboured now more strenuously than ever in the good work with Nay lor, and Peters, and Vane, and Prynne, till as a writer said he blew down the stage, and raised up the scaffold. At last, on the extirpation of episcopacy, he was saddled on three or four of the weal- thy royalists of his native county, whose fortunes were mulcted of so much as would supply the indefatigable saint with three or four livings ; for one seldom contented the voracity of these pious cor- morants, and Purefoy, like his brethren often insisted that the Hebrew name for life^ had no singular. His brain, which, as a wit said, had been broken by a brick- bat from the Tower of Babel, was a strange medley of all the lies of the fa- natical brewei'y : and consequently his preaching was as confused a gabble as the speeches of his master, the lieutenant ge- neral ; and when it is added, that he was 1B8 PONTEFRACT CASTLE* Fluildiest, Cabbalist, and Millenarian m full persuasion that Christ was coming shortly to reign with his saints upon earth, of whom he believed himself one of the ap- pointed ; some little conception of his Ba- bylonian dialect may be formed. But no painting can do justice to the expression of his countenance, particularly when la- bouring with the inspired flatus from within ; and I shall therefore describe him in the w^ords of a contemporary, w ho knew him w'ell. '^ He has two mouths, his nose is one, for he speaks through both. His two longest things are his nails, and his prayer ; his shortest, his hair and his cloak. But the cleanest thing about him is his pulpit cushion, for he still beats the dust out of it. If his pulpit be large, he walks his round and speaks as from a gar- rison ; when he first enters on his prayer before sermon, he winks and gasps, and gasps and winks, as if he prepared to preach in another world, and truly by the length of it, he seems quite satisfied that PONTEFRACT CASTLE. 139 he has an eternity before him. He seems ill a slumber, then in a dream, then rumbles awhile, at last sounds forth and throws a volley of dirt and nonsense towards hea- ven, and because the scripture forbids him to curse the king in his thoughts, he does it in the pulpit by word of mouth. He divides his text, as he did the kingdom, making one part fight against the other, and butchers it as he does royalty dividing it into many dead parts. His sermon and prayer grin at each other ; the one is presbyterian the other independent ; as for his prayer, it is such an irrational bleating, that without a metaphor, 'tis the '^ calves of his lips ;' commonly both are larded w^ith fine new words, as sa- vingable, muchly, Christ Jesusness, and yet he has the face to preach against prayer in an unknown tongue. He has besides a rare simpering way of expres- sion, calling a married couple, saints that enjoy the mystery, and a man drunk is a brother full of the creature. At wedding 140 PONTEFRACT CASTLE. sermons, he is very familiar, and like the picture at Leyclen, shews Adam and Eve without fig-leaves. His prayer ended, he looks around to observe the sex of his congregation, and accordingly turns the Apostle's '^ men, fathers and brethren,' into dear brethren and sisters. His preach- ment he calls manna ; fitted not for the hearer's necessity but palate ; this shar- pens and whets him for supper, where he feeds gratis with his city landlord, and where he brings a large stomach and the news ; for which crammed capons help to cram him." Such is the picture given by a contemporary of this worthy denizen of the New Jerusalem, who expected shortly to reign for a thousand years, as a priest and king. Purefoy was six feet high, with very narrow shoulders, and arms that were appended, as dangling excrescences thereto, like the sails of a child's wind- mill ; in short, his whole body rose from his haunches, which were not a little exuberant in that feature which the PONTEFRACT CASTLE. 141 Hottentots think beautiful, in the form of a pyramid, ending in the conical cropped apex of his pericranium, which presented no ill resemblance of a figure of three. From the crafty Oliver he had caught the nack of casting up the eyes, and smiting the breast, on the most trifling query. Indeed it was said of the military saint, that he would at the same time, -' strike you a blow under the first rib," Oliver himself could not have out- groaned him, or so completely sent the pu- pils of his eyes a wool-gathering after the inward light. Another habit he had learnt from Hugh peters ; he had a favorite ex- pression which he used upon all occasions, which he accompanied with contortions quite as edifying as those of the king fishing saint. This was an exclamation of, ^^ Where are we ?" '^ Where are we ?"* dished up with an artificial cough re^ gernbling a pug's bark. Such was the man, which the cavaliers partly out of contempt, and partly out of ri« 142 PONTEFIIACT CASTLE. dicule suffered to retain bis footing in the castle. It was afterwards regretted ; for as extremes meet the fanaticism of the philosopher, and the bigot, of Purefoy, and Ignatius, brought them into straight habits of intimacy, and it was remarked, not without wonder and some suspicion that Beaumont too frequently formed a party in the chimerical disputes of these worthies. In general this was attributed to a keen relish of the burlesque, and a desire of seeing the descent of the sublime to the ridiculous in full process ; such was his own account of certain secret confe- rences, which he was knov/n to hold with them ; curious eyes, however, did not ob'. serve the growing connection without tlislike. PONTEFRACT CASTLE. J43 CHAPTER X, Tl^ere are more things in Heav'n and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in our philosophy. Sir Arthur Beaumont, as has been hinted, believed, or affected to believe, some of the visionary opinions of Ignatius Carteret, but ^vhether it was from real conviction or assent to the prevailing fashions, was extremely doubtful. It is certain, however, that as far as a belief in spirits went, he was in earnest. It might be that this notion suited the luxuriance of a poetic imagination ; but whenever the doubt of spiritual existence became a question, so serious a shade passed over his fine countenance, and his language was so stamped with the deep- toned awQ 144 PONTEFIIACT CASTLl?. of conviction, that it was evident that his head and judgment v^^ere on the same side as his tongue. Ignatius, hke all the fana- tics of that age, philosophical or religious, as indeed was Cromwell himself, was half an impostor and half the dupe of his own impostures. But Beaumont was too re- fined, too proud, and possessed too much good taste to be one of the servum vidgi peciis merely from imbecility of imitation. He was attracted therefore towards the extraordinary theorems of Ignatius (as men of very superior minds were in that day to Lilly^) and since to his successors ; attracted perhaps by that want of strong excitement which is the stamp and pe- nalty, and perhaps formative power of superior minds. The actual diifer« once in the opinions of the two charac- ters in question will be better expressed by a short conversation on the subject of Rosycrucianism, which was suggested by some observation of Sir John Digby pn the sympathies and antipathies of his kinsmen ; particularly by a story he told PONTEFRACT CASTLE. 145 of the efficacy attributed to his Philtres, and an Italian lady, who on her knees had offered him a love Avhich none could share with the beautiful and calumniated Lady Venetia. ^' You must know, my dear Sir John," said Beaumont, "that when I was in Germany, I was prejudiced against the cabalists. Shall I own to you my weak- ness ? Since I have been in this country, a conversation I had with a person ad- dicted to the occult sciences hath inclined me to believe that many things I former- ly thought ridiculous, are neither impossi- ble nor incompatible wdth true philosophy. Not that I approve all that is said by the disciples of Paracelsus. But I think, that thouo'h it is certain there are no such beings as gnomes, sylphs, salamanders, and ondines,* yet there is nothing in the * The above conversation is among the Compiler's M. S. minuted down in the hand-writing of Sir Ar- thur Beaumont. The Compiler has since found the substance of it in a work of D'Argenson, into whose hands some copy may have fallen. It is merely no- ticed, because the latter apparently inclines towards a belief in these spiritual personages. But it is more wonderful than Addison, Spectator, No. 574, avows VOL. I. II 146 PONTEFRACT CASTLE. belief of them absurd or contrary to the laws of nature, as most of our modern philosophers pretend. My reasons are these : what w eight they will have with you I know not. In order to deny the possibility of existence to any thing, there must be proof not only of its non-exist- ence, but of its incapacity of exist- ence. But I find no proofs of the latter sort against sylphs, salamanders, gnomes, and ondines. What impossibility is there in supposing that there are animate bodies composed of so subtile and delicate a mat- ter as not to fall under the cognizance of our senses ? We admit that they are not strong enough to penetrate the recesses of nature, where the first elements of things lie hid. They perceive none but the more o^ross causes. We can derive from thence no right to deny that those delicate principles are in being. Why then should we believe, that there cannot be animated creatures composed of a matter so thin as not to strike our senses ? the belief, at an sera so much later than the period of this history .—P P. PONTEFRACT CASTLE. 147 '^ Before the invention of microscopes we knew not that vinegar contained an astonishing quantity of worms ; we boldly denied that there were little fishes in all the water we drank ; and yet we have been many years convinced of the exist- ence of all these animals. Since then, there is a number of animated creatures in water, which our naked eyes cannot discover* 5, why may not the like be found in the air and in the other elements ? But there is, indeed, one great objection. These insects are not concealed from us but through their littleness, whereas it is pretended that the gnomes, sylphs, &c. are of the ordinary size of men." '' To this I answer," said Ignatius Car- teret, ^' that the height of the gnomes and of the sylphs is no reason why they should become visible, while the parts of which they are compounded are supposed to be extremely delicate. A space of ^ir six foot long strikes the sight no more than one of a foot or of an inch. In like manner, h2 lis PONTEFRACT CASTLE. supposing the gnomes to be composed of a light aerial matter, their stature would contribute nothing to their becoming vi- sible. Let us imagine a column of those worms which are found in vinegar, ex- tending from earth to sky ; our eyes, with- out the assistance of microscopes, would not be at all affected by this column, not- withstanding its immense extension, be- cause its component parts fall not under the cognizance of our senses. Thus, though an infinite number of atoms fill up the space between the earth and the moon, yet to us it appears void, because the mat- ter with which it is filled, is not discern- ible by our senses. It is to no purpose, therefore, to oppose the existence of these elementary people by allcdging that we do not perceive them. It sutlices to esta- blish the possibility of the thing, to prove that a great number of living creatures actually exist, which our senses, unassist- nd, cannot discern. " When we once admit that the air niav PONTEFRACT CASTLE. i49 be peopled with invisible creatures, it nii- turally follows that the earth, the water, and the fire, which are elements composed of parts more easily united, have also in them the power of producing a number of bodies which God may animate, and yet, by the delicacy of their parts, they will escape our senses." ^'But we have no idea of these pre- tended reasonable creatures," Beaumont repHed ; '• we know not how they exist ; we are entirely ignorant of their forms and figures, and it is ridiculous to admit a thing of which we have not any notion."' ** This manner of reasoning, with sub- mission to the learned," rejoined Carteret, '' is far from being conclusive. Have you, it may be replied to them, any more dis- tinct notion of your own soul ? Do you comprehend any thing more about it, than that it is a spirit ? Do you know what former figure it has ? No, without doubt. You admit, however, its existence. \\U\ . then, will you deny that of sylphs uinl 150 PONTEFRACT CASTLE. gnomes, of which you have a less confused idea than of a spirit ? Because what- ever is supposed to be material, however dehcate it may be, falls under the cogni- zance of the human understanding." '' The wit of man is so bounded," ob- served Sir Arthur, '^ that it is not only very possible it may not have any idea of certain creatures ; but it might even very easily happen, that a great number of knowing people might nevertheless be ig- norant of the possibility of animals living in V/^tcr. Let lis sujppose ihat a certain number of men live in a country of a dry sandy soil, far from the sea and rivers, and furnished only with pits. The thing is by no means impossible. In many of the desarts of Arabia there is only such pits dug by the Bedouins. These men, without doubt, would have no idea offish, if they did not hear of them from others. They would certainly look upon it as a thing very absurd to suppose, that any creature could live long in water, when PONTEFRACT CASTLE. 151 they saw such land animals presently die, as happen to fall therein. I ask if iish would exist the less, or if the reasonings of these sort of people would destroy the cod in the Mediterranean, or the whales in the ocean ? '^ It is the same thing with respect to the philosophers who deny the possibility of sylphs and of gnomes ; they know no- thing of what passes in the air; their short sight represents it to them as a great wide space, a large and extended mass, and they pretend to judge of what passes in that mass by the ideas they have of a void space, which is entirely opposite thereto. For though the philosophers are persuaded that the extent between the earth and the firmament is full of bodies ; or, to express myself better, is one entire body ; yet their senses seem to get the better of their meditations when they deny the possibility of the existing of these elementary people. *' You see, my dear friend, the reasons J 52 PONTEFRACT CASTLE. upon which I ground my opinion. At to the rest, I am fully persuaded that we cannot have any sort of commerce with these sylphs and gnomes. I say I am as fully persuaded of the impossibility of this, as of the possibility of their exist- ence. Far from giving in to the ridicu- lous tales and chimerical visions of the cabalists, I affirm, that if there should exist such elementary people, they can never render themselves visible to men, as it is also impossible for men to strengthen or quicken their senses to such a degree as to be able to penetrate what God and nature think proper to conceal from them. I can't help laugh- in o^ when I hear a cabalist oravelv tell me, that concentrating the fire of the world by concave mirrors in a globe of glass, gaining thereby a certain solar powder, which being purified from the other elements, and a certain quantity thereof taken daily, I may exalt the fire within me to such a degree, as to be- PONTEFUACT CASTLE. lo-* come, in some measure, of a fiery na- ture. *' The secret for obtaining the familla- rlty of gnomes, sylphs, and nymphs, seems to me not a grain less ridiculous. Mr. Carteret has told me that it consists m taking a glass full of air, mingled with nater or with earth ; this is to be left for a month exposed to the sun ; then the elements are to be separated ; which Lw;- ing performed, we have a wonderful me- dicine, capable of exalting in us what- ever element we would have predominant, and of rendering our senses quick enough to discern these elementary people. *'* Good sense, and the light of nature:, are sufficient to shew me the folly of this sort of reasoning, and the impossibility there is of effecting any thing by these cabalistical secrets. For suppose I wofdd make an acquaintance with a salamander, of what use would all the solar powder be that I could possibly amass together? Would it ever destroy in me that terreij- H o 154 PONTEFRACT CASTLE. trial matter that is every day augmented by my food ? Could it ever get the bet- ter of the air by which I live and breathe? Suppose I had swallowed ever so much of this powder, a quarter of an hour after I take in a great quantity of air, and my lungs, which receive and reject, my nos- trils and my mouth w hich give it en- trance into my body, are the sworn enemies of the element of fire, which I would have predominant over the rest. The same may be said of the other se- crets, which tend to render some one element predominant in man, and thereby to give him an igneous or aquatic na- ture. " The blindness of the cabalists goes yet a greater length. They assure us, that by applying to the navel a little of the earth prepared for obtaining the so- ciety of the gnomes, one may sustain the want of food and drink, without any sort of inconvenience. The famous Paracel- gus affirms that he tried this ; and it must PONTEFRACT CASTLE. 155 be owned, that he was either a great fo0NTEFRACT CASTLE. I6l Mew and desperate enterprize passed through the active mind of Morrice. '* And is the news true," he asked, '^ of Sir Marmaduke's defeat ?" '' Without doubt," said Paulden ; " his army is totally annihilated — it's all over in that quarter. It was at first said that lie was killed in the action, which, per- haps, would have been better for him ; but I have from the best authority that he was taken prisoner. It 's a sad business for him, for he's a brave fellow — he'd bet- ter have been shot." " But, why so, Paulden ?" " Because the Parliament have ex- pressed a resolution of keeping him in strict custody, with a view, as they pro- fess, of making him a public example." *' They dare not, surely," said Digby. '' Oh, what they dare, is pretty evi- dent. I have little doubt that they will waive the laws of war for the gratifica- tion of vengeance. Death to a soldier is, as we all feel, nothing — but few are igno- 162 PONTEFRACT CASTLE. rant that secret custody, on the part of these blood-suckers, sometimes means the question and private torture. And, indeed, it is said, they intend to execute him under our eyes." There was an exclamation of horror. '^ Do you know where he is confined ?'' asked Morrice. '^ In Nottingham castle," was the reply. '' I am extremely sorry for him," said the governor ; *' for, independent of the loss sustained by the cause, it is a per- sonal loss to myself; as Sir Marmaduke was an old and tried friend." " He was the friend of all of us," cried one and all at the same time. " He is the tried and intrepid friend of the king," observedMorrice, "and it would be a great disgrace to allow him to perish, if any effort on our part can prevent it." There was a long pause : for all were sincerely affected. Morrice, at last, broke silence :— PONTEFRACT CASTLE. 163 ^^ Gentlemen," said he, ^^ I am of opi- nion that the case of Sir Marmaduke is not so desperate as at first sight may ap- pear. There is a foul game playing at the Isle of Wight. Cromwell has his hands full at present ; and I therefore think that nothing, at least for some time, will be decided regarding the fate of the ge- neral. To attempt redeeming him from so strong a fortress as Nottingham castle, is too bold, and, under favour, too rash an enterprize, considering our present means and position. But, a plan occurs to me, which may, perhaps, obtain that object, w^ithout the hazard and danger of so desperate an attempt." '' Explain it," said a hundred voices. '' Perhaps it would not be prudent," said Morrice ; '^ besides, I am w illing that, if it fails, and all mortal schemes are liable to failure, the governor and the garrison may disclaim all participation in it, and thus remain uncompromised. At these times it is necessary not to give a 164 PONTEFRACT CASTLE* handle to the notorious malignancy of the enemy. I have, nevertheless, strong anticipation of a successful issue to my scheme. If you think my responsibility of weight, allow me to chuse my agents, and to select a small corps of about twenty dragoons." There was an immediate contest of who should be first to offer service. " Col. Morrice," said Sir John Digby, ** you know that I am rather cautious — perhaps over scrupulous, but I am one of those W'ho think it better to condense our powers, and not to waste our force in ex- periments of strength, in agreement with the old proverb, which recommends the not extend in oc the arm farther than it can be withdrawn. To any one else, there- fore, I should decline the enterprize alto- gether, as inconsistent with the plan of defence I have laid down. But you, sir, liave earned so j ust a character, both for the masterly grasp and circumspection of your plans, that I am willing to leave the PONTEFRACT CASTLE. 165 \Yhole arrangement of this expedition to your discretion, and I repose full confi- dence in its happy termination." '^ Oh, if Colonel Morrice personally undertakes it," said many voices at once, *^ there is no fear." *' For my part," said Paulden, ^' I ne- ver knew one of his military schemes to fail." '^ And I," said Austwick, '' like a child will freely and blindly follow him — without enquiry, be it through water, be it through fire ; and in full confidence iu the protecting power of his genius." ^•' No, gentlemen," said Morrice, affect- ed, " I cannot take these compliments to myself — you overvalue my services — I have done my best to deserve well of njy king and country ; and so have others. 1 cannot, dare not pledge myself to success on the strength of so high an opinion, which you are pleased to express, and which I feel is above my deserts. I may have my day of failure and misfortune, 166 PONTEFUACT CASTLE. like others ; but to this I pledge myself, to spare the labour and the lives of my companions, as far as human exertion can, and in no ways to spare myself in the promotion of the great design." All present assented, with cheerful- ness and confidence, to the trial, and a full discretionary power was given to Morrice to select what means he thought proper for the liberation of the royalist ge- neral. And so ardent was the desire of sharing in the enterprize, dangerous as lie declared it, that he could hardly, with- out giving ground for envy, determine on his coadjutants. So striking was the in- fluence which the intellectual and ener- getic mind of one man obtained over the will and reason of so many dissimilar cha- racters, and so lately brought together. PONTEFRACT CASTLE. 167 CHAPTER XII. They stared and were distracted ; No man's life was to be trusted with them. But yet I do repent me of my fury Tliat I did kill them. Macbeth. Accordingly, in the beginning of the night about the 30th of October, Morrice, accompanied by Austwick and Blackburn, and attended by a party of about twenty- two horse cuirassiers under Captain Paulden, all picked men, went out of the castle. They were all good guides, said a contemporary, and understood the ways, private and public, very exactly. After issuing from the sally-port at Newhall^ and striking across the meadows, they had scarcely debouched on the road to Mexborough, when they distinctly heard the march of a large party of horse patrole, and heard their voices. As for- tune would have it, there was by the 168 PONTEFRACT CASTLE » side of the road, a large gap in the hedge which led into a low narrow paddock. Into this they disposed of their troops, before the cavalry came up, and as the night was very dark escaped detection. In a little time, while they were congratu- lating themselves on their escape, another party of equal number followed, and, by as great luck, passed without noticing them. Morrice, however, was sufficiently near them to hearhis name mentioned by a voice which he recognized to be Axtel, though the particular purport of what he said, he could not distinguish. After escaping this great peril, tliey proceeded silently and cautiously along the road to Mex- borough, throwing their large wrappin^^ mantles over their arms and helmets, iii order to prevent being betrayed by the glit- ter, and about day-break entered Mexbo- rouoh. Here a council was called ; and it was resolved to send a spy into Doncaster, in order to prevent surprise, and to observe if tiny suspicion had reached that town of PONTEFRACT CASTLE. 169 their intention. For this purpose Lieu- tenant Austwick volunteered his services, and agreed to meet them by nightfall at the entrance of the village of Con in gsborough where there w^as then a small public house called the Bell. Morrice and the rest dined and refreshed their horses at the princi- pal inn in Mexborough, and crossing the Don, by the ferry, pushed on towards Co- ningsborough. Austwick did not keep them long in suspense. Just as the old castle's giant outlines melted away in the twilight, he returned in haste and in- formed them that after various minute en- quiries he had set on foot in Doncaster, both at the inn where he put up, and among various shopkeepers whom he mi- nutely questioned, he found every thing was safe, and that not the least suspicion of their design had transpired. That night they passed at Coningsborough, and on the following morning, Morrice divid- ed his twenty-two men into four parties ; six were to attack the main guard, and VOL. 1. I 170 PONTEFRACT CASTLE. six the guard at the bridge : two were sent under Paulden and Austwick to Rainsborough's quarters, while Morrice with the remainder, was to pat role the street, and prevent the enemy from as- sembling. In this manner they approach- ed the town, as if they came by the