The Loyalists, Vol. 1-3 by Mrs. West
CHAP. XXIII.
When the sword is drawn, and the power of the strongest is to decide, you talk in vain of equity and moderation; those virtues always belong to the conquerors. Thus it has happened to the Cheruscans: they were formerly called just and upright; at present they are called fools and knaves. Victory has transferred every virtue to their masters; and oppression takes the name of wisdom.
Murphy's Tacitus.
It was not the practice of Cromwell to bring to a speedy trial thosestate-prisoners against whom he could produce no positive proof of theoffence with which they were charged. Though the palaces of the degradedbishops and exiled nobility were, during this reign of terror inEngland, converted into places of confinement, the prisons continuedcrowded with victims. Judges and juries were too slow and uncertain intheir proceedings to be permitted to decide on the fate of those whomthe Protector of the liberties of England had pre-ordained to death orcaptivity. High courts of justice were occasionally erected, and summarymodes of trial resorted to, which the ancient laws of the realmreprobated or disavowed. By these the Tyrant freed himself from thosemore obnoxious enemies who had taken arms against his authority; but theobjects of his suspicious fear, whose enmity he knew, and whose abilityhe dreaded, still remained in close confinement. The crime of some washaving concealed Loyalists; many were shut up for sending remittances tothe King abroad, or for having shown him some mark of respect andallegiance while he was in England. The presbyterians suffered forlamenting the fall of the Long-parliament, and inveighing against thepresent tyranny; the Fifth-Monarchy-men, for expecting the reign of KingJesus; the Levellers, for requiring Agrarian laws and the equalizationof property. The conduct of Cromwell had disgusted the whole body ofsectaries as well as the stanch Republicans. "Anabaptists, Independents,and Quakers conceived an implacable hatred against him; and, whilst theycontrived how to raise a power to contend with him, they likewiseentered into plots for his assassination." These plots, and thelibellous writings by which they excited insurrection, continuallyagitated the mind of Cromwell; for as his new enemies were notrestrained by those principles which prevented most of his old ones fromresorting to indirect modes of warfare, cutting off one daring villainadded nothing to his security, but rather stimulated that faction tovengeance. He had now humbled and disappointed all parties, and could nolonger play one against another. No one was attached to him; even thosewho had gone equal lengths in guilt only clung to him as a pledge fortheir own security. Mercy and lenity had no effect on those with whom henow contended. Lilburn, who may be considered as an epitome of thefanatical opponents of Cromwell, "had wrought himself to a marvellousinclination and appetite to suffer in the defence, or for thevindication of any oppressed truth." To men who courted persecution, whogloried in personal suffering, and to whom, connecting their cause withthat of the Almighty, all measures seemed allowable which their humourssuggested--the axe and the gallows displayed no terrors; and it was asimpossible to oblige as it was to intimidate them. They despisedtemporal possessions, and braced their iron-nerves with misapplicationsof the texts and examples of Scripture, believing that, in performingthe actions of banditti, they were proving themselves to be chosencaptains of the host of the Lord.
As the labours of the itinerant preachers already described hadconverted thousands of the lower orders into ignorant and desperate,and, it might be added, insane, enthusiasts, a mind less indefatigablethan Cromwell's would have been wholly engrossed in securing his personand government from their violence and hostile machinations; but hisfear of his new enemies did not make him forget his hatred of his oldones. The fanatical conspirators and insurgents being more inimical tothe general good sense of the nation, he often submitted them to theordinary courts of justice, contenting himself (as in the case ofLilburn) with making acquittal issue in more rigorous imprisonment, whena jury had the presumption to decide in favour of a prisoner whom theProtector had resolved to punish. Desirous of conciliating the goodopinion of well-informed people, he preserved the fountain of justiceuncontaminated. The judges who presided in the several courts were ingeneral an honour to their country; and many of them (especially theimmortal Hale) accepted the office, in order to be better able torestrain oppression, "knowing that in every form of government justicemust be administered between man and man, and offenders against theuniversal laws of society punished." By such judges, a Gerrard, a Hewet,a Hyde, and other illustrious Loyalists, would not have been condemned.Against such persons, therefore, Cromwell was compelled to rearrange hispantomimic High Court of Justice, that contemptible but bloody engine,by which he had destroyed the King and the nobles, and to whoseauthority, as anomalous to the constitution, his victims generallyrefused to submit, and were thus condemned without any publicdiscussion.
Had Cromwell determined to try Dr. Beaumont for sending pecuniaryassistance to the King (an offence which he had the means of proving),he would have immediately collected his creatures and erected one ofthese executive courts; but if the suspicion of assassinating anofficer, who bore a parliamentary commission, could be supported bystronger proofs than the accusation of Lady Bellingham, and theprobabilities suggested by Morgan, he need not fear permitting justiceto mount her regular seat, and hold her balance in the public eye. Nocharge of cruelty or persecution could then be brought against him; andthe public odium would be transferred to the episcopalians andLoyalists. He attended the first examination of the Doctor before theCouncil of State, on the ostensible accusation of assisting the King,and saw, in his behaviour, an enlightened opposer of tyranny, and aconscientious adherent to the old government. Such a man, he resolved,should either be cut off, or prevented from doing him any injury. Thebest policy, therefore, was to defer his trial, and to send down someactive emissaries to Ribblesdale to examine minutely into his pastconversation, and discover whether any ground of accusation existedagainst him. At least to ascertain that Sedley had really been cut off,and that Dr. Beaumont had no evidence to disprove his being concerned inthe transaction.
Dr. Beaumont was therefore remanded into close confinement. His familyhad gathered round him, and were supported by the generous contributionsof those Loyalists who had hitherto escaped persecution, but made acommon cause with their suffering brethren, and liberally ministered totheir distresses. Colonel Evellin was concealed in an obscure lodgingnear the Marshalsea, where Dr. Beaumont was imprisoned. Constantia andIsabel, with patient fortitude, ministered to their respective fathers,while Williams carried on a confidential intercourse with the noble andworthy friends by whom they were supported. Some of these were in theconfidence of Lord Falconberg, the accepted lover of one of Cromwell'sdaughters, and who was thought by many to have sought that alliance withthe view of mediating for the persecuted victims to a cause whichhimself and his family had ever decidedly espoused.
Affairs were in this situation when Jobson arrived in London, andproduced Dr. Lloyd's letter, which, confirmed by his own testimony,fully verified the existence of Eustace, the safety of De Vallance, andtheir welfare and comparative happiness. What a weight of anguish wasremoved from these amiable victims of tyranny by the intelligence!Imprisonment, poverty, dependence, personal infirmity, were allsupportable evils. But for a complete exemplification of the extremelimit of human misery, we must look to the oppressor, not to theoppressed; to Cromwell, galled by the armour worn under his robes ofstate to defend his person from the expected dagger of a murderer, andnot to Dr. Beaumont, languishing for want of the common blessings whichfreedom bestows, or to Evellin, an aged cripple in the lonely confinedchamber of poverty. Cromwell had no daughter who revered his virtues,and cheered his pensive contemplations with the assurance that therighteous sufferer was under the peculiar protection of Heaven. Most of_his_ daughters were strongly attached to the royal cause. The wife ofFleetwood (his eldest) was a furious Republican; Desborough, hisbrother-in-law, was a Leveller; and his eldest son was incompetent toreceive that weight of usurped grea
The preservation of his son seemed to bestow on Colonel Evellin a newexistence. He was never weary of listening to the particulars of hisescape. Again and again he required Jobson to repeat the assurance, thathe had actually held in his arms the living Eustace; the determinedmartyr to loyalty and truth; the brave, conspicuous, honourable soldier;his own dear son, not a traitor to his King or his love, but all that hecould wish a true Neville to be, except in his misfortunes. It seemed adouble resurrection to life, and to unclouded fame. And was it possiblehe might again see him at his feet craving his blessing? Should his handrest upon his head, while, with a prophetic ardour, he predicted a raceof worthies that should spring from him--future heroes, patriots, andfaithful subjects, alike tenacious of their Sovereign's rights and ofthe claims of their countrymen. What were privations, infirmities, andrestraints to a mind animated with these glorious hopes? He limped onhis staff round his narrow room, lest his limbs should grow toocontracted to visit every apartment in Bellingham-Castle. He partook ofhis frugal meal, and talked of the joyous regales he would provide forhis tenantry. He was no longer the existing root of a tree that had beenhewn down; one fatal shot had not smitten his Eustace, and doomed hisIsabel to remain a vestal mourner over her brother's grave. De Vallanceand Eustace were now cementing that bond of virtuous friendship whichwould distinguish them in happier times; and those times would soonreturn. The generous feelings of English nobles would not long endurethe national degradation. They had taught the Norman Conqueror tovenerate their ancient rights. They had resisted every attempt of theprincely house of Plantagenet to sink subjects into vassals. The FirstEdward, great in council and in arms, found his people alike invinciblein the field, whether they followed his banner under an Asian or aNorthern sky, or opposed his violation of their chartered rights! Coulda nation, which would only pay a constitutional obedience to a Beauclerkor a Coeur de Lion, which served, not submitted to, the heroes of Cressyand of Agincourt, long writhe under the scorpion-lash of despotismwielded by a low Usurper, whose manners and sentiments were inimical tothe general tone of the English character--a man pre-eminent in fraudand hypocrisy, and ignorant of the lively yearnings of humanity.
"My girl," Evellin would often say to Isabel, "the King must bere-instated on his throne, or England will fall from her rank among thenations. The standard of public morals must be reduced, the mode ofthinking be changed, the very aspect of Englishmen undergo a revolutionbefore the race of this upstart Despot can take root in this island. Wehave been accustomed to look up to our governors as great and good; atleast they were surrounded by a blaze of ancestry and dignity of mannerscongenial to our feelings of the prescriptive claims of hereditaryrights. We must be all mercenary soldiers, wild fanatics, pensionedinformers, or feudal serfs toiling for daily bread, ere we can patientlyendure this revolting system of jealousy and suspicion--this cold,selfish scheme of trick and expedient. Astonishment and terror mayawhile paralyze the national spirit; the remembered miseries of civilwar may render the phantom of peace so alluring as to induce many tocall a deleterious intoxication felicity. But unless Cromwell canobliterate every record of what Englishmen were in past ages--unless hecan make us forget the education, opinions, and hopes of our youth--thelabours, sorrows, and wrongs of our riper years--his meanness and hiscrimes;--never--never can the British lion crouch at an Usurper's form,or the red-cross banner wave graceful over a traitor's head."
Colonel Evellin was roused from these agreeable reveries by a painfulcommunication from Williams. The means of access which the royalists nowhad to Cromwell's councils enabled them to discover that the vigilanceof Morgan had brought together so many charges against Dr. Beaumont,that there seeming no chance of his escaping condemnation, it wasresolved to bring him to trial. Williams could not distinctly make outthe crimes with which he was charged, except that he assisted the lateand present King with money; that he used the Liturgy and Churchceremonies with such slight alterations as did not prevent theircontinuing to be that "form of words" and "will-worship" which wereforbidden to saints; added to this, he prayed for Charles Stewart; andfurther, there were secret counsels and mysterious contrivances in thefamily. A private chamber had also been found, which, it was evident,had been used for the purpose of concealing malignants. The safety ofthe state required that these practices should be searched into, andthat Dr. Beaumont should be tried for contumacy to the government.
This was all Williams could discover; but beside this open attack, therewas a mine ready to be sprung for the Doctor's destruction. LordBellingham had now lain several years in confinement. His party wasbelieved to be subdued, and his own reputation was so tarnished that hewas become quite innoxious. Overtures were now made to him, that heshould be restored to liberty, and to a part of his possessions; but itwas hinted at the same time that it would show his acquiescence with theexisting government if he would take an active part against an atrociousroyalist. The sudden and mysterious disappearance of his son (of whom hehad heard no tidings since the battle of Preston) was mentioned; and itwas soon understood that it was expected he should bring the charge ofassassination against Dr. Beaumont, and thus remove all odium fromCromwell. Solitude and confinement had wrought no salutary change onthis wretched man's disposition. His prison-hours were occupied byregrets for the past, distaste at the present, and fears for the future.His affections clung fondly to the wealth and title he had lost; norcould his guilty soul disrobe itself "of those lendings" which vitiatedits spiritual essence. If he were again placed in Bellingham-Castle hewould repent. He would then devote a large proportion of hisdearly-purchased estate to charitable purposes; he would seek for AllanNeville and his daughter; were they alive, he would make them happy, orat least place them in affluence; he would erect a monument to thegallant Eustace; he would employ his future life in pious duties; infine, if restored to the enjoyment of the unrighteous Mammon, he woulduse it in securing an everlasting inheritance. No angel whispered,"Begin the mighty labour now;" no renovating change took place in hisdesires. The hour of contrition and repentance was deferred withprocrastinating insincerity. Can we then wonder that the man who, in hisyouth, sacrificed honour and friendship to purchase worldly grandeur,should, in his age, again impawn his conscience for liberty and ease? orthat, though he had indeed often deplored the supposed necessity ofmurdering Eustace Evellin, he should basely yield to become a Tyrant'sinstrument to cut off that Eustace's uncle on a charge, which, from whathe knew of the Doctor's conduct, bore improbability and ingratitude inits aspect. Let those who condemn Lord Bellingham beware how they yieldto the first temptations of guilt. The emulation of an aspiring mind,unchecked by principle, degenerated into envy, hatred, malice,injustice, falsehood, and cruelty. Love for a beautiful woman waspolluted by an insatiable craving to rise to the same sphere of life inwhich she moved; and as it was her exterior loveliness, not her inwardgraces, that inflamed his desires, he scrupled not to become theinstrument of her bad passion; that "love might revel on the couch ofstate," he performed actions which stamped ignominy on his name, anddestroyed his peace for ever; and now, in the decline of life, thoughsatiety had taught him the little value of all temporal enjoyments, hisimagination clung to the dispersing shadows which even experience wouldnot convince him were only phantoms of happiness. Even while he wept theoffences he had committed, he yielded to the first temptation to repeathis crimes.
On the morning fixed for his trial, Dr. Beaumont exhibited anillustration of the scriptural precept, by combining the wisdom of theserpent with the innocence of the dove. Serene, mild, thoughtful, acute,and penetrating, he was capable of using every fair occasion to eludehis enemies, and was able also to submit to the will of Heaven, providedtheir malice should be permitted to triumph. He prepared Co
He then entreated her to remember the inestimable consolation shepossessed, in knowing that Eustace lived and was worthy of heraffections, faithful to his vows, to his King, and his God. He advisedher, if possible, to remove with her aunt, Isabel, and Colonel Evellin,and to place themselves under his protection. If his situationpermitted, he advised her to marry him as the best way of being safe andrespectable, to endeavour to procure an honest livelihood by followingsome humble occupation, and to forget the station to which their birthentitled them to aspire. He was almost hopeless of a speedy change oftimes. He feared the spirit of the nation was so broken that it wouldsubmit to the establishment of the usurping family. Policy would teachCromwell to soften the terrors of his administration as soon as he couldfound his government on the safer principles of expedience andprescription. He had already adopted many popular measures; and, inmaking the power of England formidable abroad, he had gratified thepublic-feeling. Though the persecution of individuals, and actions ofglaring oppression and injustice, soon excited discord in peaceabletimes, and under the government of a legitimate King, they were socongenial to the nature of tyranny, that people were more apt to rejoicein their own escape than to animadvert on the sufferings of theirneighbours. Nor would an accumulation of such deeds rouse to arms anation, that had recently bled so copiously from the multiplied woundsof civil war. Dreadful calamities had stupified the finer feelings,while self-interest and a mean anxiety for personal safety absorbedtheir sensibility for the distressed. Above all, he regretted to saythat an unfavourable impression of the young monarch's personalqualities had gone abroad; and though the disadvantageous reports mightbe aggravated by ill-will, it would be inferred that the person on whomthey fastened was by no means blameless. For all these reasons, Dr.Beaumont feared that the present ostensible form of a republicangovernment would imperceptibly slide into the restoration of what thelaws, institutions, habits, and character of England required, a limitedmonarchy in the person of one of Cromwell's family, should such a onearise, who, without being stained by the atrocious guilt of hisprogenitor, should display qualities that would eclipse the legitimateprince. Much, he said, depended on the personal character of a King ofEngland, who was not, like an Eastern sovereign, shown from a distanteminence to be worshipped with prostrations, or, like a Grand Monarque,to be flattered and implicitly obeyed. He ruled over a nation offreemen; he lived in the observation of his subjects, not as a despotcoercing slaves and parasites, but as the administrator of publicjustice, and the conservator of the national rights. He could not put upa more salutary prayer for his country, than that each future Prince(especially in times of great political turbulence) would remember thathe is set like a city upon a hill, and that his whole conduct iscanvassed by a free, inquisitive, and, generally speaking, anintelligent and high-minded nation, attached to hereditary rule, butindignant at the contamination of the blood-royal. It was impossible forpersons eminent for birth to sin in secret; and one bad action oftheirs, divulged to the public, did more injury than the machinations ofthe most subtile traitor. Woe would it be to England, if her libertieswere thus made to depend on the mercy and prudence of those who graspedher sceptre in despite of law, while its rightful owner discovered suchbase propensities as made it safer even in an Usurper's hands than inhis, who less prized the inheritance of three kingdoms than the praiseof debauchees and the indulgence of depraved appetites.
Thus fortifying his daughter's mind with the best principles, and thengradually withdrawing it from the agonizing present to circumstancesconnected with her future fortunes, Dr. Beaumont consoled and instructedConstantia. "I am firm and patient, my dearest father," said she. "Yourvoice, like that of the angel to Hagar, has pointed out springs ofcomfort in a frightful desert. One request I must make. Let me stand byyour side at your trial. Perhaps my appearance may influence yourjudges. Men who seem to have renounced every feeling of humanity havebeen induced to pity orphan wretchedness. Some circumstances may escapeyour observation that my quick-sighted fears will seize on; at least Imay serve as your notary. These times of woe have often witnessed femaleheroism claiming its affinity to the proscribed victims of injustice,and glorying in partaking their dangers. Thus let me triumph, and, tothe last, exult in having such a father." Dr. Beaumont gazed on her withaffection, and acceded to her desires. Like his royal Master, he had atfirst resolved to object to the legality of these high courts ofjustice; but further consideration made him doubt if the plea wasadmissible by a Christian, who was required to submit to the powers thatare; and
As Dr. Beaumont spoke he withdrew his arm from the feeble support of histrembling daughter. A sun-beam fell upon his pale countenance, andirradiated its expression of piety and resignation, while his claspedhands, and eyes elevated to heaven, bespoke him engrossed by the fervourof mental devotion. Constantia, silent, trembling, and almost fearing tobreathe, contrasted, by her apprehensiveness, beauty, and elegance, theawful solemnity of her father's aspect. He was invested with theinsignia of his academical honours, and attired in his sacerdotal habit,which, in its decay, seemed emblematical of the ruined Church for whomhe was a confessor. Meek but dignified, patient but courageous, helooked like one of the pillars of episcopacy, who, though the beauty ofholiness was defaced, and the visible cherubim removed from thesanctuary, continued to support the tottering edifice, deeming the ruinsof Zion a better station than the gorgeous temple of Baal. Nor did thecelebrated classical example of Antigone more forcibly illustrate thepersevering fortitude of passive heroism and enduring love in woman'sgentle bosom, than did the interesting, lovely Constantia. Like therenowned daughter of Sir Thomas More, "she seemed to have forgottenherself, being ravished with the entire love of her dear father," andfearful of danger only as it pointed at him. She turned her eyes uponthe court with a boldness unusual to their general expression, to see ifin any of their faces she could trace the lineaments of justice orcompassion; but they were soon arrested by recognising, in thepresident, the well-remembered face of Major Monthault. The brims of hishat were of more than ordinary dimensions; his hair was notched into theexact shape prescribed by the highest standard of puritanical orthodoxy;his band was crimped, and his robes folded with prim decorum; while hishands demurely rested on the cushion before him, holding a small editionof the sacred volume, on which he seemed to be meditating in theintervals between the exercise of his professional duties. But neitherthe starched sobriety of his aspect, nor his newly assumed name ofMephibosheth could obliterate her recollection of the daring libertinewho had seduced her Eustace, and attempted her honour. She pointed himout to her father, inquiring if he might not be challenged as a personalenemy; but Dr. Beaumont wisely thought it more prudent to avoid arecognition, which would only confirm his enmity by exposing his formerconduct; and, reminding Constantia that as no exceptions of theirs wouldbe attended to, they must know Monthault only in his present character,he entreated, as her alarm was so visible, that she would retire, andleave him to the care of Williams.
Dissembling his knowledge of the prisoner, the President showed, by hisaddress to the Court, that he had adopted the language as well as thehabit of a fanatic. He observed that the malignants could hardly bebound by any specific terms, being full of evasions and subtleties ofexpression, by which they ensnared the simplicity of the faithful. Hethen called on Eusebius Beaumont to say, unequivocally, whether he didso truly and _bona fide_ submit to the authority of this Court, as toacknowledge it was legally assembled by the supreme power in theCommonwealth, namely, His Highness Oliver Cromwell, Protector of theliberties, and General of the armies of England, Scotland, and Ireland.
Dr. Beaumont answered, that he did acknowledge the supreme power was nowlodged in the Protector; and that, according to the ordinances made byhim, the present High Court of Justice possessed a right to try him. Hewas then asked if he meant to deny his sending assistance to CharlesStewart, and praying for a restoration of the ancient system; to whichhe answered, he admitted the truth of these accusations; and being inhis heart convinced that the former government of church and state wasnot only most consonant to the constitution, but also to the prosperityof the kingdom, he must ever wish and pray that it might be restored.But yet, abhorring all conspiracies and plots, the only acts ofcontumacy of which he had been guilty to the existing powers, were thesupplications he offered at the Throne of Grace, and the scantycontributions, which the purse of penury could ill spare, given to thenecessities of those who espoused the same cause, and whose wantsexceeded his own.
The indictment was then read, in which the charges already noticed weredressed out in vituperative language; but the crimes principallyinsisted on were, that he had secreted several desperate and proscribeddelinquents in a ruinous mansion which he inhabited for the purpose; andthat by their assistance he had clandestinely conveyed away, destroyed,and murdered, divers good and faithful citizens. Among these was a godlyofficer of the commonwealth, Arthur De Vallance, commonly called LordSedley, son and heir to the Earl of Bellingham, whom he was known tohave kept in custody, and who had never been heard of since. To give atragical effect to this accusation, the Earl and his Countess, attiredin deep mourning, presented themselves in a conspicuous gallery, and, asif overpowered by the sudden emotions of parental anguish, wrung theirhands and with loud lamentations besought the court to grant themjustice.
Dr. Beaumont's astonishment for some moments precluded the possibilityof reply, but as his native integrity never deserted him, he soonrecovered sufficient presence of mind to determine rather to fall avictim to the malice of his foes, than to make any discovery whichshould endanger the life of Arthur De Vallance, who having borne armsagainst Cromwell was become amenable to the penal ordinances, and wouldbe marked by the Usurper's personal hatred as a confidential friendchanged into a renegado. He soon answered in a firm tone, that, beingunable to divine that such a charge could be brought against him, hemust crave a few days grace to form his reply, and produce evidencewhich should disprove it. He would, however, observe, that at the timeof the supposed murder, and his concealment of desperadoes, he was asuspected persecuted man in distressed circumstances, and all hisactions were watched with insidious vigilance. To impute to him a powerof restraining a man of Lord Sedley's rank was a futile charge,disproved by its impossibility. There was a person in court (looking atMorgan) who knew the hospitality and kindness he had shown to thatnobleman; but he was certain the being did not exist, who could fastenon him the slightest suspicion of his having subsequently practisedagainst his life.
The counsel for the prosecution answered, that his long confinement hadgiven him sufficient opportunity of recollecting his misdeeds, andtherefore no accusation could take him by surprise. There could be nooccasion to adjourn the court, or longer suspend justice, which thirstedto seize the sanguinary old hypocrite. The feelings of the bereavedparent should be regarded (here a loud sobbing was heard from LadyBellingham), and as the culprit had declared that there was a person incourt who could prove his innocence, they would yield him the advantageof inverting the general order of the trial, and permit him to call andexamine his evidence, before they discovered the dark machination, bywhich an illustrious pair lost the son of their hopes, the only heir totheir magnificent fortune.
Dr. Beaumont's strong confidence in his own innocence prevented him fromdiscovering that the proposal was a snare, intended to give indubitableauthority to the evidence of Morgan, who now pressed forward, stretchedout his hand with an air of friendship to the prisoner, and seemed torejoice in the opportunity of befriending him. He took the oath, andanswered the questions put to him, by giving a minute and (as far as hiscoarse mind would permit) a pathetic description of the care andattention which the Beaumont family showed to the young nobleman, and ofhis voluntary continuance with them after his wounds were healed.
When Morgan's examination was over, the counsel for the prosecutionaddressed the court. "My Lord President Monthault, and you other MyLords Judges of this honourable tribunal; we all know that the butcherfatteneth the lamb before he leadeth it
The payment of several sums of money to Lord Sedley, during hisresidence at Ribblesdale, and the cessation of all demand forremittances from the period of his quitting it, were proved by histenants; one of whom particularly specified his having sent him a veryconsiderable sum, raised by mortgage of his principal farm, a few daysprevious to that fixed on for his disappearance. Morgan was nowre-examined, who acted the part of a reluctant witness, with too markedpartiality for Dr. Beaumont to deceive any who had not been accustomedto the grossest deceptions of fulsome hypocrisy. Much as he said of hishopes that his good old friend and neighbour would meet with favour, hetook care to confirm every circumstance to his prejudice. He dwelt onthe steadiness of Lord Sedley's principles; the regular communication hehad with him, respecting the views of the royalists; the beauty andallurements of Constantia Beaumont, and the evident consternation of thefamily, together with her extreme grief at the time of Sedley'sdisappearing. He now hesitated and begged he might be dismissed; but afew threats of imprisonment restored his volubility, and he anticipatedthe questions of the counsel by stating, that at the command of HisHighness he had minutely searched the late residence of the Beaumonts,and at length found a sliding pannel concealing an arched passage,through an extraordinarily thick wall, which, being excavated in onepart, formed a small secret chamber or closet, concealed among thebuttresses, so as not to be visible on the out-side, and lighted by asmall window in the roof; he found, he said, certain proof of its havingbeen recently inhabited, and on removing the floor he discovered, withseveral arms and implements, the dress of a parliamentary officer; thesame which he had seen Lord Sedley wear. Nor was this the onlycorroborative proof of his having been assassinated in that dark recess,for, on digging lower, they found several bones, which he feared werepart of the remains of that unfortunate gentleman.
The incongruity of finding the dress sufficiently perfect to discoverits identity, while the body of Sedley was so dismembered by time, thatonly a few disjointed bones could be discovered, might have convincedthe court, that they could not, without incurring great odium, find Dr.Beaumont guilty of murder. But, indeed, they had not time to reflect onthe inadmissibility of such vague circumstances in a criminal charge.Lady Bellingham renewed her screams, to give effect, it was presumed, tothe workings of compassion for a fond mother, wounded to agony by such ahorrid narration. But her screams continued too long, and were toopiercing, to proceed from feigned distress, and the intermingled criesof "He is coming again! Save me!" directed the eyes of all to a figure,who was now perceived slowly making his way through the crowd below thebar. It was the aged Evellin advancing with feeble steps; his majesticform clad in a loose, black, serge gown, and his iron-grey hair andbeard waving neglected over his breast and shoulders; his arched browswere still more elevated by disdain, while, glancing his eyes from hisscreaming sister and her trembling husband, he fixed theirunextinguished lustre on the President. "I am an evidence for EusebiusBeaumont," said he; "tender me the oath. My name is Allan Neville, and Irequire to be confronted with Walter De Vallance, calling himself Earlof Bellingham. Let him not escape," continued he, lifting his staff asit were an ensign of authority. "I accuse him of perfidy, calumny,fraud, usurpation, and murder."
Bellingham had more self-command than his guilty consort. His longacquaintance with the terrors of guilt made him ever on his guard. Heknew of the preservation of Allan Neville during the civil wars, but hehoped the death of his son might have terminated his days, orirrecoverably clouded his reason; yet he was ever in apprehension ofhaving his title to greatness disproved by a living claimant, though heknew all written documents to confirm his treachery had been destroyed.He had resolved, if ever this man of many woes should burst upon him, toabide by the criminal's last resource, denial of his identity, andsolemn protestations of his own innocence: and though the abode ofNeville had been so carefully concealed, that no trace of his residencein London had been discovered, even by the vigilance of Oliverian spies,the terrors to which the wretched Bellingham was a constant prey gavehim a degree of adroitness in a moment of surprise. Though a coward,when only in the presence of God and his own conscience, the adhesivehabits of a practised courtier, gave him effrontery and address whenendeavouring to propitiate mankind in his favour.
"My Lord President," said he, "I must request that this unhappy maniacmay be taken into custody. The sight is too dreadful to the weakenedspirits of Lady Bellingham. Being a distant kinsman, we long supportedhim by our bounty; but his disordered imagination has persuaded him thathe is the brother of my countess--that unfortunate and guilty man hasbeen long since numbered with the dead."
Neville answered with stern composure, "Stand forth, David Williams;identify thy true Lord, the son of thy old master, to whom thou hastadhered in all his calamities." Williams instantly complied with therequisition, and Neville, then turning his indignant eyes on thehorror-struct Bellingham, exclaimed--"I trusted thee with my life, myfortune, and my honour--I supplicated thy aid--I depended on thyintegrity, on our alliance in blood, on a friendship formed in ourboy-hood, on a thousand instances of kindness which I have shownthee.--Thou stolest from me a pearl, rich as an empire, threwest at methe worthless shell, and then badest thy plundered brother be gratefulfor thy mercy. Mine, Walter, is not the voice of a raving mendicant, itsounds not in thine ears as the ingratitude of an eleemosynarypensioner, but as the groan of a perturbed spirit, risen from the graveto demand vengeance."
"Hear me," continued he, as Bellingham hid his face with his cloak. "Amnot I the friend of thy youth, the brother of thy wife, the owner of thylands, castles, of all that thou hast, except that wretched body.--Whereis my son? My Eustace; condemned by thee in cold blood at Pembroke, forbeing faithful to the King who ennobled thee, and was then betrayed bythy treasons! Mark, traitor; at the time that thou unpitying sawest theheir of the greatness thou hast long usurped walk to execution, thisinnocent man, whom thou art now persecuting, preserved the life of thyonly child. And dost thou reproach me with the calamities thou hastbrought upon me? Remember what I was, before thy avarice and ambitioncancelled the ties of blood and gratitude, crushed me to the earth, andplumed thy borrowed pomp with the wings of my lineal greatness. I am nowa lame, old, destitute Loyalist; yet, for ten thousand worlds, I wouldnot cease to be the thing I am, if the alternative must be to becomewhat thou art; a meteor, born in the concussion of the elements; atimorous slave of power, scared into the commission of any action whichmay prolong a life, miserable in its continuance, tremendous in itsclose."
He now turned to the judges, who were gazing on him in silentconsternation. "Are you," said he, "administrators of the new code ofcriminal justice, or sworn extirpators of inconvenient rectitude. Yousee in me the bloody malignant, whom Beaumont cherished for years in thesecret chamber. Have I physical strength to assassinate a vigorousyouth? This arm was rendered useless at the battle of Marston-Moor;these knees were enfeebled by infirmity, resulting from the hardships Iendured at the siege of Pontefract-Castle. Thus maimed and disabled, Iwas removed from a cave where I was hid by my kind comrade
The cry of "Let us seek the Lord," was immediately vociferated by themembers of the mock tribunal. The President ordered Neville to be takeninto custody. "There needs no rush of marshals-men," said he, "to effectyour purpose; a child may guard me to my dungeon, and a twine confine mein it. But since I have proved the innocence of Beaumont, give him theliberty I willingly resign."
In these times of pretended freedom, a court of justice assembled to trystate-criminals was nothing better than a clumsy engine of destruction,moved at the pleasure of the Protector. Condemnation and acquittaldepended not on the facts which were disclosed at the trial, but on thepre-disposition of Cromwell, to whom (as was the usual interpretation ofthe phrase of seeking the Lord) the President immediately reported theappearance of Neville, his singular accusation of Lord Bellingham, hisassertion of the existence of young De Vallance, and also of his changeof principles. He suggested the impossibility of convicting Dr. Beaumontof murder; and though his concealing a royalist was now proved, the age,debility, and affinity of Neville, would make a strict execution of thepenal ordinances, cruelty instead of justice; and throw an odium on HisHighness's administration. Dr. Beaumont appeared to be an inoffensive,quiet character; as to Neville, though a furious, desperate delinquent,his infirmities made him insignificant, and death would probably soonrelieve the state from his machinations.
At this time Cromwell courted popularity; he wished to engage honourableand eminent persons to support his government, and he thought anindisputable reputation for liberality and impartiality would expeditehis ultimate projects. He had engaged some respectable characters in hisservice; and the description his emissaries gave him of Neville andBeaumont, showed him the impolicy of publickly sacrificing such victimsfor state-offences. He affected to think it was possible he might attachthem to his interests, and declared he never could fear a disabledsoldier and sequestered parson, but that he was even ready to vindicatethe rights of a Loyalist, who had been injured by the partiality of thelate tyrant, and thus prove his own impartial justice, while hetransferred deserved odium on the memory of him who was called the Royalmartyr. Monthault pleaded warmly for the Beaumonts, but not withdisinterested earnestness. The appearance of Constantia in court revivedthe recollection of his former designs on her person, and as theacknowledged death of Eustace had removed what he supposed the chiefbarrier to his wishes, he deemed his suit might not be unsuccessfullyurged, especially if he assumed the character of a mediator between herfather and the government. He willingly obeyed Cromwell's order toadjourn the court to an indefinite time, till it could be ascertained ifthe prisoners would purchase prosperity by a change of principle, and heresolved to employ the interim in prosecuting his own designs.