Part 22 (1/2)
Soain it maketh him to despair, and, filled with spleen and useless stubbornness, he ploddeth on along a path not suited to his step, when there, within reach of his sight, had he but turned his head, doth lie his own fair way Some few hills there are, of course; but these are suited to his stature”
”By ed philosopher,” laughed Hazel ”But tell me the lesson that this should teach to er tarry with the Queen”
”'Tis this,” I replied ”Her Majesty's path is now blocked up with obstacles 'Tis right that thou shouldst sympathize with her, and cheer her on Yea, if it be within thy power to lend to her assistance, thou art bound by the bonds of love and gratitude to give it Still, it is not required of thee, by either of these ennobling masters, that thou shouldst tread her path thyself Nay,” I continued, as I saw a look that toldfor thee to leave the way that Nature chose for thee to cheer”
”Thine eloquence hath won rateful But truly, Walter, thou must stop thy bursts of poetic speeches, lest in the future thy songs do change the ot,” and she laughed in aiety
When we reached the Palace is, whilst at theEdward, had, through soiven to thatrage and ordering the execution of the Chancellor Seized as he sat at the table of the council he was hurried, by thatadded to with lightning swiftness, to the black-stained block within the courtyard of the Tower, and there his head was severed fro trophy carried to the Duke A fitting eance of such a s' that had caused his soul to folloithin so short a time, the spirits of his rivals, who met their fate at Pomfret, served also, as I verily believe Richard had foreplanned it should, to postpone the discussion of the young King's coronation
”Richard hath pulled harder on the line,” said Harleston, e had heard the complement of the news--na the arrest of Hastings ”Another obstacle hath been reo The line still bears the strain Wait with patience and expectancy: he'll pull again; observe the result”
CHAPTER XIX
A MESSAGE IS SENT TO RICHMOND
Harlston's statement, that the line of Richard's success o, proved to be wrong
Gloucester had s' death had been received with but grus of discontent and not, as we had hoped, with clamorous outbursts of bloody insurrection
Stanley, for re with Gloucester, in an attes, from his fate, was now confined within the Tower's walls The Archbishop of York and the Bishop of Ely here kept his there noere of the coronation of a different King fro shown to the whole broad world Most of those which lived at court had seen it, ere this last card was laid upon the board
Rue with the Lady Grey, the young King's al now had a noble circulation 'Thispered in the court, and gossipped o'er 'Twas the sole story on the tradesman's lips The urchin in the street had heard it told, and each ear did either credit or despise the tale, that Edward, the father of our present King, had been united by the bonds of wedlock with the Lady Eleanor Talbot, daughter of the Earl of Shrewsbury, previous to his union with the Lady Grey This tale, 'tis scarce necessary for me to say, was but one of many sihtful Sovereign, and thus help hiht to which he was determined to clireat Church of St Paul, ere attracted by a surging crowd of people trying, as best theypenance in a sheet of white, and who now stood, in pitiful abashment, upon the church's steps Behold her as she stands there, an object of curiosity and derision Hear the coarse jests of the vulgar rabble, who, in their delight at the sight of fallen power, hurl at her defenseless ears all the filthy epithets in the vocabulary of the indecent
Coradation of to-day Not one of those ere helped to power and greatness, by this woret Such a scene should find in hell ic action So could I iine the condemned souls revel and domineer when a Prince of Darkness hath been reduced to a lower level Another triumph for the Protector
This is Jane Shore, the mistress of the late lamented Edward
Gloucester, the better to deceive the people, and ious ardour, coainst the state was that her Creator had given her such beauty as to cause the a eye upon her--which, with that fiery Sovereign, was ever the prologue to a history of a woman's loss of character--to thus do penance, draped in a sheet, before the insulting eyes of the scum of the city's population
”Look at the shah she cared a hair for all this gentle penance See how she stands, blushi+ng, as a properer daarb of a gentle up a stone, he handed it to this felloith these words:--'There, my fine fellow, hurl thou this pebble at the woretted, sir, that thou didst not live in the days of Christ He asked for such an one as thou to hurl the stone at Mary Magdalene”[1]
”And who art thou, sir, to criticise ht bow Then, as the fellow stared stupidly into his face, ain said:--”I suppose, sir, that thou dost not e'en co of that name I should have used another word This, then, is the definition of that article hich you have no doubt often met, and still you understand not First, he is a man; second, his speech is courteous, to those whose manner doth deserve such speech; third, he protects the weak and defenceless, and doth not insult a helpless woman, as thou this day hast done; fourth, he is possessed of a quality known by the naainst or atteressor or himself; last, and yet first above all else, he must be brave, and not submit to insult such as thou dost bear; and 'twould be death for one to strike a blow upon his cheek, as I now do to thee” And, suiting the action to the word, Harleston gave hi slap upon the ear that almost caused the other to drop upon his knees
My friend's judguards are, a coward through and through A plenteous supply of bluster had he, to be sure, and this he coot not far in his list of couarding knave, took him by the ear, that noas the colour of a fiery sunset, and, turning him about, he placed his knee beneath his doublet tail and hurled hiing crowd about
I had never known Harleston to act thus before, and greatly was I surprised to see him so ready to pick up a quarrel
When we left the crowd before the Church and continued on our way I thought to find hiain ed this man whose brain seemed balanced with such an exactness He was as quiet and unruffled as though he had been but talking with a priest about soe,” said he intone, ”that men so love to see their felloered Why can they not mourn for their sorrows and exult when others do succeed? Instead of doing this, they glory in another's fall, and when the downcast tries to regain his feet, cruel and remorseless blows are heaped upon his head, till the poor creature, hopeless of success, lies back there where he falls, a sands of vice, or other misery Still he sinks lower, and, as he disappears, the sands put on their faces of har beauty, to await another victiles, and laughs, and he's soon forgot”
”Why, my friend, thou art quite mournful,” I rehter Misunderstand me not