“religious ideas and religious emotions, under the influence of the puritan habit of mind, seek to realise themselves, not in art, but, without any intervening medium, in character, in conduct, in life. it is thus that the gulf between sense and spirit is bridged; not in marble or in colour is the invisible made visible, but in action public and private—‘ye are the temples of the holy ghost.’”—professor e. dowden.
it was something of a relief to gabriel to see the well-known spires and towers of oxford, but he had lived through so much since his undergraduate days that he felt like a returned ghost—aloof from all his past interests, alone in a crowd, remorselessly stared at and criticised by the inhabitants.
at the city gate they were halted while arrangements were made as to their reception. gabriel was thankful enough for the brief respite; for norton’s treatment at marlborough had set up keen pain in his old wound, while the thirty miles’ march from devizes, bareheaded under a blazing sun, had given him a racking headache.
the last time he had passed out of oxford by this gateway, three years before, he had been riding home to herefordshire with ned harley, little dreaming of the future that lay before them. he fell now to wondering whether ned had recovered from the wound he had got at lansdown, and whether the letter he had left with him had by this time reached his father at hereford.
just then the sound of a mellow voice, with a mocking ring about it which spoilt its pleasantness, roused him from his reverie.
“well, mr. harford!” said norton. “’tis warm work, isn’t it? you seem exhausted.”
gabriel at once drew himself up with the undaunted look which had taken prince rupert’s fancy. he glanced at the prisoner with the bandaged head who leant heavily upon him, utterly spent with the march. the poor fellow, passey by name, was one of his own men, and had been wounded and taken in the pursuit.
“this man is in far worse case,” he said. “but i know it is waste of breath to ask mercy of you, sir.”
norton laughed. “you know me better than the day we spoke together at the gate of wells. i told you i was not one to be baulked, and mark my words, mr. harford, the rest of my prophecy will follow in due time. i shall yet have the hanging of you.”
“indeed!” exclaimed gabriel, stung into a bitter retort, “you seem better fitted to play the part of a hangman, sir, than that of an english gentleman.”
“bravely said, ecclesiastes! you have clearly studied under the most virulent puritan preachers of the day,” said norton, regarding his victim with an amused smile.
“pardon me, sir,” said gabriel, ashamed of his words, “i should have held my tongue, for, truth to tell, on first sight of you at gloucester, i thought you——”
he broke off, puzzled by that same hint of a better nature which made itself visible in his enemy’s face, as if in response to his unspoken idea.
“you thought me as generous and good-hearted a man as ever you had clapped eyes on,” said norton, laughing. “they all do on occasion, but quickly discover their mistake.”
he strolled away from the prisoners, and entering the alehouse hard by, called for a cup of claret.
“a second,” he said, when he had drained it. “here, tarverfield, you are always for pampering these rebels, take this to mr. harford, i’ll warrant his throat is as dry as a lime-kiln.” the captain was willing enough to undertake the errand, and norton saw the look of surprise on the prisoner’s face when he heard who had sent the claret.
but the next minute an oath burst from the colonel’s lips. “curse the fellow! doth he fancy himself at the sacrament? he but tastes it and passes it on to that wounded wretch beside him, and he again to his neighbour.”
for the third time a twinge of shame dragged him for a little while out of the slough of brutality which threatened to engulph him, and once more there rose before him the vision of the dead wife he still loved, though his profligacy had broken her heart and brought her to the grave.
the incident drove from gabriel’s mind the despair he had felt since passing the king. he insensibly learnt that in the most unlooked-for ways good would manifest itself in those who seemed most uncongenial, and thus with a brave heart went to meet the troubles that awaited him in oxford castle.
prince rupert had very truly observed that the prisoners of war were not pampered. the cruelties of provost-marshal smith, the governor, had been revealed by the lady essex, who had been called into the house of commons some six months before, and had given evidence on her return from oxford of what the prisoners had to undergo. this had been fully confirmed by captain wingate, who after months of imprisonment at oxford had obtained an exchange.
still bound to passey, gabriel was ordered up to the highest room in one of the towers of the castle with four other officers and six of the rank and file. the place seemed already full of men, and the exhausted prisoners looked round blankly enough, wondering how they were to find room in these wretched quarters.
the unhappy inmates, however, gave them a warm welcome, and it was pitiful to see the way in which these half-famished men crowded round them, eager to gain some news from the outer world.
“where do you come from?” demanded a grey-haired prisoner, seizing upon gabriel.
“we lay at marlborough last night, sir,” he replied, looking with something like awe at the emaciated face of the speaker.
“marlborough!” cried the prisoner, his eyes lighting up; “i was carried off from marlborough last winter.”
and he poured out question after question in the vain hope of gaining news of his family.
“but may you not receive visitors?” asked gabriel, knowing that even criminals were not debarred from this privilege.
“we may see no one,” said the poor lawyer, for such he proved to be. “come, you are unbound now, sit here and i will tell you what to expect.”
“with your permission, sir, i will first find some place for my companion to lie; he is wounded, and well-nigh spent.”
“i should stow him in yonder corner, next to the man with the fever,” said the lawyer, bitterly. “the air is so foul there that he’ll get a few inches more space.”
gabriel went to reconnoitre the ground, but was fairly beaten back by the pestilent atmosphere.
“any crowding is better than that,” he said. “here, passey, stretch yourself by the wall; maybe they will give us food presently.”
“not till to-morrow morning,” said the lawyer; “and then the provost-marshal will not overfeed you, my friend. for though the king allows sixpence a day for the prisoners—a fair enough sum—this miserable governor of ours keeps for himself all but five farthings a head.”
“and what doth that furnish?” asked gabriel, beginning to understand the lean and hungry looks of his companions.
“a pennyworth of bread, and a little can of a most vile mixture of beer and water,” said the lawyer.
gabriel reflected that by the next morning hunger and thirst would probably be so keen that any diet would be endurable. to him the worst trial at present was the sickening atmosphere of the overcrowded room, which, to one accustomed to sleeping more often than not in the open air, seemed on this hot july night well-nigh insufferable. in a space measuring, perhaps, twenty feet square, some fifty prisoners were pent up night and day.
“’twas here that mr. franklyn, member of parliament for marlborough, died,” said the lawyer, in his melancholy voice, “and yonder man with the fever will scarce recover, i think. but hark! there is the curfew ringing, we shall have prayers before settling for the night.”
the prisoners all stood, and a short service, led by one of the captive officers, was held. it was this habit which kept the place from becoming the hell on earth which most prisons of the day were apt to become. and that grand simplicity which is the strength of puritanism made its mighty influence felt, for all present, from the highest to the lowest, held the same religious ideal, and were ready to die for their conviction that each individual soul should have direct communion with god.
wearied by all that he had undergone in the last few days, gabriel soon slept with falkland’s cloak wrapped about him, and though stretched on the bare boards of the prison floor, his sleep was more profound and restful than any that for many months had visited the careworn secretary of state.
it was sheer hunger that at last disturbed him, and feeling stiff and miserable he raised himself, looking in a bewildered way round the room. the moonlight shone in patches on the grim stone walls, and on the strange spectacle of the prisoners lying in rows on the bare floor. the dismal sound of clanking fetters echoed through the place, when some of the men, who for attempted escape were heavily ironed, stirred in their sleep. the man with the fever was muttering and groaning horribly.
a sudden wave of realisation swept over gabriel. he was in prison, and must starve and pine, and as likely as not die, in this horrible place, no longer a free agent, but wholly at the mercy of tyrants. the bitterness of death seemed already to overwhelm him.
“let me out! let me out!” moaned the sick man in his delirium “my house is burning—my children—my wife! how can you do it, you fiends? let me go home, i say! let me out!”
gabriel roused himself from the despair into which he had fallen, and picking his way cautiously across the forms of the sleeping prisoners, sat down beside the man with the fever. there was still a little water left in the earthenware mug near him, and, raising the poor fellow into an easier posture, he held this to his parched lips.
“where do you come from?” he asked.
“from marlborough,” said the man, speaking rationally for a minute. “i was one of the wealthiest of the burgesses; my name is rawlyns.” then suddenly relapsing into his fevered ravings, “let me out! let me out! they are burning my home.”
“i came from marlborough yesterday, and there was no house burning,” said gabriel soothingly. “come, be at rest, you’ll need all your strength.”
his quiet words, and perhaps some subtle magnetism in his hands as he smoothed back the sick man’s hair, certainly calmed the poor fellow. the hereford people always declared that dr. harford had what they called “the healing touch,” and possibly gabriel had inherited a similar power. at any rate, the patient fell into a sound sleep, and his sore need had done much to chase despair from the mind of his helper.
noiselessly he stole back to his former place and once more lay down, and as he mused over past and future there suddenly flashed into his mind the perception that here and now in this distasteful present the wish of his childhood had been granted. he had longed to be like his hero sir john eliot, and to give his life for the country’s freedom; and now, like eliot, he was to languish in prison, debarred from air and exercise and all that makes life sweet.
gazing at the sharp contrasts of shadow and moonlight on the castle wall, an indescribable sense of strength and consolation came to him; for he grasped the truth that, however the war ended, even if for awhile utter defeat and ruin should overwhelm the cause, in the future justice was bound to triumph, being divine, and every sacrifice honestly made in her cause would prove to have been infinitely worth while, and would hearten future generations to resist everything which threatened the liberties so dearly bought.
musing over eliot’s imprisonment of nearly four years and his lonely death, musing over the eleven years’ imprisonment of valentine and strode, who still valiantly fought against the despotism of the king, he fell asleep once more, and never woke until the surly gaoler, aaron, brought the day’s rations, when, as he had foreseen, desperate hunger and thirst made the pennyworth of bread and the can of beer-and-water welcome enough.
but the unutterable tedium of the long, hot day in the stifling room seemed to him well-nigh unendurable, and when in the afternoon the gaoler threw open the door and shouted his name, he felt that even if the summons meant death he would hail it as a relief.
without a word, aaron fastened a pair of shackles round his ankles, and signed to him to follow up the steps leading to the top of the tower.
“i shall await you below,” he said, pushing the prisoner through the small opening on to the leads.
gabriel drew in a deep breath of the fresh, sweet air. the tower was not battlemented in the ordinary way, but the high wall surrounding it was pierced on the north and south sides by openings. standing by one of these, he perceived the short and somewhat insignificant-looking secretary of state, and hurried forward with an eager exclamation of pleasure.
falkland, who had always been entirely free from the arrogance of manner which characterised his class in those days, greeted the prisoner with his usual simplicity, and with that gentle sweetness of expression which was peculiarly his own.
“you must not hope much from my visit, mr. harford,” he said. “i have tried my best to plead for you, but i fear you will not see your way to accepting the conditions imposed. prince rupert, pleased with your soldierly bearing yesterday, begged to have you in his troop, and his majesty deputed me to offer you his pardon on your consenting to serve under the prince.”
as he spoke he looked searchingly at the prisoner, and read in his clear, undaunted eyes exactly what he had expected. the offer was not even a temptation to him—to accept it would have been a sheer impossibility.
“my lord,” said gabriel, “for your kindness in remembering me amid all your arduous work i thank you heartily; but for this offer—i feel sure you did not expect me to accept it.”
“in truth i did not, and told his majesty as much with a bluntness he did not altogether like,” said falkland. “yet i can see that this prison life proves a hard trial to one of your temperament.”
“’tis hard for all of them,” said gabriel. “some of the poor fellows have already been cooped up in the room for seven months, having been taken at the siege of marlborough, and they say the winter proved fatal to many, for they were allowed neither light nor firing. just now the suffocating heat is the worst part of it, for the overcrowding is terrible.”
he pulled himself up abruptly, not wishing to trouble his kindly visitor with complaints, but falkland could well imagine what a purgatory the prison would prove to a man of refined tastes and of great natural reserve.
“have you written any letters?” he asked. “if so, i will gladly have them sent for you. we must try to get you an exchange.”
“paper and ink and books are all forbidden,” said gabriel.
“there is literally nothing to do the livelong day, except, indeed, to try to slaughter the vermin. one of our officers managed to smuggle in his copy of cromwell’s ‘soldier’s pocket bible, but it is doubtful if he will be able to keep it, for the gaoler is a very dragon.”
“i brought you a couple of books,” said falkland. “you will find them in the pockets of this coat, which you had best don here before the gaoler sees you again. whether you elected to stay in prison or to fight under prince rupert i knew you would stand in need of a garment to replace the one they robbed you of.”
“my lord——” faltered gabriel, touched inexpressibly by the thoughtful kindness which contrasted so sharply with the harshness he had lately encountered, “i wish i could thank you as i would—— he broke off, unable to find the words he wanted, and falkland, with the smile that since the opening of the war had scarcely been seen, took advantage of the silence.
“nay, no thanks,” he said. “but you shall do this for me, mr. harford; you shall tell me something i am eager to know. with your general hopelessly beaten and yourself a prisoner, made to suffer moral and physical torture, how was it that we found you tied up to the pillar in that church bearing the look of a conqueror? of what were you thinking?”
“one does not think much in pain,” said gabriel. “i believe i thought most of burton when he had his ears cut off.”
“of burton!” exclaimed falkland, in astonishment; for, though he disliked archbishop laud’s fussiness and disapproved of his system, he held men like burton, bastwick and prynne in yet greater abhorrence. himself liberal-minded and moderate, both extremes offended his taste. it startled him to find that the prisoner, who was clearly not the type of man to interest himself in dogmatic theology, should speak of the ardent puritan controversialist in such a way.
“what can have attracted you at such a time to burton?” he asked.
“the words he used while he suffered,” said gabriel, his colour rising a little.
“what were they?” said falkland, gently.
“‘seeing i have so noble a captain that hath gone before me with so undaunted a spirit, shall i be ashamed of a pillory for christ, who was not ashamed of a cross for me?’” quoted gabriel, his eyes fixed on the gleaming river down below as it sped on its way to freedom and the sea.
falkland watched in silence, coming nearer than he had ever done before to a comprehension of the true power of puritanism, its direct appeal to the individual soul, the force, and simplicity, and strenuousness with which it laid siege not to the intellect and fine taste of the cultivated and learned few, but to the highest and noblest part in the nature of the mass of men.
he sighed heavily, only too conscious of the cruel loneliness that must always be the portion of those in his position during times of strife.
“think yourself a happy man, mr. harford,” he said. “you believe in your cause.”
there was something in the sadness and isolation of the speaker that strongly appealed to gabriel; he knew how bitterly the parliamentarians condemned falkland for forsaking his old allies, and he had learnt of late to understand how intolerable to a high-minded and scrupulously honourable man the office of secretary of state to king charles must be. it was impossible to be in falkland’s presence without realising that he was, indeed, as commonly reported, “so severe an adorer of truth that he could as easily have given himself leave to steal as to dissemble.” the same deep admiration and love which he had learnt to feel for the bishop of hereford stirred in his heart now, as he felt the strong but indescribable influence of one who has the power of forming the highest ideals, and the courage to strive for their attainment. there was, moreover, already in falkland’s dark eyes, the pathos which tells of latent disease and an early death. he would strive for peace to the last, but the long and seemingly hopeless struggle had broken his heart.
“my lord,” said gabriel, with some hesitation, “there is a great favour i would ask at your hands.”
“if i can in any way serve you,” said falkland, “nothing would please me more. but little enough seems permitted in oxford castle. could you conceal more books? if so, i will gladly bring you more, for books are friends that bite no man’s meat or reputation.”
“it is that i cannot endure to think that lord harry dalblane should have my favourite horse, harkaway. if he could be in your hands——”
“a doubtful blessing for the horse,” said falkland, smiling as he noted the eager, boyish face of his petitioner. “for i tell you frankly, mr. harford, i ever ride where the danger is the hottest, and am in the case of job when he cried, ‘wherefore is light given to him that is in misery, and life unto the bitter in soul: which long for death but it cometh not, and dig for it more than for hid treasures.’”
gabriel was too thoroughly healthy in body and mind to grasp the full import of the words; he thought the speaker only referred to that brief and natural craving for freedom which assails everyone in the extremity of pain, whether mental or physical. he himself had so quickly overcome the craving at hereford and at edgehill that it never occurred to him that one so immeasurably his superior could not also overcome it.
but the surgeon at marlborough had surmised rightly enough; falkland, handicapped in the race by months of sleeplessness, could only see that his present position was untenable, could only yearn to exchange the prolonged and thankless suffering of one who metaphorically stands between two fires, for a literal and brief riding forth alone between the two armies, welcoming a bullet in the heart from royalist or parliamentarian, since with both alike he was out of harmony.
“i shall be sending a messenger to the west to-morrow,” he said, after a minute’s silence. “if you will give me your father’s address i will myself write to him and tell him what has befallen you. since you are known to sir ralph hopton and sir william waller, and since your father and sir robert harley are lifelong friends, it will assuredly be possible in time to get you exchanged. and for your horse, i will speak to lord harry about it ere he goes to the siege of bristol. an you wish it, i will myself ride harkaway.”
so they parted, the prisoner to return to his stifling and noisome quarters, the secretary of state to the equally uncongenial atmosphere of the court and the presence of a king whose obstinacy and insincerity made it hard, even for falkland, who was noted for the sweet graciousness of his manners, to refrain from sharp words and caustic comments.
