Fayetteville observer. [volume] (Fayetteville, Tenn.) 1850-1966, 1865-12-14
Strap Of ,aistary.
gJSYEsEBY JUDGE J FUDGE gEEFFRsEEYYSS TEE RE
Or. the Jealous JewelIer.

Master George Jeffreys, subse
quently the notorious chief justice
; and chancellor, was elected com.
. mon-serjeant of the city of Lon.
don, in March, 1871; and trial
which took-place before him a few
days after his elevation to that
minor Office is, it strikes me, not
only curious in itself, but as throw
ing some light uponthc reckless hab-
its and tendencies of the Nero Of
the Bench, whilst yet on the thres-
hold of his ruffianly career. The
incidents are CLEANED from the
brief records of the time, and /
have done little more than give
them sequence and connection.
| Charles Carver, a native of Stat
fordshire, and skilful worker in
metals, for some reason not men,
toned, crossed the seas, soon af-
ter reaching manhood, to the PLAN
tations, by which probably Virgin
ia is meant; but not prospecting
there, returned in 1870, and took
up his abode in London. He was
now about thirty years of age,
well-favored, six feet in height,
and soon became a constant eve
ming guest at the Lamb, Alders-
gate street, then kept by wild
ow landlady, Mistress Rebecca
Hobscn, year or SO younger than
himself, and a native Of the same
county. Whether Carver's voy-
age to the plantations, recent re-
turn, and present friendly footing
at the Lamb were referable to a
former intimacy with the said Re-
becca before she became Mistress
Hobson, is not directly stated =
the probability, however, being in
! the affirmative. BE that as it
may, whetherit it was areknittingof
a previous broken attachment or
the formation Of new one, the
fact was undeniable, that Charles
Carver made rapid progress in the
danes good graces, and that if
her humor held it would not be
long before the Lamb and the lady
had a new master-to use the
term, ridiculous as it sounds now
a-days, recognized by the marital
code and practice Of the period
when the second Charles was
king. There was some danger
that her humor would not hold,
she having other strings to her
widows bow, and one especially
which it was difficult to detach-a
Mr.. Nathaniel Betteridge, estab-
lished in the Minories as practic-
al .jeweller, reputedly well to do
in the world. This person had
been assiduousi in both morning and
evening attendance at the Lamb
from the time poor Samuel Hob
son had been medically pro-
nounced incurable--a forecasting
tenderness not apparently displeas-
ing to the fair relict, eXpectant and
actual, till the appearance of Car
yer, when the light of her coun-
tenance was gradually withdrawn
from the jeweller, to shine with
daily increasing brightness and
benignity upon the comely and
stalwart worker in metals. Ma
thaniel Betteridge was not, how
ever, man to accept a defeat in
such struggle, if victory might
be won by any means, however
foul or dishonest; the prize which
was fast slipping through his fin
gers, after they had in imagina-
ton already clutched it, being rel
atively to the condition of the
competing parties a highly desira-
bic one, as, without taking into
account the personal qualities of
the lady, of whom in that respect
/ only find it remarked that she
was a buxom, well-reputed dame, |
she was known to have been left |
by her husbands will upwards OF |
e2 900 lent on bond to the wor-
shipfal Company of Goldsmiths,
together with the freehold OF the
Lamb hosterly, unencumbered 10y
the troublesome appendages OF
children. The FIRST mode adopted |
by Betteridge for regaining the
position in the wealthy widows