The Bedford gazette. [volume] (Bedford, Pa.) 1805-current, 1865-08-04
THE MONMOUTH REBELLION
IN iG3S


g1ccess of which he showed himself so unwor
tby The celebrated Jeffreys. then Chief JUS
f;ce of the Court of Kings Bench, was sent to
hold what has ever since been known as 'the
bloodv assizes'' in the counties which had been
the principal seat of rebellion. The transac-
lions which occurred and the moral features of
tbe chief monster and actor therein have been
,botoorauhed for our benefit by the glowing
pen Of Macauley They furnish lesson and
q warning TO all those who would initiate his
atrocities
Among the victims of his ferocious cruelty,
was poor widow, named Alice Lisle, whose
fate will serve to illustrate the temper and wor-
kings of unbridIed power at the time. 1t viii
not be without its interest now.
She was woman of respectable connections
and of a most kind and benevolent disposition.
She had given shelter and sustenance to two
nersons who had taken some part in the rebell-
ian. though she solemnly denied having any
knowledge of their criminaity at the time.
at was no easy matter" says the historian,
SIN such case to obtain verdict for the crown.
The witnesses prevaricated. The jury, consist
jnc of the principal gentlemen of Hampshire,
shrank from the thought of sending q fellow
creature to the stake for conduct which seemed
deserving rather of praise than of blame JEFF
frevs was beside himself with fury. This was
the first case Of treason on the circuit and there
seemed strong probability that his prey would
escape him"
To prevent this he gave loose rein to his di-
abolical nature. lie called into requsition, all
the influences of his position, and all the terror
of his unlimited power. The proprietieS of the
occasion were wholly disregarded. The rules
Of law and the duties of his high office were
alike openly violated. Witnesses were brow
beaten into unintended statements; Jurors were
terrified into acquicscence IN what they utterly
disapproved The defects Of the testimony
were supplied by the fury of the judge.
The woman was known to be Presbyterian.
Il tell you," said the Judge on the trial. "there
is not one of these lying, snivelling, canting
Presbyterians but in one way or another had
a hand in the rebellion. Presbytery has all
manner of yillany in it. Show me a
Presbyterian and l will show you a lying
knave."
The historian proceeds to state
'He summed up in the same style, declaimed
during an hour against wings and dissenters,
and reminded the jury that the prisoners hus-
band had borne part in the death Of Charles
the First-a fact which was not proven by any
testimony and which, if it had been proven,
would have been utterly irrelevant to the is
sue. The jury retired, and remained long in
consultation. The judge grew impatient. He
could not conceive, he said, how, in so plain a
case. they could ever have left the box. He
sent a messenger to tell them that if they did
not instantly return he would adjourn the court
and lock them up all night Thus put to tor
4f,-EA AtN1~
doubted whether the charge had been made out.
Jetfreys expostulated with them vehementiy,
and. after another consultation, they gave re-
luctant verdict of Guilty.
''On the following morning sentence was
pronounced, Jeffreys gave directions that Alice
Lse should be burned alive that very after
noon. The excess of barbarity moved the pity
and indignation even of that class viii eh was
most devoted to the crown. The clergy of
Winchester Cathedral demonstrated with the
Chief Justice, who. brutal as he was was not
mad enough to risk quarrel on such subject
with body so much respected by the tory
party. He consented to put off the execution
five days During that time the friends Of the
prisoner besought James to show her mercy.
Ladies of high rank interceded for her. Fever
sham, whose recent victory had increased his
favor at court and who, it is said, had been
bribed to take the compassionate side, spoke III
her favor Clarendon, the kings brother-in-
law. pleaded her cause. But all was in vain.
The utmost that could be obtained was that
her sentence should be commuted from burn
ing to beheading. She was put to death on a
scaffold in the market place of Winchester, and
underwent her fate with serene courage"
Fortunately we live in different age and
country, where atrocities of this character are
unknown-where the law is supreme, and
where the rights of every citizen are in theory
under the protection of express guarantees of a
Yritten constitution. Still it may prove inter-
estng and not wholly improbable to cast a
glance at the condition of things in Great Brit
ain near two hundred years ago, with view
of realizing the establishment of well-regulated
popular liberty between that day and this
How horrible and revolving does such tyranny
appear, even for the lapse of centuries.
The number of ''rebels' whom Jeffreys hang
cd while on this circuit was three hundred anC
twenty. Some historians place it at more thar
double that figure. He boasted that he had
hanged more traitors than all his predecessor:
since the conquest. Certain it is that the num-
Der executed in one county and in one month
greatly exceeded that of all the political often
ders who have been executed in the island o
Great Britain since the revolution of 1858.
Bot cruelty never secures safety. The slum
bers of retributive justice, though seemingly
sound, are rarely Of long continuance. In les
than four years from the exhibition of thes
atrocities, their brutal perpertator was made t.
experience all the horror he had ever inspirec
IN the most timid, Heightened by the superaddec
poignancy of conscious guilt. In the disguis
Of fugitive, begrimed with dust and ashes