Delaware state journal. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1870-1883, 1874-01-03
DUDLEY'S ESCAPE,
BY REV. oHAs. d. SHAW.
tFrom Harkues.' Magazine ]

ltFom nAEhutha AAfAaAAuN
"Well, Master Dudley, aud what news
have you now How fares the cense VI
bis Majesty lie King 2"
The speaker was Worcestershire
squire. The pereon whom be had ud-
dressed was a man Of tiue prcsence and
and military bearing; of good dec Mt,
yet with decided bus ness furu. Ills
father had been nCblemun and ut the
same time an iron manufacturer. TITS
son had left Oxford At twenty TO assume
direction of his fathers forge AID fur
naces. In such work he was deeply III
terested aud actively engaged When the
great civil war broke out-lhe war be-
tween Charles aud the people Of Eng
land. Dud Dudley had, by reason Of
birth aud education, espuused the cause
OF the King, aud had iiseu o the rank Of
general OF artillery. After many tuc-
cesses by the Parliamentary arAly lull
had fallen, which was broken in l64S hy
tumults and uprisiI e in Wales. The
influence of this cominotiou had extended
through all England, but The vigorous
measures Of Fair'ax, the Parliamentary
commander, had compelled ihc conceu-
tration of tue usufu,nt %, Co.ch rter iu
Essex. Against them strenuous siege
was being carried on by Fairfax ut the
time our story opens.
sill enough, master HodgsoD.' was
Dudley's answer. "Our friends are hard
bestead In Colchester. and the Round
head Cromwell is sitting down beiO'e
Pembroke. Yet both places make g'l-
liant resistance, and the right cause may
yet triumph"
'"T. ere good deed now TO raise
troops here In the wet and slrile a blow
for King Charles while tie crop-cArs are
busy olherwt
YEA, u, n,ighbor; you have reason on
your side aud my b God tit es to rec Yer
for his Mijcsty something Of what he has
lost in these evil times. Beshrew me but
It shall be done."
30 Dudley rode forth among bis neigh
bofs. "Harcourt," he suid to enc Who
had been mejor in the lcyGl forces dur
Ing the struggle that eud'd in 1915 :
"Harcourt, shall we not cake head 0nce
more for our good lord aud bing lie
hath right 10 our sgOr0s and lives aud
1t is to our shame that We he I'll { When
our friends elsewhere are iu pelli for the
cause "
"Wi,h all my heart Dudley" was the
answer. "Yer, l viii Iide with you IL
rouse the country side, and take the l-ld
against the frantic rebels whose successes
have made them more ilsulsnt than eau
bear.
They rode together, therefore, ard gath
cred about them mary more gentlemen
and their adhercuts, ~ til they cuult
number Two hundred men.
In the nei9 hh,rht Oh OF the village Of
Mhdeley, in 5 aluidsh h r. ,'Ee Pace whcr'
John Fletcher hvei an d wrote more than
a century later, wss IA wood called Busct
Bello. The r.id zyoi. Of Dud ey and his
fiiends was appointed there tor safety
aud secrecy Until such time ne, beiue
drilled aud organized, their force, might
be lit for some eusib C enterprise.
But, il the meantime, the adhereuti
Of the Parliament had not been idle
either.
Que fright morning a company OF Pur
taus marched into the wood with the iirn
purpose of destr Ing the "maligpuLt-,
as they termed them. In vain Duel !
and his fenow-l Ulcers urg d their iOl
lowers to the cOl ilct. The desperat
intensity OF tne Parliament men Was no
% be withstOod, aud in comparatively
few minutes they were wholly triumph
ant. Many OF the poor iel ows " hn ha'
meaut to fight for the ciylne ripht q
kings lay dead under The trees of Bose
Beiio, snd of those who remained aliv
nearly all were taken piisOner.. Amou
these were the cfli,ris aud men Of mark
with Dudley ut tueir head.
$50, master Dudity," ssid the leadc
OF the successful parry, ''heIe is hut al
ill end of your misplaced LOYALTY.
man like you had better have fear, Co
. and fought for the parliame't, than
be misleading lenan.s aud servants
n death, for a tyrant AID traitor"
"False traitor thop," cried Dude!
"on thee and such as thou be the cur,
q of all blood split, and the desulatlOn mad
+ In our fair country
He would have gone on in his passion
ate utterance-, hut the Puiitan con
/. mauder cut him short.
X "Take master Dudley and his fellow
malignants TO Worcester" said he, -
Il once f. rtifled il against usi now that
Is In our uAhds le1 nun t.sl Is sIlehstu
a prison"
So Dudley aud Hareouri, with Maj
Elliott and otherF, were taken away
Worcester, which DndleY had inde'
strengthened and fJriaed for the KIN
but which had since fallen into the hAnl
of his enemies. The treatment OF u
cdptives was far ffom geutle, 1Dr tue
were rough as well as earnest time
When they reached the city they We
conducted the prison like dangerol
felons, and strict measures We're taxi
for ih,ir safe detention.
"Let double guards be stationed at Il
prison doors, 10 be relieved Every 70
hours. Double guards likewise at Eve
gate at the city, and strict waleh at eve
outlet, that no knaves aud traitors m
escape.' Such were the orders given
the presence Of Dudley and his compan
who were then pushed into the court-yd
of the prison, and PR sently locked IL
large upper room. There they were l.
20 such meditatiuns as the place and c
eumstanees might suggest.
Immediate escape Is what they 81
gested 70 Dudley. He looked carelu
for means to that end.