The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1885-08-08
CHAPTER XVIII.
TEE SWEETS or LIBERTY.

delight Every bard has sung the joys o
Liberty; every writer has said his say upol
her glories. Patriots have died for her, an(
,tatesmen-modern ones especially-hav'
made her convenient stalking horse. Tn,
subject being such stock one, and ap
quotations so plentiful, there Is no need {,
! dilate upon the frame Of mind in which Mrs
Mller's acquaintance, Mr. Maurice Hervey
! late No. 1850, found himself, when Portland
prison at length discontinued its ungrudgini
and machine-l.ke hospitality and restored
HIM to the outer world, free man save fol
the formality of once month reporting him
SET to the police, and that general suspicion!
surveillance which is so irksome to tn,
usually modest and retiring nature Of {
tickct-of-lcave man.
The goddess heavenly bright showed he!
face the first time for some years, to Mau
rice Hervey on the very day when Mis-.
Clauson and Sylvanus Mordle went to Black
town.
Mrs Miller, who had manifested so keer
an interest in the felon's enlodgement, re-
manned in complete ignorance of the happy
event. This was due TO no omission on hei
part She had written twice to the governor
OF Portland begging that the date of the
convict's release might be made known tc
her. The letters We're dated not from Oak
bury, but from some place in London. The
first letter was duly acknowledged, and the
information vouchsafed that the date coulC
not be exactly fixed. To the second letter
she received no reply. The reason for such
apparent discourtesy was this:
The day of the mans emancipation was
drawing very near, SO he was toll that his
friend had written, and he was asked if he
wished to be sent to London to meet her.
He cast down his eyes and in n respectful
way stated that he was sorry to say that he
attributed his present shameful position &c
certain evil counsel which the writer had
given him, and which he had followed. He
did wish to be sent to London. but would
rather avoid this woman than seek her
After this avowal Mrs. Millers letter re-
manned unanswered.
He was an educated villain, who had been
sentenced to five years penal servitude for
uttering forged bills. Like most such luen
WHO ere sent into scclusion for the good OF
tie community, Maurice Hervcy was able to
realize, without such severe treatment a.
was needed to convince the Apostle Paul,
that kicking against pricks is foolishness.
He lad been ordered to pay certain debt.
Misbehavior meant that the debt would be
cxactcd to the ut;ermost fartning; whereas
good conduct would in time tighten the obi
gclion and induce his creditor TO accept
handsome composition. SO he did to the
best Of Lis ability such work as was al
lotted to him. He was too clever to attempt
the elbow-worn trick of interesting the
chaplain by pretended conversion. He
sagely reflected that chaplains must by this
timo have grown wide awake. But be wore
a ooHented, inofIensive look, spoke civiily to
lis jailers, complained of nothing, and gave
no trouble 1t was only in the seclusion of
Lis circumscribed cell of corrugated iron
that No. 1850 scowled, grated his teeth and
clenchcd his hands. 1t was only there that
while his heart craved for personal freedom
his lips noiselessly framed bitter curses and
vows of vengeance.
So it is that if upon his return to freedom
Mr.. Hervey had given his experiences OF
penal servitude to the daily papers, his de
scription of the punishment Of bread and
water diet, dark cells. and that humilatine
exercise with the crank known as 'grind
ing the arr would have had no first-LaaG
value.
Before leaving Portland he was told tina:
the Discharged Prisoners Aid Society"
would doubtless do something for him. He
expressed his gratitude for the Information,
but aided that unless from disuse his right
hand Lad lost its cunning, 10 could earn an
honcst-he EN-, hasized the word-livelihood
without diff culty. He had been an artist,
aad could again pursue that craft under a
new name. During his detention he had
given his janitors proof of his grapAic ab:li-
t-es By the craving of sundry states with
and not inartistic dcsi MS. These
Wo".;s of at are still shown to visitors to tho
prison as Cuciosities.
So, practically free man, Maurice Her
vey s.ool in the streets of London at o'cloc,:
IN the second day of tho now year There
vas little about him to attract attention.
BY Ele-ciful and sensible Gispcnsation, dU.'
Ing the three months prior to his enlaac:pa- |
ton cOnvct's hair is left to ma .u'c, SO tho; |
in these days of military crops Mr.. Ie-vcy's
head, which no longer resem5led Fitz:oy |
was not signal of dancer The
suit Of clothes which replaced the durable |
prison dress w2s rough and i'll fitting, but |
not such as to create remark. In LONDON |
that night there Elust have b,en hundreds of |
thousands Of respectable men who locked |
neltlef better nor worse IMAM Maurice 1.er-
vey
Free at last! Free to turn where he liked,
and, within the limits of the law. Go as he
Lied; in splendid health; in the primo of
manhood. Free to redeem or cancel tie past
by honest work, or by dishonesty sink lower
md lower in the future. In his pocket the
'um of five pounds seventeen shillings and
ixpence, the result Of years Of self-enforced
good conduct and unavoidable hard labor.
The lingering of this money gave him a new,
n at least awoke a dormant sensation. 1t
vas more than four years since his hands
lad touched a coin Of the realm. Think of
hat and realize what penal servitude means
The lIst use he made of his liberty and
money was characteristic, and fear may
waken indulgant sympathy in the minds of
he majority Of man mot woman-) kind.
10 went into tobacconist's and bought 6
linepenny cigar. He lit it, sat down upon
chair in the shop and for some minutes
moked in blissful, contented silence. The
hopkeeper eyed his customer narrowly. His
eneral appearance, especially the look Of his
ands, did not seem compatible with what
he tradesman called ''ninepenny smoke
emit" Hervey caught the mans eyes fixed
n his hands. He himself glanced at them
Nth n look Of disgust and q muttered curse.
Fears Of turf-carrying and digging and delv-
ne for Portland stone play havoc with