Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1905-09-21

tHlH SILK LOT the eHalF, SO IudI /. Wnen
! was set therein. had great privacy,
/ though knew By the sounss that /
was attended BY the motley crowd
which usually is In following at such
affairs. besides the little troop Of horse
which was my escort. and my brother
and Parson Downs riding on either
side. Parson Downs. though some
might reckon him as being somewhat
eontumelious In his manner of leaving
the tobacco cutting, vet was not so
when there was anything to be gained
by his service. He was moreover quit
Of any blame BY his Office Of spiritual
adviser. though 1t was not customary
for criminal to. be attended to the
stocks By clergyman. but only to the
scaffoid
i But. as began to gather some
strength through that fiery draught
which had swallowed and the fresh
air, it verify seemed to me, though |
had done with any vain complaints ard
was of mind to bear my ignominy
with as much bravery as though it
We're death. that 1t was as much of an
occasion for spiritual consolation.
could not belfeye-w we were ar
! rived at the New field and / was as
sisted from my chair in the midst of
that hooting and jeering throng. which
even the soldiers and the threatening
/ gestures of the parson and my brother
served but little to restrain that was
! myself, ana still more so when | was
| at last seated in that shameful instru-
ment, the stocks.
Ever since that time have won
dered whether mankind hath any
| bodily ills which are not dependent up
on the mind for their existence, and are
so durable by some sore stress of it.
For verify, though my wounds weie
/ not healed. and the sun was blistering
| with that damp blister which frets
TO sense nothing except the shame and
disgrace of my estate.
AS for my bodily ailments, they
| might have been cured. for aught |
| know Of them To this time. when | lay
me down TO sleep after a harder days
| work than ordinary, / can see and
hear the jeers of that rude crowd
| around the stocks. Truly. after all, a
mans vanity is his point of vantage,
and l wonder greatly If that be net
/ the true meaning of the vulnerable spot
IN Achilles heel Some slight dignity
though l had not SO understood it,
i had maintained IN the midst of my
i 1fo& 81
free will, to protect the maid of ones
love from grief, was one thing, but
to sit in the stocks, exposed to the
/ jibes of a common crowd, was another.
And more than aught else, l felt the
sting of the comedy in it.
To sit there with my two feet straight
out, soles to the people, through those
rude holes in the boards, and all at
i liberty to gaze and laugh at me, was
infinitely worse than to welter in my
| blood upon the scaffold. How many
/ times, as I sat there. it came to me
that if it had been the scaffold, Mary
i Cavendish could at least have held my
memory in some. respect; as 1t was,
she could but laugh. Full easy it may
be for any man with the courage of a
man to figure in tragedy, but try him
in comedy if you would prove his met
| tie
Shortly after | arrived there in the
New field, which was wide, open
/ space, the sports began, and l saw
them all as in a dream, or worse than
dream, nightmare. First came Par
| son Downs, whispering to me that as
| long as he could do me no good. and
was in sore need of money, and, more
/ over since he would by so doing divert
somewhat the public attention from
/ me, he would enter the race which
was shortly to come off for a prize
of IS.
/ Then came a great challenge Of
drums. and the parson was in his sad
| die and the harses OFF on the three
i mile course. my eyes following them
into the dust elouded distance and see
| ing the parson come riding in ahead to
i the winning post. with that curious IN
certainty as to the reality which had
been upon me all the morning that
| is, of the uncertainty of aught save my
/ shameful abiding In the stocks.
/ As / said before, it was a hot day,
and all around the field waved fruit
boughs nearly past their bloom, with
i the green of new leaves overcoming the
| white and red, and the air was heavy
with honey-sweet, and. as steady as a
clock tick through all the roaring of
| the merrymakers came the hum of the
bees and the calls of the birds. A great
! flag was streaming thirty feet high. and
the gay dresses of the women who had
congregated to see the sports We're like
a flower garden. and the waisteoats of
! the men Were as brilliant as the breasts
of birds, and nearly everybody wore
the green oak sprig which celebrated
the Restoration.
Then again the horses, after the chal-
lenge of the drums, sped around the
| three mile course, and attention was