Graham's Magazine, Vol. XXXI, No. 4, October 1847Various
General
Graham's Magazine, Vol. XXXI, No. 4, October 1847
Various
Literature -- Periodicals; Literature, Modern -- 19th century -- Periodicals
“Well, we sot down to the table; I guess the sun was about an hour high,
we commonly eat supper this time of year about an hour before sunset;
Mr. Davis always wants his supper airly, because he don’t think it’s
healthy to eat jest before going to bed; he says it gives him the
nightmare. Well, Mr. Davis he looks round upon the table, and says he,
‘Judy’—he always calls me Judy, ever since we’ve been married, which I
don’t think is exactly the thing for a person of my age, but he seems to
like it, so I don’t make a fuss about it—says he, ‘Judy, here isn’t
butter enough for supper on the table, you better get some more.’ Says
I, ‘I hate to disturb that are second layin’ to-day, it’s packed down so
nice.’ But he insisted upon it, there wasn’t enough on the table for
supper—Mr. Davis eats a good deal of butter, and he doesn’t like to see
a scanty plate of it on the table. So I took a knife and a plate and
went into the buttery, and took the kiver off the firkin and sot it down
on the floor; and then I was een a most a good mind to go back without
any, when I see how smooth the second layin’ looked, for I do hate to
cut into a new layin’, it seems to go away so soon. But I knew Mr. Davis
would have some, so I took the knife and begun to cut down into the
middle of the butter, and instead of cutting through, as it did in the
first layin’, it come down chuck on to a stone. And that’s the way I
found it.”
“It’s a very clear case,” said the judge. “It is unnecessary to proceed
any further with witnesses.”
And then he turned to the jury and charged them, that the guilt of the
prisoner was fairly made out, and they had nothing to do but bring in a
verdict of guilty. Accordingly the jury retired, and having staid out
just long enough to count noses and see that they were all present, came
in with a verdict of guilty.
The court then went into deep consultation with regard to the sentence;
and after a half hour’s whispering, and talking, and voting, the first
judge rose and pronounced the sentence as follows:
“The court doth order, that Jane Andrews shall stand at the public
town-meeting which is to be held on Monday next, and in the most
conspicuous part thereof till two hours time be expired, with her
offence written in capital letters and fastened upon her forehead.”
This sentence was duly executed, according to the letter and spirit
thereof, on the following Monday. But it must be left to the imagination
of the reader to portray the scenes that occurred on that occasion. We
may simply hint, however, that the meeting was unusually thronged, being
more, numerously attended than any town-meeting in the place for three
years previous. Some old people, who had not been out on any public
occasion for half a dozen years, came now several miles to see the crime
of Mrs. Andrews justly and properly punished.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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