London (England) -- History -- 18th century -- Fiction
should expect to stand in: he said that the thing would cost a good
deal, but that, for a thousand pounds, he thought that Mr. Will
Halliday's case might be considered certain. 'When I heard this,' the
witness said, 'I hastened to Lambeth, where Mr. Will was living with his
wife. I could not see him because he was playing for Madame Vallance's
Assembly. I therefore went again to Lambeth the next day, which was
Sunday, and I told him all. While I was telling him, Mr. Probus himself
came. So they put me in the kitchen where I could hear what was said.
Mr. Probus made another effort to persuade Mr. Will to sell his chance
of succession. Then he went away in a rage, threatening things. So I
implored Mr. Will to get out of the way of the villains. He promised:
but it was too late. The next thing I hear is that he has been charged
with highway robbery. Mr. Will--the best of men!'
I now thought my case was going pretty well.
There were, however, other witnesses.
To my amazement Jenny's mother appeared. She was dressed up as a most
respectable widow with a white cap, a black dress, and a white apron.
She curtseyed to the Court and kissed the book with a smack, as if she
enjoyed it.
She said that she was a widow, and respectable: that she kept the Black
Jack, which was much frequented by the residents of St. Giles's. The
Counsel did not press this point but asked her if she knew the Rev. Dr.
Carstairs. She replied that she knew him, under other names, as a
frequenter of her house off and on for many years: that he was
familiarly known as the 'Bishop': that she did not inquire into the
trades of her customers, but that it was understood that the Bishop was
one of those who use their skill in writing for various purposes: for
threatening persons who have been robbed: for offering stolen property
for sale: for demanding money: for forging documents: and other branches
of roguery demanding a knowledge of writing. She showed her own
knowledge of the business by her enumeration of the branches. She said,
further, that the gentleman had slept at the Black Jack every night for
the last two months: that he had a bed there, took his meals there, and
carried on his business there. As regards Mr. Ferdinando Fenwick, she
knew him as the 'Captain,' or as Tom Kestever, and she identified him in
the same way and beyond any power of doubt. As for Merridew, she knew
him very well: he was a thief-taker by profession: he gave his man a
good run and then laid information against him: he encouraged young
rogues and showed them how to advance in their profession: and she
deposed that on a certain day Merridew came to the house where the
Bishop and the Captain were drinking together and sat with them: that
all their talk was about getting a man out of the way: that the Bishop
did not like it, but was told by Mr. Merridew very plainly that he must,
and that he then assented.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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