London (England) -- History -- 18th century -- Fiction
including one most respectable attorney would be established as the
noonday clear at the ensuing Criminal Court at the Old Bailey.
Further, it was spread abroad that Jenny had been arrested, at her
lover's house in the Rules of the King's Bench, that she had been
brought before Sir John Fielding and had been by him committed to
Newgate on a charge of receiving stolen goods. Receiving stolen goods!
What, however, could one expect from St. Giles's and the daughter of the
Black Jack? She who must needs expose the crimes of her friends was now
in prison on a charge far more serious than theirs. Receiving stolen
goods! Monstrous! And one who entertained even R-- P--s at her
Assemblies! And she was all the time acting with her mother in receiving
stolen goods! After this, what pity could one feel even for a woman so
beautiful and so engaging as Jenny Wilmot? But was she so beautiful?
Some of the men raised this question. Painted for the stage: all
artificial. Was she engaging? She played as she was taught: she smiled
and laughed as she was told to smile and laugh. That is not true acting.
Alas! Poor Jenny! Poor favourite of the town, how wert thou fallen! And
certainly for a day or two the reputation of Jenny was very low indeed.
Suddenly, however, there came a change--to me most welcome, because
without doubt the mind of the town was poisoned and prejudiced against
Jenny, in whose favour no one ventured to speak.
The first cause of the change was due to a paper--I think, if my memory
serves me right, in the _Connoisseur_. In this paper the 'Case of
Clarinda' put forth with great skill and power thinly disguised the
history of Jenny. I venture to quote a portion of that paper. As soon as
people understood that it was her history that was told the paper flew
from hand to hand: everybody in the coffee-houses and the taverns cried
out for it when they entered the house. And when it was read a silence
fell upon the room and shame upon all hearts. The author, I have always
understood, I know not why, was my Lord Brockenhurst, though he never
confessed it.
The mottoes--there were two--were as follows:
'Non tali auxilio, non defensoribus istis Tempus eget;'
and
'Tandem desine matrem.... sequi.'
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account