Rob of the Bowl: A Legend of St. Inigoe's. Vol. 1 (of 2)
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CHAPTER VI.
If we should wait till you, in solemn council With due deliberation had selected The smallest out of four and twenty evils, 'I faith we should wait long. Dash and through with it--that's the better watchword, Then after, come what may come.
PICCOLOMINI.
On the following day, the council, consisting of some four or fivegentlemen, were assembled at the Proprietary Mansion. About noon theirnumber was rendered complete, by the arrival of Colonel George Talbot,who, mounted on a spirited, milk-white steed that smoked with the hotvigour of his motion, dashed through the gate and alighted at the door.A pair of pistols across his saddle-bow, and a poniard, partiallydisclosed under his vest, demonstrated the precautions of the possessorto defend himself against sudden assault, and no less denoted thequarrelsome aspect of the times. His frame was tall, athletic, andgraceful; his eye hawk-like, and his features prominent and handsome,at the same time indicative of quick temper and rash resolve. There wasin his dress a manifestation of the consciousness of a good figure--itwas the costume of a gallant of the times; and his bearing wascharacteristic of a person accustomed to bold action and gaycompanionship.
Talbot was a near kinsman of the Baltimore family, and besides being amember of the Proprietary's council, he held the post of SurveyorGeneral, and commanded, also, the provincial militia on the northernfrontier, including the settlements on the Elk River, where he owned alarge manor, upon which he usually resided. At the present time he wasin the temporary occupation of a favourite seat of the Proprietary, atMattapany on the Patuxent, whither the late summons had been despatchedto call him to the council.
This gentleman was a zealous Catholic, and an ardent personal friend ofhis kinsman, the Proprietary, whose cause he advocated with thatperemptory and, most usually, impolitic determination which hisimperious nature prompted, and which served to draw upon him thepeculiar hatred of Fendall and Coode, and their partisans. He was thus,although a sincere, it may be imagined, an indiscreet adviser in stateaffairs, little qualified to subdue or allay that jealous spirit ofproscription which, from the epoch of the Protectorate down to thisdate, had been growing more intractable in the province.
Such was the individual who now with the firm stride and dauntlesscarriage of a belted and booted knight of chivalry, to which hispicturesque costume heightened the resemblance, entered the apartmentwhere his seniors were already convened.
"Well met!" he exclaimed, as he flung his hat and gloves upon a tableand extended his hand to those who were nearest him. "How fares it,gentlemen? What devil of mutiny is abroad now? Has that pimpled fellowof fustian, that swiller of the leavings of a tap room, the worshipfulking of the Burgesses, master Jack Coode, got drunk again and begun tobully in his cups? The falconer who hammered at my door last night, asif he would have beaten your Lordship's house about my ears, could tellme nothing of the cause of this sudden convocation, save that DrivingDick had come in hot haste from James Town with letters that had setthe mansion here all agog, from his Lordship's closet down to thescullery."
"With proper abatement for the falconer's love of gossip," said theProprietary, "he told you true. The letters are there on the table.When you have read them, you will see that with good reason I mightmake some commotion in my house."
Talbot ran his eye over the papers. "Well, and well--an old story!" hesaid, as he threw one letter aside and took up another."Antichrist--the Red Lady of Babylon--the Jesuits--and the devil: wehave had it so often that the lecture is somewhat stale. The truculentPapists are the authors of all evil! We had the Geneva band in fashionfor a time; but that wore out with old Noll. And then comes anotherflight of kestrels, and we must have the thirty-nine articles served upfor a daily dish. That spider, Master Yeo, has grown to be a crony ofhis grace the Archbishop of Canterbury, and is busy to knit his webaround every poor catholic fly of the province."
"This must be managed without temper," said Darnall, the oldest memberpresent, except the Chancellor. "Our adversaries will find theiradvantage in our resolves, if made in the heat of passion."
"You say true," replied Talbot. "I am a fool in my humour; but it dothmove me to the last extremity of endurance to be ever goaded with thisshallow and hypocritical pretence of sanctity. They prate of thewickedness of the province, forsooth! our evil deportment, and looseliving, and notorious scandal! all will be cured, in the opinion ofthese solemn Pharisees, by turning that good man, Lord Charles and hisfriends out of his own province, and by setting up parson Yeo in a fatbenefice under the wing of an established church."
"Read on," said Lord Baltimore, "and you shall see the sum of all, inthe argument that it is not fit Papists should bear rule over thefree-born subjects of the English crown; and, as a conclusion to that,a summary order to discharge every friend of our holy church from myemploy."
Talbot read the letter to the end.
"So be it!" he ejaculated, as he threw the letter from him, and flunghimself back into his chair. "You will obey this high behest? With allhumbleness, we will thank these knaves for their many condescensions,and their good favours. Your uncle, the Chancellor here, our oldfrosted comrade, is the first that your Lordship will give bare-headedto the sky. As for myself, I have been voted an incarnate devil in ahalf dozen conclaves--and so Fendall shall be the surveyor. I hope yourLordship will remember that I have a military command--a sturdystronghold in the fort of Christina--and some stout fellows with me onthe border. It might be hard to persuade them to part company with me."
"Peace, I pray you, peace!" interrupted the Proprietary; "you arenettled, Talbot, and that is not the mood for counsel."
"These pious cut-throats here," said Talbot, "who talk of ourdegeneracy, slander us to the whole world: and, faith, I am not of themind to bear it! I speak plainly what I have thought long since--andwould rather do than speak. I would arrest the ring-leaders upon asmaller scruple of proof than I would set a vagrant in the stocks. Youhave Fendall now, my Lord--I would have his fellows before long: andthe space between taking and trying should not add much to the lengthof their beards:--between trying and hanging, still less."
"As to that," said the Proprietary, "every day brings us freshtestimony of the sedition afoot, and we shall not be slow to do justiceon the parties. We have good information of the extent of the plotagainst us, and but wait until an open act shall make their guiltunquestionable. Master Coode is now upon bail only because we weresomewhat too hasty in his arrest. There are associates of Fendall's atwork who little dream of our acquaintance with their designs."
"When does your provincial court hold its sessions?" inquired theSurveyor.
"In less than a month."
"It should make sure work and speedy," said Talbot. "Master Fendallshould find himself at the end of his tether at the first sitting."
"Ay, and Coode too," said one of the council: "notwithstanding that theburgesses have stepped forward to protect him. The House guessed wellof the temper against your Lordship in England, when they stood up sohardily, last month, in favour of Captain Coode, after your Lordshiphad commanded his expulsion. It was an unnatural contumacy."
"In truth, we have never had peace in the province," said another,"since Fendall was allowed to return from his banishment. That man hathset on hotter, but not subtler spirits than his own. He has a quietcraftiness which never sleeps nor loses sight of his purpose ofdisturbance."
"Alas!" said the Proprietary, "he has not lacked material to work with.The burgesses have been disaffected ever since my father's death. Iknow not in what point of kindness I have erred towards them. God knowsI would cherish affection, not ill-will. My aim has ever been to dojustice to all men."
"Justice is not their aim, my Lord," exclaimed Talbot. "Oh, this zealfor church is a pretty weapon! and honest Captain Coode, a daintychampion to handle it! I would cut the spurs from that fowl, if I didit with a cleaver!"
"He is but the fool in the hands of his betters," interposed Darnall."This discontent has a broad base. T
here are many in the province who,if they will not take an open part against us, will be slow to rebukean outbreak--many who will counsel in secret who dare not show theirfaces to the sun."
"These men have power to do us much harm," said Lord Baltimore, "and Iwould entreat you, gentlemen, consider, how, by concession to amoderate point, which may comport with our honour, we may allay theseirritations. Leaving that question for your future advisement, I askyour attention to the letters. The King has commanded--for it is scarceless than a royal mandate."
"Your Lordship," said Talbot, sarcastically, "has fallen under hisMajesty's disfavour. You have, doubtless, failed somewhat in yourcourtesies to Nell Gwynn, or the gay Duchess; or have been wanting insome observance of respect to old Tom Killigrew, the King's fool. HisMajesty is not wont to look so narrowly into state affairs."
"Hold, Talbot!" interrupted the Proprietary. "I would not hear youspeak slightingly of the King. He hath been friendly to me, and I willnot forget it. Though this mandate come in his name, King Charles, Iapprehend, knows but little of the matter. He has an easy consciencefor an importunate suitor. Oh, it grieves me to the heart, after all myfather's care for the province--and surely mine has been no less--itgrieves me to see this wayward fortune coming over our hopes like achill winter, when we looked for springtide, with its happy andcheerful promises. I am not to be envied for my prerogative. Here, inthis new world, I have made my bed, where I had no wish but to lie init quietly: it has become a bed of thorns, and cannot bring rest to me,until I am mingled with its dust. Well, since rebellion is the order ofthe times, I must e'en myself turn rebel now against this order."
"Wherein might it be obeyed, my Lord?" asked Darnall. "You have alreadygiven all the rights of conscience which the freemen could ask, and thedemand now is that you surrender your own. What servant would yourLordship displace? Look around you: is Anthony Warden so incapable, orso hurtful to your service that you might find plea to dismiss him?"
"There is no better man in the province than Anthony Warden," repliedthe Proprietary, with warmth; "a just man; a good man in whatever dutyyou scan him; an upright, faithful servant to his post. My Lords of theMinistry would not and could not, if they knew him, ask me to removethat man. I will write letters back to remonstrate against thisinjustice."
"And say you will not displace a man, my Lord, come what may!"exclaimed Talbot. "This battle must be fought--and the sooner thebetter! Your Lordship will find your justification in the unanimousresolve of your council."
This sentiment was echoed by all present, and by some of the morediscreet an admonition was added, advising the Proprietary to handlethe subject mildly with the ministry, in a tone of kind expostulation,which, as it accorded with Lord Baltimore's own feeling, met his readyacquiescence.
After despatching some business of less concern, the members of thecouncil dispersed.