登陆注册
3554300000021

第21章 BOOK THE SECOND:THE GOLDEN THREAD(4)

They hanged at Tyburn in those days,so the street outside Newgate had not obtained one infamous notoriety that has since attached to it. But,the gaol was a vile place,in which most kinds of debauchery and villainy were practised,and where dire diseases were bred,that came into court with the prisoners,and sometimes rushed straight from the dock at my Lord Chief Justice himself,and pulled him off the bench.It had more than once happened,that the Judge in the black cap pronounced his own doom as certainly as the prisoner's,and even died before him.For the rest,the Old Bailey was famous as a kind of deadly inn-yard,from which pale travellers set out continually,in carts and coaches,on a violent passage into the other world:traversing some two miles and a half of public street and road,and shaming few good citizens,if any.So powerful is use,and so desirable to be good use in the beginning.It was famous,too,for the pillory,a wise old institution,that inflicted a punishment of which no one could foresee the extent;also,for the whipping-post,another dear old institution,very humanising and softening to behold in action;also,for extensive transactions in blood-money,another fragment of ancestral wisdom,systematically leading to the most frightful mercenary crimes that could be committed under Heaven.Altogether,the Old Bailey,at that date,was a choice illustration of the precept that'Whatever is,is right';an aphorism that would be as final as it is lazy,did it not include the troublesome consequence,that nothing that ever was,was wrong.

Making his way through the tainted crowd,dispersed up and down this hideous scene of action,with the skill of a man accustomed to make his way quietly,the messenger found out the door he sought,and handed in his letter through a trap in it. For,people then paid to see the play at the Old Bailey,just as they paid to see the play in Bedlam—only the former entertainment was much the dearer.Therefore,all the Old Bailey doors were well guarded—except,indeed,the social doors by which the criminals got there,and those were always left wide open.

After some delay and demur,the door grudgingly turned on itshinges a very little way,and allowed Mr. Jerry Cruncher to squeeze himself into court.

'What's on?'he asked,in a whisper,of the man he found himself next to.

'Nothing yet.'

'What's coming on?'

'The Treason case.'

'The quartering one,eh?'

'Ah!'returned the man,with a relish;'he'll be drawn on a hurdle to be half hanged,and then he'll be taken down and sliced before his own face,and then his inside will be taken out and burnt while he looks on,and then his head will be chopped off,and he'll be cut into quarters. That's the sentence.'

'If he's found Guilty,you mean to say?'Jerry added,by way of proviso.

'Oh!they'll find him guilty,'said the other.'Don't you be afraid of that.'

Mr. Cruncher's attention was here diverted to the door-keeper,whom he saw making his way to Mr.Lorry,with the note in his hand.Mr.Lorry sat at a table,among the gentlemen in wigs:not far from a wigged gentleman,the prisoner's counsel,who had a great bundle of papers before him:and nearly opposite another wigged gentleman with his hands in his pockets,whose whole attention,when Mr.Cruncher looked at him then or afterwards,seemed to be concentrated on the ceiling of the court.After some gruff coughing and rubbing of his chin and signing with his hand,Jerry attracted the notice of Mr.Lorry,who had stood up to look for him,and who quietly nodded and sat down again.

'What's he got to do with the case?'asked the man he hadspoken with.

'Blest if I know,'said Jerry.

'What have you got to do with it,then,if a person may inquire?'

'Blest if I know that either,'said Jerry.

The entrance of the Judge,and a consequent great stir and settling down in the court,stopped the dialogue. Presently,the dock became the central point of interest.Two gaolers,who had been standing there,went out,and the prisoner was brought in,and put to the bar.

Everybody present,except the one wigged gentleman who looked at the ceiling,stared at him. All the human breath in the place,rolled at him,like a sea,or a wind,or a fire.Eager faces strained round pillars and corners,to get a sight of him;spectators in back rows stood up,not to miss a hair of him;people on the floor of the court,laid their hands on the shoulders of the people before them,to help themselves,at anybody's cost,to a view of him,stood a-tiptoe,got upon ledges,stood upon next to nothing,to see every inch of him.Conspicuous among these latter,like an animated bit of the spiked wall of Newgate,Jerry stood:aiming at the prisoner the beery breath of a whet he had taken as he came along,and discharging it to mingle with the waves of other beer,and gin,and tea,and coffee,and what not,that flowed at him,and already broke upon the great windows behind him in an impure mist and rain.

The object of all this staring and blaring,was a young man of about five and twenty,well-grown and well-looking,with a sunburnt cheek and a dark eye. His condition was that of a young gentleman.He was plainly dressed in black,or very dark grey,andhis hair,which was long and dark,was gathered in a ribbon at the back of his neck;more to be out of his way than for ornament.As an emotion of the mind will express itself through any covering of the body,so the paleness which his situation engendered came through the brown upon his cheek,showing the soul to be stronger than the sun.He was otherwise quite self-possessed,bowed to the Judge,and stood quiet.

同类推荐
  • The Garden Of Allah

    The Garden Of Allah

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 物不迁正量论

    物不迁正量论

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 全唐诗话

    全唐诗话

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 正一天师告赵升口诀

    正一天师告赵升口诀

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 佛说七俱胝佛母心大准提陀罗尼经

    佛说七俱胝佛母心大准提陀罗尼经

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 青春无泯(最受学生喜爱的散文精粹)

    青春无泯(最受学生喜爱的散文精粹)

    《最受学生喜爱的散文精粹》从喧嚣中缓缓走来,如一位许久不见的好友,收拾了一路趣闻,满载着一眼美景,静静地与你分享。靠近它,你会忘记白日里琐碎的工作,沉溺于片刻的宁谧。靠近它,你也会忘却烦恼,还心灵一片晴朗。一个人在其一生中,阅读一些立意深远、具有丰富哲学思考的散文,不仅可以开阔视野,重新认识历史、社会、人生和自然,获得思想上的盎然新意,而且还可以学习中外散文名家高超而成熟的创作技巧。
  • 副所长常怀民

    副所长常怀民

    东湾这块地儿上的大事小情都牵动着常怀民的心。这天,常怀民下乡回来已误了派出所的晚饭,胡乱煮了包方便面吃过,就走出所外想散散步,捋捋心思。山里人一拨一拨往外搬,村庄里的人日见稀少,可这事那事却并没少。正想着,对面路上一道灯光闪过,还有轰鸣声,他能看得出,是一个骑摩托的人走过去了。看看表,已经晚上十点多了,谁这个时候还夜行呢?看看方向,朝武安庄那边去了,常怀民心头便掠过几分狐疑。回到办公室,看大家都已睡下,他洗了脚,没有上床,坐在办公桌前,总觉得好像还有什么事似的。“叮铃铃……”值班室的电话突然响了起来。
  • 游走在诸天万界的普通人续

    游走在诸天万界的普通人续

    身似秋水任飘渺,名剑求瑕亦多愁。?独向苍天开冷眼,笑问岁月几时休。??风满楼,卷黄沙,舞剑春秋,名震天下。?雨飘渺,倦红尘,还君明珠,秋水浮萍。
  • 公务员心理健康与科学调适

    公务员心理健康与科学调适

    本书《公务员心理健与调适》共十章,在本书的编写过程中,笔者按照注重针对性、实用性和操作性的要求,力求采用最新的心理学研究成果,从公务员心理健康现状出发,提出公务员心理健康的各种调适方法。
  • 明伦汇编人事典齿部

    明伦汇编人事典齿部

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 一个梦一个家

    一个梦一个家

    本文以沈阳市和平区为例,通过家的故事、社区里的“家味道”、色彩纷呈的家文化、弃管小区又逢春……来弘扬家教家风,树立家国情怀。
  • 魔碑

    魔碑

    本书是一部侦探悬疑小说,本书中戴安娜陷入了极大的危机,托瑞通过伦敦警察局总长莱特打探到戴安娜去了上海,于是托瑞、海莉和雷蒙三人离开伦敦前往上海,并取得雷蒙的老朋友的支持之后,托瑞开始设计让两个秘密社团相互攻击,给当地执法机关制造机会,把他们一网打尽。戴安娜终于和托瑞等人团聚了。
  • 春之碎语

    春之碎语

    一个多灾多难的家庭,几个坚韧不拔的灵魂默默与命运抗争的感人故事。生活的苦难一浪高过一浪,而面对苦难的人谱写了可歌可泣的生命篇章!血肉相连的亲情,欲罢不能的爱情,追求美好生活的愿望,对生命的尊重和礼赞,尽在本书。
  • 快穿王者荣耀:英雄,宠一个

    快穿王者荣耀:英雄,宠一个

    【系统语调欢快:“宿主,做任务咩?”】青瓷懒懒开口:“不做。”【系统:……】【系统:“哦,那就不做了。”】众英雄:……青瓷黑眸带着柔软,清冷含笑:“孔明,本尊陪你一生,可好?”诸葛亮握着羽扇,蓝眸望着夜空,唇角勾着浅笑:“师傅,孔明心悦于你,你呢?”——守着你,此生为期。青瓷漆黑的眸里严肃:“我救了你,你就是我的。”扁鹊墨绿色的眼眸闪着星光,柔软又羞涩:“裳裳,我是你的,永远是你的。”——我有病,唯卿可医。青瓷眸中专注的看着面前的人:“今后,我陪你看尽山河景色,看遍人世繁华,如何?”李白眼眸含笑:“在下却之不恭。”——遇见你之前,在下的世界只有酒和诗。
  • 快穿攻略:女主要崩坏

    快穿攻略:女主要崩坏

    混沌中醒来,倾城发现自己失去了大部分的记忆,包括一颗心。为了找回曾经的记忆和维持混沌空间的力量,她进入千千世界,不择手段的完成任务。只是,明明她都没有心了,可为什么这人依然对她痴心不改?倾城:“……你是魔鬼吗?”