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Susanna Moodie - Mark Hurdlestone

S >> Susanna Moodie >> Mark Hurdlestone





The assizes were rapidly approaching. Conscious of his innocence, as far
as the murder of his father was concerned, Anthony Hurdlestone looked
forward to his trial with firmness and composure. There never was a
greater mass of circumstantial evidence brought against a prisoner than
in his memorable case.

Holding an elevated position in society, his trial created a great
amount of interest and curiosity among all ranks, and the court was
crowded to excess. The youth of the criminal, his gentlemanly bearing,
his fine expressive countenance, his thoughtful mild eye and benevolent
brow excited surprise in the beholders, and gave rise to many doubts as
to his being the murderer; and the calm dignified manner in which he
listened to the evidence given against him tended greatly to increase
the interest which was expressed by many in his awful situation.

Grenard Pike was the first witness called, and he deposed,

That on the evening of the tenth of October, between the hours of eight
and nine, he and the elder Hurdlestone were seated at a table counting
money into a mahogany brass-bound box. He (Grenard) saw a tall figure
pass the window. Mr. Hurdlestone instantly called out, "Grenard, did you
see that man?" and he (the witness) answered, "Yes, it is your son." Mr.
Hurdlestone replied, in some alarm, "I told him to come to-night; but I
did not think that he would take me at my word. What can he want with
me?" The next moment a pistol was fired through the casement. The ball
passed through Mr. Hurdlestone's shoulder. He fell to the floor across
the money-box, exclaiming, "My son! my cruel son! He has murdered me for
my money; but he shall not have my money!" Witness looked up, and saw
the murderer, by the light of the moon, standing by the window. He could
swear to the person of Anthony Hurdlestone. Thinking his own life in
danger he made his escape into a back room, and got out of the window,
and ran as fast as he could to the village, to give the alarm and
procure a surgeon. When he returned he found the prisoner leaning,
apparently conscience-stricken, over the corpse. He offered no
resistance when seized by the constables; he had no money in his
possession. A pair of pistols was found in his coat pocket. One had been
recently used; the other was still loaded; and there were stains of
blood upon his hands and clothes.

He then related Anthony's previous visit to the cottage; the manner in
which he had threatened his father; and the trick the miser had played
off upon him, which circumstance had been faithfully detailed to him by
old Mark, who regarded the latter as an excellent joke, although,
Grenard dryly remarked, "It had cost him his life."

During Pike's evidence, the prisoner was greatly agitated, and was
observed to lean heavily upon the dock for support. But when his cousin
Godfrey and William Mathews appeared to add their testimony against him,
his fortitude entirely forsook him, and he turned away, and covered his
face for some minutes with his hands.

Godfrey's evidence was most conclusive. He stated that Anthony had
borrowed from him, before his uncle's death, the sum of four hundred
pounds, to settle some college debts which he had concealed from Colonel
Hurdlestone's knowledge. Godfrey, willing to oblige him, had raised upon
a note the greater part of the money. It became due and he (Godfrey)
being unable, from his altered circumstances, to meet it, went to his
cousin, to beg him to do so, if possible. He was surprised that the
prisoner was able to give him the sum at once, though he afterwards
learned that it was money left in his charge by Mr. Wildegrave that he
had taken for that purpose. Anthony told him that Mr. Wildegrave had
written to him for the money, and that he was greatly perplexed what to
do. In this emergency, he (Godfrey) advised him to go to his father and
state to him the difficulty in which he was placed, and, in all
probability, the old man would rescue him from his unpleasant situation.
He then related the result of the prisoner's interview with his father,
the manner in which he had been repulsed, and the threatening language
which the prisoner had used; his (Godfrey's) discovery of the trick
which the hard old man had played off upon his son, and Anthony's
determination to visit him again on the night of the tenth of October,
and force him to terms. He concluded by saying, that he had every reason
to believe that the intended visit had taken place at the very time that
the murder was committed. He spoke of his cousin with much feeling, and
tried to excuse his conduct, as being the result of his father's
ill-treatment and neglect; and he commented upon Anthony's solitary
habits, and sullen uncommunicative disposition, as having been fostered
by these unfortunate circumstances.

His evidence was given in so frank and manly a way, and he seemed to
sympathize so deeply in his cousin's unfortunate position, that he
created quite a sensation among his listeners. No one imagined him to be
in any way implicated in the crime.

The statement of William Mathews corroborated all that had been advanced
by Godfrey Hurdlestone. He related his accidental meeting with Mr.
Anthony Hurdlestone on his way to the miser's cottage, but he omitted
the conversation that passed between them; only stating, that he
observed the muzzle of a pistol protruding from the pocket of the
prisoner--a circumstance which, knowing the peaceable habits of the
prisoner, astonished him at the time.

Long before Mathews had concluded his deposition, there remained not a
doubt on the minds of the jury that Anthony Hurdlestone was the
murderer. Even Captain Whitmore, who had greatly interested himself on
behalf of the young man, believed him guilty.

One witness still remained unheard, and Anthony still clung to hope;
still anxiously anticipated that the evidence of Frederic Wildegrave
would go far to save him. Alas! how great was his disappointment, when
the circumstances related by his friend were more conclusive of his
guilt than all the false statements that had been made by his enemies.
His own letter, too, which was read in court, alone would have condemned
him in the opinion of all unprejudiced men.

"October 10th, 1790.

"My Dear Frederic,

"I am certain that I have forfeited your good opinion, by omitting
to send you the money you left in my keeping: I have forfeited my
own. How shall I find words to tell you the dreadful truth, that
the money is no longer in my possession; that, in a moment of
excitement, I gave the deposit entrusted to my care to another?

"Yet listen to me for a few painful moments, before you condemn me
utterly. My cousin Godfrey came to me in great distress; he
implored me to save him from ruin, by obtaining for him a temporary
loan, for a few hours, of four hundred pounds, which he faithfully
promised to replace the following day. Hurried away by my feelings,
I imprudently granted his request, and gave him the money you left
with me. Do not wholly despise me, Frederic; he looked so like my
poor uncle, I knew not how to deny him.

"This morning brought your letter. You ask for the money to be sent
to you immediately. I have it not to send; my sin has found me out.
A thief and swindler! Can it be possible that I have incurred such
dreadful guilt?

"_Night._--I have seen Godfrey--he has failed me. What shall I do?
I must go to my father; perhaps he will relent, and pity my
distress. My heart is torn with distracting doubts. Oh, that I
could pour into some faithful bosom my torturing situation! Clary
is ill--and left to myself, I am lost.

"_Midnight._--I have seen my father. What a meeting. My brain aches
while I try to recall it. At first he insulted my agony; taunted me
with my misfortunes, and finally maddened me. I cannot describe to
you what passed. Wound up to a pitch of fury, I threatened to
obtain the money by violence, if he did not write an order upon his
banker for the sum required. Cowering with fear, he complied; and
I--I, in the fullness of my heart, implored his pardon for the
language I had used, and blessed him. Yes, I blessed him, who only
a few minutes before had spurned me from his feet--had mocked at my
calamity--and cursed me in the savage malevolence of his heart.
Some feeling of remorse appeared to touch his cruel breast; as I
left the house he called after me, 'Anthony, Anthony, to-morrow
night I will do you justice.' I will go to him no more. I feel that
we have parted for ever.

"_Thursday evening._--The old man has deceived me--has jested with
my distress. I could curse him, but I have not done so. To-night we
shall have a fearful reckoning; yes, to-night he will be forced to
do me justice.

"Godfrey has been with me. He discovered the cruel trick which the
unnatural wretch who calls himself my father had played me--and he
laughed. How could he laugh at such a melancholy instance of
depravity? Godfrey should have been this man's son. In some things
they resemble each other. Yes, he laughed at the trick. Is the idea
of goodness existing in the human heart a mere dream? Are men all
devils, or have some more tact to conceal their origin than others?
I begin to suspect myself and all mankind. I will go once more to
that hard-hearted man; if he refuses to grant my request, I will
die at his feet. Last night I attempted suicide, but my good angel
prevailed. To-night is my hour, and the power of darkness. Will he
feel no touch of remorse when he beholds his neglected
son--lost--bleeding--dying at his feet?

"Oh, that you were near to save me from myself! An unseen power
seems hurrying, drawing me to perdition. The voice of a friend
would dissolve the spell, and set the prisoner of passion free. The
clock strikes eight--I must go. Farewell, my friend, my brother;
forgive and pity the unfortunate

"Anthony M. Hurdlestone."

He went--and the old man was found murdered. What more natural than such
a consequence after penning such a letter? The spectators looked from
one to the other: on every brow rested a cloud; every head was nodded in
token of agreement; every one present, but Frederic Wildegrave, believed
him guilty. He had retained no counsel, preferring to plead in his own
defence.

He rose; every eye was fixed upon him, men held their breath, wondering
what sort of defence could issue from the lips of the parricide.

He spoke; the clear, rich, mellow, unimpassioned tones of his voice
rolled over that mass of human heads, penetrating every heart, and
reaching every ear.

"My lord, and you gentlemen of the jury, I rise not with the idea of
saving my life, by an avowal of my innocence, for the evidence which has
been given against me is of too conclusive a nature for me to hope for
that; I merely state the simple fact, that I am not guilty of the
dreadful crime laid to my charge; and I leave it to God, in whose hands
are the issues of life and death, to prove the truth of my words.

"The greater part of the evidence brought against me is true; the
circumstances recorded against me really occurred; the letter just read
was penned by my own hand; yet, in the face of these overwhelming
facts, I declare myself innocent of the crime laid to my charge. I know
not in what manner my father met his death. I am as ignorant as you can
be of the hand that dealt the fatal blow. I confess that I sought his
presence with the dreadful determination of committing murder; but the
crime was against myself. For this I deserve punishment--for this I am
content to die: to this charge, made by myself, I plead guilty. I look
around me--in every face I see doubt and doom. I stand here a mark and
scorn to the whole world; but, though all unite in my condemnation, I
still fearlessly and distinctly declare my innocence. I am neither a
parricide nor a murderer! and I now await my sentence with the calmness
and fortitude which a clear conscience alone can give."

Murmurs of disapprobation ran though the court.

"What a hypocrite!" muttered some, as the jury left the court to consult
together about the verdict.

"Do you observe the striking likeness between the prisoner at the bar
and his cousin, the second witness against him?" whispered a gentleman
in the crowd to a friend near him. "By Jove, 'tis a fearful resemblance.
I would not be so like the murderer for worlds. 'Tis the same face."

"Perhaps," said his friend, "they are partners in guilt. I have my
doubts. But 'tis unlawful to condemn any man."

"He's a bad fellow by his own account," said the other. "It was he who
first led the prisoner to commit the theft. I think one of them deserves
death as much as the other."

"Whist, man! Yon handsome rogue is the miser's heir."

"Humph!" said the first speaker. "If I were on the jury--"

"Here they come, there is death in their very looks, I thought as much,
he is found guilty."

The judge rose; a death-like stillness pervaded the court during his
long and impressive address to the prisoner. The sentence of death was
then pronounced, and Anthony Marcus Hurdlestone was ordered for
execution on the following Monday.

"This dreadful day is at length over," he said as he flung himself on
his pallet of straw in the condemned cell, on the evening of that
memorable day. "Thank God it is over, and I know the worst, and nothing
now remains to hope or fear. A few brief hours and this weary world will
be a dream of the past, and I shall awake from my bed of dust to a new
and better existence, beyond the power of temptation--beyond the might
of sin. My God, I thank Thee. Thou hast dealt justly with Thy servant.
The soul that sinneth, it must die; and grievously have I sinned in
seeking to mar Thy glorious image--to cast the life thou gavest me as a
worthless boon at Thy feet. I bow my head in the dust and am silent
before Thee. Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?"

His meditations were interrupted by the entrance of the chaplain of the
jail--a venerable Christian who felt a deep interest in the prisoner,
and who now sought him to try and awaken him to a full sense of his
awful situation.

"My son," he said, laying his hand upon Anthony's shoulder, "how is it
with you this night? What is God saying to your soul?"

"All is well," replied Anthony. "He is speaking to me words of peace and
comfort."

"Your fellow-men have condemned you--" he paused then added with a deep
sigh, "--and I too, Anthony Hurdlestone, believe you guilty."

"God has not condemned me, good father, and by the light of His glorious
countenance that now shines upon me, shedding joy and peace into my
heart, I am innocent."

"Oh, that I could think you so!"

"Though it has seemed right in the eyes of the All-wise Sovereign of the
universe that I should be pronounced guilty before an earthly bar, I
feel assured that He, in His own good time, will declare my innocence."

"Will that profit you aught, my son, when you are dust?"

"It will rescue my name from infamy, and give me a mournful interest in
the memory of my friends."

"Poor lad, this is but a melancholy consolation; I wish I could believe
you."

"What a monster of depravity you must think me, if you can imagine me
guilty after what I have just said! Is truth so like falsehood, that a
man of your holy calling cannot discern the difference? Do I look like a
guilty man? Do I speak like a guilty man who knows that he has but a few
days to live? If I were the wretch you take me for, should I not be
overwhelmed with grief and despair? Would not the thought of death be
insupportable? Oh! believe one who seeks not to live--who is contented
to die, when I again solemnly declare my innocence."

"I have seen men, Anthony Hurdlestone, who, up to the very hour of their
execution, persisted in the same thing and yet, after all their solemn
protestations, owned at the last moment that their sentence was just,
and that they merited death."

"And I too have merited death," said Anthony mournfully. "God is just."

The chaplain started; though but a few minutes before he had considered
the prisoner guilty, yet it produced a painful feeling in his mind to
hear him declare it.

"Is self-destruction murder?" asked Anthony with an anxious earnest
glance.

"Aye, of the worst kind: for deep ingratitude to God, and contempt of
his laws, are fearfully involved in this unnatural outrage."

"Then my sentence is just," sighed Anthony; "I never raised my hand
against my father's life, but I raised it against my own. God has
punished me for this act of rebellion against His Divine Majesty, in
rejecting, as a thing of no value, the life He gave. I yield myself into
His hands, confident that His arm is stretched over His repentant
creature for good; whether I die upon the scaffold or end my days
peacefully in my bed, I can lay my hand upon my heart and say--'His will
be done.'"

For about an hour the good clergyman continued reading and praying with
the prisoner, and before he left him that evening, in spite of his
pre-conceived notions of his guilt, he was fully convinced of innocence.

Sadly and solemnly the hours passed on that brought the morning of his
execution, "with death-bed clearness, face to face." He had joined in
the sacred duties of the Sabbath; it was to him a day of peaceful
rest--a forestate of the quiet solemnity of the grave. In the evening he
was visited by Frederic Wildegrave, who had been too ill after the trial
to leave his bed before. He was pale, and wasted with sorrow and
disease, and looked more like a man going to meet death than the
criminal he came to cheer with his presence.

"My dear Anthony," said Frederic, taking his cousin's hand, "my heart
bleeds to see you thus. I have been sick; my spirit is weighed down with
sorrow, or we should have met sooner."

"You do indeed look ill," replied Anthony, examining, with painful
surprise, the altered face of his friend; "I much fear that I have been
the cause of this change. Tell me, Frederic, and tell me truly, do you
believe me guilty?"

"I have never for one moment entertained a thought to that effect,
Anthony; though the whole world should condemn you, I would stake my
salvation on your integrity."

"Bless you, my friend; my true, faithful, noble-hearted friend," cried
Anthony, clasping the hand he held to his breast, "you are right; I am
not the murderer."

"Who is?"

Anthony shook his head.

"That infernal scoundrel, Mathews?"

"Hush! Not him alone."

"Godfrey?"

"Oh! Frederic; had you seen the triumphant smile that passed over his
face at the moment that my sentence was pronounced, you could entertain
no doubt upon the subject. I heard not the sentence--I saw not the
multitude of eyes fixed upon me--I only saw him--I only saw his eyes
looking into my soul and laughing at the ruin he had wrought. But he
will not go unpunished. There is one who will yet betray him, and prove
my innocence; I mean his hateful accomplice, William Mathews."

"And can nothing be done to convict them?"

"They have sworn falsely, and perverted facts. I have no proof of their
guilt. Would the world believe my statements? Would it not appear like
the wolf accusing the lamb? For my poor uncle's sake I am ready to
suffer; and for this cause I employed no counsel to plead on my behalf;
I would rather die myself than be the means of bringing to the scaffold
the only son that he adored. Poor Algernon! I have paid a heavy debt for
his generosity to me. Yes," he continued, more cheerfully, "I will leave
Godfrey to enjoy his ill-gotten wealth, nor waste the few hours which
now remain to me on earth in vain regrets. How is it with the dear
Clary? How has she borne up against this dreadful blow?"

Frederic's sole answer was a mournful glance at the sables in which he
was clad. Anthony comprehended in a moment the meaning of that sad, sad
look. "She is gone," he said--"she, the beautiful--the innocent. Yes,
yes--I knew it would kill her, the idea of my guilt. Alas! poor Clary!"

"She never thought you guilty," said Frederic, wiping his eyes. "She
bade me give you this letter, written with her dying hand, to convince
you that she believed you innocent. Her faith towards you was as strong
as death; her love for you snapped asunder the fragile threads that held
her to life. But she is happy. Dear child! She is better off than those
who weep her loss. And you, Anthony, you--the idol of her fond young
heart--will receive her welcome to that glorious country, of which, I
trust, she is now the bright inhabitant."

"And she died of grief. Died--because others suspected of crime the man
she loved. Oh, Clary! Clary! how unworthy was I of your love! You knew I
loved another, yet it did not diminish aught of your friendship, your
pure devotion to me! Oh, that I had your faith--your love!"

He covered his face with his hands, and both were silent for a long
time.

"Frederic, we must part," said Anthony, at length raising his head.
"Beloved friend, we must part for ever!"

"I shall see you again to-morrow."

"What! on the scaffold?"

"Aye, on the scaffold! Your place of martyrdom."

"This is friendship indeed. Time may one day prove to you that Anthony
Hurdlestone was not unworthy of your love."

Frederic burst into tears afresh, and wringing Anthony's hand, hurried
from the cell; and the prisoner was once more left alone to commune with
his own thoughts, and prepare for the awful change that awaited him.

His spirit, weaned as it was from the things of earth, contemplated with
melancholy pleasure the death of the young Clary, which he considered
had placed his sweet young friend beyond the reach of human suffering.

"She is with the Eternal Present," he said. "No dark mysterious future
can ever more cloud her soul with its heavy shadow. To-morrow--and the
veil will be rent in twain, and our ransomed spirits will behold each
other face to face. What is Death? The eclipse for a moment of the sun
of human life. The shadow of earth passes from before it, and it again
shines forth with renewed splendor."

His reverie was interrupted by the entrance of the jailor followed by
another person muffled up in a large riding cloak. "A stranger," he
said, "wished to exchange a few words in private with the prisoner."

Anthony rose from his humble bed, and asked in subdued tones, "to whom
he had the honor of speaking?"

"To a sincere friend, Anthony Hurdlestone--one who cannot believe you
guilty of the dreadful crime of murder."

The sound of that voice, though months had passed away since its musical
tones had vibrated on his ear, thrilled to the soul of the prisoner.

"Miss Whitmore!" he cried, in an extasy of joy; and sinking at her feet,
he seized her hands, and pressing them to his lips and heart burst into
an agony of tears.

"Anthony!" said Juliet, placing her hand upon his shoulder, as he sat at
her feet with his face upturned and his eyes suffused in tears, gazing
tenderly upon her; "I came here to-night to ask you one simple question.
With many tears I gained my father's consent to this unusual step. Not
without many severe mental struggles I overcame the feelings of maiden
shame, and placed myself in this painful situation in order to receive
from your own lips an answer which might satisfy the intense anxiety
that presses upon my mind. As you value your own and my eternal peace, I
charge you, Anthony, to answer me truly--as truly as if you stood before
the bar of God, and the eye of the Great Searcher of hearts was upon
you; Did you murder your unhappy father?"

"As I hope for salvation, I am as ignorant of the real perpetrators of
the deed as you are."

"Both directly and indirectly?"

"The whole affair is involved in mystery. I have, of course, my doubts
and surmises. These I must not name, lest I might accuse persons who
like myself are innocent of the offence. Hear me, Juliet Whitmore! while
I raise this fettered right hand to heaven, and swear by that awful
Judge before whose dread tribunal I must in a few hours appear, that I
am guiltless of the crime for which at the age of one-and-twenty, in the
first bloom of youth and manhood, I am condemned to die!"

There was a slight convulsion of the features as he uttered the last
words, and his lips quivered for a moment. Nature asserted her right
over her sentient creature; and the thoughts of death awoke at that
moment a strange conflict in his breast. So young--so highly gifted--so
tenderly beloved; it was indeed hard to die--to die a death of infamy,
amidst the curses and execrations of an insulting mob. Oh, how gladly
would he have seen the bitter cup pass from his lips!

Juliet regarded her unhappy lover with a sad and searching glance. But
innocence is strong; he shrunk not from the encounter. His eyes were
raised to hers in confidence and love, and the glow of conscious worth
irradiated his wan and wasted features. Alas! what years of sorrow had
been compressed into one short week!

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