Читать книгу The Flogging Parson - George Forbes - Страница 4

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In the dock, facing the bench, two young men, mere boys, the last of a batch of criminals to receive sentence that day, awaited removal to prison. They stood, silent, behind the bars, and, accustomed as they were to cruel punishment, to-day they seemed bewildered at the severity of the sentence which had just been passed upon them. It was—that they be confined each in a solitary cell on bread and water, and every second morning receive 25 lashes "until they tell where the property they are proved to have stolen is concealed."

Presently they were taken away, the court was adjourned, and the magistrate retired to his own room, while the registrar, who was about to close the book in which the sentences were recorded, gave permission to some of the constables, to look at the list again, for, inured as they were to barbarous punishment inflicted in the name of the law, it was recognised that the "flogging parson" (by which soubriquet the reverend magistrate was known) had that day excelled himself.

The record reads as follows, and is one of many at that time daily appearing in the courthouse register at Parramatta, since burnt by the authorities in very shame at such a travesty on the name of British Justice. The prisoners mentioned here were mostly young people, for it was no uncommon thing in those days for boys and girls of 15 and under to be transported for a lengthened term of years, or even for life for the commission of offences which would now be dealt with in our police courts by fine or imprisonment for a few days.

THE RECORD.

"The prisoner Parsons is sentenced to receive 25 lashes every Saturday, and also to do his Government work until the remainder of the property he is proved to have stolen is returned.

"Bridget Rook is ordered to be chained to Margaret Murphy, and to remain so chained until the gown she has stolen is returned to it's proper owner.

"Mary Langridge, a runaway from the factory, is sentenced to work in double irons for five weeks.

"The bench do order that Patrick Leville be confined in a solitary cell on bread and water until he does tell who has taken the property from his master's premises.

"Richard Perrings: The bench do sentence the prisoner to receive 100 lashes and work 12 months in the chain gang on bread and water if he does not bring up the deficiency of his work.

"The bench do sentence the prisoner Dunn to remain one month on bread and water in a solitary cell, and at the expiration to receive 100 lashes, and then to be sent to work in the chain gang at Emu Plains.

"John Downes and Hugh Carroll (the prisoners last removed from the dock), ordered to be confined each in a solitary cell on bread and water, and every second morning to receive 25 lashes until they tell where the property which they are proved to have stolen is concealed."

Yes, truly the flogging parson had that day excelled himself.

Having descended from the judgment seat, the Rev. Jonathan Carden (commonly known as "the Reverend John") came forth from the courthouse into the principal street of Parramatta, and proceeded towards the Rectory, a substantial two-storied building close to the church then nearing completion, which the reverend gentleman, by his own exertions, had been mainly instrumental in causing to be built. As he passed along the footpath, hats were lifted and salutes exchanged by the rector and passers-by, according in familiarity to that state of life to which it had pleased providence to call them, the degrees of which were rigidly observed.

On reaching home, the Rev. John was welcomed by his wife, a submissive, indefinite woman, about the same age as her husband, her black gown the perfection of neatness, and her dark hair arranged in crisp curls on each side of her face. In her hand she held a letter addressed to the rector, which she smilingly informed him had not long since arrived with the English mail.

Off the bench, the Rev. Jonathan Carden was the picture of benevolence. Many regarded him as a model of respectability, and spoke of him with unstinted praise; and all agreed that, although he possessed a reputation of being a terror to evil-doers, no breath of scandal, in his religious or domestic life, had ever been known to fall upon him.

The letter which Mrs. Carden handed to her husband proved to be from a distant relative in England, and it informed him of the death of his elder brother, Samuel, leaving an only daughter, Muriel, who, possessing a small competency for her support, was commended by her dying father to the care of her uncle Jonathan in Australia.

Letters travelled slowly in those days. More than seven months had elapsed since this particular letter had been written, and it seemed too late in the day now to mourn for a departed brother, whom the Rev. John had not seen for many years; so, after a suitable expression of regret had been made, both Mr. and Mrs. Carden became wholly concerned in the news, with regard to their niece Muriel, whom they remembered in England as a pretty and somewhat wilful child.

"She must come, to us, of course," said the Rev. John. "We have plenty of accommodation, and, having no children of our own, she will be a new interest in our home life."

So that evening, after dinner, the Rev. John sat down and wrote the following letter, to be forwarded by the next outgoing mail:—

The Rectory,

Parramatta, N.S.W.,

June 3rd, 1798.

My Dear D——,

I regret to be informed of my brother Samuel's death, but, as we are both aware, he was well advanced in years, and had enjoyed the blessings of health and competent circumstances during a long life, so that, in this reflection, we have much to be thankful for. Let Muriel come to us by all means. There are many opportunities that may readily be availed of for her passage out, as the officers' wives are continually coming to this colony, and you will, no doubt, find a suitable chaperone for my niece. I remember Muriel, as a child, very well, but I daresay she has forgotten me and her aunt Marion. Tell her that we are ready to welcome her as a daughter. She will be a companion for Marion, as I have much to occupy my time, and a great variety of duties to perform. I am a gardener, a farmer, a magistrate and minister; so that, when one duty does not call me, another does. In this infant colony there is plenty of manual labor for everybody. I conceive it a duty to all to take an active part. He who will not work must not eat. Yesterday I was in the field assisting in the working of my farm. To-day I have been sitting in court. To-morrow, if well, I must ascend the pulpit and preach to my people. In this manner I chiefly spend my time. It may seem strange, but it is necessary, situated as we are.

With our mutual love to Muriel, believe me to be,

Yours, etc.,

Jonathan Carden.

And in the gaol across the stone bridge, on the other side of the rivet, which intersects the town of Parramatta, the victims of the "System" awaited the infliction of the inhuman punishments which had that day been ordered by the "flogging parson."