Letitia Elizabeth Landon

“ Bird and her shop seemed as much part of the moor as the stunted furze-bushes. No one dreamt of change till the morning of the murder, and then, as we have said, every body had foreseen what the old woman's living by herself, in such an out-of-the-way place, would come to.
Human nature is accused of much more selfishness than it really has; a thousand kindly emotions break in upon and redeem our daily and interested life. ”

“ For the first time in his life, John Dodd dropped a parcel from his hand, and ran into the shop. The narrow line widened; large red spots grew frequent; the crimson pool splashed beneath his feet—it evidently flowed from behind the counter; and there lay the poor old woman, her face uppermost, and her throat literally cut from ear to ear.
"Murder! thieves! Harriet Lynn, help!" cried the terrified carrier, rushing back to his cart and companion, as if even the girl and his horse were some security. ”

“ The prisoners attracted great attention; they were both singular and superior, evidently very different from the ignorant and simple villagers among whom they ordinarily moved. Rachel (such was the female's name) was perfectly beautiful, though in the peculiar style which belongs to her race: delicately made, with a mild and mournful cast of countenance, she seemed the last person in the world to have engaged in an act of violence; indeed, the most distant allusion to the murder drove the colour from her dark cheek, and convulsed her slight frame with a shudder of fear and loathing. ”

“ There is a deep impression of awe produced by such a vast but silent crowd; we are at once conscious that the cause is terrible which can induce the unusual stillness. The issue of a trial on which hangs life or death, is indeed an appalling thing. We know that men are about to take away that which they cannot give—that a few words of human breath will deprive of breath one of the number for ever; and though we acknowledge that in this evil world punishment is the only security against crime, and that blood for blood has been a necessity from the beginning of time ”

“ How incomprehensible is woman's love!—it is not kindness that wins it, nor return that insures it; we daily see the most devoted attachment lavished on those who seem to us singularly unworthy. The Spectator shewed his usual knowledge of human nature, when, in speaking on this subject, he relates, that in a town besieged by the enemy, on the women being allowed to depart with whatever they held most precious, only one among them carried off her husband,—a man notorious for his tyrannical temper, and who had, moreover, a bad—or, as it turned out, a good—habit of beating his wife every morning. ”

“ With regard to the crime, he never swerved from his assertion of innocence.
At length the day of trial arrived. Assuredly the English trial for murder is an awful assembling; the vague look of serious horror, which would be ludicrous under any other circumstances, is here redeemed by its fearful source. The grave costume of the bar, the dignified solemnity of the judge, the long robes, all differing from the ordinary apparel of daily life, have their full effect on at least two thirds of the spectators. ”

“ Death never excites such sympathy as it does when it assumes the shape of murder. In a few days the little garden was stripped of every plant, rosemary, rue, currant, and gooseberry bush, potato and cabbage,—all that their possessors might have some relic of "the horrible murder;" and every one planted the spoil in the most conspicuous part of their own garden. The poor old woman had been universally liked; she had kept that shop forty years ”

“ She had the small smooth features, the fresh colour, the unconscious smile, which belongs only to very early youth, and those large, soft, beseeching eyes with which we almost unawares connect the idea of helplessness and innocence. It was like sacrilege to Nature to suspect of crime a creature so lovely. Those opposite could observe that her whole attention was fixed on a beautiful nosegay placed on the bench near the judge. The season was too far advanced for the gardens to boast much bloom ”

“ Slowly through the streets wound the gloomy procession; the windows, the pavement, the road, alike crowded with spectators: all the ordinary tasks of day were suspended—life pausing to gaze on death.
Her head bowed on her shoulder, as if it lacked strength to bear up its length of black hair; every shade of colour faded from both lip and cheek, till the face had the fixed and cold rigidity of a corpse, though still beautiful in feature; and the large dark eyes dilated with that look of bewildered terror you see in childhood,—the female seemed stupified and powerless from excess of dread. ”

“ There is no denying the fact, that in all sudden emergencies a woman has ten times the presence of mind, or, to use the common expression, her wits more about her than a man. Harriet Lynn turned white as the ghastly idea suggested itself; but she proceeded to the shop, followed by her companion, who thought that as she went, he must go too. ”

“ Well, all governments are maintained by fear—fear being our great principle of action; and fear, we are tempted to believe, heightens and strengthens the love of woman.
For a minute, even the judge interfered not with a display of emotion so earnest and so affecting; and before the officers approached to separate the prisoners, Rachel arose at her husband's bidding, and stood quietly and meekly at his side. ”

“ You dwell in houses, as if you were like the stock or the stone with which they are built; I wander as free and as far as the wind. Look ye! our faces are not as your faces, our speech is not as your speech; we have come from a distant country, over seas and mountains, over rough paths and smooth roads ”

“ But not so: her arrival in our county was attended by one of those terrible incidents which make humanity shudder at itself, and which are awful in proportion to their rareness. It is taking nature in the worst possible point of view, to think that custom reconciles even to crime.
It was a sad morning when Harriet Lynn left her native village: she rose long before the appointed time. When at the stile by the beech-tree, she was to be taken up by John Dodd the carrier, who often gave a neighbour a lift to the next town. ”

“ John Dodd, the first witness examined, contrived to throw into his story the confusion of his own ideas. Harriet Lynn came next, and was just as remarkable for the simplicity and clearness of her answers. Still, their evidence only proved the fact of the murder, not by whom it had been committed.
The fearless make their own way—and the male prisoner's bold bearing was not without its effect. The tide of opinion turned rapidly in his favour ”

“ At length the cart appeared at some distance on the winding road; and in a few minutes Harriet Lynn began a journey, of whose length and difficulties she had the usually exaggerated notion of all young travellers. The gallantry of an English peasant rarely expands into words. John Dodd received her with a good-natured grin, and pushed on his way—for he was carrier of Donnington and some dozen parishes round; at each of which he duly deposited at least a score of packages or messages. His first pause was at a small shop situated on the east side of Donnington moor. ”

“ Bird had for many years been the sole chronicler of the glories of "the old family;" and her former connexion with it gave her still something of consequence in the eyes of her neighbours. The most scrupulous honesty, a cheerful temper, and a great love for children (a singularly popular quality) , a regular attendance at church (on fine Sundays in the bright red shawl, on wet ones in a less bright red cloak) , and a naturally good understanding, made her beloved, and her advice often both asked and taken. ”

“ "Born with them—born with them: all alike! No pleasure equal to the pleasure of tormenting, to a woman. ”

“ The discharge of a duty from affection is the best solace for sorrow. ”

“ The man was dogged and sullen, apparently without occupation or motive for staying among them; the woman pretty, active, and with a great gift of fortune-telling. Many recollected seeing them both prowling about the little shop; and some, who came in last, stated that their encampment by the nut-tree wood was deserted. After the coroner's inquest, suspicion was sufficiently roused for a warrant to be issued for the apprehension of the prisoners. They were overtaken in a by-lane some miles distant, and brought to Newcastle, vehemently protesting their innocence.
The female was first examined. ”

“ Perhaps the distinction between the two witnesses was, that in the girl horror was the predominant sensation, while in the man it was terror.
"There is no likelihood of the murderer having hidden himself here; however, we must see." And she resolutely returned to the house.
Fright had quite paralysed John Dodd's faculties, and he went after her mechanically. The cottage was only one story high, and the small room behind the shop was where the old woman slept. Marks of violence were visible in every part ”

“ The gallantry of an English peasant rarely expands into words. ”

“ Harvey's attention, who was riding along at that sauntering pace for which a green and shadowy lane seems especially made.
"Ah! grandfather will never bring you any thing again; I've got his scissors quite safe." ”

“ At this moment he started back, with open eyes and gaping mouth:—what an odd thing it is, that the indications of terror are usually ludicrous! ”