Bagshaw

“ You could see from his quiet low collar and white tie that his electorate were a Godfearing, religious people, while the horseshoe pin that he wore showed that his electorate were not without sporting instincts and knew a horse from a jackass.
Most of the time, John Henry Bagshaw had to be at Ottawa (though he preferred the quiet of his farm and always left it, as he said, with a sigh) . If he was not in Ottawa, he was in Washington, and of course at any time they might need him in London, so that it was no wonder that he could only be in Mariposa about two months of the year. ”

“ Everybody crowded round Bagshaw on the steps of the Mariposa House and shook his hand and said they were proud to see the day and that the Liberal party was the glory of the Dominion and that as for this idea of non-partisan politics the very thought of it made them sick. Right away in the committee rooms they began to organize the demonstration for the evening with lantern slides and speeches and they arranged for a huge bouquet to be presented to Bagshaw on the platform by four little girls (all Liberals) all dressed in white. ”

“ On arriving at the office I was surprised to find that Figgis, our head clerk, was not there. He gave me the tonic port, and was inclined to be dictatorial, but I must confess that he was always a most punctual man. I was very much surprised.
Our senior partner, Mr. Bagshaw, came much earlier than usual,—10.30, to be precise,—and sent for me at once. He is a big, fat man; he speaks in short sentences, and breathes hard in between them. ”

“ Bagshaw had advised. "At any rate, he's not likely to come under his influence. If the Head would move Rawlings there, on probation, and say nothing to Harper, in East, why, no one'll be the wiser, and Norman, left to himself, will see that he's been acting like a fool, and will come into line with the others."
The wise Bagshaw was of huge value to Sturton and to the school generally. The plan he proposed, and which the Head adopted, worked wonderfully. Norman regained his keenness of a sudden, while Rawlings found himself in strange quarters. He despised this big Australian Harper. ”

“ Lestrade might know the man was a foreigner merely because his department has to keep an eye on all foreigners; some would say on all natives, too. As a policeman I'm glad the police know so much; for every man wants to do his own job well. But as a citizen, I sometimes wonder whether they don't know too much."
"You don't seriously mean to say," cried Underhill incredulously, "that you know anything about strange people in a strange street. That if a man walked out of that house over there, you would know anything about him?"
"I should if he was the householder," answered Bagshaw. ”

“ Edward Bagshaw, minister of the Gospel, who received faith from God to embrace it, courage to defend it, and patience to suffer for it, which is by most despised and by many persecuted; esteeming the advantage of birth, education, and learning as things of worth to be accounted loss for the knowledge of Christ. ”

“ You talk about a man having a jury of his peers. Why don't you have a jury of poets?”
“You talk as if you were a poet yourself,” said Bagshaw.
“Thank your stars I'm not,” said Father Brown. “Thank your lucky stars a priest has to be more charitable than a poet. Lord have mercy on us, if you knew what a crushing, what a cruel contempt he feels for the lot of you, you'd feel as if you were under Niagara.”
[Illustration: SIR ARTHUR TRAVERS MADE CAPITAL OUT OF OSRIC ORM'S STUBBORN SILENCE ]
“You may know more about the artistic temperament than I do,” said Bagshaw after a pause ”

“ The election of Bagshaw for Liverpool was a terrible mistake. But, if we had had our way, the other evil should have lost its head—O, I beg your pardon, Mary; I did not mean your friend, Mr. Dacre, but the principle he represents."
Mary Lincoln had exclaimed as if shocked, which brought out the concluding words from Mr. Patterson.
"If one were gone, would not the danger be greater.?" asked Richard Lincoln." They keep each other in check. They are useful enemies." ”

“ The court has since been moved to the South End. But a monarchy is surely vastly preferable to our present administration. President Bagshaw is a disgrace to any civilized community, to say nothing of an ideal republic. ”

“ You can't know all of them.”
“I know a few,” answered Bagshaw. “This garden wall we're walking under is at the end of the grounds of Sir Humphrey Gwynne, better known as Mr. Justice Gwynne—the old judge who made such a row about spying during the war. The house next door to it belongs to a wealthy cigar merchant. He comes from Spanish America and looks very swarthy and Spanish himself; but he bears the very English name of Buller. The house beyond that—did you hear that noise?”
“I heard something,” said Underhill, “but I really don't know what it was.” ”

“ BAGSHAW, WILLIAM (1628–1702) , divine, was known as the 'Apostle of the Peak.' One of the most enduring religious chapbooks, though it is rarely to be met with now, was his 'Life and Funeral Sermon' by J. Ashe (1704, 12mo) . It is the main source of information concerning him, though even today, in the dales and mountain-sides of Derbyshire, his name is known and honoured. He was born at Litton, in the parish of Tideswell, 17 Jan. ”

“ He's quite bald, for one thing.”
[Illustration: MR. OSRIC ORM, THE POET, STOOD MEDITATING ABOVE THE GARDEN]
“I'm afraid that won't prevent his being tremendous,” answered Bagshaw. “You don't propose to found the defense on the fact that the prosecuting counsel is bald, do you?”
“Not exactly,” said Father Brown good-humoredly. “To tell the truth, I was thinking how little some kinds of people know about other kinds of people. Suppose I went among some remote people who had never even heard of England. ”

“ A man reflected in it would look like a man coming from inside the house. It would look like the master of the house—if only the reflection were a little like him.”
“Stop a minute,” cried Bagshaw. “I believe I begin—”
“You begin to see,” said Father Brown. “You begin to see why all the suspects in this case must be innocent. Not one of them could possibly have mistaken his own reflection for old Gwynne. Orm would have known at once that his bush of yellow hair was not a bald head. Flood would have seen his own red head, and Green his own red waistcoat. Besides, they're all short and shabby ”

“ If that was only Sir Arthur's eloquence, then he certainly took a heavy responsibility in putting so much passion into it."
"He was a friend of poor Gwynne's, as a matter of fact," said Underhill, more gently; "a man I know saw them hobnobbing together after a great legal dinner lately. I dare say that's why he feels so strongly in this case. I suppose it's doubtful whether a man ought to act in such a case on mere personal feeling."
"He wouldn't," said Bagshaw. "I bet Sir Arthur Travers wouldn't act only on feeling, however strongly he felt. ”

“ Underhill did not know how long he stood staring down at this macabre figure, when he looked up and saw a group of four figures standing above him on the bank. He was prepared for Bagshaw and his Irish captive, and he had no difficulty in guessing the status of the servant in the red waistcoat. But the fourth figure had a sort of grotesque solemnity that seemed strangely congruous to that incongruity. It was a stumpy figure with a round face and a hat like a black halo. He realized that it was, in fact, a priest ”

“ I exclaimed in amazement.
“The same, monsieur; who will be happy to meet you this evening at an early hour, behind the barricade of the Rue Montmartre.”
“O good Lord!” cried Mr Hutton Bagsby, “here is a precious kettle of fish! They are firing out yonder like mad; they’ll be breaking into the houses next, and we’ll all be murdered to a man.”
“Do not be alarmed, Mr Bagsby; this is a mere political revolution. The people have no animosity whatever to strangers.” ”

“ I must confess, Mr Bagsby, I had no idea that you were so bloodthirsty a personage.”
“Me bloodthirsty!” cried Bagsby; “Lord bless you! I am like to faint whenever I cut myself in [Pg 43] shaving. Guns and swords are my perfect abomination, and I don’t think I could bring myself to fire at a sparrow.”
“Come, come! you do yourself injustice. I shall never forget the brilliant manner in which you charged down the barricade.” ”

“ We all wanted to go; and Don Gaspar, in spite of the remains of his malarial fever, fairly insisted on accompanying the expedition.
“Señores,” he said with dignity, “this was my own man from my own people.”
Nevertheless somebody had to stay in camp, although at first some of us were inclined to slur over that necessity.
“There’s a strong chance that Injuns will drift by and take all our supplies,” Bagsby pointed out.
“Chances are slim–in only a day or so; you must admit that,” argued Johnny. “Let’s risk it. We can scratch along if they do take our stuff.” ”

“ Then we decided that we must go out to look for him.
“We can’t see nothin’ till daylight,” said Bagsby, “but we can get started back for the last place we saw him.”
It was now about one o’clock in the morning. Bagsby appointed Vasquez, Missouri Jones, Buck Barry, Yank and myself to accompany him. Don Gaspar was suffering from a slight attack of malarial fever; and Johnny, to his vast disgust, was left to hold him company. We took each a horse, which we had to ride bareback and with a twisted rope “war halter.” ”

“ The coachman, a hard-faced, gnarled little fellow, saluted Sir Henry Baskerville, and in a few minutes we were flying swiftly down the broad, white road. Rolling pasture lands curved upward on either side of us, and old gabled houses peeped out from amid the thick green foliage, but behind the peaceful and sunlit country-side there rose ever, dark against the evening sky, the long, gloomy curve of the moor, broken by the jagged and sinister hills. ”

“ BASHVILLE. "Forty to one, the Dutchman's friends exclaimed.
Done, said Lord Worthington, who shewed himself
A sportsman every inch. Barely the bet
Was booked, when, at the reeling champion's jaw
The sailor, bent on winning out of hand,
Sent in his right. The issue seemed a cert.
When Cashel, ducking smartly to his left,
Cross-countered like a hundredweight of brick—"
LUCIAN. Death and damnation!
LYDIA. Oh, what does it mean?
BASHVILLE. "The Dutchman went to grass, a beaten man."
LYDIA. Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah! Oh, well done, Cashel! ”

“ With tireless coursers whisk him through the town;
But we, the rich, are slaves to Houyhnhnms:
We wait upon their colds, and frowst all day
Indoors, if they but cough or spurn their hay.
BASHVILLE. Madam, an omnibus to Euston Road,
And thence t' th' Angel—
Enter Cashel LYDIA. Let us haste, my love: The coachman is impatient.
CASHEL. Did he guess He stays for Cashel Byron, he'd outwait Pompei's sentinel. Let us away. This day of deeds, as yet but half begun, Must ended be in merrie Islington.
[Exeunt Lydia and Cashel.] BASHVILLE. Gods ! how she hangs on's arm! I am alone. ”

“ Mr Hutton Bagsby—Mr Dunshunner.”
Bagsby was a punchy man, with a bald head, and a nose which betokened his habitual addiction to the fiery grape of Portugal.
“Servant, sir!” said he. “Understand you’re a free-trader, supporter of Cobden’s principles, and inclined to go the whole hog. Glad to see a man of common understanding here. Damme, sir, when I speak to these French fellows about calico, they begin to talk about fraternity; which, as I take it, means eating frogs, for I don’t pretend to understand their outlandish gibberish.” ”

“ In the meantime, I had great difficulty in keeping up the courage of Bagsby,—indeed, he was only manageable through the medium of doses of brandy. At times he would burst out into a paroxysm of passion, and execrate collectively and individually the whole body of the Manchester League, who had sent him upon this unfortunate mission to Paris. This profanity over, he would burst into tears, bewail his wretched lot, and apostrophise a certain buxom widow, who seemed to dwell somewhere in the neighbourhood of Macclesfield. ”

“ I shall be delighted to witness it, and we can proceed to business thereafter.”
“You will see no marriage here, I can tell you!” cried Bagsby, who at the first symptom of relief had taken shelter under the shadow of the Marquis. “I put myself under your protection; and, by Jove, if you don’t help me, I shall immediately complain to Lord Normanby!”
“What is this?” cried Monte-Christo. “Do I see Monsieur Bagsby in a general’s uniform? Why, my good sir, you have become a naturalised Frenchman indeed! The nation has a claim upon you.” ”

“ I sincerely pitied poor Bagsby, who was eminently unfitted for this sort of work; and was just about to offer him an asylum in my own apartments, when I felt my shoulder touched, and, turning round, recognised the intelligent though sarcastic features of Albert the ouvrier.
“You are both English?” he said in a perfectly pure dialect. “Eh bien, I like the English, and I wish they understood us better. You are in difficulties. Well, I will assist. Come with me. You may depend upon the honour of a member of the Institute. Workman as I am, I have some influence here. ”

“ Give me the word: instant I'll take him on
Here—now—at catchweight. Better bite the carpet
A man, than fly, a coward.
LUCIAN. Bravely said:
I will assist you with the poker.
LYDIA. No:
I will not have him touched. Open the door.
BASHViLLE. Destruction knocks thereat. I smile, and open.
Bashville opens the door. Dead silence. Cashel enters in tears.
A solemn pause.
CASHEL. You know my secret?
LYDiA. Yes.
CASHEL. And thereupon
You bade your servant fling me from your door.
LYDIA. I bade my servant say I was not here.
CASHEL [to Bashville] Why didst thou better thy instruction, man? ”