Thistlewood

“ And all persons are hereby cautioned upon their allegiance not to receive or harbour the said Arthur Thistlewood, as any person offending herein will be thereby guilty of high treason.
Sidmouth.
The above-named Arthur Thistlewood is about forty-eight years of age, five feet ten inches high, has a sallow [Pg 6] complexion, long visage, dark hair, (a little grey) , dark hazel eyes and arched eye-brows, a wide mouth and a good set of teeth, has a scar under his right jaw, is slender made, and has the appearance of a military man ”

“ Having done with Adams, the next witness was Hyden, he described himself to have formerly belonged to a shoe-making club, and to have been introduced to Thistlewood in the month of February. And what was the first proposal made to him? Why, Thistlewood was represented to have said, without any disguise or reserve, “Will you be one to murder his Majesty’s ministers?”
“Good God!—what must that man be whose heart would not revolt with horror from such a proposal? ”

“ Thistlewood then asked why Bradburn (the prisoner) was not present, and he added that Bradburn was intrusted with money to purchase ferrules, and was not satisfied lest he should not buy them. The staves were green, and seemed as if they had just come from the country. Thistlewood said he would not give a damn for a man who would spend the money in such a way. I do not recollect any thing further then. The meetings were held twice a-day from thence to the 23d of February. The room was hired by Brunt for Ings; Brunt said so. ”

“ The writer wishes to speak in particular of two of these men, both of whom perished on the scaffold—their names were Thistlewood and Ings. Thistlewood, the best known of them, was a brave soldier and had served with distinction as an officer in the French service; he was one of the excellent swordsmen of Europe; had fought several duels in France, where it is no child’s play to fight a duel; but had never unsheathed his sword for single combat, but in defence of the feeble and insulted—he was kind and open-hearted but of too great simplicity ”

“ Thistlewood said, “You know the larger body is already gone to arrange matters; we, the smaller, are left to do the business.” Davidson then blamed the tall man in the brown great coat for throwing cold water on the plan, and added, that if he was afraid, he might as well go away. Brunt said, “Rather than give up the business, I will go to the house and blow it up, though I perish myself in the ruins, for you know we have got that which can easily do it.” ”

“ From Paris he returned to London, and being quite a stranger to the political characters of that day, his return from France formed a groundwork of an introduction to many of them who were in the habit of assembling at the shop and house of Daniel Isaac Eaton, a bookseller in Newgate Street. I have met many of the old friends of Mr. Eaton, but could never learn anything of the general tenor of Thistlewood's conduct at that time, so that it appears to me that he was never sufficiently countenanced by any of them to form any intimacies. ”

“ The Honorable and Right Reverend Lionel Thistlewood, Lord Bishop of Bullocksmithy, was mentioned as the uncle of Lady Angelina Silvertop. Her elopement with her cousin caused deep emotion to the venerable prelate: he returned to the palace at Bullocksmithy, of which he had been for thirty years the episcopal ornament, and where he married three wives, who lie buried in his Cathedral Church of St. Boniface, Bullocksmithy.
The admirable man has rejoined those whom he loved. ”

“ Mr. Cotton approached him while the executioner was making his awful arrangements, and spoke to him upon the subject of his thoughts of hereafter. Thistlewood shook his head, and said he required no earthly help upon that [Pg 376] subject. He then sucked his orange, and, looking down at the officers who were collected about the scaffold, said, in a firm voice, “I have but a few moments to live, and I hope the world will be convinced that I have been sincere in my endeavours, and that I die a friend to liberty.” ”

“ The Committee of the Spenceans openly meddled with sundry grave questions besides that of a community in land; and, amongst other notable projects, petitioned Parliament to do away with machinery. Amongst these fanatics some dangerous men had established themselves, such as Thistlewood, who subsequently paid the penalty of five years of maniacal plotting." A meeting held at Spa-fields on the 2d of December, 1816, in the interest of the Spencean Philanthropists, terminated in a senseless outbreak of riot, led by a young fanatic named Watson. ”

“ A few centuries ago the Turks had fallen back beaten from before those giant walls. Then I glanced round Mrs. Thistleton's gentle trim old garden.
"I think you've answered my question," I said.
She closed the book with a shrug of her thin little shoulders and sat silent for a moment. The oval of her face was certainly beautiful, and the thick masses of her hair were dark as night, or the inside of a dungeon in her castle of Friedenburg. (I liked to think of her having dungeons, though I really don't know whether she had.) ”

“ If Divine Right were not out of fashion, the key of that citadel should have been in the hand which ruled exercise-books for the Thistleton children. For a few moments after that I went on thinking about the nursery governess.
IV. So Fraülein—she soon came to be called just "Fraülein"—was not at my dinner-party; but two or three weeks later I had a little talk with her. I went up to the Manor one afternoon in October, seeking a game of croquet with Bessie Thistleton—such are our mild delights at Southam Parva—but found the whole family gone off to a Primrose League bazaar at Beechington. ”

“ Let us forget—let us and all Southam Parva forget!
It was not unkind of Mrs. Thistleton. It was right and suitable. Who should not come out to dinner, but stay and mind the children? Who save Fraülein—Fraülein Friedenburg? It would have been a ludicrous position for Her Royal Highness Princess Vera of Boravia. Leave it to Fraülein Friedenburg!
So, as Fraülein Friedenburg, she passed into our ordinary lives, and out of our ordinary thoughts, as it is the way with things when they become familiar. Mrs. Thistleton's courage and talent had saved the situation—and her own face. ”

“ That I might be saved from further folly, from offering my strong right arm and all my worldly goods (I was at the moment overdrawn at the bank) as a contribution towards a Legitimist crusade in Boravia—Fortune sent interruption. The family came back from the bazaar, and most of them trooped into the garden. Charley Miles was with them, having joined the party at the fête on his way back from town. As they all came up, Fraülein put the big book—with its picture of her home—behind her back; I rose and walked forward to greet Mrs. Thistleton. ”

“ But Thistledown was too sad for that, and when he told them all his story they no longer urged, but sought to comfort him; and one whom they called little Sparkle (for her crown and robe shone with the brightest diamonds, said) : "You will have to work for us, ere you can win a gift to show the Brownies; do you see those golden bells that make such music, as we wave them to and fro? We worked long and hard ere they were won, and you can win one of those, if you will do the task we give you."
And Thistle said, "No task will be too hard for me to do for dear Lily-Bell's sake." ”

“ Thistleton is lord of the manor—by purchase, not by inheritance—and lives in the old house, proceeding every day to town, where he has a fine practice as a solicitor (Bowes, Thistleton, & Kent) in Lincoln’s Inn Fields. Mrs Thistleton and the children (there are eight, ranging from Tom, nineteen, to Molly, seven, so that the practice needs to be fine) , are, however, quite country folk. ”

“ Then from the vine-leaves two little arms were stretched out to her, and Thistledown was found. So Lily-Bell made her home in the shadow of the vine, and brought such joy to Thistle, that his lonely cell seemed pleasanter to him than all the world beside; and he grew daily more like his gentle friend. But it did not last long, for one day she did not come. He watched and waited long, for the little face that used to peep smiling in through the vine-leaves. ”

“ You must harm no flower in doing your work, nor take more than your just share of honey; for they so kindly give us food, it were most cruel to treat them with aught save gentleness and gratitude. Now will you stay with us, and learn what even mortals seek to know, that labor brings true happiness?"
And Thistle said he would stay and dwell with them; for he was tired of wandering alone, and thought he might live here till Lily-Bell should come, or till he was weary of the kind-hearted bees. ”

“ Another interesting plant which at present is not to be found, though it may at any time recur, [32] is the Holy thistle, or Mary thistle (Carduus Marianus) . Formerly plentiful, a mile away from the Spa, about the ruins of Kirkstead Abbey, it has been of late years entirely stubbed up by successive tenants of the farm. There is one locality, about three miles distant, to which specimens were transplanted a few years ago, and where it still survives. It also grew not far from the church of Old Woodhall, but there also farmers’ operations have exterminated it. ”

“ Nobody thinks of her at all now, except just as Fraülein."
"I have been anxious to do the right thing, and she has improved the children's French." She did not add that the liquidation of Thistleton's bill by services rendered was a further benefit. We cannot be expected always to remember every aspect of our conduct.
"But it is difficult," Mrs. Thistleton went on. "And the worst of it is that Bessie and she aren't very congenial. With an ordinary governess—— Well, the only thing is to treat her like one, isn't it?" ”

“ MRS THISTLETON’S PRINCESS I THE Great Ones of the Earth do not come our way much down at Southam Parva. Our Member’s wife is an “Honourable,” and most of us, in referring to her, make express mention of that rank; moreover she comes very seldom. In the main our lot lies among the undistinguished, and our table of precedence is employed in determining the dividing lines between “Esquire,” “Mr,” and plain “John Jones”—a humble, though no doubt a subtle, inquiry into the gradations of Society. So I must confess to feeling a thrill when I read Mrs Thistleton’s invitation to dinner at the Manor. ”

“ Thistleton, Bessie, Charley Miles, and, above all, Fraülein—set in contrast with the picture in the big book—with the castle of Friedenburg frowning above the great river, waiting for its mistress, Princess Vera; the mistress who came not because—I couldn't get away from my own folly—because there were no men in Boravia! "Absurd" was the right word, however. ”

“ In the first place, it serves to exhibit the final stage of the descent of the Princess—the logical conclusion of the process which was begun when Thistleton dropped "Royal" from between "Her" and "Highness" in the train from Liverpool Street to Beechington. In the second place, it exhibits Mrs. Thistleton's good sense and fine feeling for the suitability of things. You couldn't have princesses—nay, nor countesses—about the house in that sort of position. It would have been absurd.
So here it is. I seldom give even small dinner-parties; such gatherings annoy my cook. ”

“ Night and day the coaches kept Stilton awake, and if for a few minutes there was no coach, the post-chaises at one end of the social scale, and the fly-wagons at the other, kept the inns busy. Stilton buzzed with activity then. From the far North came the drovers, doing twenty miles a day, with their sheep and cattle, their pigs and geese; animal creation marching, martyrs in their sort, to Smithfield. At Stilton they shod the cattle, like horses, and one blacksmith’s business here consisted of nothing else than this. ”

“ By a disuse—temporary, perhaps—of her proper style, she may smooth certain—er—susceptibilities, and so render my task easier and give us a better prospect of success. Our guest now prefers to be known as the Countess Vera von Friedenburg."
I nodded again—it was the only safe thing to do. Thistleton said no more, save to express a hope (as he got into his wagonette) that they would see me soon at the Manor. Charley and I started together to walk the long mile from Beechington Station to Southam Parva ”

“ Thereupon Lady Swinton pushed aside one of the oaken panels in the parlour, which revealed a small room beyond, where sat the mysterious lady. "And now, Margaret dear," said her mother, "listen to me. This lady is persecuted by cruel men, who, if they find her, will certainly take her life. She is my guest, she is now yours, and I am sure I need not tell you the meanest peasant in all Scotland would shame to betray his guest." ”

“ We had always looked upon the thistle as an inferior plant, and in Cheshire destroyed it in thousands, regarding it as only fit for food for donkeys, of which very few were kept in that county; but any one seeing this fine plant must have been greatly impressed by its appearance. The thistle has been the emblem of Scotland from very early times, and is supposed to have been adopted by the Scots after a victorious battle with the Danes, who on a dark night tried to attack them unawares. ”

“ The insignia borne by the knights of the Order of the Thistle is a gold collar, with Thistles and a sprig of Rue interlaced. A gold medal is also worn, bearing a figure of St. Andrew.——Mannhardt states that in Mecklenburg there is a legend current which relates that in a certain wild and barren spot, where once a murder had been committed, there grows every day at noon a strangely-formed Thistle: on the weird plant are to be seen human arms, hands, and heads, and when twelve heads have appeared, the ghastly plant mysteriously vanishes. ”