CHAPTER XI.

THE REGICIDE JUDGES-BIRDS AND TRAPS-THE

HIGHER EDUCATION OF WOMEN.

THE twin villages of Hadley and South Hadley, in the vicinity of Holyoke, have each an interest of their own which must not be overlooked. Goffe and Whalley, two of the so-called "regicide judges" who condemned Charles I. to the scaffold, succeeded, upon the restoration of the monarchy, in escaping from England to America, while the remainder of their colleagues were apprehended and executed as traitors. Landing at Boston in the summer of 1660, the fugitives took up their residence at Cambridge, but finding the neighbourhood of Boston unsafe, they left it in the following year for Newhaven. Here, they were well treated by the minister and magistrates, and, for some time, thought themselves out of danger; but, upon the news that the king had proclaimed them being brought to the town, they were obliged to abscond. Towards the end of March in the same year, however, they

returned and lay concealed in the house of Mr. Davenport, the minister, for a month. Learning that he was threatened for concealing and comforting traitors, they generously resolved to give themselves up to the authorities. The deputy-governor, however, on being informed of their whereabouts, took no steps to secure them, so, having first shown themselves publicly in Newhaven, in order to clear Mr. Davenport from suspicion, they concealed themselves in a rock-shelter near the city, which still goes by the name of the "Judges' Cave." Here they were daily supplied with food by a Mr. Richard Sperry, no friend of kings, who sometimes carried provisions himself, sometimes sent them by his boys, with directions to leave the packet on a certain stump from which the judges took it. Driven from this shelter by the attacks of panthers, they found a more secure refuge in a valley not far from the Judges' Cave, and here, or in similar hiding-places, they passed four miserable years.

During this time they had many apparently narrow escapes from being captured, either by the king's commissioners or the local authorities, and they would undoubtedly have been taken but that the latter, sympathizers with the Puritan rather than the kingly cause, were more anxious to screen than to arrest the judges. Thus, one day, when the pursuers were expected at Newhaven, Goffe and Whalley walked out from their shelter along the road by which they must enter the town.

Here they were overtaken by the sheriff, who, exhibiting a warrant for their apprehension, made a show of taking them prisoners. Thereupon the judges stood upon their defence, and, planting themselves back to back, so defended themselves with their sticks that they repelled the officer, who went into town to obtain assistance, and upon his return found they had escaped into the woods.

On another occasion, when the commissioners were searching the town, the judges, shifting their quarters, found themselves, either by accident or design, at the house of a lady, who concealed them in one apartment while she received the commissioners in another, putting the latter politely and skilfully upon a wrong scent. While the pursuit was at its hottest, the minister, Mr. Davenport, took occasion to unite the people of Newhaven in caution and concealment by a sermon preached from the following text of Isaiah: "Take counsel, execute judgment; make thy shadow as the night in the midst of noonday; hide the outcasts; betray not him that wandereth. Let mine outcasts dwell with thee, Moab; be thou a covert to them from the face of the spoiler."

In October, 1664, wearied out by a pursuit which the good-will of the people could only mitigate, Goffe and Whalley gave the king's commissioners a final slip and set out for Hadley. Travelling at night and faithfully guided, they reached the house of Mr. Russell, the minister of the village, after a difficult journey of a hundred miles. The house of this friendly clergyman

had been specially and ingeniously fitted up for their reception. In the chamber assigned to them was a closet communicating by a trap and staircase with the cellar below, into which it was easy to descend, leaving no evidence of flight. Here, unknown to the people of Hadley, saving a few confidants and the family of Mr. Russell, the judges remained for fifteen or sixteen years, and here Whalley died in 1679. Soon after Whalley's death, Goffe left Hadley, after which no certain information of him can be obtained. There is, however, a tradition that he also died at Hadley, and was buried in the garden of a Mr. Tilton, one of the few persons besides the minister who knew of the refugees' presence.

The judges were gentlemen of worth, of dignified manners and appearance, commanding universal respect, and highly esteemed by the colonists for their unfeigned piety. Both had been generals in Cromwell's army, and both were renowned for their skill with the small sword,

as the following story illustrates. While the judges were at Boston, there came to the town an English fencing-master, who, challenging all comers, could find no rival with the rapier. At length, one of the judges, disguised in rustic dress, holding a cheese in one hand, and a dirty mop in the other, mounted the stage. The swordsman laughed at him and bid him begone, but the judge stood his ground, whereupon the Englishman made a pass at him to drive him away. The sword was received in the cheese and the mop drawn over the master's face

way,

in such a way as to give him a pair of whiskers. Making a second pass, the blade was again caught in the same while the mop was now drawn gently over the eyes. At a third lunge, it was once more held by the cheese until the judge had rubbed the mop all over his opponent's face. Thereupon, letting fall his rapier, the swordsman angrily snatched up a cutting blade, when the seeming countryman exclaimed, "Stop, sir; hitherto, you see I have only played with you, but if you come at me now with the broad-sword, know that I will certainly take your life."

The firmness with which he spoke struck the master of fence, who said, "Who can you be? Either Goffe, Whalley, or the devil, for there was no other man in England that could beat me."

The following story of the judges was handed down orally among the inhabitants of Hadley for many years. "In the course of Philip's war, which involved almost all the Indian tribes in New England, the inhabitants of Hadley thought it proper to hold the 1st of September, 1675, as a day of fasting and prayer. While they were in church they were surprised by a band of savages. The people instantly betook themselves to arms, which, according to the custom of the times, they carried with them to church, and, rushing out of the house, attacked their invaders. The panic was, however, so great and the numbers so unequal, that they fought doubtfully at first, and in a short time began evidently to give way.