The Buccaneer - A Tale

"Which?" inquired the Protector: "which mean ye is the counterfeit--the

writing or the writer?---- Without there!--Call in Robin Hays. Sir

Willmott Burrell, Sir Willmott Burrell! the Lord deliver me from such as

thou art!" he continued, swelling and chafing himself into anger,

'pricking the sides of his intent,' that so he might overwhelm the

dastard knight. "We doubted, sir, at first, but we doubt no longer. Sir,

you have robbed that old man of his daughter! You have, by so doing,

perjured your own soul, and brought most foul dishonour upon England. I

once heard you talk of patriotism: a true patriot loves his country too

well to commit a dishonourable action! Sir, I have learned that you were

married to the Jewish girl."

"Please your Highness," interrupted Manasseh at length, "I do not wish

the marriage: if there be, as we suppose, a marriage, I wish it not

kept; I only want my wretched and deluded child."

"Your pardon, good Rabbi. I am protector of the rights, and not the

fantasies, of those who inhabit England, and I hold no sinecure. You may

well turn pale, Master of Burrell!--O Lord! that such should dwell in

the tents of Judah!--that such should remain sound in life and limb,

blessed with carnal and fleshly comforts!--that such reptiles should

crawl among us--be fed by the same food, warmed by the same sun, as just

men! No, no, Manasseh; if there has been a marriage, as sure as the

Almighty governs heaven, it shall be kept! Nay, Sir Willmott Burrell,

never dare to knit your brows. Justice, sir, justice to the uttermost,

is what I desire in this country! Dost remember the fate of Don

Pantaleon Sa, the Portugal ambassador's brother--a knight of Malta, and

a person eminent in many great actions? Dost remember him, I say--that

he died the death of a murderer, according to the Scripture, 'he that

sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed.' Justice shall be

satisfied!--Not that I seek to confound you without a hearing. But here

comes one, once a retainer of your own, who can point out where the lady

is."

Robin Hays, little conscious of the fate that had befallen Barbara,

entered with much alacrity, for he was glad of anything that afforded

him change of place.

"What, Robin Hays!" said Burrell. "Methinks your Highness has assembled

most creditable witnesses against me--a Jew, and a thing like that!"

"No sneering, sir. This person asserts that Zillah Ben Israel came over

in the Fire-fly."