Brave Bessie Westland

by Emma Leslie

"Nay, not at first only," said Bessie with trembling earnestness; "think what it will be to dwell with my mother and father again, to comfort them for all the woes they have endured at this time of sore affliction and travail."

"Ay, and thou hast earned the right to comfort thy mother and father," said the old man, "for thou hast done what thou couldest for those who befriended thee in thy time of trouble. If thou hadst been content to idly bemoan thy lot instead of doing that which lay nearest to thine hand, the burden upon our Society at this time would have been almost greater than could be borne. But now thou canst do so much to the finishing of the hats that there is little fear Friend Drayton's business will fail to bear all the expense of the family, the charges he may be at for gaolers' fees and what not, while he is in prison. Thou art a right worthy daughter of a brave father," concluded the old man; and then he related to Sir William what he had heard from the workman who had undertaken to manage the hatter's business during his absence.

Audrey had heard nothing of this, and indeed had scarcely thought of how her aunt and the household were to be kept during the next six months; but her heart warmed to the girl who, in the midst of her own grief and trouble, could yet turn to labour—little as she could have liked it at first—with such good purpose, that in a few weeks she could make herself so useful in it as to be able to materially lessen the expenditure for skilled help, and by her example keep to their posts of duty those who, but for her, might have forsaken them at a time when it would be almost impossible to supply their places from outside.

Audrey learned all this from the talk of the two visitors, as they sat discussing whether they, as a Society, should undertake the direction and control of the household until Dame Drayton was able to get about, or whether, seeing Bessie was so effective a helper in the workroom and Deborah in the house, things should be left in their hands for the present.

To Audrey it was the greatest surprise possible, for by this time she had learned that one of their visitors was rich and able to live in the highest rank of society, and yet he was willing to concern himself in her uncle's affairs with the same sort of interest as a brother might be expected to do. He promised to go and see him in prison the next day, and arrange for his comfort there as far as possible.

"Everyone knows I am a Quaker now," said the gentleman; "but for one of our brethren to go would inevitably draw upon him the notice of the authorities, and there would soon be another for us to keep in Newgate or Bridewell. It will be a great comfort for our brother Drayton to hear that he is not chargeable to the Society during his imprisonment. Truly the Lord hath blessed him in his deed, for in taking these children he hath brought a blessing to his household. Doubtless the Lord hath spoken by him to me concerning the manner He would have me use that which He hath given me, for of all the plans that hath been devised, this for the founding of a new Quaker colony across the seas cloth commend itself to me as the wisest and most useful."

"Verily, it was through these children that the Spirit gave him that wisdom," said the old man. "He hath come to me sometimes, and told me how sorely his heart ached for the little ones, and how hopeless it seemed that they could ever dwell together again. It would cost Westland years of labour even to send for his wife, and he could never hope to be able to pay for all his children to go to the plantations to him. Yet it was the only earthly hope our martyr-brother cherished, and each time that Friend Drayton went to see him, his talk would be of the home he would make for his wife and children across the seas."

"Yea, and verily his hopes shall be fulfilled," said Sir William fervently. "We will have a free colony where no man shall dare to say, 'Ye cannot serve God after this fashion,' but where we may lift up our voices in prayer and praise, none daring to make us afraid."

Audrey thought that such a place might be a little heaven below to some people, but she was not so sure that Bessie's father would be happy there, for if there were only Quakers to live in the colony, there would be no scope for his preaching-power, and he would have to do as Bessie had done, turn the energy to a more practical account; and the fervour once displayed in preaching to sinners who would not hear, might be used in some way for the help and development of the Friends dependent upon each other for all the comfort and joy of life.

But seeing what Bessie had done in the way of practical work that lay nearest to her hand, there was little doubt but that her father would do the same; for some such thoughts as these had arisen in the mind of Sir William Penn when the plan was first proposed to him, and that was why he felt so much pleasure in hearing about Bessie and the homely work she had undertaken. Out there in his new colony there would be plenty of homely work for everyone who would do it, and those who could not stoop to that would be of little use to themselves or others, and therefore had better stay in England until they were wiser, or the king grew tired of fining and imprisoning Quakers. This was not likely to happen very soon, seeing that these people were a convenient scapegoat for the gradual curtailment of civil and religious liberty, which was slowly but surely being effected now in the new laws that were made and put into force so rigorously.