. Our village. ard of themwas a complaint from the wife to our magistrate of herhusbands beating her : it was a regular charge of assault—an information in full form. A most piteous case didDame Weston make of it, softening her voice for thenonce into a shrill tremulous whine, and exciting themingled pity and anger—pity towards herself, angertowards her husband—of the whole female world, piti-ful and indignant as the female world is wont to he onsuch occasions. Every woman in the parish railed atMaster Weston; and poor Master Weston was summonctito attend the bench on the ensuing Saturday, and
. Our village. ard of themwas a complaint from the wife to our magistrate of herhusbands beating her : it was a regular charge of assault—an information in full form. A most piteous case didDame Weston make of it, softening her voice for thenonce into a shrill tremulous whine, and exciting themingled pity and anger—pity towards herself, angertowards her husband—of the whole female world, piti-ful and indignant as the female world is wont to he onsuch occasions. Every woman in the parish railed atMaster Weston; and poor Master Weston was summonctito attend the bench on the ensuing Saturday, and answerthe charge ; and such was the clamour abroad and athome, that the unlucky culprit, terrified at the soundof a warrant and a constable, ran away, and was notheard of for a fortnight. I90 OUK MLLAOK At the end of that time he was discovered, andbrought to the bench ; and Dame Weston again toldher stor\, and, as l)cfore, on the full cr\. She had nowitnesses, and the bruises of which she made complaint. The Bench. Cofyri<^ht 1893 by MaoniilaJt & Co. had disappeared, and there were no women present tomake common cause with the sex. Still, however, thegeneral feeling was against Master \\eston ; and itwould have gone hard with him when he was called in,if a most unexpected witness had not risen up in his THE SIIA^Y 191 favour. His wife had brought in her arms a little girlabout eighteen months old, partly perhaps to move com-passion in her favour ; for a woman with a child in her
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Keywords: ., bookauthorritchieannethackeray1, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890
