Page:Robert Barr - Lord Stranleigh Philanthropist.djvu/253

 work, but battened on the sufferings and toil of others. Here followed a drastic picture of the men in the stocks, for, as Stranleigh now suspected, Blake, in his over-zeal, had filled up all the stocks to make the sight more impressive, bribing the men with unlimited beer to such an extent that most of them had fallen asleep, which apparently made the unaccustomed London reporters believe they had fainted, or had become comatose through torture, for the description of their swollen ankles and distorted faces was certainly enough to shock humanity.

Next day England rang with the news, and for once Stranleigh had roused the country from end to end. The third day he was arrested, and it required all the legal ability of his defenders to persuade the Court to accept bail. The great pulsing hearts of the public beat in unison on this matter, and the victims at once became the heroes of the land. Each entered a civil suit for damages, and in no case was the verdict lees than a thousand pounds. One judge expressed his regret that he was unable to put Stranleigh himself in the stocks for at least a month. Practically the whole Press fell a victim to the slavery scare, although the comments of foreign journals showed that this was a craze which cut two ways. In these