Mr. Pollexfen was at one and the same time right and wrong - a
condition much more common than is generally supposed.

He was right in his indifferently expressed thought that a man whose
mien and words could daunt such a lord of terror as Jeffreys, should
by the dominance of his nature be able to fashion himself a
considerable destiny. He was wrong - though justifiably so - in his
assumption that Peter Blood must hang.

I have said that the tribulations with which he was visited as a
result of his errand of mercy to Oglethorpe's Farm contained -
although as yet he did not perceive it, perhaps - two sources of
thankfulness: one that he was tried at all; the other that his trial
took place on the 19th of September. Until the 18th, the sentences
passed by the court of the Lords Commissioners had been carried out
literally and expeditiously. But on the morning of the 19th there
arrived at Taunton a courier from Lord Sunderland, the Secretary of
State, with a letter for Lord Jeffreys wherein he was informed that
His Majesty had been graciously pleased to command that eleven
hundred rebels should be furnished for transportation to some of His
Majesty's southern plantations, Jamaica, Barbados, or any of the
Leeward Islands.

You are not to suppose that this command was dictated by any sense
of mercy. Lord Churchill was no more than just when he spoke of the
King's heart as being as insensible as marble. It had been realized
that in these wholesale hangings there was taking place a reckless
waste of valuable material. Slaves were urgently required in the
plantations, and a healthy, vigorous man could be reckoned worth at