--"If the laws will demand
my hand, the executioner may get it off as he best can. If the king
leaves it where it is, it may chance to do him better service."
"Vera noble--vera grand, indeed, my lord," said Sir Mungo; "it is
pleasant to see a brave man suffer. This fallow whom I spoke of--This
Tubbs, or Stubbs, or whatever the plebeian was called, came forward as
bold as an emperor, and said to the people, 'Good friends, I come to
leave here the hand of a true Englishman,' and clapped it on the
dressing-block with as much ease as if he had laid it on his
sweetheart's shoulder; whereupon Derrick the hangman, adjusting, d'ye
mind me, the edge of his cleaver on the very joint, hit it with the
mallet with such force, that the hand flew off as far from the owner
as a gauntlet which the challenger casts down in the tilt-yard. Well,
sir, Stubbs, or Tubbs, lost no whit of countenance, until the fallow
clapped the hissing-hot iron on his raw stump. My lord, it fizzed like
a rasher of bacon, and the fallow set up an elritch screech, which
made some think his courage was abated; but not a whit, for he plucked
off his hat with his left hand, and waved it, crying, 'God save the
Queen, and confound all evil counsellors!' The people gave him three
cheers, which he deserved for his stout heart; and, truly, I hope to
see your lordship suffer with the same magnanimity.
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