ELIZABETH BUNYAN, encouraged her to make another effort before the judges left the town. She accordingly determined to try once more to gain some chance, however trifling, for her husband. It was in the golden flush of a July morning, when she ventured into the presence of the two judges, who sat in the quaint old " Swan Chamber" -the best room in the best inn-with numerous magistrates and gentry of the county. It was as deeply affecting a scene as it was a picturesque one. The windows commanded a view of the gaol where Bunyan was confined, and which stood on the Bedford bridge, the waters flowing past ; and within the room the grouping was stirring and varied,- the constables, the gentry, the magistrates, the lookers-on, who lounged idly in and out, and the two Judges, in their scarlet and ermine robes, the one so merciful and lenient, the other so coarse and pitiless. " With abashed face and trembling heart," Elizabeth Bunyan advanced into the room ; but trembling and abashed as she was, she did not lack spirit or courage to stand forward as the advocate of the persecuted Puritan. It was a bold experiment, for it might draw down vengeance on herself, or it might but involve her husband in deeper difficulties; yet she was not deterred, for her woman's heart and trust were strong within her. The mild countenance of Sir Matthew Hale, and his former kind manner, induced her to address her- self to him first. 22
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