the roads, which were rendered slippery and dangerous by the heavy rain that had fallen in the night, numbers had flocked from the most remote quarters of Sherwood to witness the trial; for Hereward had long been popular in the forest, and was looked upon by the people as the defender of their liberties, ever since he had dared to dispute the boundaries with Sir Geoffrey de Marchmont.

Neither was the fame of the worthy Saxon the only object which drew together such an unusual concourse of people, so much as the enormity of the offence, which was considered the highest, that could be committed against the forest laws, and, compared to which, the murder of a man would have been held lightly, since the latter might have been compounded for by paying a trifling sum. Added to this, no royalhart-proclaimed had been killed within the boundaries of Sherwood Forest, within fifteen years. The last, King Richard had chased from thence into the forest of Barnsdale, in Yorkshire, which, not being recovered, was pro

claimed at Tickell, Doncaster, and in the adjacent neighbourhood, and was eventually killed by Mark the maltster of Mansfield, who had suffered death for the offence. Numbers of the inhabitants remembered the trial of Mark, and, while they communed together with solemn countenances, and many a knowing and mournful shake of the head, the beholder might easily judge, how, among themselves, they had decided the impending fate of the unfortunate Saxon.

The building destined for the trial of Hereward was the same in which the Court of Eyre, or Forest Court, had been held ever since the days of William the Conqueror. It was an ancient edifice, and had probably been used as

place of worship by the Anglo-Saxons, even before they were converted to Christianity; for the rude but defaced images of Woden, Thor, and others of their heathen gods, might even then be traced in the almost shapeless masses of sculpture which filled the various niches.

Although the rude mansion was built of that

hard stone, for the produce of which Mount Sorrell is yet so famous; it had, nevertheless, during a long course of years, undergone many repairs, which might be distinctly traced in its numerous styles of architecture. One or two of the original and truly ancient windows still remained, with their arched frames and zig-zag ornaments, so closely resembling the form of sharks' teeth. The old doorway was also extant, and, in point of architecture, resembled the windows, saving that the external arch was much larger than the inner ones, and retired with a beautiful and vaulted perspective, to the size of the ponderous oaken, and iron-studded door.

The interior of the building consisted of only one large apartment, the roof of which was arched, and supported by short massy columns, that gave a heavy and clumsy look to the fabric. Where the pillars stood, they also threw a deep shadow over the floor of the apartment, only varied by a dull bronzy light, which streamed in through the rich and heavy splen

dour of the painted windows, and chequered the pavement of the hall like a partially lighted forest-path.

There was a gloomy and solemn appearance about the building, which seemed to have fallen upon the spectators; and the half-lighted darkness, that hung over the vaulted and low-browed roof, threw a kind of ominous and awful hue over the thoughtful countenances of the silent audience, so diffusing itself among them, that they had the look of a group of statues, and seemed to become a portion of the shadowy mansion.

In a high chair of state, covered with crimson and cloth of gold, and placed at the upper end of the apartment, sat Sir Geoffrey de Marchmont, as lord chief justice of the Court of Eyre. A table stood at his feet, covered with the same gaudy material, and emblazoned in the centre with a large white hart of silver, which seemed browsing on a tree of ruddy gold. Around this, were seated the writers appointed to keep the records of the Forest-court.

end of the table, and full in front of De Marchmont, stood Hereward the Saxon, guarded by six soldiers, bearing partisans. The remainder of the dais was occupied by agistors, verdurers, wardens, regarders, beadles, foresters, and all the numerous orders of officers, whose duty it was to be present at the court, and report all offences against vert or venison, or any other trespass upon the rights of the forest.

The body of the hall was filled with a mixed multitude, some of whom had business at the court, but the greater portion were assembled out of curiosity, and that love of making a holiday upon every occasion that offers,—a privilege which is still strictly maintained by the hardhanded artizans of the present day.

A few knights loitered about at the upper end of the hall, and the light which fell upon their burnished armour or costly dresses, gave a fine relief to what would otherwise have seemed a heavy picture. A small door opened near to where the chair of state was placed, and gave ingress and egress to the numerous officers,