The Adventures of Roderick Random

A Plan for a New Life

As the two often confer upon their mutual affairs and interchange advice, a thousand different projects are formed, only to appear impracticable upon further canvassing. They would gladly go to service, but who would take them in without recommendation? At length an expedient occurs to the lady, which she intends to lay hold of: with the first money she earns she will procure the homely garb of a country wench, travel to some village a good distance from town, and come up in a waggon as a fresh girl for service, by which means she may be provided for in a manner much more suitable to her inclination than her present way of life.

KAPITEL XXIII.

The chapter chronicles Miss Williams’ encounter with a bailiff, her imprisonment in the Marshalsea, her eventual release, and her detailed account of her fall from prosperity into prostitution, concluding with her determination to abandon that way of life.

Miss Williams Interrupted by a Bailiff

The narrator’s fellow-lodger Miss Williams is interrupted by a bailiff and his men who burst into the lodging with a writ for her arrest. The bailiff informs her she must come with him, and his followers handle her roughly. The narrator becomes incensed and reaches for a poker to defend her, but Miss Williams calmly begs him not to use violence on her behalf. She examines the writ and declares she is not the person named in it. The bailiff insists they will prove her identity and asks whether she prefers to be taken to his house or to jail. She chooses his house over a common jail, but when she admits her poverty, he calls a coach to take her directly to the Marshalsea. Before departing, Miss Williams tells the narrator not to worry, for she knows how to extricate herself from this difficulty and perhaps gain something by the occasion. Despite being puzzled by her discourse, the narrator offers to accompany her to prison, and after much entreaty, she accepts.

Carried to the Marshalsea

Upon arriving at the Marshalsea, the bailiff presents the writ to the turnkey, who immediately recognizes the name Elizabeth Cary and exclaims how glad he is to see his old acquaintance. However, when he actually observes Miss Williams’ face, he starts back in surprise, questioning who she is. The bailiff insists she is indeed Elizabeth Cary, but the turnkey declares he will be hanged if this is Elizabeth Cary and not someone else entirely. Miss Williams points out that the bailiff might have saved them both trouble had he taken her word at first. The bailiff states he requires further evidence of her identity before they part. Miss Williams responds that he shall have further evidence, to his cost. They retire to the lodge, where she writes a note to two acquaintances and requests the narrator to fetch them.

Proof of Identity

The narrator finds Miss Williams’ two acquaintances together at a house in Brydges Street, Drury Lane. They accompany him back in a hackney-coach without hesitation, delighted at the prospect of seeing a bailiff punished. Upon entering the lodge, they embrace Miss Williams affectionately by the name of Nancy Williams and ask how long she has been arrested. They offer to swear before a justice of peace that she is not the person mentioned in the writ, having all known the actual Elizabeth Cary. The bailiff, now convinced of his mistake, declines their offer to swear, saying no harm has been done and suggesting he treat them to another bottle before they part as friends. Miss Williams indignantly refuses this meager recompense, declaring it no compensation for the damage to her character and health from being wrongfully dragged to jail. She warns that at this rate, no innocent person is safe when an officer of justice may injure and oppress through malice, pique, or mistake, and that she knows how to procure redress. The bailiff, finding himself dealing with someone who will not be imposed upon, becomes sullen and perplexed, cursing their landlady for misinforming him.