The Bradfords
See pages 57, 115 – 117.
“And so, as generally happens, those who have most give least, and those with less somehow make shrift to share” (117). (Anna Frith)
Then there are those who are willing to renounce their dignity and power to help others for little in exchange. For this reason, Mompellion condemns the Bradfords for their hasty exit. Although they themselves may carry the “plague seeds”, they choose to leave aware of the dangers. Despite his exhortation to remain, and despite his reassurance that the “venom of blood” is an opportunity to show love, the Bradfords alone, “slipped out of the church … and were already at the Hall, packing for their flight to Oxfordshire”. (107)
Mompellion tells the colonel: “You may be right. But equally do I believe that the choice you make today is wrong, terribly wrong. If you do this thing, your family’s name will be a hissing in the laneways and the cottages. The people will not forgive you for abandoning them.” (114)
Bradford dismissed his servants and two of the Hancock boys stood guard at the “shuttered and bolted hall”. He did not trust “any of his own people to keep their fellows locked out of their longtime home”.
Comparisons: there are those who exploit the crisis for personal gain: Thomas Putnam (“This man is killing his neighbours for his land”) 87 and Josiah Bont.