I request to know
what that charge is, and upon what authority I am forcibly detained to
reply to it?'
'The charge, Mr. Waverley, I grieve to say, is of a very high nature,
and affects your character both as a soldier and a subject. In the
former capacity, you are charged with spreading mutiny and rebellion
among the men you commanded, and setting them the example of desertion,
by prolonging your own absence from the regiment, contrary to the
express orders of your commanding-officer. The civil crime of which you
stand accused is that of high treason, and levying war against the king,
the highest delinquency of which a subject can be guilty.'
'And by what authority am I detained to reply to such heinous
calumnies?'
'By one which you must not dispute, nor I disobey.'
He handed to Waverley a warrant from the Supreme Criminal Court of
Scotland, in full form, for apprehending and securing the person of
Edward Waverley, Esq., suspected of treasonable practices and other high
crimes and misdemeanours.
The astonishment which Waverley expressed at this communication was
imputed by Major Melville to conscious guilt, while Mr. Morton was
rather disposed to construe it into the surprise of innocence unjustly
suspected.
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