Crandall was admitted to bail, but being misinformed as to the time of
surrender, he did not appear, his bond was forfeited, and on his return to
Boston he found himself free.
Thus Holmes was left to face his punishment alone. Actuated apparently by
a deep sense of duty toward himself and his God, he refused the help of
friends, and steadfastly awaited his fate. As he lay in prison he suffered
keenly as he thought of his birth and breeding, his name, his worldly
credit, and the humiliation which must come to his wife and children from
his public shame; then, too, he began to fear lest he might not be able to
bear the lash, might flinch or shed tears, and bring contempt on himself
and his religion. Yet when the morning came he was calm and resolute;
refusing food and drink, that he might not be said to be sustained by
liquor, he betook himself to prayer, and when his keeper called him, with
his Bible in his hand, he walked cheerfully to the post. He would have
spoken a few words, but the magistrate ordered the executioner to do his
office quickly, for this fellow would delude the people; then he was
seized and stripped, and as he cried, "Lord, lay not this sin unto their
charge," he received the first blow. [Footnote: _Ill Newes_, pp. 48, 56.]
They gave him thirty lashes with a three-thonged whip, of such horrible
severity that it was many days before he could endure to have his
lacerated body touch the bed, and he rested propped upon his hands and
knees.
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