And woe betide the peasant who protested! He would be lucky to escape with a few blows across the face from his lord's riding whip, for a noble landowner was also his peasant's judge and could punish him as he pleased.

opinions which […] no clergyman could have avowed without imminent risk of being stripped of his gown

I could make out his image darkly.

He later told CW that he had been v& or vanned by the police, and he expressed surprise that the police showed him detailed transcripts of his conversations.