C. Roy ReynoldsAS WE have already seen the scraping up by the police and military of Alexander Bedward and his followers and their hasty conviction and sentencing in April 1921 had alarmed many in the community. A delegation took the issue to the Governor and it provoked much discussion in the Legislative Council.
The result of these initiatives was that days after the convictions, on May 2, 1921 The Gleaner was able to report: "Bedwardites were Freed by Governor On Saturday Last." According to that story following the representations the Attorney-General recommended the granting of a free pardon to all those convicted and "on Friday afternoon His Excellency signed the free pardons and on Saturday the defendants were liberated."
The first batch set free was the 28 women serving time in the General Penitentiary "and they marched through the streets of Kingston attired in their white dresses and turbans. Though they were jeered they appeared quite stoical."
The Gleaner said the women wended their way to August Town "and it seems that only a demolition of the village or its compulsory acquirement can shake the great charm which the Bedward stronghold has got for a large section of the people of the island." When it was made known that the men sent to the St. Catherine District Prison were to arrive by train that Saturday crowds gathered in the vicinity of the Kingston railway station. In an ironic twist it was the same Deputy Inspector General O'Sullivan who had so enthusiastically directed the roundup of the Bedwardites who found himself in charge of crowd control at the station, as it were the leader of a welcoming home party.
The Gleaner reported that the train consisted of two cars in which rode the prisoners as well as the Director of Prisons Mr. B. O'Toole. The entourage was greeted by crowds of friends and supporters of the freed men. Amid loud cheers the men were marched to Barry Street where four electric tramcars stood ready.
Presumably the men were taken to the nearest station to August Town. And as The Gleaner reporter who had ridden a horse into the community shortly after observed, "but for the regrettable absence of Bedward his followers were still unshaken in their faith." Even the Chinese shop in the area was reported as doing brisk business.
Then the reporter went on to describe an encounter with the wife of Alexander Bedward: "I am very pleased to meet you Mrs. Bedward," I said. "So am I," replied Mrs. Bedward. According to the reporter, Mrs. Bedward was a woman who was in her mid-60s and did not appear to share all the intense beliefs of her husband, but when he suggested to her that she try to get him to moderate, she replied that neither she nor the elders interfered in his church work.
But although the reporter admitted that the encounter had been friendly and genial he claimed that the visit brought certain things to his attention which pointed to the need for the Government to pay more serious attention to August Town "and the necessity of dealing with Bedwardism in a firm yet constitutional manner."
He promised to share what he had learnt in another article. The saying that if you kill the head the body will die seems to have been the thinking that dominated in the wake of the unravelling of what amounted to little short of a judicial conspiracy to destroy Bedwardism. Having lost face in the matter the courts now turned its attention to Bedward himself who had remained in prison after his followers had been released.
It was not so much as a lawbreaker now that they sought to get him as much as a dangerous lunatic. At the Half-Way Tree court where his trial took place attempts were made to prove his insanity by questioning his state of mind with respect to an alleged aborted attempt to fly.
He told the court firmly that he had never attempted such a feat. The magistrate then questioned him about whether or not he had told his followers that if you had enough faith, the size of a mustard seed you could fly in the air like a bird.
This Bedward admitted, but reminded the court that the Bible said if you had that dimension of faith you could say to the mountain move, and it would. He then posed the question that if you believed the ability to move mountains why not that you could fly? As to why he did not attempt the feat he said he did not have enough faith.
It was a piece of logical reasoning that the court did appreciate. So since it could not discredit him completely it apparently thought it wise to consign him to the mad house. Problem solved!
Next we shall look at an interview with Bedward conducted by a member of the Board of Visitors of Bellevue Mr. T. M. Martin as reported in The Gleaner of July 6, 1921 and gain further insight into his state of mind.
