The Scarlet Pimpernel

The Scarlet Pimpernel

by

Baroness Orczy

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A patron of “The Fisherman’s Rest” and the “political foil” of Mr. Jellyband. Mr. Hempseed is described as educated and respected, especially for his knowledge of scripture, and he cares very little about the revolution or how many aristocrats are killed by the French Republic. Despite Mr. Hempseed’s obvious intelligence, he is “out of his depth” when he tries to argue with Mr. Jellyband, a royalist and anti-revolutionist. This implies that an intelligent argument against the aristocracy simply doesn’t exist—if it did, Hempseed would surely think of it—which reflects Orczy’s own unflinching support of the monarchy.

Mr. Hempseed Quotes in The Scarlet Pimpernel

The The Scarlet Pimpernel quotes below are all either spoken by Mr. Hempseed or refer to Mr. Hempseed. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Social Class and the French Revolution Theme Icon
).
Chapter 2 Quotes

“That’s quite right, Mr. ’Empseed,” retorted Jellyband, "and as I says, what can you ’xpect? There’s all them Frenchy devils over the Channel yonder a murderin’ their king and nobility, and Mr. Pitt and Mr. Fox and Mr. Burke a- fightin’ and a-wranglin’ between them, if we Englishmen should 'low them to go on in their ungodly way. ’Let ’em murder!’ says Mr. Pitt. ‘Stop ’em!’ says Mr. Burke.”

“And let ’em murder, says I, and be demmed to ’em,” said Mr. Hempseed, emphatically, for he had but little liking for his friend Jellyband’s political arguments, wherein he always got out of his depth, and had but little chance for displaying those pearls of wisdom which had earned for him so high a reputation in the neighbourhood and so many free tankards of ale at “The Fisherman’s Rest.”

Related Characters: Mr. Jellyband (speaker), Mr. Hempseed (speaker)
Page Number: 15
Explanation and Analysis:
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Mr. Hempseed Quotes in The Scarlet Pimpernel

The The Scarlet Pimpernel quotes below are all either spoken by Mr. Hempseed or refer to Mr. Hempseed. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Social Class and the French Revolution Theme Icon
).
Chapter 2 Quotes

“That’s quite right, Mr. ’Empseed,” retorted Jellyband, "and as I says, what can you ’xpect? There’s all them Frenchy devils over the Channel yonder a murderin’ their king and nobility, and Mr. Pitt and Mr. Fox and Mr. Burke a- fightin’ and a-wranglin’ between them, if we Englishmen should 'low them to go on in their ungodly way. ’Let ’em murder!’ says Mr. Pitt. ‘Stop ’em!’ says Mr. Burke.”

“And let ’em murder, says I, and be demmed to ’em,” said Mr. Hempseed, emphatically, for he had but little liking for his friend Jellyband’s political arguments, wherein he always got out of his depth, and had but little chance for displaying those pearls of wisdom which had earned for him so high a reputation in the neighbourhood and so many free tankards of ale at “The Fisherman’s Rest.”

Related Characters: Mr. Jellyband (speaker), Mr. Hempseed (speaker)
Page Number: 15
Explanation and Analysis: