His name was Humphrey—Humphrey Marlow. We meet him in Mark
Twain’s book The Prince and the Pauper. The story features King Edward VI as a
boy who changes places with Tom Canty, a pauper who looks exactly like him.
While the beggar boy finds himself witness to the folly, sycophancy, and pomp
of the court, the prince is appalled at the poverty that was on the other side
of the coin in 16th-century
But back to Humphrey.
Poor Humphrey. He came in to the “prince” and dropped to one knee. Tom sat still and contemplated him soberly for a moment. Then he said, “Rise, lad. Who art thou? What wouldst have?”
The boy rose and stood at graceful ease, but with an aspect of concern in his face. He said, “Of a surety thou must remember me, my lord. I am thy whipping boy.”
“My whipping boy?”
“The same, your Grace. I am Humphrey—Humphrey Marlow.”
All of this means nothing to Tom so he pretends that his memory has failed and asks Humphrey to refresh it.
“‘Tis matter of small weight, my liege, yet will I touch upon it an’ it please your Grace. Two days gone by, when your Majesty faulted thrice in your Greek in the morning lessons—dost remember it?”
“Y-e-s—methinks I do.”
It wasn’t much of a lie, Tom thought. If he’d have “meddled with” Greek at all, he’d have “faulted . . . forty times.”
“Yes, I do recall it now; go on.”
“The master, being wroth with what he termed such slovenly and doltish work, did promise that he would soundly whip me for it, and—”
“‘Whip thee!’ said Tom, astonished out of his presence of mind. ‘Why should he whip thee for faults of mine?’”
“Ah, your Grace forgetteth again. He always scourgeth me when thou dost fail in thy lessons.”
“True, true—I had forgot.”
Tom couldn’t believe it. He had a whipping boy—someone to take his punishment.
Can you not feel Tom’s awe when you read of what Christ has done for you?
“Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, . . . he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities” (Isaiah 53:5).
Like Tom, I am “astonished out” of my presence of mind!