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Anecdotes of the Manners and Customs of London during the Eighteenth Century; Vol. 2 (of 2): Including the Charities, Depravities, Dresses, and Amusements etc.Malcolm, James Peller

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Anecdotes of the Manners and Customs of London during the Eighteenth Century; Vol. 2 (of 2): Including the Charities, Depravities, Dresses, and Amusements etc.

Name: Anecdotes of the Manners and Customs of London during the Eighteenth Century; Vol. 2 (of 2): Including the Charities, Depravities, Dresses, and Amusements etc.
Author: Malcolm, James Peller

Malcolm, James Peller

London (England) -- Social life and customs -- 18th century

It is by no means necessary to trace the effects of the several balls
fired upon this occasion; it will be quite enough to add that the
innocent alone suffered.

To conclude the eventful story of poor Allen; his remains were
deposited in the church-yard of St. Mary Newington, Surrey, where
_political_ friends honoured his memory with a handsome, if not a
superb monument, thus inscribed:

     North side:

                       "Sacred to the memory of
                            WILLIAM ALLEN,
              An Englishman of unspotted life and amiable
                             disposition,
          Who was inhumanly murdered near St. George's-fields,
          the 10th day of May, 1768, by the Scottish
          detachment from the army. His disconsolate
          parents, inhabitants of this parish, caused this
          tomb to be erected to an only son, lost to them
          and to the world, in his 20th year, as a monument
          of his virtues and their affection!"

     South side:

     "O disembody'd Soul! most rudely driven
     From this low orb (our sinful seat) to Heaven;
     While filial piety can please the ear,
     Thy name will still occur, for ever dear:
     This very spot, now humaniz'd, shall crave
     From all a tear of pity on thy grave.
     O flow'r of flow'rs! which we shall see no more, }
     No kind returning Spring can thee restore:       }
     Thy loss thy hapless countrymen deplore."        }

     East side:

     "O earth! cover not thou my blood. Job xvi. 18."

     West side:

     "Take away the wicked from before the King, and his throne
     shall be established in righteousness. Prov. xxiii. 5."

The unwarrantable inferences of the above inscription, and the spirit
which dictated the exposure of it, removes the compassion that
posterity would otherwise have felt for the parents of the innocent
youth, whose situation was certainly not more pitiable than that of
the relatives of the other persons killed on the same day. If we had
a single doubt that the senior Allen became a tool of party after
perusing the epitaph, the petition which he put into the King's own
hands on the 5th of October will prove it beyond dispute. His cries for
vengeance proceeded not from a broken spirit; such would have forgiven
mankind long before _a year and three months_ had elapsed.


     "To his MAJESTY.

     "The humble Petition of William Allen, the disconsolate
      father of William Allen, who was barbarously murdered on the
      10th of May, 1768.

     "Most gracious Sovereign,

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Anecdotes of the Manners and Customs of London during the Eighteenth Century; Vol. 2 (of 2): Including the Charities, Depravities, Dresses, and Amusements etc.

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