Great Britain -- Politics and government -- 1702-1714
It would also to the eternal Shame and Disappointment of the _Atalantic
Jacobites_, (if I may so call them) necessarily follow, that the
History of their Conduct should come in at the same time to be
considered, _viz._ How just the contrary to all this, and against the
very Nature of the Thing they were obliged, even among the very first
of their Transactings in their Publick Station, as Members of the great
Council aforesaid, to appear in a Publick Address to the Soveraign of
the Country, in which they were brought in recognizing Her just Title
to Reign, (which they in their Hearts abhorr'd) promising to Stand by
and Defend that Title with all their Might, (which they had hoped to
see overthrown) engaging to assist Her to the utmost, against that very
pretending Claimant as above, (who they Reverence as their lawful
Prince) and to carry on the War with Vigour against the _Tartarian_
Emperor (that very Prince on whose Power they depended for the carrying
on their Designs).
Had any _British_-Man of Sense, that understands the Language of the
Countenance, but seen the Astonishment, the Chagrin, the Vexation and
Anguish of Soul, that appear'd on the Faces of these _Atalantic_
Noblemen, at this surprizing Event; how they gnashed their Teeth for
Anger, and curst the Hour that ever they were Members of this grand
Council; how they Bann'd, (an _Atalantis_ Word used there, for what we
call Swearing and Damning in our Country;) how they raged at
_Greenwiccio_, and the _Lord of the Isles_, who they said had Betray'd
them; and how strangely they look'd, upon the solemn Occasion of
presenting this Address to their Soveraign: I say, could their
Countenances but have been read by any in our Country, they would have
taken them for Furies rather than Men, or for Men under some Frenzy,
ridden with the Night-Mare, or scared with some Apparition.
It was not less odd, to see the Conduct of _Greeniccio_; for tho' he
had not less Mischief in his Heart, yet it was of another Kind; and
tho' he had not the same View of the Succession, nor perhaps was
directly in the _Tartarian_ Interest, and therefore shew'd no Pity,
or Sympathy with the Mortifications of the other, yet he met with
Disappointments equally perplexing, and which made him heartily repent
the length he had gone; but as it was in his Nature to be rash, it was
impossible to prevent his being disappointed almost in every Thing he
went about: For it is in _Atalantis Major_ just as it is in other Parts
of the World, _viz._ That rash headstrong unthinking Tempers, generally
precipitate themselves into innumerable Mischiefs, which Prudence and
Patience would evite and prevent; and also, that these furious rash
People, as they are hot and impatient under those Mischiefs when they
are surprised with them, so they are not always the best able to
extricate and deliver themselves.
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