Henry Smeaton: A Jacobite Story of the Reign of George the First.James, G. P. R. (George Payne Rainsford)
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Henry Smeaton: A Jacobite Story of the Reign of George the First.
James, G. P. R. (George Payne Rainsford)
Jacobite Rebellion, 1715 -- Fiction
Transcriber's Notes:
1. Page scan source: Google Books
https://books.google.com/books?id=YPdLAAAAcAAJ
(the Bavarian State Library)
2. The diphthong oe is represented by [oe].
HENRY SMEATON.
Paris.--Printed by E. Brière, rue Sainte-Anne, 55.
HENRY SMEATON;
A JACOBITE STORY
OF
THE REIGN OF GEORGE THE FIRST.
BY G. P. R. JAMES.
AUTHOR OF "THE FORGERY," "THE WOODMAN," "THE OLD OAK CHEST,"
ETC., ETC.
PARIS,
A. AND W. GALIGNANI AND CO., BAUDRY'S EUROPEAN LIBRARY,
RUE VIVIENNE, N° 18. QUAI MALAQUAIS, N° 3.
1851.
HENRY SMEATON;
A JACOBITE STORY OF THE REIGN OF GEORGE THE FIRST.
BY G. P. R. JAMES.
CHAPTER I.
By the side of the large piece of water in the middle of St. James's
Square--
"There is no large piece of water in St. James's Square. It is a very
small one."
But there was at the time I speak of, namely, the year 1715; and if
you will allow me to go on, you shall hear all about it.
By the side of the large piece of water in St. James's Square, looking
at the playing of the fountain, (which was afterwards congealed into a
great ugly statue,) and watching the amusements of a gay boy and girl,
who had come out of one of the houses--I think it was Lord Bathurst's,
and were rowing about in the pleasure-boat on the water, stood a man
of some six or seven and twenty years of age, dressed in a garb which
did not very well indicate his profession, although the distinctions
of costume were in those days somewhat closely attended to. His
garments, of a sober colour, were very plain, but very good. Especial
care seemed to have been taken to avoid every thing in the least
degree singular, or which could attract attention; and it was more
easy to say what the wearer was not, than what he was. He was not a
Presbyterian minister, although the cut and colouring of his clothing
might have led one to believe that he was so; for he wore a sword. The
same mark showed that he was not an artisan, but did not so precisely
prove that he was not a trader; for more than one shop-keeper in those
days assumed the distinctive mark of a higher class when he got from
behind his counter and went into a part of the town where he was not
known. Yet, had he been one of this butterfly tribe, the rest of his
apparel would have seemed more in accordance with his assumed rank.
He was not a courtier; for where was the gold, and the lace, and the
embroidery? He was not a physician; for there was no red roquelaure,
no gold-headed cane; and who could pretend to call himself doctor
without such appendages?
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