London in the Jacobite times, Volume IDoran, Dr. (John)
History
London in the Jacobite times, Volume I
Doran, Dr. (John)
London (England) -- History -- 18th century
On the other hand, there were men who sincerely mourned the queen’s
death. These men were troubled in their walks by the revels at Charing
Cross. There Young Man’s Coffee-house echoed with sounds of rejoicing.
Some of the revellers had been recipients of the most liberal bounty of
the queen, and did not care to conceal their ecstacy. Men circulated
the good news as they rode in carriages which the queen had purchased
for them. At Young Man’s might be seen an officer sharing in the
unseemly joy, whose laced coat, hat and feather, were bought with the
pay of the sovereign, whose arms were on his gorget. People who had
been raised from the lowest degree of gentlemen to riches and honours,
could not hide their gladness. And now, men read with diverse feeling
a reprint, freshly and opportunely issued, of Steele’s famous letter
in the ‘Reader,’ addressed to that awful metropolitan official, the
Sword-bearer of the City Corporation. The writer reminded the dignitary
that, as the Mayor, Walworth, had despatched the rebel Wat Tyler with
a stroke of his dagger, so ‘is it expected of you,’ said Steele, ‘to
cut off the Pretender with that great sword which you bear with so much
calmness, which is always a sign of courage.’ ‘Let me tell you, Sir,’
adds Steele, with exquisite mock gravity, ‘in the present posture of
affairs I think it seems to be expected of you; and I cannot but advise
you, if he should offer to land here (indeed if he should so much as
come up the river), to take the Water Bailiff with you, and cut off his
head. I would not so much, if I were you, as tell him who I was, till I
had done it. He is outlawed, and I stand to it, if the Water Bailiff is
with you, and concurs, you may do it on the Thames; but, if he offers
to land, it is out of all question, you may do it by virtue of your
post, without waiting for orders. It is from this comfort and support
that, in spite of what all the malcontents in the world can say, I
have no manner of fear of the Pretender.’
[Sidenote: _IN PARLIAMENT._]
There were, however, some who had hopes of that luckless prince,
and who looked upon any other who should take the crown which
they considered to be his, by divine right, as a wicked usurper.
Accordingly, the Nonjuring Jacobites and High Church congregations sang
their hymns, in their respective places of worship, to words which had
a harmless ring, but which were really full of treason. One sample is
as good as twenty,――and here it is!――
Confounded be those rebels all
That to usurpers bow,
And make what Gods and Kings they please,
And worship them below!
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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