The Revolution in Tanner's LaneWhite, William Hale
General
The Revolution in Tanner's Lane
White, William Hale
England -- Fiction; Religious fiction
day, she knew all his thoughts and read all his books. Neither of them
ever went to church. They were not atheists, nor had they entirely
pushed aside the religious questions which torment men’s minds. They
believed in what they called a Supreme Being, whom they thought to be
just and good; but they went no further. They were revolutionary, and
when Jean joined the Friends of the People, he and the Major and one
other man became a kind of interior secret committee, which really
directed the affairs of the branch. Companions they had none, except the
Major and one or two compatriots; but they were drawn to Zachariah, and
Zachariah was drawn to them, very soon after he became a member of the
Society. The first time he went to Kent’s Court with Jean was one night
after a meeting. The two walked home together, and Zachariah turned in
for an hour, as it was but ten o’clock. There had been a grand
thanksgiving at St. Paul’s that day. The Prince Regent had returned
thanks to Almighty God for the restoration of peace. The Houses of
Parliament were there, with the Foreign Ambassadors, the City
Corporation, the Duke of Wellington, Field-Marshal Blucher, peeresses,
and society generally. The Royal Dukes, Sussex, Kent, York, and
Gloucester, were each drawn by six horses and escorted by a separate
party of the Guards. It took eight horses to drag the Prince himself to
divine service, and he, too, was encompassed by soldiers. Arrived at the
cathedral, he was marshalled to a kind of pew surmounted by a lofty
crimson-and-gold canopy. There he sat alone, worshipped his Creator, and
listened to a sermon by the Bishop of Chester. Neither Jean nor Pauline
troubled themselves to go out, and indeed it would not have been of much
use if they had tried; for it was by no means certain that Almighty God,
who had been so kind as to get rid of Napoleon, would not permit a row in
the streets. Consequently, every avenue which led to the line of the
procession was strictly blocked. They heard the music from a distance,
and although they both hated Bonaparte, it had not a pleasant sound in
their ears. It was the sound of triumph over Frenchmen, and,
furthermore, with all their dislike to the tyrant, they were proud of his
genius.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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