I am quite sure, now, in my own
mind, that Monmouth was our rightful King. I have heard accounts
of this marriage of Charles the Second from people who were with
him in his wanderings. When Charles the Second died (being
poisoned, some said, by his brother James, who wished to seize
the throne while Monmouth was abroad, unable to claim his rights)
James succeeded to the crown. At the time of which I write he had
been King for about two months. I did not know anything about his
merits as a King; but hearing the name of Monmouth I felt sure,
from the first, that I should hear more of what my father had
told me.
One of the seamen, a sour-looking, pale-faced man, was saying
that Holland was full of talk that the Duke was coming over, to
try for the Kingdom. Another said that it wasn't the Duke of
Monmouth but the Duke of Argyle that was coming, to try, not for
England, but for Scotland. A third said that all this was talk,
for how could a single man, without twenty friends in the world,
get through a cruising fleet? "How could he do anything, even if
he did land?"
"Ah," said another man. "They say that the West is ready to rally
around him. That's what they say."
"Well," said the first, raising his cup. "Here's to King James, I
say. England's had enough of civil troubles." The other men drank
the toast with applause. It is curious to remember how cautious
people were in those troublous days. One could never be sure of
your friend's true opinion.
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