Transcript

of

Mr T.W. Windeatt on the Prince of Orange in Exeter, 1881

In Notes on Slips connected to Devonshire, Trans. Devon. Assoc., 1882, Vol XIV, pp. 600-602.

by

W. Pengelly, FRS, FGS etc. (Ed.).

Prepared by Michael Steer

On Tuesday, the 6th of November, 1688, Prince William's army began to advance into country Devon. At Newton Abbot his declaration was solemnly read to the people, and during the two ensuing days he took up his quarters at Ford, the seat of the ancient family of Courtenay. Exeter surrendered at the first, summons, and on the 9th William made his entry in great pomp. With that event as its focus, this article focuses on its author’s elaborate defence from mild criticism by a colleague. The article, from a copy of a rare and much sought-after journal can be downloaded from the Internet Archive. Google has sponsored the digitisation of books from several libraries. These books, on which copyright has expired, are available for free educational and research use, both as individual books and as full collections to aid researchers.

In his Paper entitled The Prince of Orange in Exeter, 1688, read to the Devonshire Association during the meeting at Dawlish, in July, 1881, and printed in the Transactions of that body (xiiL 173-185), Mr. Thomas W. Windeatt, having quoted from Whittle's Diary a passage descriptive of the enthusiasm and energy displayed by an old woman whilst the Prince was riding towards the Deanery at Exeter, says, ''In the British Museum there is a broadside, apparently published at the time, entitled, ' A True and Exact Relation of the Prince of Orange, His publick entrance into Exeter, which gives a detailed account of the Prince's cavalcade, and the order in which it entered the city. This account with the exception of a few words at the commencement and at the close, is almost word for word the same as that given in the pamphlet entitled,  ‘An account of the Expedition of His Highness the Prince of Orange for England,' referred to in my previous paper, and quoted by Mr. Pengelly in his ‘Miscellaneous Devonshire Gleanings’ read at the Torrington meeting, though he omits this very interesting portion of it. It must have been one of these papers to which Whittle refers, and on account of the previous publication of which he refrains from going more into detail, with reference to the manner of the Prince's entry.

"I venture therefore to set out the paper in the British Museum in full, as follows:

"A TRUE AND EXACT RELATION OF THE PRINCE OF ORANGE, HIS PUBLICK ENTRANCE INTO EXETER" (p. 176.)

The "True and Exact Relation" is then given.

It cannot be doubted that ordinary readers would conclude, from the words I have italicised in the foregoing quotation,
1st. That in my paper read at Torrington I had quoted from a pamphlet entitled “An account of the Expedition of His Highness the Prince of Orange for England."
2nd . That I omitted a portion of the said pamphlet.

I propose now to enquire whether these conclusions are in accordance with the facts. 1. The Pamphlet quoted by Mr. Pengelly in his "Miscellaneous Devonshire Gleanings,” read at the Torrington Meeting in 1875.

The following is a copy of the entire Title-page of Colonel Morgan Clifford's pamphlet from which I quoted, and which is now before me.

"A THIRD (Collection of Papers | Relating to the | Present Juncture of Affairs in England ) Viz. |
 "I. The Expedition of the Prince of Orange for | England; giving an Account of the most Remarkable Passages thereof from the Day of | his setting Sail from Holland, to the first Day of this Instant December.
"II. A further Account of the Prince's Army, in | a Letter from Exon, Novemb, 24. |
"III. Three Letters. 1. A Letter from a Jesuit | of Leige, to a Jesuit at Friburg, giving an Account of the happy Progress of Religion in | England, 2. A Letter from Father Petre to | Father La Chese. 3. The Answer of Father La Chese to Father Petre,
"IV. Popish Treaties not to be rely'd on: In a | Letter from a Gentleman at York, to his Friend in the Prince of Orange's Camp. Addressed to | all Members in the next Parliament. 

The Second Edition,

Licensed and Entred according to Order.

London printed, and are to be sold by Richard Janeway in Queen's-head-Court in Pater-noster-Row, 1689.

The pamphlet consists of 38 small quarto pages, and, as the title page shows, contains four tracts, the third being made up of three Letters. The tracts were not stitched together promiscuously, for not only is there no page missing, but the second tract begins on the same page (the 8th) as the first ends; the second ends and the third begins on opposite sides of the same leaf (pages 13 and 14); at the bottom of the 28th page, on which the third ends, the word Popish is printed, and this is the first word of the fourth tract, which begins on the 29th page; and the word "FINIS" is printed at the bottom of the 38th, the last, page. In short, the Pamphlet has lost not even a single word.

It will be seen that the first clause of the title of the first Tract in the Pamphlet from which I quoted - "The Expedition of the Prince of Orange for England" - differs somewhat, though not essentially, from '' An account of the Expedition of His Highness the Prince of Orange for England" – “the title, Mr. Windeatt says, of the Pamphlet he quoted.

2. Did Mr, Pengelly omit a portion of the Pamphlet from which he quoted?

Mr. Windeatt has kindly informed me that the "portion" he alluded to as having been omitted by me, was

“A TRUE AND EXACT RELATION OF THE PRINCE OF ORANGE, HIS PUBLICK ENTRANCE INTO EXETER,"

which is given in full in his Paper {Trans. Devon. Assoc, xiii., 176-7).

I can only say in reply that there is not a single word of that "Relation," or of anything equivalent thereto, in the Pamphlet I used; and that the "Relation" was entirely new to me when I had the pleasure of reading it in Mr. Windeatt's interesting Paper.

In short, I quoted every word of the first Tract in the Pamphlet having the slightest connexion with Devonshire; every word of the second Tract; but not a word of the third or fourth, simply because neither of them contained one word having anything whatever to do with our county.