A letter from a gentleman in the country to his correspondent in the city, concerning the coronation medal, distributed April 11, 1689 Gentleman in the country. 1689 Approx. 11 KB of XML-encoded text transcribed from 2 1-bit group-IV TIFF page images. Text Creation Partnership, Ann Arbor, MI ; Oxford (UK) : 2008-09 (EEBO-TCP Phase 1). A48000 Wing L1392 ESTC R21863 12684244 ocm 12684244 65727 This keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the Early English Books Online Text Creation Partnership. This Phase I text is available for reuse, according to the terms of Creative Commons 0 1.0 Universal . The text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. Early English books online. (EEBO-TCP ; phase 1, no. A48000) Transcribed from: (Early English Books Online ; image set 65727) Images scanned from microfilm: (Early English books, 1641-1700 ; 360:16) A letter from a gentleman in the country to his correspondent in the city, concerning the coronation medal, distributed April 11, 1689 Gentleman in the country. 1 sheet ([2] p.) s.n., [S.l : 1689] Letter dated: April the 16th, 1689. Reproduction of original in Bodleian Library. Created by converting TCP files to TEI P5 using tcp2tei.xsl, TEI @ Oxford. Re-processed by University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. Gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. 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Copies of the texts have been issued variously as SGML (TCP schema; ASCII text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable XML (TCP schema; characters represented either as UTF-8 Unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless XML (TEI P5, characters represented either as UTF-8 Unicode or TEI g elements). Keying and markup guidelines are available at the Text Creation Partnership web site . eng William -- III, -- King of England, 1650-1702 -- Coronation. Mary -- II, -- Queen of England, 1662-1694 -- Coronation. Coronations -- England -- Collectibles. Broadsides -- England -- 17th century. 2007-01 TCP Assigned for keying and markup 2007-02 Apex CoVantage Keyed and coded from ProQuest page images 2007-03 Jonathan Blaney Sampled and proofread 2007-03 Jonathan Blaney Text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-02 pfs Batch review (QC) and XML conversion A LETTER from a Gentleman in the Country to his Correspondent in the City , concerning the Coronation Medal , distributed April 11. 1689. SIR , YOU have obliged me very much by the account you gave me of the Coronation : But I have had some Remarques from another hand , concerning the Truth of which I suspend my Judgment till you inform me better . I shall give you the Relation in the very words , as I received it . — There was one thing which much afflicted all true English-men , because it is believed it never hapened since William the Conqueror's time ; which was , that a King and Queen of England should make their Procession at the Coronation through a treble Rank of Armed Horse and Foot all Foreigners . It grieved us all to see , that for want of some Interpreters betwixt them and the Multitude , which usually press upon such Occasions , an infinite of the poor English , even well wishers to the new King and Queen , were not only rudely treated with sterne Countenances and Dutch Curses , but continually pushed back with the Eut-ends of the Soldiers Musquets , or the Serjeans Halbards , and sometimes received broken Heads , or as dangerous Bruises if they did but endeavour to get nearer . I saw my self many Persons knocked and pushed upon the Breast with the Troopers Pistols , and pricked with their Swords for endeavouring to couch under the Horses heads ; and when any one offered to get nearer through the Ranks of Horsemen , where they found Protection at former Coronations by their own Country-men ; these rude Strangers were sure to check their Horses and make them Curvete or turn round , which could not be without the hazard of breaking their Legs , or Bruising those that were in the way . I need not mention the Tossing and Pushing Men and Women from Place to Place , and Draging them through the Kennels , more like Slaves , nay Doggs , then Christians , which made many Spectators Sigh and pitty the Condition of several Hundreds whom they saw so used : Whilst others were not afraid to say , what most I believe thought , that this was but the beginning , and a light matter in comparison of what the whole Body of the English Nation ( who are not now it seems to be Confided in ) must suffer under these new Lord-Danes before the King can be so settled in his Throne that he may safely dismiss his Foreign Force ; nay some they say had their Skulls broken and dy'd in the Crowd , though this is endeavoured to be stifled . — Neither do you mention the unlucky Qualm my Correspondent tells me the King had ; nor the Duke of Norfolk's fall from his Horse , when he Ushered in the Champion , which were something Ominous . The Gold Medal you sent me , the true meaning of which you desire me to explain , gave me and some Friends of mine no small Diversion . And to deal plainly with you , I think the Contriver of it hath done their Majesties little Service . I need not tell you that the custom of Stamping Medals ( upon whose Reverses the Inaugurations , Victories , or great Acheivements of Princes or Generals , were represented either expresly or by some Emblem ) is as old as the first Coynage of Money by the Grecians and Romans . Nor that in the last Century and this they have been Improved , and many Ingenious Devices invented suitable to the Noble Enterprises which were by those means to be perpetuated ; and are to be found in the Repositories of Princes , or published by Luchins and others on that subject . Insomuch , that we find even John of Leyden after he had gotten entire possession of Munster , and filled it with his Crew of Anabaptists , notwithstanding his pretended Sanctity and Mortification , Coyned several Medals , which were indeed very Ominous to him ; for this Mushrum King , sprung from Holland , continued not above six Months , before he was hung up in an Iron-Cage , with some of his Complices , upon the top of a Tower in Munster . I might give you various Instances of Auspicious and Inaugural Medals , but that I intend this only as a Letter . Therefore I shall proceed to the present Medal , which , of what nature it will be , time alone must shew ; yet I foresee it will give great occasion to the Maligners of our new Crowned King and Queen to pass their malicious Censures on it . One of my Friends viewing the two Faces of the King and Queen , said , That such Conjunctions in Medals , had oftentimes proved Unfortunate ; for he had , not long since , by him the Medal made for the two Dewitts , which much resembled this , if the Head Attire had not been different , whose inhuman Buchery by the Mobilee of Amsterdam , gave the very first rise to the then blooming Prince of Orange's Greatness : And all the World ( says he ) knows that King Phillip and Queen Mary of England , and King Henry and Queen Mary of Scotland , whose Faces and Names were joyned in their Coyns and Medals , were not very Fortunate . But I told him , since the Parliament had joyned them in the Sovereignty , they could not be dis-joyned in their Coyn , and I doubted not but their Fortunes would be alike , good or bad . When I received the Reverse , I was heated into an Indignation that any person should be so indiscreet , as to choose an Emblem upon such an occasion , so subject to mis-interpretation as this would be . For as Julius Caesar said to his Wife Calphurnia , That it was not enough that she should be Innocent , but that she ought to be so cautious in all her actions , that she should be free even from Suspicion ; so ought it to be with Emblems and Medals ; they ought to signifie and express so clearly , the Worth and Greatness of those Princes Actions which they Represent , that no sinister Interpretations might be made of them . And this Indignation was increased by the Reflection which a Gentleman made , who first look'd upon the Reverse with me . This Gentleman seeing a Chariot , but not understanding the Latine Inscription , and having heard the Town talk of Tullia , who instigated her Husband Tarquinius to kill her Father Servius Tullius , King of the Romans , that he might succeed him in the Throne , and , as Livy says , Caused her Chariot to be driven over his mangled Body ; cried out , Is this Tullia 's Chariot ? This I say shock'd me , and rais'd my anger against the Contriver , who had chosen so ill an Emblem , which upon so superficial a view , brought such an odious History into Mens minds . Another by-stander seeing the Figure represented Phaeton , whom the Poets feign to have obtained leave of his Father Phoebus to guide his Chariot for one day , and who by his want of skill to govern the Fiery Horses , had like to have set the World on Fire , had not Jupiter struck him dead with a Thunder-bolt ; Exclaimed against the Emblem as full of ill Omens , and said , That the People knowing that this King and Queen had , not by Permission , but by Violence , Ascended their Fathers Throne , would look upon this as his Chariot which they drive , and interpreted Jupiter's Thunder-bolt as a Sign of some Judgment of God impending over our Gracious Prince , for this , which he called , An unnatural Vsurpation . This made my Cheeks and Ears to burn , and I told them , they were both extreamly wide of the Inventors meaning . For by Phaeton he meant King James , who by Mis-government had endangered the Destruction of this Kingdom , and that God having Compassion on his Church and People , had struck Him from His Regal Seat. But another Gentleman then present said , That although he verily believed that was the Contrivers meaning , yet there were so many Exceptions to the congruity of that Fable with the Cicumstances of King James's Reign , that he might as well have offered the War of the Gyants against Jupiter , as this , to represent the Inaugural Glory of our King and Queen , which ought to have been the only Subject to be considered . He said , that Phaeton could never represent King James ; since the Throne or Chariot belonged solely to Him , as Hereditary Lawful King ; neither could it be said that He had asked any ones leave to Guide it . But that all Men knew an Vsurper was the Moral of Phaeton in the Fable , and an Vsurper in his Fathers Reign . Moreover ( said he ) If King JAMES must be Phaeton , then King William must be Jupiter that struck Him out of His Chariot , or Phoebus that re-assumed it after he had been Thunder-struck ; and how disagreeable this was to the whole Scope of the Fable , was obvious to every School-boy that read Ovid's Metamorphosis . Nay , he further affirmed ; That this Emblem seems to Presage King JAMES's Returning to His Throne again , and if so , it would be congruous in almost all its Curcumstances . I must confess Sir , I could not heartily contradict this Gentleman ; but wish'd the Author had either consulted Books or Men , for a more significant and unexceptionable Emblem . But since he has been so Unfortunate , if not Malicious , if you know the Person , advise him to get himself included in the Act of Indempnity ; it being a Crime , equal to the Counterfeiting the King's Coyn , to contrive a Coronation Emblem that gives such occasion of Censure and Reflection to the Male-contents , and Maligners of King William , our present Phoebus , from whom we expect a Wonderful Deliverance . Sir , I am , Yours . April the 16th . 1689.