King James was attended in this expedition by several noble personages. His Majesty landed at Kinsale amid the loudest cheers, and was warmly received and welcomed by all descriptions, from the peer to the peasant, with the greatest joy and enthusiasm. Here, in pursuance to the instructions given to Tyrconnel, he was in readiness on the beach to receive his royal master, where he knelt as the king approached; who instantly upraised him, and affectionately embraced his faithful viceroy; and instantly set off in his travelling carriage for his good city of Dublin, accompanied by the Dukes of Berwick, Albemarle, and Tyrconnel.
Sir Patricius Placebo, from the very moment of the announcement of the intended arrival of his much loved sovereign at Kinsale, was constantly on the qui vive, considering himself, if not the locum tenens, at least the Lord Constable of his vice-regal lord, and spared no pains to make every meet and solemn preparation to receive the right royal Stuart into his loyal city of Dublin.
"Yes, yes, my lady Duchess," observed Sir Patricius Placebo one morning, while at breakfast, "we will indeed receive our king right royally, more majorum—ha, ha, ha! Certes we shall, my Lady! with no lack whatever of respect, and albeit with no deficit of heart!—there, in sooth, no failing was ever yet found in an Irishman; although I asseverate it, who, pardie, ought not, my Lady: for
DOSS MOI, TANE STIGMEN!
as indeed the learned, great, and renowned Archimedes said of old. And I will "do a deed"—not "without a name" however; for this moment I shall fly to old Cormac, whom I shall adventure to appoint and depute, in the absence of my superior, as the vice-regal poet laureat. Next I will post to Ulster King at Arms; ay, and shall advise and give him hints and innuendos of far more value and importance than all the gilt tinsel and crimson silk which surround his brow. I shall admonish him, and his tributaries and gallant pursuivants, one and all, decorously to furbish their tabards, and to hire, beg, borrow, or steal stately palfreys, to bear the herald king and suite, to meet and receive their lawful and beloved king upon his honoured entrance into his loyal and ancient city of Eblana, vulgo dicta Dublin. Then will I hie me to the Commander (pro tempore) of the Forces, and tell him of the programme which I have planned for the king's entré. And next, noble Lady, returning to this His Majesty's royal Castle, I shall give sage and precautionary hints and instructions to all the state battle-axe guards, state kettle-drums and trumpets, and so forth:—
-------------------------------"trumpeters, With brazen din blast ye the city's ear; Make mingle with our rattling tambourines; That heaven and earth may strike their sounds together, Applauding our approach!"
Ha, ha, ha! I think, my lady Duchess, we shall get on vastly well—vastly well indeed, and not only receive the applause of my vice-regal lord, but perchance that also of my mighty monarch."
The Duchess smiled. "I doubt not," said her Grace, "that all matters shall go on well, te duce. But Sir Patricius you are, (it were in vain to deny it,) you are an enthusiast!"
"Well, well, my lady Duchess, I shall not gainsay it. Perchance, your Grace, I am an enthusiast; and after all, my Lady, I do not see, constituted as this cold and phlegmatic planet of ours is, I see, really, after all, no very great harm in this said enthusiasm, if indeed it doth not degenerate into bigotry of politics or religious rancour; and therefore, when my king doth come, my tongue must utter the loyal inditings of my heart."