Few men ever obtained so great a share of popularity among all ranks and degrees in his own country as did the Bishop, when he protested against the insidious declaration
of King James the Second, and sustained persecution in consequence of the support he had given to the Church of England. Fears were entertained, or apprehensions were industriously circulated, of extremities never contemplated; and the prompt acquittal of the Bishops seems alone to have prevented Cornwall from rising in arms.
A Song was made on the occasion, of which all the exact words, except those of what may be called the burden, were lost, but the whole has recently been restored, modernized, and improved by the Rev. Robert Stephen Hawker, of Whitstone, near Stratton.
The strong sensation excited throughout England, by that decisive act of bigotry, tyranny, and imprudence, on the part of King James the Second, by which he committed the seven Bishops to the Tower, was in no district more manifestly displayed than in Cornwall, notwithstanding the part taken by that county in the Civil War. This was, probably, in a great degree occasioned by sympathy with this respected Cornish gentleman, then Bishop of Bristol. The following Song is said to have resounded in every house, in every highway, and in every street.
A good sword and a trusty hand,
A merry heart and true;
King James’s men shall understand
What Cornish men can do.
And have they fix’d the Where and When?
And shall Trelawny die?