At the very time when the rebels were taking possession of the town, the vicar, of whose attachment to the House of Brunswick we have spoken, happened to be engaged on his duties in the church, and he seized the opportunity of reading prayers for King George and the royal family. For this display of zeal and courage, he was made Warden of Manchester, and subsequently Bishop of Chester.
No molestation or interruption were offered by the rebels, but when the Reverend Mr. Paul, the new chaplain of the regiment, heard of the circumstance, he begged General Forster to order the troops to attend prayers at the church forthwith.
Within half an hour after Mr. Peploe had quitted it, the church was entirely filled by the rebel soldiers. Captain Wogan, Captain Shaftoe, and most of the officers were present.
While the bell was ringing to summon this second congregation, Mr. Paul took the prayer-book, just used by the vicar, and erased the name of King George, substituting for it the name of King James. And in the prayer for the royal family, he scratched out the name of the Princess Sophia, and introduced that of Queen Mary of Modena.
Habited in a blue coat, wearing a long wig, and having a sword by his side, this stout church militant proceeded to the reading-desk, and in tones quite as fervent as those of the vicar prayed for the Pretender and his mother. Had James the Third come to the throne, no doubt Mr. Paul would have been rewarded with a bishopric.
Most of the young gentlemen troopers found capital quarters in the Fishergate and Friargate, and as a great number of tea-parties were given that evening, to which they were bidden, they had an opportunity of comparing the belles of Preston with those of Lancaster.
Till then they had believed it impossible that lovelier girls could be found than those they had just quitted. Now they confessed their mistake.
That morning the inconstant youths tore themselves away distractedly from their Lancaster loves, but at night an entire change had taken place in their sentiments, and they retired to rest deeply enamoured of the Preston girls.