[ Roger Kenyon of Peel Hall, (GreaterLancs; his son George Kenyon. ] Annotations by an outraged Jacobite Tory, defending James II, fulminating against the 'usurper' William of Orange, in 2- volume: 'State Trials' and 'a Farther Collection'.

The first of the two works in the present volume bears on its title-page the ownership signature of 'Ll: Kenyon'. This is either Lloyd Kenyon (1732-1802), 1st Baron Kenyon, successively Master of the Rolls and Attorney General, or (less likely) his father Lloyd Kenyon of Gredington, Hanmer, Flint. The volume comes from the library of George Kenyon of Peel Hall (uncle and father-in-law of Lord Kenyon) and the annotations it contains are either by George Kenyon himself or (more likely given the handwriting) his father Roger Kenyon. For the two men, central figures in Lancashire Toryism, see their entries in the History of Parliament. The volume consists, within a contemporary calf binding, of the following two volumes. ONE: 'State Tracts: Being a Collection of several Treatises Relating to the Government. Privately Printed in the Reign of K. Charles II.' (London, [no printer] Printed in the Year 1693.' [4] + 468pp., folio. (This is Wing S5330 and ESTC R31008.) TWO: 'State Tracts: Being a Farther Collection of Several Choice Treatises Relating to the Government. From the Year 1660. to 1689. Now Published in a Body, to shew the Necessity, and clear the Legality of the Late Revolution, and Our present Happy Settlement, under the Auspicious Reign of Their Majesties, King William and Queen Mary.' (London: Printed, and are to be Sold by Richard Baldwin near the Oxford-Arms in Warwick-Lane. MDCXCII. [1692]' [8] + 426pp., folio. (This is Wing S5331 and ESTC R17906, but lacking pp.427-499.) Internally in fair condition, aged but sound and tight, but with title-leaf ruckled and loose flyleaf; in aged and heavily-worn binding. The annotations in the present volume are the outraged fulminations of an indignant Tory and Jacobite, who regards James II as the rightful King of England, and William of Orange as 'usurper'. The loose flyleaf bears the following statement in a late seventeenth-century hand, either that of Roger Kenyon or his son George, representative of the energy and passion of the author: 'This Book is a Collection of ye most Vile, Antimonarchical, seditious & rebellious Pamphletts I ever read in my Life; 'tis wrote wth a design to subvert all order & to bring all things into Anarchy & Confusion, 'tis compos'd of falshoods, treachery & lies, & tend [sic] manifestly to ye dissolving all obligations & obedience to God, to our Rightfull Prince, to our Parents, to ye Magistrates, & to Our Masters, & under the mask of Liberty, it setts a side [sic] all those texts in holy scripture wch preaches up patience & long suffering under afflictions, & instead thereof, it teaches Children to be judge of ye actions of yir parents, subjects of yir Soveraigns, &c. 7 if they are inclin'd to think their actions amiss, it presently crys out for Rebellion. Such as these were the fire-brands wch caused the dreadfull flames in ye grand Rebellion agst. Yt pious Martyr King Charls. ye first 7 made England for so many years a continued Aceldema and again vilainously effected the exile of the only rightfull Royal Line of the Stuarts in his son James ye 2d & his Heirs.' Other than two identifications on p.147 of vol.2, which would seem to be in the hand of Lord Kenyon, all the annotations in the volume are in the same late seventeenth-century hand. Particularly heavy annotations are to be found on pp.383-389 and 396-400 of the first volume, around the printed text of the tract 'A Brief History of the Succession, Collected out of the Records, and the most Authentick Historians'. Other annotations are: Vol.1, pp.44, 58, 59, 369, 371, 372; Vol.2, pp.33, 54, 161, 225, 421, 423. A few examples will give an indication of the tone, as for example the comment (vol.2, p.161) on 'The Case of the Earl of Argyle': 'An Examination of B-p Burnet's History see Pages 898 &c 990 &c where & elsewhere this Matter is set in a true light & ye Earl proud to be a sower of Sedition & a Rebellious Traytor he was found Guilty of Treason by a Jury not only of his Peers, but many of 'em his own nearest Relations.' And also on p.421 of vol.2: 'ye Earl of Sunderland yt he might ye more effectually ruin his Royal Master turned Papist, & voluntarily did penants [sic] yt he might be ye more trusted, after which he labour'd tooth & nail to promote ye most violent proceedings & in order to accomplish his hellish design, wch when he had entirely done, he was immediately recd by ye usurper rechang'd his religion, & became a Chief Minister.' And on the same page: 'This Worthy & very good Archbishop Dr William Sancroft wth five other Bishops were most wickedly & unjustly turned out of yir Bishopricks by ye Prince of Orange & this by a lay force, & others put in to usurp their sees; & all this because they wou'd not take Contradictory Oaths, & subject themselves to an accursed perjury, upon wch a most fearfull Schism ensued; Arch-B-p agt Arch-B-p Altar agt Altar; and ye person who usurp'd it was Tillotson his Subject Dean who broak through his oath of Allegiance to his King & his oath of Cannonical [sic] Obedience he had taken to his Arch-Bishop.' And on p.423 of vol.2, as if the position of the annotator were in any doubt: 'These very Bishops yey were brought to a fair hearing before King James's Judges & honourably acquitted; yet yey were afterwards turned out of yir Sees, by yir pretended Deliverer (ye Prince of Orange tho he usurps ye name of) King William'. Provenance re. seller: an auction which included books from the Library of George Kenyon with his bokplate.