In Malcolm's _Anecdotes of the Manners and Customs of London during the
eighteenth Century_, 4to. 1808, there is a
"Summary of the Trial of Donald Maclane, on Tuesday last, at Guildford
Assizes, for the murder of William Allen Jun. on the 10th of May last
in St. George's Fields."
Upon the trial mention was made of the paper stuck up against the walls of
the King's Bench Prison, from which it appears that it contained the
following:
"Let * * * Judges, Ministers combine,
And here great Wilkes and Liberty confine.
Yet in each English heart secure their fame is
In spite of crowded levies at St. J----'s.
Then while in prison Envy dooms their stay,
Here grateful Britons daily homage pay."
The inscription upon the tomb of William Allen was visible in 1817, and in
addition to the inscription on the north side, which has already been
printed in "NOTES AND QUERIES" (Vol. ii., p. 333), was as follows:--
_South Side._
"O disembody'd soul! most rudely driven
From this low orb (our sinful seat) to Heaven,
While filial piety can please the ear,
Thy name will still occur for ever dear:
This very spot now humaniz'd shall crave
From all a tear of pity on thy grave.
O flow'r of flow'rs! which we shall see no more,
No kind returning Spring can thee restore,
Thy loss thy hapless countrymen deplore.
_East Side._
"O earth! cover not thou my blood."--_Job._ xvi. 18.
_West Side._
"Take away the wicked from before the King, and His throne shall be
established in righteousness."--_Prov._ xxiii. 5.
Fifteen months afterwards the father of William Allen presented a petition
to his majesty for vengeance on the murderers of his son.