Richard Carver and King Charles the Second

Richard Carver and King Charles the Second

King Charles 2nd

A sturdy sailor stood before his king,
To claim his just reward; for years before,
E’en when Boscobel’s oak was no safe place
To shelter Charles, and he was forced to flee,
Alike from throne and country, well disguised, 5
A vessel bound from Shoreham bore the prince
From Sussex unto France, unknown to all,
From captain to the meanest seaman there,
But honest Richard Carver, then the mate,
Who promised secrecy; on which the prince 10
Promised him full reward, if he should e’er
Return to occupy the British throne.
And when Charles landed on the shores of France,
’T was on the Quaker’s shoulders through the surge
The royal fugitive was gladly borne. 15
Twelve years had pass’d since Charles obtain’d the crown,
And yet the trusty Quaker ne’er went nigh,
Whilst those with less claims had clamour’d hard
For wealth and honours. But at last he went
And boldly sought the king; for he well knew 20
That but for him Charles had not been alive
To give or refuse. And there he stood,
After long absence on far distant seas,
In plainest raiment, sunburnt, and in speech
As plain as in attire; a contrast strange 25
To all the silken courtiers round the throne.
Charles knew his benefactor soon as he
Beheld the man, and wond’ringly inquired
Why he had loiter’d all those years, before
Coming to claim what richly was his due, 30
And how he best could serve him


“For myself,”
Replied the noble Quaker, “no reward
Is needed, save the pleasure I derive
In knowing that I saved one human life,
And that life is my king’s: yet come I here 35
To press my poor petition—that thou wilt spare
From further suff’ring, servants of the Lord,
Now cast in prison for no crime at all,
And that thou wilt at once now set them free;
As I, when thou was hunted, did to thee.” 40
The king then smiled, and answer’d him at once:—
“Now Richard Carver, name what six thou wilt,
And here I give my royal word to thee,
Their prison doors shall open at thy will.”
“What,” quoth the brave old sailor, “only six 45
Poor Quakers as the ransom for a King!”
The monarch own’d the logic of the Friend,
And bade him name as many as he would,
And they should all be free. To Carver made
The fullest list of all the folks he knew
Suff’ring imprisonment for conscience sake, 50
And Charles sign’d their release.
One name there was
In Carver’s scroll deserving mention here:
It was “the Prince of Dreamers,” who had lain
In Bedford’s jail for the last dozen years;
For Carver was not of that narrow crew 55
Whose care is all confined to their own sect.
Thus all that love fine similitudes
Of Bunyan’s Religion ought to reverence
The unstain’d name of the grand sailor Friend,
And help to keep the good man’s memory green; 60
For such as he are patterns for all time.
Blank verse [in M/S], p. 44-46.

George Markham Tweddell