William 111, Assassination Plot
The conspiracy was led by Sir George Barclay, who planned to murder the King on his way from Richmond to Kensington near Turnham Green. However the conspirators were detected and Barclay fled in a waiting ship, whilst James was waiting in Calais to be brought back from exile. Nine of the principal conspirators were executed.
The lobster is the symbol of the Jesuits, the story being that Ignatious Loyola, their founder, having dropped his bible into the sea had it returned by a lobster when walking along the beach. Father Petre, James's confessor, was his chief advisor as a Jesuit, in his plans to return the kingdom to Rome. The symbol of a windmill which is often included in the same imagery alludes to the rumour that the child, ( The Old Pretender) was in fact the child of a miller's wife smuggled in via a warming pan.There is a Dutch broadside from this time which also portrays Father Petre carrying the young Prince on a lobster. There are also figures of James 11 and Louis XIV riding an ass sharing an outsize Jesuit cap.
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