Note 348 — NOTES ON ABSALOM AND ACHITOPHEL. (continued 2)
Reading edition
Otway attributes the same magic power to the king's speech. After calling on a painter to depict a tumultuous senate, he adds,
But then let mighty Charles at distance stand, His crown upon his head, and sceptre in his hand, To send abroad his word; or, with a frown, Repel and dash the aspiring rebels down. Unable to behold his dreaded ray, Let them grow blind, disperse, and reel away; Let the dark fiends the troubled air forsake, And all new peaceful order seem to take. Windsor Castle.