Chapter XXXVII: Letter 96: He married, in July following, Lady Grizel (3)

(1111) Mr. Henry Fox, in letters to Sir C. H. Williams, of September 5th and 19th, writes, "England, Wade says, and I believe it, is for the first comer; and if you can tell whether the six thousand Dutch, and the ten battalions of English, or five thousand French or Spaniards will be here first, you know our fate." "The French are not come, God be thanked! But had five thousand landed in any part of this island a week ago, I verily believe the entire conquest would not have cost them a battle."-B.

(1112) This plan of raising regiment,,; afterwards degenerated into a gross job. Sir C. H. Williams gives an account of it in his ballad, entitled "The Herbes." To this Horace Walpole appended the following explanatory note..--"In the time of the rebellion, these lords had proposed to raise regiments of their own dependents, and were allowed; Had they paid them too, the service had been noble: being paid by Government, obscured a little the merit; being paid without raising them, would deserve too coarse a term. It is certain, that not six regiments ever were raised: not four of which were employed. The chief persons who were at the head of this scheme were the Dukes of Bedford and Montagu; the Duke of Bedford actually and served with his regiment."--The other lords mentioned in the ballad are, the Duke of Bolton, Lord Granby, Lord Harcourt, Lord Halifax, Lord Falmouth, Lord Cholmondeley, and Lord Berkeley. They were in all fifteen-

"Fifteen nobles of great fame, All brib'd by one false muster."-D.

(1113) Isaac Leheup, brother-in-law of Horace Walpole the elder. He was a man of great wit and greater brutality, and being minister at Hanover, was recalled for very indecent behaviour there.

441 Letter 181 To Sir Horace Mann. Arlington Street, Sept. 27, 1745.

I can't doubt but the joy of the Jacobites has reached Florence before this letter. Your two or three Irish priests, I forget their names, will have set out to take possession of abbey-lands here. I feel for what you will feel, and for the insulting things that will be said to you upon the battle(1114) we have lost in Scotland; but all this is nothing, to what it prefaces. The express came hither on Tuesday morning, but the Papists knew it on Sunday night. Cope lay in face of the rebels all Friday; he scarce two thousand strong, they vastly superior, though we don't know their numbers. The military people say that he should have attacked them. However, we are sadly convinced that they are not such raw ragamuffins as they were represented. The rotation that has been established in that country, to give all the Highlanders the benefit of serving in the independent companies, has trained and disciplined them. Macdonald (I suppose, he from Naples,) -who is reckoned a very experienced able officer, is said to have commanded them, and to be dangerously wounded. One does not hear the Boy's personal valour cried up; by which I conclude he was not in the action.(1115) Our dragoons most shamefully fled without striking a blow, and are with Cope, who escaped in a boat to Berwick. I pity poor him(1116) who with no shining abilities, and no experience, and no force, was sent to fight for a crown! He never saw a battle but that of Dettingen, where he got his red riband: Churchill, whose led-captain he was, and my Lord Harrington, had pushed him up to this misfortune. We have lost all our artillery, five hundred men taken and three killed, and several officers, as you will see in the papers. This defeat has frightened every body but those it rejoices, and those it should frighten most; but my Lord Granville still buoys up the King's spirits, and persuades him it is nothing. He uses his ministers as ill as possible, and discourages every body that would risk their lives and fortunes with him. Marshal Wade is marching against the rebels; but the King will not let him take above eight thousand men; so that if they come into England, another battle, with no advantage on our side, may determine our fate. Indeed, they don't seem so unwise as to risk their cause upon so precarious an event; but rather to design to establish themselves in Scotland, till they can be supported from France, and be set up with taking Edinburgh Castle, where there is to the value of a million, and which they would make a stronghold. It is scarcely victualled for a month, and must surely fall into their hands. Our coasts are greatly guarded, and London kept in awe by the arrival of the guards. I don't believe what I have been told this morning, that more troops are sent for from Flanders, and aid asked of Denmark.

Prince Charles has called a Parliament in Scotland for the 7th of October; ours does not meet till the 17th, so that even in the show of liberty and laws, they are beforehand with us. With all this, we hear of no men of quality or fortune having joined him but Lord Elcho(1117) whom you have seen at Florence; and the Duke of Perth,(1118) a silly race-horsing boy, who is said to be killed in this battle. but I gather no confidence from hence: my father always said, "If you see them come again, they will begin by their lowest people; their chiefs will not appear till the end." His prophecies verify every day!

The town is still empty; in this point only the English act contrary to their custom, for they don't throng to see a Parliament, though it is likely to prove a curiosity!

I have so trained myself to expect this ruin, that I see it approach without an emotion. I shall suffer with fools, without having any malice to our enemies, who act sensibly from principle and from interest. Ruling parties seldom have caution or common sense. I don't doubt but Whigs and Protestants will be alert enough in trying to recover what they lose so supinely.

I know nothing of my Lady O. In this situation I dare say she will exert enough of the spirit of her Austrian party, to be glad the present government is oppressed; her piques and the Queen of Hungary's bigotry will draw satisfaction from what ought to be so contrary to each of their wishes. I don't wonder my lady hates you so much, as I think she meant to express by her speech to Blair. Quem non credit Cleopatra nocentem, A quo casta fuit?"

She lives chiefly with my Lady Townshend: the latter told me last night, that she had seen a new fat player, who looked like every body's husband. I replied, "I could easily believe that, from seeing so many women who looked like every body's wives." Adieu! my dear Sir: I hope your spirits, like mine, will grow calm, from being callous of ill news.

(1114) At Preston-Pans, near Edinburgh; where the Pretender completely defeated Sir John Cope, on the 21st of September.-D.

(1115) "Charles," says Lord Mahon, 'put himself at the head of the second line, which was close behind the first, and addressed them in these words@ Follow me, gentlemen, and by the blessing of God, I will this day make you a free and happy people." Hist. Vol. iii. P. 392.-E.

(1116) General Cope was tried afterwards for his behaviour in this action, and it appeared very clearly, that the ministry, his inferior officers, and his troops, were greatly to blame; and that he did all he could, so ill-directed, so ill-supplied, and so ill-obeyed.

(1117) Eldest son of the Earl of Wemyss.

(1118) James Drummond, who would have been the fifth Earl of Perth, had it not been for the attainder and outlawry under which his family laboured. His grandfather, the fourth earl, had been created a duke by James II. after his abdication. He was not killed at Preston-Pans.-D.

443 Letter 182 To Sir Horace Mann. Arlington Street, Oct. 4, 1745.

I am still writing to you as "R`esident de sa Majest`e Britannique;" and without the apprehension of your suddenly receiving letters of recall, or orders to notify to the council of Florence the new accession. I dare say your fears made you think that the young Prince (for he is at least Prince of Scotland) had vaulted from Cope's neck into St. James's House; but he is still at Edinburgh; and his cousin Grafton, the lord chamberlain has not even given orders for fitting up this palace for his reception. The good people of England have at last rubbed their eyes and looked about them. A wonderful spirit is arisen in all counties, and among all sorts of people. The nobility are raising regiments, and every body else is-being raised. Dr. Herring,(1119) the Archbishop of York, has set an example that would rouse the most indifferent; in two days after the news arrived at York of Cope's defeat, and when they every moment expected the victorious rebels at their gates, the bishop made a speech to the assembled county, that had as much true spirit, honesty, and bravery in it, as ever was penned by an historian for an ancient hero.

The rebels returned to Edinburgh, where they have no hopes of taking the Castle, for old Preston, the deputy-governor, and General Guest, have obliged them to supply the Castle constantly with fresh provisions, on pain of having the town fired with red-hot bullets. They did fling a bomb on Holyrood House, and obliged the Boy to shift his quarters. Wade is marching against them, and will have a great army: all the rest of our troops are ordered from Flanders, and are to meet him in Yorkshire, with some Hessians too. That county raises four thousand men, besides a body of foxhunters, whom Oglethorpe has converted into hussars. I am told that old Stair, who certainly does not want zeal, but may not want envy neither, has practised a little Scotch art to prevent wade from having an army, and consequently the glory of saving this country. This I don't doubt he will do, if the rebels get no foreign aid; and I have great reason to hope they will not, for the French are privately making us overtures of peace. My dear child, dry your wet-brown-paperness, and be in spirits again!

It is not a very civil joy to send to Florence, but I can't help telling you how glad I am of news that came two days ago, of the King of Prussia having beat Prince Charles,(1120) who attacked him just after we could have obtained for them a peace with that King. That odious house of Austria! It will not be decent for you to insult Richcourt but I would, were I at Florence.

Pray let Mr. Chute have ample accounts of our zeal to figure with at Rome. of the merchants of London undertaking to support the public credit; of universal associations; of regiments raised by the dukes of Devonshire, Bedford, Rutland, Montagu; Lords Herbert, Halifax, Cholmondeley, Falmouth, Malton, Derby,(1121) etc.; of Wade with an army of twenty thousand men; of another about London of near as many--and lastly, of Lord Gower having in person assured the King that he is no Jacobite, but ready to serve him with his life and fortune. Tell him of the whole coast so guarded, that nothing can pass unvisited; and in short, send him this advertisement out of to-day's papers, as an instance of more spirit and wit than there is in all Scotland:

TO ALL JOLLY BUTCHERS. MY BOLD hearts, The Papists eat no meat on Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays, nor during Lent. Your friend, JOHN STEEL.

Just as I wrote this, a person is come in, who tells me that the rebels have cut off the communication between Edinburgh and the Castle: the commanders renewed their threats: and the good magistrates have sent up hither to beg orders may be sent to forbid this execution. It is modest! it is Scotch!-and, I dare say, will be granted. Ask a government to spare your town which you yourself have given up to rebels: and the consequence of which will be the loss of your Castle!-but they knew to what Government they applied! You need not be in haste to have this notified at Rome. Tell it not in Gath! Adieu! my dear Sir. This account has put Me so out of humour, and has so altered the strain of my letter, that I must finish.

(1119) An excellent prelate, afterwards promoted to the see of Canterbury. Walpole, in his Memoires, mentioning his death, thus speaks of him: "On the 13th of March, 1757, died Dr. Herring, Archbishop of Canterbury a very amiable man, to whom no fault was objected; though perhaps the gentleness of his Principles, his great merit, was thought one. During the rebellion he had taken up arms to defend from oppression that religion, which he abhorred making an instrument of oppression."-D.

(1120) The battle of Soor in Bohemia, gained by the King of Prussia over the Austrians, on the 30th of September, 1745.-D.

(1121) For an account of this transaction see note 1112, letter 181, at p. 440. The noblemen here mentioned were, William Cavendish, Third Duke of Devonshire; John Russell, fourth Duke of Bedford; John, second and last Duke of Montagu; Henry Arthur Herbert, first Lord Herbert of cherbury of the third creation; George Montagu, third Earl of Halifax; George, third Earl of Cholmondeley; Hugh Boscawen, second Viscount Falmouth; Thomas Wentworth, first Earl of Malton; and Edward Stanley, eleventh Earl of Derby.--D.

445 Letter 183 To sir Horace Mann. Arlington Street, Oct. 11, 1745.

This is likely to be a very short letter; for I have nothing to tell you, nor any thing to answer. I have not had one letter from you this month, which I attribute to the taking of the packet-boat by the French, with two mails in it. It was a very critical time for our negotiations; the ministry will say, it puts their transactions out of order.

Before I talk of any public news, I must tell you what you will be very sorry for-Lady Granville is dead. She had a fever for six weeks before her lying-in, and could never get it off. Last Saturday they called in another physician, Dr. Oliver; on Monday he pronounced her out of danger. About seven in the evening, as Lady Pomfret and Lady Charlotte were sitting by her, the first notice they had of her immediate danger, was her sighing and saying, "I feel death come very fast upon me!" She repeated the same words frequently-remained perfectly in her senses and calm, and died about eleven at night. Her mother and sister sat by her till she was cold. It is very shocking for any body so young, so handsome, so arrived at the height of happiness, so sensible of it, and on whom all the joy and grandeur of her family depended, to be so quickly snatched away! Poor Uguccioni! he will be very sorry and simple about it.

For the rebels, they have made no figure since Their victory. The Castle of Edinburgh has made a sally and taken twenty head of cattle, and about thirty head of Highlanders. We heard yesterday, that they are coming this way. The troops from Flanders are expected to land in Yorkshire to-morrow. A privateer of Bristol has taken a large Spanish ship, laden with arms and money for Scotland. A piece of a plot has been discovered in Dorsetshire, and one Mr. Weld(1122) taken up. The French have declared to the Dutch, that the House of Stuart is their ally, and that the Dutch troops must not act against them; but we expect they shall. The Parliament meets next Thursday, and by that time, probably, the armies will too. The rebels are not above eight thousand, and have little artillery; so you may wear what ministerial spirits you will.

The Venetian ambassador has been making his entries this week: he was at Leicester-fields to-day with the Prince, and very pretty compliments passed between them in Italian. Do excuse this letter; i really have not a word more to say; the next shall be all arma virumque cano!

(1122) Edward Weld, Esq. of Lulworth Castle. Hutchins, in his History of Dorsetshire, says, that, "although he ever behaved as a peaceful subject, he was ordered into custody, in 1745, on account of his name being mentioned in a treasonable anonymous letter dropped near Poole; but his immediate and honourable discharge is the most convincing proof of his innocence."-E.

446 Letter 184 To Sir Horace Mann. Arlington Street, Oct. 21, 1745.

I had been almost as long without any of Your letters as you had without mine; but yesterday I received one, dated the 5th of this month, N. S.

The rebels have not left their camp near Edinburgh, and, I suppose, will not now, unless to retreat into the Highlands. General Wade was to march yesterday from Doncaster for Scotland. By their not advancing, I conclude that either the Boy and his council could not prevail On the Highlanders to leave their own country, or that they were not strong enough, and still wait for foreign assistance, which, in a new declaration, he intimates that he still expects.(1123) One only ship, I believe a Spanish one, has got to them with arms, and Lord John Drummond(1124) and some people of quality on board. We don't hear that the younger Boy is of the number. Four ships sailed from Corunna; the one that got to Scotland, one taken by a privateer of bristol, and one lost on the Irish coast; the fourth is not heard of. At Edinburgh and thereabouts they commit the most horrid barbarities. We last night expected as bad here: information was given of an intended insurrection and massacre by the Papists; all the Guards were ordered out, and the Tower shut up at seven. I cannot be surprised at any thing, considering the supineness of the ministry--nobody has yet been taken up!

The Parliament met on Thursday. I don't think, considering the crisis, that the House was very full. Indeed, many of the Scotch members cannot come if they would. The young Pretender had published a declaration, threatening to confiscate the estates of Scotch that should come to Parliament, and making it treason for the English. The only points that have been before the house, the address and the suspension of the Habeas Corpus, met with obstructions from the Jacobites. By this we may expect what spirit they will show hereafter.(1125) With all this, I am far from thinking that they are so confident and sanguine as their friends at Rome. I blame the Chutes extremely for cockading themselves: why take a part when they are only travelling? I should certainly retire to Florence on this occasion.

You may imagine how little I like our situation; but I don't despair. The little use they made, or could make of their victory; their not having marched into England; their miscarriage at the Castle of Edinburgh; the arrival of our forces, and the non-arrival of any French or Spanish, make me conceive great hopes of getting over this ugly business. But it is still an affair wherein the chance Of battles, or perhaps of one battle, may decide.

I write you but short letters, considering the circumstances of the time; but I hate to send you paragraphs only to contradict them again: I still less choose to forge events; and, indeed, am glad I have so few to tell you.

My lady O. has forced herself upon her mother, who receives her very coolly: she talks highly of her demands, and quietly of her methods - the fruitlessness of either will, I hope, soon send her back--I am sorry it must be to you!

You mention Holdisworth:(1126) he has had the confidence to come and visit me within these ten days; and (I suppose, from the overflowing of his joy) talked a great deal and with as little sense as when he was more tedious.

Since I wrote this, I hear the Countess has told her mother, that she thinks her husband the best of our family, and me the worst--nobody so bad, except you! I don't wonder at my being so ill with her; but what have you done? or is it, that we are worse than any body, because we know more of her than any body does! Adieu!

(1123) "At three several councils did Charles propose to march into England and fight Marshal Wade; but as often was his proposal overruled. At length he declared in a very peremptory manner, 'I see, gentlemen, you are determined to stay in Scotland and defend your country; but I am not less resolved to try my fate in England, though I should go alone.'" Lord Mahon, vol. iii. P.241.-E.

(1124) Brother of the titular Duke of Perth.

(1125) "As to the Parliament," writes Horatio Walpole to Mr. Milling, on the 29th of October, "although the address was unanimous the first day, yesterday, upon a motion 'to enquire into the causes of the progress of the rebellion' the House was so fully convinced of the necessity of immediately putting an end to it, and that the fire should be quenched before we should enquire who kindled or promoted it, that it was carried, not to put the question at this time, by 194 against 112."-E.

(1126) A nonjuror who travelled with Mr. George Pitt.

447 Letter 185 To Sir Horace Mann. Arlington Street, Nov. 4, 1745.

It is just a fortnight since I wrote to you last: in all that time the rebellion has made no progress, nor produced any incidents worth mentioning. They have entrenched themselves very strongly in the Duke of Buccleuch's park, whose seat, about seven miles from Edinburgh, they have seized. We had an account last week of the Boy's being retired to Dunkirk, but it was not true. Kelly,(1127) who is gone to solicit succour from France, was seized at Helvoet, but by a stupid burgher released. Lord Loudon is very brisk in the north of Scotland, and has intercepted and beat some of their parties. Marshal Wade was to march from Newcastle yesterday.

But the rebellion does not make half the noise here that one of its consequences does.

Fourteen lords (most of them I have named to you), at the beginning, offered to raise regiments; these regiments, so handsomely tendered at first, have been since put on the regular establishment; not much to the honour of the undertakers or of the firmness of the ministry, and the King is to pay them. One of the great grievances of this is, that these most disinterested colonels have named none but their own relations and dependents for the officers, who are to have rank; and consequently, both colonels and subalterns will interfere with the brave old part of the army, who have served all the war. This has made great clamour. The King was against their having rank, but would not refuse it; yet wished that the House of Commons would address him not to grant it. This notification of his royal mind encouraged some of the old part of the ministry, particularly Winnington and Fox, to undertake to procure this Address. Friday it came on in the committee; the Jacobites and patriots (such as are not included in the coalition) violently opposed the regiments themselves; so did Fox, in a very warm speech, levelled particularly at the Duke of Montagu, who, besides his old regiment, has one Of horse and one of foot on this new plan.(1128) Pitt defended them as warmly: the Duke of Bedford, Lord Gower, and Lord Halifax, being at the head of this job. At last, at ten at night, the thirteen regiments of foot were voted without a division, and the two of horse carried by 192 to 82. Then came the motion for the address, and in an hour and half more, was rejected by 126 to 124. Of this latter number were several of the old corps; I among the rest. It is to be reported to the House to-morrow, and will, I conclude, be at least as warm a day as the former. The King is now against the address, and all sides are using their utmost efforts. The fourteen lords threaten to throw up, unless their whole terms are complied with; and the Duke of Bedford is not moderately insolent against such of the King's servants as voted against him. Mr. Pelham espouses him; not recollecting that at least twice a-week all his new allies are suffered to oppose him as they please. I should be sorry, for the appearance, to have the regiments given up; but I am sure our affair is over, if our two old armies are beaten and we should come to want these new ones; four only of which are pretended to be raised. Pitt, who has alternately bullied and flattered Mr. Pelham, is at last to be secretary-at-war;(1129) Sir W. Yonge to be removed to vice-treasurer of Ireland, and Lord Torrington(1130) to have a pension in lieu of it. An ungracious parallel between the mercenary views Of these patriot heroes, the regiment-factors, and of their acquiescent agents, the ministry, with the disinterested behaviour of m Lord Kildare,(1131) was drawn on Friday by Lord Doneraile; who read the very proposals of the latter for raising, clothing, and arming a regiment at his own expense, and for which he had been told, but the very day before this question, that the King had no occasion.--"And how," said Lord Doneraile, "can one account for this, but by saying, that we have a ministry who are either too good-natured to refuse a wrong thing, or too irresolute to do a right one!"

I am extremely pleased with the, purchase of the Eagle and Altar, and think them cheap: and I even begin to believe that I shall be able to pay for them. The gesse statues are all arrived safe. Your last letter was dated Oct. 19, N. S. and left you up to the chin in water(1132) just as we were drowned five years ago. Good night, if you are alive still! (1127) He had been confined in the Tower ever since the assassination plot, in the reign of King William; but at last made his escape.

(1128) This circumstance is thus alluded to in Sir C. H. Williams's ballad of "The heroes.

"Three regiments one Duke contents, With two more places you know: Since his Bath Knights, his Grace delights In Tri-a junct' in U-no."

The Duke of Montagu was master of the great wardrobe, a place worth eight thousand pounds a-year. He was also grand-master of the order of the Bath.-D.

(1129) In the May following, Mr. Pitt was appointed paymaster of the forces.-E.

(1130) Pattee Byng, second Viscount Torrington. He had been made vice-treasurer of Ireland upon the going out of the Walpole administration.-D.

(1131) @ James Fitzgerald, twentieth Earl of Kildare; created in 1761, Marquis of Kildare, and in 1766 Duke of Leinster- -Irish honours.-D.

(1132) By an inundation of the Arno.

449 Letter 186 To Sir Horace Mann. Arlington Street, Nov. 15, 1745.

I told you in my last what disturbance there had been about the new regiments; the affair of rank was again disputed on the report till ten at night, and carried by a majority of 23. The King had been persuaded to appear for it, though Lord Granville made it a party point against Mr. Pelham. Winnington did not speak. I was not there, for I could not vote for it, and yielded not to give any hindrance to a public measure (or at least what was called so) ' just now. The Prince acted openly, and influenced his people against it; but it, only served to let Mr. Pelham see, what, like every thing else, he did not know, how strong he is. The King will scarce speak to him, and he cannot yet get Pitt into place.

The rebels are come into England: for two days we believed them near Lancaster, but the ministry now own that they don't know if they have passed Carlisle. Some think they will besiege that town, which has an old wall, and the militia in it of Cumberland and Westmoreland; but as they can pass by it, I don't see why they should take it; for they are not strong enough to leave garrisons. Several desert them as they advance south; and altogether, good men and bad, nobody believes them ten thousand. By their marching westward to avoid Wade, it is evident they are not strong enough to fight him. They may yet retire back into their mountains, but if once they get to Lancaster, their retreat is cut off; for Wade 'will not stir from Newcastle, till he has embarked them deep into England, and then he will be behind them. He has sent General Handasyde from Berwick with two regiments to take possession of Edinburgh. The rebels are certainly in a Very desperate situation: they dared not meet Wade; and if they had waited for him their troops would have deserted. Unless they meet with great risings in their favour in Lancashire, I don't see what they can hope, except from a continuation of our neglect. That, indeed, has nobly exerted itself for them. They were suffered to march the whole length of Scotland, and take possession of the capital, without a man appearing against them. Then two thousand men sailed to them, to run from them. Till the flight of Cope's army, Wade was not sent. 'Two roads still lay into England, and till they had chosen that which Wade had not taken, no army was thought of being sent to secure the other. Now Ligonier, with seven old regiments, and six of the new, is ordered to Lancashire: before this first division of the army could get to Coventry, they are forced to order it to halt, for fear the enemy should be up with it before it was all assembled. It is uncertain if the rebels will march to the north of Wales, to Bristol, or towards London. If to the latter, Ligonier must fight the n: if to either of the other, I hope, the two armies may join and drive them into a corner, where they must all perish. They cannot subsist in Wales, but by being supplied by the' Papists in Ireland(. The best is, that we are in no fear from France; there is no preparation for invasions in any of their ports. Lord Clancarty,(1133) a Scotchman of great parts, but mad and drunken, and whose family forfeited 90,000 pounds a-@ear for King James, is made vice-admiral at Brest. The Duke of Bedford goes in his little round person with his regiment: he now takes to the land, and says he is tired of being a pen and ink man. Lord Gower too, insisted upon going with his regiment, but is laid up with the gout.

With the rebels in England, you may imagine we have no private news, nor think of foreign. From this account you may judge, that our case is far from desperate, though disagreeable, The Prince, while the Princess lies-in, has taken to give dinners, to which he asks two of the ladies of the bedchamber, two of the maids of honour, etc. by turns, and five or six others. He sits at the head of the table, drinks and harangues to all this medley till nine at night; and the other day, after the affair of the regiments, drank Mr. Fox's health in a bumper, with three huzzas, for opposing Mr. Pelham--

"Si quel fata aspera rumpas, Tu Marcellus eris!"

You put me in pain for my eagle, and in more for the Chutes; whose zeal is very heroic, but very ill-placed. I long to hear that all my Chutes and eagles are safe out of the Pope's hands! Pray wish the Suares's joy of all their espousals. Does the Princess pray abundantly for her friend the Pretender? Is she extremely abbatue with her devotion? and does she fast till she has got a violent appetite for supper? And then, does she eat so long that old Sarrasin is quite impatient to go to cards again? Good night! I intend you shall be resident from King George.

P. S. I forgot to tell you, that the other day I concluded the ministry knew the danger was all over; for the Duke of Newcastle ventured to have the Pretender's declaration burnt at the Royal Exchange.

(1133) Donagh Maccarty, Earl of Clancarty, was an Irishman, and not a Scotchman.-D.

451 Letter 187 To Sir Horace Mann. Arlington Street, Nov. 22, 1745.

For these two days we have been expecting news of a battle. Wade marched last Saturday from Newcastle, and must have got up with the rebels, if they stayed for him, though the roads are exceedingly bad and great quantities of snow have fallen. But last night there was some notice of a body of rebels being advanced to Penryth. We were put into great spirits by an heroic letter from the mayor of Carlisle, who had fired on the rebels and made them retire; he concluded with saying, "And so I think the town of Carlisle has done his Majesty more service than the great city of Edinburgh, or than all Scotland together." But this hero, who was crown the whole fashion for four-and-twenty hours, had chosen to stop all other letters. The King spoke of him at his levee with great encomiums; Lord Stair said, "Yes, sir, Mr. Patterson has behaved very bravely." The Duke of Bedford interrupted him; "My lord, his name is not Paterson; that is a Scotch name; his name is Patinson." But, alack! the next day the rebels returned, having placed the women and children of the country in wagons in front of their army, and forcing the peasants to fix the scaling-ladders. The great Mr. Pattinson, or Patterson (for now his name may be which one pleases,) instantly surrendered the town and agreed to pay two thousand pounds to save it from pillage. Well! then we were assured that the citadel could hold out seven or eight days but did not so many hours. On mustering the militia, there were not found above four men in a company; and for two companies, which the ministry, on a report of Lord Albemarle, who said they were to be sent from Wade's army, thought were there, and did not know were not there, there was nothing but two of invalids. Colonel Durand, the governor, fled, because he would not sign the capitulation, by which the garrison, it is said, has sworn never to bear arms against the house of Stuart. The Colonel sent two expresses, one to Wade, and another to Ligonier at Preston; but the latter was playing at whist with Lord Harrington at Petersham. Such is our diligence and attention! All my hopes are in Wade, who was so sensible of the ignorance of our governors that he refused to accept the command, till they consented that he should be subject to no kind of orders from hence. The rebels are reckoned up to thirteen thousand; Wade marches with about twelve; but if they come southward, the other army will probably be to fight them; the Duke is to command it, and sets out next week with another brigade of Guards, and Ligonier under him. There are great apprehensions for Chester from the Flintshire-men, who are ready to rise. A quartermaster, first sent to Carlisle, was seized and carried to Wade; he behaved most insolently; and being asked by the General, how many the rebels were, replied, "enough to beat any army you have in England." A Mackintosh has been taken, who reduces their formidability, by being sent to raise two clans, and with orders, if they would not rise, at least to give out they had risen, for that three clans would leave the Pretender, unless joined by those two. Five hundred new rebels are arrived at Perth, where our prisoners are kept.

I had this morning a subscription pool@ brought me for our parish; Lord Granville had refused to subscribe. This is in the style of his friend Lord Bath, who has absented himself whenever any act of authority was to be executed against the rebels.

Five Scotch lords are going to raise regiments `a l'Angloise! resident in London, while the rebels were in Scotland; they are to receive military emoluments for their neutrality!

The Fox man-of-war of twenty guns is lost off Dunbar. One Beavor, the captain, had done us notable service: the Pretender sent to commend his zeal and activity, and to tell him, that if he would return to his allegiance, be should soon have a flag. Beavor replied, "he never treated with any but principals; that if the Pretender would come on board him, he would talk with him." I must now tell you of our great Vernon: without once complaining to the ministry, he has written to Sir John Philipps, a distinguished Jacobite, to complain of want of provisions; yet they do not venture to recall him! Yesterday they had another baiting from Pitt, who is ravenous for the place of secretary at war: they would give it him; but as a preliminary, he insists on a declaration of our having nothing to do with the Continent. He mustered his forces, but did not notify his intention; only at two o'clock Lyttelton said at the Treasury, that there would be business at the House. The motion was to augment our naval force, which, Pitt said, was the only method of putting an end to the rebellion. Ships built a year hence to suppress an army of Highlanders, now marching through England! My uncle attacked him, and congratulated his country on the wisdom of the modern young men; and said he had a son of two-and-twenty, who, he did not doubt, would come over wiser than any of them. Pitt was provoked, and retorted on his negotiations and greyheaded experience. At those words, my uncle, as if he had been at Bartholomew fair, snatched off his wig, and showed his gray hairs, which made the august senate laugh, and put Pitt out, who, after laughing himself, diverted his venom upon Mr. Pelham. Upon the question, Pitt's party amounted but to thirty-six: in short, he has nothing left but his words, and his haughtiness, and his Lytteltons, and his Grenvilles. Adieu!

453 Letter 188 To Sir Horace Mann. Arlington Street, Nov. 29, 1745.

We have had your story here this week of the pretended pretender, but with the unlucky circumstance of its coming from the Roman Catholics. With all the faith you have in your little spy, I cannot believe it; though, to be sure, it has a Stuart-air, the not exposing the real boy to danger. The Duke of Newcastle mentioned your account this morning to my uncle; but they don't give any credit to the courier's relation. It grows so near being necessary for the young man to get off by any evasion, that I am persuaded all that party will try to have it believed. We are so far from thinking that they have not sent us one son, that two days ago we believed we had got the other too. A small ship has taken the Soleil privateer from Dunkirk, going to Montrose, with twenty French officers, sixty others, and the brother of the beheaded Lord Derwentwater and his son,(1134) who at first was believed to be the second boy. News came yesterday of a second privateer, taken with arms and money; of another lost on the Dutch coast, and of Vernon being in pursuit of two more. All this must be a great damp to the party, who are coming on--fast--fast to their destruction. Last night they were to be at Preston, but several repeated accounts make them under five thousand--none above seven; they must have diminished greatly by desertion. The country is so far from rising for them, that the towns are left desolate on their approach, and the people hide and bury their effects, even to their pewter. Warrington bridge is broken down, which will turn them some miles aside. The Duke, with the flower of that brave army which stood all the fire at Fontenoy, will rendezvous at Stone, beyond Litchfield, the day after to-morrow: Wade is advancing behind them, and will be at Wetherby in Yorkshire to-morrow. In short, I have no conception of their daring to fight either army, nor see any visible possibility of their not being very soon destroyed. My fears have been great, from the greatness of our stake; but I now write in the greatest confidence of our getting over this ugly business. We have another very disagreeable affair, that may have fatal consequences: there rages a murrain among the cows; we dare not eat milk, butter, beef, nor any thing from that species. Unless there is snow or frost soon, it is likely to @spread dreadfully though hitherto it has not reached many miles from London. At first, it was imagined that the Papists had empoisoned the pools; but the physicians have pronounced it infectious, and brought from abroad.

I forgot to tell you, that my uncle begged the Duke of Newcastle to stifle this report of the sham Pretender lest the King should hear it and recall the Duke, as too great to fight a counterfeit. It is certain that the army adore the Duke, and are gone in the greatest spirits; and on the parade, as they began their march, the Guards vowed that they would neither give nor take quarter. For bravery, his Royal Highness is certainly no Stuart, but literally loves to be in the act of fighting. His brother has so far the same taste, that the night of his new son's christening, he had the citadel of Carlisle in sugar at supper, and the company besieged it with sugar-plums. It was well imagined, considering the time and the circumstances. One thing was very proper; old Marshal Stair was there, who is grown child enough to be fit to war only with such artillery. Another piece of ingenuity of that court was on the report of Pitt being named secretary at war. The Prince hates him, since the fall of Lord Granville: he said, Miss Chudleigh,(1135) one of the maids, was fitter for the employment; and dictated a letter which he made her write to Lord Harrington, to desire he would draw the warrant for her. There were fourteen people at table, and all were to sign it: the Duke of Queensberry(1136 would not, as being a friend of Pitt, nor Mrs. Layton, one of the dressers: however, it was actually sent, and the footman ordered not to deliver it till Sir William Yonge was at Lord Harrington's-alas! it would be endless to tell you all his Caligulisms! A ridiculous thing happened when the Princess saw company: the new-born babe was shown in a mighty pretty cradle, designed by Kent, under a canopy in the great drawing-room. Sir William Stanhope went to look at it; Mrs. Herbert, the governess, advanced to unmantle it; he said, "In wax, I suppose."--"Sir!"--"In wax, Madam?"--"The young Prince, Sir."--"Yes, in wax, I suppose." This is his odd humour? when he went to see this duke at his birth, he said, "Lord! it sees!"

The good Provost of Edinburgh has been with Marshal Wade at Newcastle, and it is said, is coming to London-he must trust hugely to the inactivity of the ministry! They have taken an agent there going with large contributions from the- Roman Catholics, who have pretended to be so quiet! The Duchess of Richmond, while her husband is at the army, was going to her grace of Norfolk:(1137) when he was very uneasy at her intention, she showed him letters from the Norfolk, "wherein she prays God that this wicked rebellion may be soon suppressed, lest it hurt the poor Roman Catholics." But this wise jaunt has made such a noise that it is laid aside.

Your friend Lord Sandwich has got one of the Duke of Montagu's regiments: he stayed quietly till all the noise was over. He is now lord of the admiralty, lieutenant-colonel to the Duke of Bedford, aide-de-camp to the Duke of Richmond, and colonel of a regiment!

A friend of mine, Mr. Talbot, who has a good estate in Cheshire, with the great tithes, which he takes in kind, and has generally fifteen hundred pounds stock, has expressly ordered his steward to burn it, if the rebels come that way: I don't think this will make a bad figure in Mr. Chute's brave gazette. As we go on prospering, I will take care to furnish him with paragraphs, till he kills Riviera(1138) and all the faction. When my lovely eagle comes, I will consecrate it to his Roman memory; don't think I want spirits more than he, when I beg you to send me a case of drams: I remember your getting one for Mr. Trevor.

I guessed at having lost two letters from you in the packet-boat that was taken: I have received all you mention, but those of the 21st and 28th of September, one of which I suppose was about Gibberne: his mother has told me how happy you have made her and him, for which I much thank you and your usual good-nature. Adieu! I trust all my letters will grow better and better. You must have passed a lamentable scene of anxiety; we have had a good deal; but I think we grow in spirits again. There never was so melancholy a town; no kind of public place but the playhouses, and they look as if the rebels had just driven away the company. Nobody but has some fear for themselves, for their money, or for their friends in the army: of this number am I deeply; Lord Bury(1139) and mr. Conway, two of the first in my list, are aide-de-camps to the Duke, and another, Mr. Cornwallis,(1140) is in the same army, and my nephew, Lord Malpas(1141)--so I still fear the rebels beyond my reason. Good night.

P. S. It is now generally believed from many circumstances, that the youngest Pretender is actually among the prisoners taken on board the Soleil: pray wish Mr. Chute joy for me.

(1134) Charles Radcliffe, brother of James, Earl of Derwentwater, who was executed for the share he took in the rebellion of 1715. Charles was executed in 1746, upon the sentence pronounced against him in 1716, which he had then evaded, by escaping from Newgate. His son was Bartholomew, third Earl of Newburgh, a Scotch title he inherited from his mother.-D.

(1135) Afterwards the well-known Duchess of Kingston.-D.

(1136) Charles Douglas, third Duke of Queensberry, and second Duke of Dover: died 1778.-D.

(1137) Mary Blount, Duchess of Norfolk, the wife of Duke Edward. She and her Husband were suspected of Jacobitism.-D.

(1138) Cardinal Riviera, promoted to the purple by the interest of the Pretender.

(1139) George Keppel, eldest son of the Earl of Albemarle, whom he succeeded in the title in 1754.

(1140) Edward, brother of Earl Cornwallis, groom of the bedchamber to the King, and afterwards governor of Nova Scotia.

(1141) George, eldest son of George, Earl of Cholmondeley, and of Mary, second daughter of Sir Robert Walpole.

455 Letter 189 To sir Horace Mann. Arlington Street, December 9, 1745.

I am glad I did not write to you last post as I intended; I should have sent you an account that would have alarmed you, and the danger would have been over before the letter had crossed the sea. The Duke, from some strange want of intelligence, lay last week for four-and-twenty hours under arms at Stone, in Staffordshire, expecting the rebels every moment, while they were marching in all haste to Derby.(1142) The news of this threw the town into great consternation but his Royal Highness repaired his mistake, and got to Northampton, between the Highlanders and London. They got nine thousand pounds at Derby, and had the books brought to them, and obliged every body to give them what they had subscribed against them. Then they retreated a few miles, but returned again to Derby, got ten thousand pounds more, plundered the town, and burnt a house of the Countess of Exeter. They are gone again, and got back to Leake, in Staffordshire, but miserably harassed, and, it is said, have left all their cannon behind them, and twenty wagons of sick.(1143) The Duke has sent General Hawley with the dragoons to harass them in their retreat, and despatched Mr. Conway to Marshal Wade, to hasten his march upon the back of them. They must either go to North Wales, where they will probably all perish, or to Scotland, with great loss. We dread them no more We are threatened with great preparations for a French invasion, but the coast is exceedingly guarded; and for the people, the spirit against the rebels increases every day. Though they have marched thus into the heart of the kingdom, there has not been the least symptom of a rising, not even in the great towns of which they possessed themselves. They have got no recruits since their first entry into England, excepting one gentleman in Lancashire, one hundred and fifty common men, and two parsons, at Manchester, and a physician from York. But here in London the aversion to them is amazing: on some thoughts of the King's going to an encampment at Finchley, the weavers not Only offered him a thousand men, but the whole body of the Law formed themselves into a little army, under the command of Lord Chief-Justice Willes,(1144) and were to have done duty at St. James's, to guard the royal family in the King's absence.

But the greatest demonstration of loyalty appeared on the prisoners being brought to town from the Soleil prize - the young man is certainly Mr. Radcliffe's son; but the mob, persuaded of his being the youngest Pretender, could scarcely be restrained from tearing him to pieces all the way on the road, and at his arrival. He said he had heard of English mobs, but could not conceive they were so dreadful, and wished he had been shot at the battle of Dettingen, where he had been engaged. The father, whom they call Lord Derwentwater, said, on entering the Tower, that he had never expected to arrive there alive. For the young man, he must only be treated as a French captive; for the father, it is sufficient to produce him at the Old Bailey, and prove that he is the individual person condemned for the last rebellion, and so to Tyburn.

We begin to take up people, but it is with as much caution and timidity as women of quality begin to pawn their Jewels; we have not ventured upon any great stone yet!

The Provost of Edinburgh is in custody of a messenger; and the other day they seized an, odd man, who goes by the name of Count St. Germain. he has been here these two years, and will not tell who he is, or whence, but professes that he does not go by his right name. He sings, plays on the violin wonderfully, composes, is mad, and not very sensible. He is called an Italian, a Spaniard, a Pole; a somebody that married a great fortune in Mexico, and ran away with her jewels to Constantinople; a priest, a fiddler, a vast nobleman, The Prince of Wales has had unsatiated curiosity about him, but in vain. However, nothing has been made out against him -.' he is released: and, what convinces me that he is not a gentleman, stays here, and talks of his being taken up for a spy.

I think these accounts, upon which you may depend, must raise your spirits, and figure in Mr. Chute's royal journal.-But you don't get my letters: I have sent you eleven since I came to town; how many of these have you received? Adieu!

(1142) The consternation was so great as to occasion that day being named Black Friday. (Fielding, in his True Patriot, says, that, "when the Highlanders, by a most incredible march, got between the Duke's army and the metropolis, they struck a terror into it scarce to be credited." An immediate rush was made upon the Bank of England, which, it is said, only escaped bankruptcy by paying in sixpences, to gain time. The shops in general were shut up; public business, for the most part, was suspended, and the restoration of the Stuarts was expected by all as no improbable or distant occurrence. See Lord Mahon, vol. iii. p. 444.)