Part 27

The Duke of Cumberland, who had been detained in the south of England in expectation of a French invasion, was indignant at this defeat, and declaring that he would himself willingly lead the broken remains of Hawley's army against the Highlanders, got himself appointed commander. He was a young man of great energy, with the hereditary bravery of his family, and an active if not a very able general; he had, moreover, won the confidence of the army at Fontenoy. He was a man however of violent passions, and at present roused almost to ferocity by the success of the Highlanders, which touched his pride both as a military man and a prince of the Hanoverian house. The Pretender did not follow up his success, but persisted, from a false sense of honour, in the siege of Stirling, and allowed the broken English army to be reconstituted. He was however obliged to desist from this project by a memorial signed by all his chiefs, and presented by Lord George Murray. Some coldness had arisen between the Prince and his followers ever since the retreat from Derby, and the present prudent counsel tended still further to widen the breach. The army was divided into two bodies, and marched rapidly towards Inverness, where they were to unite. Cumberland hastened in pursuit. Inverness was easily mastered, and the neighbouring clan, the Mackintoshes, joined the Prince. But the English, now fully on the alert, prevented the arrival of any supplies from France, and the army was suffering from want of provisions and money. Cumberland's army was meanwhile well supplied from the sea, and marched towards Inverness along the coast from Aberdeen. The passages of the rivers, Spey, Findhorn, and Nairn, were but weakly disputed, and on the 14th of April the royal army entered the town of Nairn. That night Charles slept at Culloden House, the seat of President Forbes, who had fled on his approach. Want of provisions, and the habit of the Highlanders of returning at times to their homes, had reduced his army to about 5000, and of these many were absent from the standards in Inverness and elsewhere searching for food. It was determined, at the suggestion of Charles and Lord George Murray, to attempt a night surprise, but the darkness of the night and the weariness of the men prevented its success, and the hour proposed for the attack still found them four miles from the English posts. They fell back to Culloden Moor. Murray and some others wanted to retire, but Charles and some of his more reckless followers from France, in overweening trust in the dash of the Highlanders, insisted upon fighting. The men of Athol, the Camerons and the Stuarts, had the right of the line under Lord George Murray, while the Macdonalds, who claimed that position ever since the battle of Bannockburn, sulkily received orders to occupy the left. Taught by former experience, the Duke of Cumberland ranged his army in three lines, with cannon between every two regiments, the second line being drawn up three deep, and arranged as men now are when forming square to receive cavalry. The opening cannonade was wholly in favour of the English, and observing the loss of his followers, Murray advanced with the right. Wearied and harassed as they were, the Highlanders broke through the first line, and captured two cannon, but the firm formation and scathing fire of the second line threw them into hopeless confusion. On the left of the Highland line the Macdonalds, aggrieved at their position, remained immoveable, in spite of the urgent entreaties of their commander, in spite even of the touching words of Macdonald of Keppoch, who cried as he fell, "My God, have the children of my tribe forsaken me!" They afterwards fell back and joined the second line. They were however now outflanked, and their retreat threatened, and though there were some thoughts of trying to retrieve the fortunes of the day with the unbroken left, the more prudent officers regarded the battle as lost, and compelled Charles to fly. He went first of all to Lord Lovat's residence, but, finding but a cold reception from that scheming villain, who was trying to keep well with the Government, while he had sent his son and clan to join the Prince, he fled onwards till he reached the Castle of Glengarry, beyond Fort Augustus. The broken fragments of his army were collected, about 1200 in number, by the skill of Lord George Murray at Ruthven in Badenoch. But Charles gave up the struggle, and sent orders that they should look to their own safety. The insurrection was over: vengeance began. The cruelty with which that vengeance was executed gained Cumberland the nickname of "The Butcher." In the pursuit after Culloden but little quarter was given, and acts of brutal ferocity stained the glory of the day. Some wounded Highlanders who had crawled to a farm building were deliberately burnt to death in it. The prisoners were kept in want of the necessaries of life, and many of the wounded put to death in cold blood. Cumberland fixed his headquarters at Fort Augustus, and harried the neighbouring country with every species of military execution. Acts of cruelty and of wild license were done chiefly at the instigation of General Hawley, but not without Cumberland's knowledge. The Duke was however, and rightly, hailed as the saviour of England.

[Sidenote: Charles escapes to France.]

For five months Charles was a solitary fugitive in the Highlands and Hebrides. He frequently had to trust his secret to the poorest Highlanders, but the high price set on his head never induced them for a moment to break their faith. His best known escape took place in South Uist, whither he had been tracked very shortly after the battle of Culloden, and where he was surrounded by upwards of 2000 men. Flora Macdonald, a young lady visiting Clanranald's family, succeeded in bringing him safely through this difficulty by procuring from her stepfather, who was an officer in the King's army, a passport for herself and a female servant. In this disguise she took Charles with her into Skye, where, making his secret known to the wife of Sir Alexander Macdonald, who was in the King's interest, she by her means got him put under the charge of Macdonald of Kingsburgh, who brought him to a place of safety. We are told that his height and want of grace in the management of his petticoats, especially in passing the watercourses, very nearly betrayed him. Flora Macdonald afterwards married the son of Macdonald of Kingsburgh. At last, on the 20th September, attended by Lochiel and a considerable number of other fugitives, he set sail for France from Loch-na-Nuagh, the very spot where he had landed fourteen months before.

Thus terminated a most romantic piece of military history, astonishing both in the success which the small body of Highlanders were able to gain and the rapidity with which their successes were brought to an end. Had Lord George Murray been a worse general, and had the Scotch chiefs had less at heart the separation of Scotland from England, the success of the enterprise might have been different.

At the two critical periods of the war, at Derby and after the battle of Falkirk, Charles was probably right in disliking any retrograde movements. No doubt, on purely military grounds, his opinion was wrong; but a body of half-trained enthusiastic Highlanders are nothing unless victorious. The marked change visible in their retreat both from Derby and from Stirling, on both of which occasions great disorder and want of discipline arose, shows that the moral side of the movement was not sufficiently considered by the generals. On the other hand, Lord George Murray showed great skill in hoodwinking and passing the armies both of Wade and Cumberland, and much good judgment in refusing to introduce regular drill or arms among the Highland regiments. The Lords Balmerino and Kilmarnock were beheaded for their share in the conspiracy, and Lord Lovat, wily though he had been, was convicted on the evidence of the Prince's Secretary of State, Murray of Broughton, who turned King's evidence, and executed. Many stringent measures against the Highlanders were at once passed, such as the Disarming Act, the Act to forbid the wearing of the Highland dress, and more important, an Act for the abolition of heritable jurisdictions, by which the arbitrary power of the chiefs of the clans was destroyed, and regular tribunals under responsible judges established.

[Sidenote: Ministerial crisis. Feb. 1746.]

At the very time that the Highlanders were still in the country England had passed through a ministerial crisis. The Pelhams had found themselves thwarted and in danger of being supplanted by Granville (Carteret); for although they had succeeded in driving him from the ministry, he was still the King's favourite--a position which he had earned by constantly seconding the royal wishes with regard to foreign politics. The chief opponents of these views were Pitt and Chesterfield, and the Pelhams now determined upon bringing matters to a crisis by demanding the admission of Pitt into the ministry. The King, influenced by Lord Granville and Lord Bath, refused to admit him, and the Pelhams, their friend Lord Harrington (Stanhope), and their whole party resigned. The King at once instructed Lord Granville to form a new Government. He undertook the task, but three days sufficed to show that the King's favour was no match for the Parliamentary influence of the great Whig party, of which Newcastle was the acknowledged leader. Much against his will, the King had to receive back his old ministry upon any terms they chose to propose, and Pitt became first Vice-Treasurer of Ireland, and shortly afterwards Paymaster of the Forces. In this position he was enabled much to increase his popularity, by rejecting the vast profits which it had been the habit hitherto for the Paymaster to make. That officer had been in the habit of receiving a large percentage upon all foreign subsidies, and of using as his own the interest accruing from the large balance of public money he had constantly in hand. These profits Pitt rejected, and at once established a reputation for disinterestedness.

[Sidenote: Effect of the rebellion on the continental war.]

The insurrection in Scotland had had considerable effect upon the continental war. The campaign in Flanders, where the Austrians had been deprived of English succour, had been very unfavourable, and after the battle of Raucoux, the French, under Marshal Saxe, had mastered nearly the whole of the Austrian Netherlands. But, deprived of their Bavarian allies by the Treaty of Fuessen, of the Prussians by the Treaty of Dresden, and all hearty support from Spain by the death of Philip V., they began to think of peace, and negotiations were opened at Breda. Lord Harrington, having fallen under the King's displeasure for his conduct in the ministerial crisis, had resigned, and Chesterfield was called from the Lord Lieutenancy of Ireland to become Secretary of State. He at once began to use his influence, which was very great, both from his social gifts and from his eloquence, in favour of peace, so that there seemed some hopes of a cessation of the war. It was pursued however without check during the whole of the next year. In Holland the appearance of 20,000 French within the frontier roused the national spirit, and the people, disgusted with the dilatory conduct of their republican chiefs, rose in revolution; they again looked for safety to the house of Nassau, and the young Prince of Orange, a son-in-law of George II., was made hereditary Stadtholder. In conjunction with the Duke of Cumberland he took command of the army in Flanders, but was defeated with much loss to the English at the battle of Laufeldt. The great fortress of Bergen-op-Zoom was taken, and at length Maestricht, on the safety of which Holland depended, was itself besieged. To balance these disasters, the course of the war in Italy had been constantly disastrous to France. The Austrians, freed from the pressure of Frederick on the north, were able to act with vigour. They were so successful that Genoa was taken, and Provence itself invaded; and though in the following year the Austrians were driven from France and Genoa regained, the war in that direction closed with a complete victory over the French at Exiles, and the French troops withdrew to their own country, not to appear in Italy again till the renewed vigour of the Revolution plunged them afresh into a career of conquest. Meanwhile, however, in spite of these disasters upon land, England had been steadily gaining its real object. Holland, whose political importance had almost disappeared, and which had become a faithful follower of England, was still more closely joined to that country by its late revolution. Upon the sea disaster everywhere met the French. Their colonial empire was attacked, Cape Breton Island was captured, and the St. Lawrence and Canada thus laid open to the English. Their navy gradually dwindled away, till it was represented by three or four ships only. They were wearied of the war, and alarmed at the immense addition to their debt. The Dutch were disappointed at the want of success which had attended their revolution; and the English were satisfied with the destruction of the French marine. All parties were thus at length ready to listen to a reasonable peace.

[Sidenote: Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle. Oct. 1748.]

[Sidenote: Results of the war.]

It was therefore determined to hold a congress at Aix-la-Chapelle. Moreover, the Pelhams had now resumed in some degree the pacific policy of Walpole, and the apparent certainty of the fall of Maestricht brought matters to a crisis. On the 30th of April the preliminaries were signed between France, England and Holland, without waiting for the agreement of Austria and Spain. The terms of those preliminaries befitted the causeless war which they terminated. The chief condition was the complete mutual restoration of all conquests, and the return of each party to its position before the war. There were, however, some slight changes; Parma was to be given to the Infant Don Philip; the cessions of Austria to both Prussia and Sardinia were to be secured, and Spain was to restore the Assiento Treaty and the right of a periodical vessel in the South Seas to the English, while the fortifications of Dunkirk towards the sea were to be destroyed; in exchange for its losses Austria received the complete guarantee of the Pragmatic Sanction and the acknowledgment of the Emperor. The restoration of conquests touched even India, where the conquest of Madras and the resistance of Pondicherry to the English arms had raised in the minds of the French well-grounded hopes of founding a colonial empire. Taking the war as a whole its results were these: Holland had disappeared from the rank of great nations; it was evident that it could not defend itself against France. Austria, though it had lost Silesia, had learnt the strength to be derived from the military resources of its eastern provinces. Prussia had proved itself a predominant power in Europe. England had secured its maritime supremacy. France had exhibited its growing weakness, had lost its best opportunity of re-establishing itself upon the sea, and under a show of magnanimous generosity had made plain to the world its total absence of good government, of good administration, or good diplomacy.

[Sidenote: Pelham's conciliatory government.]

The period of the premiership of Henry Pelham is marked by the absence of parliamentary contest. Taught by the stormy close of Walpole's career, he so far deviated from his master's precepts, that, instead of wishing to stand alone in his government, his chief object was to conciliate all parties, and the broad ministry over which he presided included nearly all the men of striking talent in Parliament. There was no opposition worth mentioning, except a little clique who gathered round the Prince of Wales, and at whose head was Doddington. It was not till the death of Mr. Pelham in 1754 that the strife of parties again began.

[Sidenote: His financial measures. 1750.]

Meanwhile the system of subsidies to foreign powers was quietly carried on, even Pitt ceasing to raise his voice against them. The lull of party strife, and the strength of his position, enabled the minister, who was a good financier, to alleviate what was then considered a very threatening danger to the country, and at the same time to demonstrate the firm and constant increase of the national wealth. He determined to introduce a measure (1750) for the reduction of the debt, which was at that time about £78,000,000, paying an interest of £3,000,000 a year. This sum was at that time regarded as very formidable. But Pelham, rightly thinking that the country could well bear the amount of debt, directed his attention not to diminishing the capital but to lowering the rate of interest. This plan had indeed been carried out constantly since the time of William III., and as the operation had been always successful, it marks the increased confidence of the nation in the Government, and the increased wealth of the nation, since money could be procured at gradually cheapening rates. Under William III. eight per cent. had been given: under Queen Anne the interest had been reduced to six: under George I. to five and to four; Pelham now proposed to reduce it to three per cent. In spite of some natural opposition the Bill was carried. Those who were unwilling to receive the reduced interest, and there were few such, received their capital from money borrowed at three per cent. The rest accepted the terms, which were three and a half, for the next eight years, and three per cent. after 1758. The annual saving was more than half a million, and Smollett says that Europe saw with wonder England reducing the national obligations immediately after a war which had almost ruined Europe. Three millions was indeed a considerable charge upon a revenue amounting to about £8,523,540. This was derived from four principal sources;--more than £3,800,000 from Excise and Malt Tax, £1,900,000 and over from the customs; £1,637,608 from the Land Tax, and the rest from the stamp duties and other small sources. The late war had cost the nation upwards of £30,000,000, and many financiers, not foreseeing the enormous development of the national resources which the next half century would produce, took a gloomy view of the financial position of England. But, as we have seen, the ease with which Pelham completed the reduction of the interest proved that there was considerable wealth in the country.

[Sidenote: Increase of wealth and trade.]

Indeed, although the great industrial period had not yet quite arrived, both commerce and manufactures were making considerable strides, and that wealth was accumulating which was to find its employment in the next decade. Several branches of foreign trade had been relieved from restrictions--whale and herring fisheries, the African trade and the silk trade had all been relieved, while manufactures had been steadily increasing. As early as 1715 silk spinning had been introduced at Derby; and the woollen manufactures, which, with the silk, were heavily protected, were of great and increasing importance. The use of cotton, which was to change the whole face of Lancashire, was regarded most unwisely as injurious, and but little use was made of it except for mixing with silk and wool, and in a small degree for exportation. Protection of silk and wool even went so far that penalties were laid on the wearing and selling of calico goods. Both in Birmingham and Sheffield metal works were largely established, and silver plated upon other metals, which was introduced at Sheffield in 1742, was soon widely used under the title of Sheffield plate. Improvements, too, had also been made in the stocking-frame, and, in 1738, John Kaye had invented his shuttle, which doubled the amount of work which could be done. But while cotton was as yet scarcely thought of, and improvements in the old manufactures were only introduced by degrees, the second great source of English wealth was discovered and set to work. The quantity of iron in the United Kingdom is very large, but keen observers complained that, while there was plenty for our own supply and for exportation, we still imported largely from America, where it could be worked cheaper. This was because it had been thought necessary that iron should be smelted with charcoal, and as carriage was as yet wholly by land and expensive, it was only when iron occurred in woody districts, such as Surrey and Sussex, that it could be worked with advantage. The occurrence of the termination _Hammer_ in the name of several villages in Surrey marks this old state of things. The railings round St. Paul's Cathedral were regarded as the great achievement of the southern ironworks. In 1740 means were discovered of working iron with pit-coal, which at once opened an almost unbounded sphere for industry. The discovery is attributed to Dr. John Roebuck of Birmingham, who, in the year 1759, established the great Carron ironworks in Stirlingshire. It is curious that a similar plan should have been regarded as one of the bubbles of the South Sea year. Agriculture was still in a backward condition, especially with regard to implements. The plough was still a rude machine, chiefly of wood. Turnips were still crushed with the beetle. Cultivators, and other means of assisting or saving the trouble of ploughing, were unknown. But in the east of England, at all events, the value of frequent manuring was understood;--turnips and other root-crops had taken the place of fallow, and a limited rotation of crops was in vogue. The use of the drill, although invented in 1732, was little known. All these improvements were however gradually getting introduced, as the waste lands or great common fields were by degrees enclosed. Suffolk, where this had been early done, was at the head of agricultural improvement.

[Sidenote: Reform of the Calendar. 1751.]

During the period of parliamentary quiet which preceded Pelham's death, two or three measures of permanent interest were passed. In 1751 the reform of the Calendar was proposed and carried triumphantly through Parliament, chiefly by the exertions of Chesterfield, Lord Macclesfield, and Bradley the astronomer. The Julian Calendar, in which the length of year was slightly miscalculated, had been reformed by Pope Gregory XIII. in 1582, and this reform had been gradually adopted in all countries in Europe except England, Russia, and Sweden. England is said to have rejected it from hatred of the Papacy. The effect was, that while the year in every other country began upon the 1st of January, in England it began on the 25th of March; while, as compared with other countries, there was a difference of eleven days in computing the days of the month. The change proposed was, that the year 1752 should begin upon the 1st of January, and that eleven days should be suppressed between the 2nd and 14th of September, so that the third of that month should be called the 14th, and that henceforward such changes should be introduced as would make the solar and legal year coincident. The chief practical difficulty was in the matter of payments. It was settled that these should not be put forward. It is thus that the 5th of April, the 5th of July, the 10th of October, and the 5th of January, still remain the days on which the dividends of the public funds are paid. This change met with a good deal of ignorant opposition. The common Opposition election cry was, "Give us back our eleven days."

[Sidenote: Lord Hardwicke's Marriage Act. 1753.]

[Sidenote: Decay of the Church.]