Part 8

+Source.+--_The Young Chevalier; or a General Narrative of all that befel that Unfortunate Adventurer, from his Fatal Defeat to His final Escape._ By a gentleman (1746). Pp. 75-78.

Here it was [upon the coast of Glenelg] that the _Chevalier_ went through one of the oddest Adventures, that perhaps ever happened to any Man; for at this place a Company of Militia (the _Monroe's_, if I mistake not) were waiting, in hopes the unhappy Fugitive might fall into their Hands: To make the more sure of their Prize, they had with them a Blood-hound, to trace him out. The Dog was within a Stone's throw of them, and the Man not much farther off, when _McKinnon_ observed them, and particularly suspected the Animal. Whereupon he advised his Passenger instantly to pull off all his Cloaths, and enter the Water up to the Neck: "For," said he, "if you go in with your Cloaths on, you may catch your Death. In the mean time I will divert the smell of the Dog, with these Fishes," he having some on a string in his hand. The affrighted _Chevalier_ instantly did as he was directed, and _McKinnon_ having hid the _Chevalier's_ Cloaths in a Clift of a Rock, began to amuse the Dog with his Fish. The Artifice succeeded so well, as effectually to secure the _Chevalier_; but the Animal would not quit the Fisherman till he was secured by the Militia-Men, who kept him all Night, and Part of the next Day. They examined him, but to no Purpose; and upon his telling his true Name, _viz._ McLeod, they became indifferent about him; and he representing that his Family was starving, having nothing to subsist on but the Product of his Industry as a Fisherman, they dismissed him. When he left them, he set out, as if he intended a very different Course to that he really intended, and afterwards struck into; for when he judged himself out of their Reach, he turned into the Road leading to the Place where he supposed the _Chevalier_ yet was. He found him there indeed, and employ'd in such a Manner, as could not but strike even the rough Heart of the hardy Fisherman, innur'd to all the Extremities of Wind and Weather, Hunger and Cold. He found him seeking out Muscles and other small Shell-Fish, upon the Craigs, and breaking them between two Stones, eating the Fish as he opened them, to satisfy the Cravings of an Appetite, never in all Probability so Keen before. He told _McKinnon_ "that he had continued in the Water for several Hours, after he left him; but at last ventured out, and put on his Cloaths; but durst not offer to remove from that desert spot, judging it too hazardous to go up into the Country, to which he was an utter Stranger."... As soon as he set Eyes on _M'Kinnon_, he fell down on his Knees, and with up-lifted Hands, thank'd Heaven for returning him his Friend; which he did in these Words, as near as could possibly be remember'd by the Fisherman, who heard him, and who repeated them to the Person from whom I had my Information. "O God," said he, "I thank thee that I have not fallen into the Hands of my Enemies; and _surely thou hast still something for me to do_, since in this strange Place thou hast sent me back my Guide."

[18] Superstition.

[19] A turf seat.

[20] Bailiff.

[21] A wounded Jacobite whose servant had refused to abandon him, and had therefore been taken prisoner along with his master.

TRIAL OF THE REBEL LORDS, 1746.

+Source.+--Walpole's _Letters_. Vol. i., p. 133. Bohn's edition.

_Horace Walpole to Sir Horace Mann, Aug. 1, 1746._

ARLINGTON STREET, _Aug. 1, 1746_.

I am this moment come from the conclusion of the greatest and most melancholy scene I ever yet saw. You will easily guess it was the trials of the rebel Lords. As it was the most interesting sight, it was the most solemn and fine: a coronation is a puppet-show, and all the splendour of it idle; but this sight at once feasted one's eyes, and engaged all one's passions. It began last Monday; three-quarters of Westminster Hall were enclosed with galleries, and hung with scarlet; and the whole ceremony was concluded with the most awful solemnity and decency, except in the one point of leaving the prisoners at the bar, amidst the idle curiosity of some crowd, and even with the witnesses who had sworn against them, while the Lords adjourned to their own House to consult. No part of the royal family was there, which was a proper regard to the unhappy men, who were become their victims. One hundred and thirty-nine Lords were present, and made a noble sight on their benches _frequent and full_! The Chancellor [Hardwicke] was Lord High Steward; but though a most comely personage, with a fine voice, his behaviour was mean, curiously searching for occasion to bow to the Minister that is no peer [Pelham], and consequently applying to the other Ministers, in a manner, for their orders; and not even ready at the ceremonial. To the prisoners he was peevish; and instead of keeping up the humane dignity of the law of England, whose character is to point out favour to the criminal, he crossed them, and almost scolded at any offer they made towards defence. I had armed myself with all the resolution I could, with the thought of their crimes and of the danger past, and was assisted by the sight of the Marquis of Lothian, in weepers for his son, who fell at Culloden; but the first appearance of the prisoners shocked me!--their behaviour melted me! Lord Kilmarnock and Lord Cromartie are both past forty, but look younger. Lord Kilmarnock is tall and slender, with an extreme fine person: his behaviour a most just mixture between dispute and submission; if in anything to be reprehended, a little affected, and his hair too exactly dressed for a man in his situation; but when I say this, it is not to find fault with him, but to show how little fault there was to be found. Lord Cromartie is an indifferent figure, appeared much dejected and rather sullen: he dropped a few tears the first day, and swooned as soon as he got back to his cell.

For Lord Balmerino, he is the most natural brave old fellow I ever saw; the highest intrepidity, even to indifference. At the bar he behaved like a soldier and a man; in the intervals of form, with carelessness and humour. He pressed extremely to have his wife--his pretty Peggy--with him in the Tower. Lady Cromartie only sees her husband through the grate, not choosing to be shut up with him, as she thinks she can serve him better by her intercession without; she is big with child, and very handsome; so are her daughters. When they were to be brought from the Tower in separate coaches, there was some dispute in which the axe must go. Old Balmerino cried, "Come, come, put it with me." At the bar, he plays with his fingers upon the axe, while he talks to the gentleman-gaoler; and one day, somebody coming up to listen, he took the blade and held it like a fan between their faces. During the trial a little boy was near him, but not tall enough to see; he made room for the child, and placed him near himself. When the trial begun, the two Earls pleaded guilty; Balmerino not guilty, saying he would prove his not being at the taking of the castle of Carlisle, as laid in the indictment. Then the King's counsel opened, and Sergeant Skinner pronounced the most absurd speech imaginable; and mentioned the Duke of Perth, _who_, said he, _I see by the papers is dead_. Then some witnesses were examined, whom afterwards the old hero shook cordially by the hand. The Lords withdrew to their House, and returning, demanded of the Judges, whether, one point not being proved, though all the rest were, the indictment was false? to which they unanimously answered in the negative. Then the Lord High Steward asked the Peers severally, whether Lord Balmerino was guilty! All said, _Guilty upon honour_, and then adjourned, the prisoner having begged pardon for giving them so much trouble. While the Lords were withdrawn, the Solicitor-General Murray [afterwards Lord Mansfield] (brother of the Pretender's minister) officiously and insolently went up to Lord Balmerino, and asked him, how he could give the Lords so much trouble, when his Solicitor had informed him, that his plea could be of no use to him? Balmerino asked the bystanders, who this person was? and being told, he said, "Oh, Mr. Murray! I am extremely glad to see you; I have been with several of your relations; the good lady, your mother, was of great use to us at Perth." Are you not charmed with this speech? how just it was! As he went away, he said, "They call me Jacobite; I am no more a Jacobite than any that tried me; but if the Great Mogul had set up his standard, I should have followed it, for I could not starve."

[Gray, in a letter to Wharton, gives the last sentence as follows: "My Lord (says he) for the two Kings and their Rights I cared not a Farthing which prevailed; but I was starving; and by God if Mahomet had set up his Standard in the Highlands, I had been a good Musselman for Bread, and stuck close to the Party, for I must eat."]

TREATY OF AIX-LA-CHAPELLE (1748).

I.

LORD BOLINGBROKE ON THE PRELIMINARIES.

+Source.+--_The Marchmont Papers_, 1831. Vol. ii., pp. 314-319.

Our true interests require, that we should take few engagements on the Continent, and never those of making a land war, unless the conjuncture be such, that nothing less than the weight of Britain can prevent the scales of power from being quite overturned. This was the case surely, when we arrived in the Netherlands (1743) and when we marched into Germany. The first did some good, and as it was managed, some hurt. It divided the attention of France, and became a reason the more for recalling the army of Maillebois. But the fierce memorials, with which it was accompanied, and which breathed an immediate and direct war against France, frightened those, whom our arriving should have encouraged, and gave much advantage to the French in the Seven Provinces. The last, I mean our march to the Mayn [where the English encamped in May, 1744] and vast diversion we made by it, has had a full effect. The Bavarians are reduced to a neutrality, and the French, who threatened Vienna, to the defence of their own provinces. The defensive war the Queen of Hungary made on that side, is therefore at an end, strictly speaking; and your Lordship may think perhaps, that, this being so the case, wherein alone Great Britain ought to make war on the Continent, exists, no longer. It is, I own, very provoking to see, that the French are able at any time to invade their neighbours, to give law if they succeed, and not to receive it if they fail, but to retire behind their barrier, and defy from thence the just resentment of the enemies they have made; and yet we ought to consider very coolly, how far we suffer this provocation to have any share in determining our conduct in the present circumstances. I have seen the time, when the French would have given up the very barrier, that secures them now. We would not take it then. Can we force it now? I said once, that Bouchain had cost our nation above six millions; and they who were angry at the assertion [the Whigs] could not contradict it, since Bouchain was the sole conquest of 1711, and since the expence of that year's war amounted to little less. Are we able to purchase at such a rate? or do we hope to purchase at a cheaper, when my Lord Marlborough and Prince Eugene are no more?... We shall have a very nice game to play, for if our friends, the Austrians, would take advantage of too much facility to continue the war, our enemies, the Spaniards and the French, would certainly take advantage of too much haste to conclude it. This reflection becomes the more important, because the war we have with Spain, seems more likely to be determined in Italy than in America; and somewhere or other it must be determined to our advantage.... In all events, my dear Lord, and whatever peace we make, it will become an indispensable point of policy to be on our guard, after what has happened, against the joint ambition of the two branches of Bourbon, whom no acquisitions can satisfy, nor any treaties bind, and who have begun to act in late instances, as the two branches of Austria did in the last century. The treaty of quadruple alliance, and a long course of timid unmeaning negociations, unmeaning relatively to the interest of Great Britain, have encouraged this spirit. A contrary conduct must check it; and I will venture to say, that, the peace once made on terms less exorbitant, than some sanguine persons would expect, this may be done; and that vigor sufficient for this purpose will be found on the whole less expensive, with prudent management abroad, and honest economy at home, than the pusillanimity of that administration, which has made us despised by some of our neighbours, and distrusted by others, till France had a fair chance for giving the law to all Europe. But it is more than time that I should put an end to this political ramble. I mean it for you alone, and I am used to your indulgence. It is hardly possible, that you should write in answer to this letter, that is to come to me in France. It seemed to me, by the little conversation I had with some of your ministers when I was at London, that their way of thinking was not very distant from mine, about foreign affairs at least. Great Britain must have a peace, my Lord. Her ability to carry on this war, as little as it is, is greater, in my opinion, than that of France. But there are other invincible reasons against it. I repeat, therefore, we must have a peace as soon as possible. To have a good one, vigor in your measures, and moderation in your views, are, I suppose, equally necessary.

II.

THE ARTICLES OF PEACE.

+Source.+--Coxe's _Pelham Administration_. Vol. ii., p. 41, 42. The Treaty is to be found at length in Tindal's Continuation of Rapin's _History of England_. Vol. xxi., pp. 357-366.

The following is an abstract of the articles of the definitive treaty, in which the reader will recognize a general conformity with the preliminaries.

ARTICLE I. Renewal of peace between all the contracting powers.

ART. II. Restitution of all conquests, and the _status quo ante bellum_, with the exceptions herein mentioned.

ART. III. Renewal of the treaties of Westphalia, 1648; of Madrid, between England and Spain, 1667, 1678 and 1679; of Ryswick, 1697; of Utrecht, 1713; of Baden, 1714; of the triple alliance, 1717; of the quadruple alliance, 1718; and of the treaty of Vienna, 1738.

ART. IV. Mutual restoration of prisoners, six weeks after the ratification.

ART. V. Mutual restitution of conquests, and specification of the cessions assigned by Austria, to Don Philip, according to the preliminaries.

ART. VI. All the restitutions in Europe, specified in this treaty, to be made within the term of six weeks after the ratifications, and in particular all the Low Countries to be restored to the Empress Queen, and likewise those Barrier Towns, the sovereignty of which belonged to the House of Austria, to be evacuated, for the admission of the troops of the States-General.

ART. VII. Parma, Placentia, and Guastalla, to be delivered to Don Philip, at the time that Nice and Savoy are restored to the King of Sardinia.

ART. VIII. Measures to be adopted for insuring the restitutions, within the period appointed.

ART. IX. The King of England engages to send two hostages of rank to Paris, until Cape Breton, and all his conquests in the West and East Indies, shall be restored.

ART. X. The revenues and taxes of the conquered countries, to belong to the powers in possession, until the day of the ratification.

ART. XI. All archives to be restored within two months, or as soon afterwards as possible.

ART. XII. The king of Sardinia to retain possession of all the territories, conceded to him by the treaty of Worms, excepting Finalé and Placentia; namely, the Vigevenasco, part of the Pavesaeno, and the county of Anghiera.

ART. XIII. The Duke of Modena to be restored to all his dominions.

ART. XIV. Genoa to be reinstated in all her possessions and rights, and her subjects in the enjoyment of all the funds belonging to them, in the Austrian and Sardinian banks.

ART. XV. All things in Italy to remain as before the war, with the exceptions contained in the preceding articles.

ART. XVI. The Assiento Treaty, and the privilege of sending the annual ship to the Spanish colonies, confirmed for four years, according to the right possessed before the war.

ART. XVII. Dunkirk to remain fortified on the side of the land, in its existing condition; and, on that of the sea, to be left on the footing of antient treaties.

ART. XVIII. Certain claims of money, by the King of England, as elector of Hanover, on the crown of Spain; the differences concerning the abbey of St. Hubert, and the boundaries of Hainault; and the courts of justice recently established in the Low Countries, as also the pretensions of the elector-palatine, to be amicably adjusted by commissaries.

ART. XIX. Confirmation of the guaranty of the Protestant Succession of the House of Brunswick, in all its descendants, as fully stipulated in the fifth article of the quadruple alliance.

ART. XX. All the German territories of the King of England, as elector of Brunswick-Lunenberg guarantied.

ART. XXI. All the contracting powers, who guarantied the Pragmatic Sanction of the 19th of April, 1713, now guaranty the entire inheritance of Charles the Sixth, in favour of his daughter, Maria Theresa, and her descendants, excepting those cessions previously made by Charles the Sixth or by Maria Theresa herself, and those included in the present treaty.

ART. XXII. Silesia and Glataz guarantied to the King of Prussia.

ART. XXIII. All the powers interested in this treaty jointly guaranty its execution.

ART. XXIV. Exchange of the ratifications to be made at Aix la Chapelle, by all the contracting powers within a month after the signatures.

III.

A CONTEMPORARY VIEW OF THE PEACE.

+Source.+--_Letters of Mary Lepel, Lady Hervey_, 1821, p. 126.

_May 31st, 1748._

... I am as glad of the peace, sir, as you can be, for without it we were certainly undone; for which reason I am, I confess, astonished that the French, who had the whole in their hands, should give it us. There are four people who have certainly had a narrow escape by it; for one campaign more, and the Duke of Cumberland, with his little army, would have been cut to pieces; the Prince of Orange would have been deposed, and the Duke of Newcastle and Lord Sandwich would, or should have been called to an account, which I fancy they could not have made up and balanced to their advantage.

LORD CHESTERFIELD'S ACT FOR THE REFORM OF THE CALENDAR (1751).

I.

HISTORICAL ACCOUNT OF THE BILL.

+Source.+--Anderson's _Origin of Commerce_, 1751. Vol. ii., pp. 283, 284-286.

On Wednesday the twenty-second of May 1751, the ever-famous Act of the British legislature, of the twenty-fourth year of King George the Second, received the royal assent, For regulating the Commencement of the Year, and for correcting the Calendar now in Use,--_i.e._ For abolishing the old stile, and establishing the new stile, already in use in most parts of Christendom.

Its preamble sets forth, "That the legal supputation of the year in England, which begins on the twenty-fifth of March, hath been attended with divers inconveniences," (strange that this was not rectified long ago!) "as it differs from other nations, and the legal method of computation in Scotland, and the common usage throughout the whole kingdom; and that thereby frequent mistakes in the dates of deeds and other writings are occasioned, and disputes arise therefrom and that the Julian Calendar, now in use throughout the British dominions, hath been discovered to be erroneous, by means whereof, the vernal equinox, which at the time of the Council of Nice, in the year 325, happened on or about the twenty-first of March, now happens on the ninth or tenth of the same month: and the error still increasing, and, if not remedied, would, in time, occasion the several equinoxes and solstices to fall at very different times in the civil year from what they formerly did, which might tend to mislead persons ignorant of such alteration. And as a method of correcting the calendar, so as that the equinoxes and solstices may for the future fall on the same nominal days on which they happened at the time of the said General Council, hath been established, and is now generally practised by almost all other nations of Europe: and, as it will be of general convenience to merchants, and other persons corresponding with other nations and countries and will tend to prevent mistakes and disputes concerning the dates of letters and accounts, if the like correction be received and established in his Majesty's dominions."

"That, throughout all his Majesty's dominions in Europe, Asia, Africa and America, the said old supputation shall not be used after the last day of December 1751, and that the first of January following shall be accounted the first day of the year 1752, and so on, in every year after: and after the said first of January 1752, the days of the month shall go on and be reckoned in the same order, and the feast of Easter, and other moveable feasts depending thereon, shall be ascertained according to the same method they now are, until the second of September in 1752, inclusive, and the next day shall be accounted the fourteenth of September, omitting, for that time only, the eleven intermediate nominal days: and the following days shall be numbered forward in numerical order from the said fourteenth of September, as now used in the present calendar: and all acts and writings which shall be made or executed upon or after the said first of January 1752, shall bear date according to the new method of supputation; and the two fixed terms of St. Hilary and St. Michael in England, and the courts of the great sessions in the counties palatine and in Wales, and the courts of general quarter sessions, and general sessions of the peace, and all other courts and meetings and assemblies of any bodies politic or corporate, for the election of officers or members, or for officers entering upon the execution of their respective offices, or for any other purpose, which by law or usage, &c., are to be held on any fixed day of any month, or on any day depending on the beginning, or any certain day of any month, (excepting courts usually holden with fairs or marts) shall, after the said second of September, be held on the same nominal days and times whereon they are now to be holden, but computed according to the new method of numbering, that is, eleven days sooner than the respective days whereon the same are now kept.

"The years 1800, 1900, 2100, 2200, 2300, or any other hundredth year, except every fourth hundredth, whereof the year 2000 shall be the first, shall be deemed common years, consisting of three hundred and sixty-five days; and the years 2000, 2400, 2800 and every other fourth hundredth years from the year 2000, inclusive, and all other years which by the present supputation are esteemed to be Bissextile, or leap-years, shall for the future be esteemed to be Bissextile, or leap-years, consisting of three hundred and sixty-six days, as is now used with respect to every fourth year.