[112] On an examination of the list of the members, it will be found
that Cornwall has produced about the usual average of the English
counties.
[113] Opie painted Bone's portrait, and presented it to him, 1795; also
one of Bartolozzi, the engraver, which is preserved in the National
Portrait Gallery.
[114] A blowing-house is a building where tin ore was smelted prior
to the construction of the larger smelting-works. The first Mrs.
Opie had the name changed to one more consonant with her notions of
connubial felicity. Opie's second wife thus sketched it in a letter
dated 'St. Agnes, 11th mo. 26th, 1832:' 'Yesterday I dined at Harmony
Cot, where my husband and all the family were born and bred. It is a
most sequestered cottage, whitewashed and thatched; a hill rising high
above it, and another in front; trees and flower-beds before it, which
in summer must make it a pretty spot. _Now_ it is not a tempting abode;
but there are two good rooms, and I am glad I have seen it.'
[115] When Polwhele wrote, some seventy or eighty years ago, this
picture was in the possession of Richard Hoskins, Esq., of Carennis.
[116] Mr. Rogers, in his 'Opie and his Works,' has thus classified the
760 works catalogued:
Portraits (counting each head in family groups) 508
Sacred Subjects 22
Historical 17
Shakespeare 11
Poetical and Fancy 134
Landscape 5
Supplementary and addenda (various) 63
----
760
He exhibited altogether 143 pictures at the Royal Academy.
[117] Writing to Southey, from Norwich, 3rd June, 1806, William Taylor
says, 'Opie is soon to be knighted;' and in 1807 he says that Opie had
been at the point of death from abdominal paralysis--probably caused by
the absorption into his system of lead-vapours from his paints.
[118] Mrs. Gilbert says that her father got 250 guineas for engraving
this picture.
[119] Opie painted a _replica_ of Mrs. Delany's portrait for the
Countess of Bute, for which Horace Walpole designed a frame; and I
confess these paintings appear to me to refute entirely the statement
that Opie's female portraits were unsuccessful.
[120] Lonsdale the painter afterwards occupied it: it now forms part of
an hotel.
[121] Betty Opie was a remarkably shrewd and sagacious old lady. She
gave my father most entertaining accounts of her visit to London, when
she went up to see 'Jan,' as she called her illustrious brother, and
especially of an escapade of hers at the British Museum, where, having
accidentally broken off the finger of a mummy, she brought it home to
her brother, who ground it down into a fine brown paint.
[122] An old sweetheart of his, whose portrait he once painted in the
act of milking a cow.
[123] When Opie was painting Charles James Fox's portrait, worried by
many and various criticisms, Fox said, 'Don't attend to _them_; you
_must_ know best.'
[124] In this year he contributed to the Exhibition six portraits, one
of them being that of Dr. Samuel Parr.
[125] That on 'Design' was delivered on 16th Feb., 1807, the others
followed on 23rd Feb., 2nd March, and 9th March.
[126] According to his sister's account, the _post-mortem_ examination
disclosed 'a bladder on the brain'; but Dr. Sayer thought the patient's
malady was a species of painter's colic.
[127] Another of his pupils was John Cawse, the well-known subject
and portrait painter, of whose works the writer possesses an example.
Theophilus Clarke, A.R.A., was another of Opie's pupils.
[128] I fancy, notwithstanding the thin disguise of the title of the
poem, that Mrs. Opie must have been thinking of this portrait when she
wrote the following lines:
'To me how dear this twilight hour,
Cheered by the faggot's varying blaze!
If this be mine, I ask no more
On morn's refulgent light to gaze:
'For now, while on HIS glowing cheek
I see the fire's red radiance fall,
The darkest seat I softly seek,
And gaze on HIM, unseen by all.
'His folded arms, his studious brow,
His thoughtful eye, _unmarked_, I see;
Nor could his voice or words bestow
So dear, so true a joy on me.'
[129] When a lad, Opie used to say that he loved painting 'better than
bread and meat.' Northcote was himself another of our West-country
artists; he was born at Plymouth, close to the Cornish border.
[130] Opie also painted his first wife's portrait with that of
the famous Conjuror Chamberlain. It was at one time in Sir Joshua
Reynolds's Collection ('The lost Opie'), and afterwards passed into the
hands of Sir Charles Bell.
_THE ST. AUBYNS OF CLOWANCE AND THE MOUNT._
[Illustration: (beginning of chapter vignette.)]
_THE ST. AUBYNS OF CLOWANCE AND THE MOUNT._
'A Wit's a feather, and a Chief a rod;--
An HONEST MAN'S the noblest work of God.'
POPE: _Essay on Man_.
'This gentle and knightly family,' as Hals calls them, are amongst
the few examples of eminent Cornishmen who, like the Bevills, the
Grenvilles, the Lanyons, the Chamonds, the Bassets, and others, were of
Norman, or at least of French, origin.
In the 'Chronicum Johannis Brompton' (quoted by John Henneker) we read:
'Vous que desyrez assaver
Le nons de Grauntz de la mer,
Que vindrent od le Conquerour,
William Bastard de graunt vigoure,
* * * * *
Seint Aubyn, et Seynt Omer,
Seynt Filbert Fyens, et Gomer.'
Leland says that St. Albin came out of Brittany; and Camden, in his
'Remains,' names Plaus as the place of their origin; according,
however, to other authorities, St. Aubin du Cormier in Brittany enjoys
this distinction. Of Armorican extraction, they were therefore akin
to Cornishmen, though abiding in 'Little Britain.' Possibly the name
was not an uncommon one; and either of the two above surmises may be
correct. There are now upwards of thirty French Communes into which
the name of St. Aubin enters: to say nothing of the picturesque little
village in Jersey of that name, which fringes the shores of St. Aubin's
Bay.
Their first English home seems to have been in Somersetshire; and
here, in the middle of the fourteenth century, we find Guy de St.
Aubyn, or Albin, settled at Alfoxton. It seems to have been he who, by
his marriage with Eleanor Knoville, first obtained a footing on the
Cornish soil; and, according to Tonkin, it was his grandson, Geffrey,
who took up his abode at Clowance on the latter's marriage with
Elizabeth Kymyell of Kymyell, the sole heir of Piers Kymyell and his
wife, a daughter of--as Tonkin assures us, 'an old and notable Cornish
family'--the house of Sergeaux, or Seriseaux. Their son Geffrey has a
monument in Crowan church, thus inscribed:
'Hic jacent Galfridus Seynt aubyn, Et Alicia uxor ejus, filia et heres
Johannes Tremure de Iaunebet, Armigeri, qui quidem Galfridus obiit
tertio die mensis Octobris, Anno Domini, Mill'imo cccc^o; Alicia obiit
Anno Domini Mill'imo cccc^o; quorum Animabus propicietur deus, Amen.
Jhu mercy, lady help.'
Since the time of the first Geffrey, the St. Aubyns, for nearly
thirty descents, have dwelt at their pleasantly situated seat[131] at
Clowance, 'the ancient house of an ancient gentleman,' as Norden calls
it; though the present mansion dates only from the early part of the
present century.
From the days of Richard II., the St. Aubyns have frequently filled the
post of High Sheriff of Cornwall, and have also served their country as
Members of Parliament and Justices of the Peace. For several descents
they have been Baronets, until at last the name of 'Sir John St. Aubyn,
Bart., M.P.,' has become in Cornwall a 'household word.'
Of the earlier members of the family I have found little of interest,
unless, indeed, it be the remarkable physique of one of them, Sir
Mauger de St. Albin, who lived at Barnton; in Risdon's 'Devonshire,'
it is stated that he was a man of enormous strength and stature, as is
evidenced by a huge stone thrown by him to a great distance, and by his
very large effigy on a tomb in the church.
On their settling in Cornwall, the St. Aubyns followed the accustomed
(perhaps the almost inevitable) practice of intermarrying with the
old county families--the Tremeres, the Trethurfes, the Trenowiths,
the Grenvilles of Stow; and, in later times, with the Arundells, the
Godolphins, the Pendarveses, the Killigrews, the Bullers, the Bassets,
the Prideauxes, and the Molesworths.
Of the fruit of one of the pre-Reformation marriages--namely, that
of Thomas St. Aubyn (who was Sheriff of Cornwall in 1545) with Mary,
fourth daughter of Thomas Grenville of Stow, we have a touching little
notice in the MSS. Lisle papers preserved at the Public Record Office.
Thomas is writing to his sister-in-law, Honor Grenville, Viscountess
Lisle; and the following passage occurs in his letter:
'My daughter Phelyp is departyd on Crstmas Day, Almyghtie (God) pardon
her soule; and my wyffe hath take grette discōfort therbye; but, I
thank our Lord, she doth take it better way, and thankyth god of his
sending.'
From this marriage of Thomas St. Aubyn with Mary Grenville, descended
his grandson, Thomas,--the St. Aubyn of Carew's days--of whom that
historian of his native county wrote thus:
'Saintabin, whose very name (besides the Conquest roll) deduceth his
first ancestors out of France. His grandfather married Greinvile;
his father, one of Whittington's coheirs: which latter couple, in
a long and peaceable date of years, exercised a kind, liberal, and
never-discontinued hospitality. He himself took to wife the daughter
of Mallet; and with ripe knowledge, and sound judgment, dischargeth
the place which he beareth in his country.'
I find nothing further of general interest touching the family until
we come to the stirring times of the Civil War--a conflict in which
Cornwall took, as is well known, a distinguished part. Until that
period the St. Aubyns seem to have been a thriving and distinguished
family, serving their country in the various capacities already
mentioned, and 'gathering house to house, and vineyard to vineyard.'
Their possessions were in almost every part of the county: for
instance, Lysons (who was indebted to the fifth Sir John St. Aubyn
for the loan of Borlase's MS. folio of notes on Cornwall) says that,
amongst other properties, 'The manor of Godolphin is still held of
Sir John St. Aubyn, as of his manor of Lambourne, by the payment of
a gammon of bacon;' and, that the manors of Berippa and Penpons were
in the possession of the St. Aubyns; also a moiety of the manor of
Gaverigan in St. Columb Major, the manor of Argallez or Arrallas in
St. Enoder, of Trelowith in St. Erth, of half of Treninick in St.
Gorran, Kimiel and Butsava in Paul, and Mayon in Sennen; they were
also impropriators of the great tithes of Crowan, and patrons of the
Vicarage; and they held a moiety of the advowson of the rectory of
Duloe. The revenues of the nunnery of Clares, which formerly stood near
the junction of Boscawen and Lemon Streets, Truro, came (according to
Hals) into the possession of Sir John Seyntaubin and others; and again,
the Priory of Tywardreath, so Davies Gilbert tells us, 'was the joint
property of the St. Aubyns, and the Pendarveses of Roscrow.'
To return to the family at the time of the great struggle between the
King and his Parliament. Most of the Cornish gentry sided, as is well
known, with the King, and behaved with such marked valour and success
as to elicit from Charles the well-known letter of thanks which still
hangs in many of the churches in the county. One of the St. Aubyns of
the day,[132] however, seems, according to Hals, to have thrown in his
lot with the Parliament; he was at the siege of Plymouth, in 1644; and
was present at the defeat of his party at the battle of Braddock Down,
near Lostwithiel.
Hals tells us that, after the rout of the Roundheads, 'it was resolved
by Essex's council that he should desert his army, and, privately by
night, in a boat, go down the river to Fowey, and from thence take
ship for Plymouth; which expedient was accordingly put in execution,
and the General Essex, the Lord Robartes, and some others, the next
day got into Plymouth, being the 31st August, 1644. On the same day
Sir William Balfour, with two thousand five hundred of the Parliament
horse, with divers officers, viz., Colonel Nicholas Boscawen, his
Lieutenant Colonel James Hals, of Merther, Henry Courtenay, of St.
Bennet's in Lanyvet, _Colonel John Seyntaubyn, of Clowans_, and his
Lieutenant Colonel Braddon, Colonel Carter, and several other officers
and gentlemen of quality, early in the morning forced their passage
over St. Winnow, Boconnock, and Braddock Downs, though the body of the
King's army, which lay encamped on the heath in those places, maugre
all opposition to the contrary; from thence they rode to Leskeard, from
thence to Saltash Passage, and from thence to Plymouth safely the same
day, amidst their own garrison and confederates.'
Whether from conviction, or from a wish to be well with either party in
the State--whichever might succeed--it seems pretty clear that another
member of the family, Thomas, espoused the cause of the Royalists.
His monument in Crowan Church so describes him; and in the spring of
1882 I saw, on the walls of the principal staircase at Clowance, his
portrait--hard, but apparently faithful--in Cavalier costume.
Of the second baronet I find nothing to note, except that he was
Sheriff of Cornwall in 1705.
But the third[133] Sir John St. Aubyn, the sturdy little Cornish
baronet--of whom Walpole said, 'all these men (his opponents in
Parliament) have their price except him'--claims more of our attention
than, perhaps, any other member of the family. He was born on 27th
September, 1696, and we get a glimpse of his early life, when at Exeter
College, Oxford, in the following extract from a letter written by his
friend and fellow-collegian, Borlase, in 1772, to a lady in London.
The MS. is amongst that collection at Castle Horneck, which formed the
subject of an interesting article[134] in the _Quarterly Review_, vol.
139; and the following extract describes the homeward journey of the
two young fellows. A hundred years ago this must have been a somewhat
formidable undertaking; and we almost regret that the chronicler did
not furnish us with more details than he has done:
'1772 * * * Sometimes,' writes Borlase, 'we met with a landlord in
men's clothes, but for the most part we discovered that the men had
dropt their prerogation, and we found the supreme authority over
the inns lodged in gowns and petticoats. Ordered by Sir John not to
write one word of the pretty black-ey'd girl at Bridport, but to
go on with the particulars of our journey. I think I am at liberty
to tell you of a misfortune which happened to me at Launceston. As
we were passing though that fatal town (I am heartily sorry I have
forgot what day of the month 'twas), but, however, as we were passing
through, whom should we see at the door of an inn but our landlord's
daughter! Whether Sir John was dry and thirsty or not I can't tell,
but we all agreed to take our pint at the door, and being men of no
little gallantry because just come from town, we were talking very
smartly, as you may imagine, to the girl who filled the wine, when
all of a sudden, my unfortunate eyes happened to fix upon a green
ribbon that hung playing to-and-fro with the air a little lower than
it should. As I was the only person that discovered it, I told the
lady I was apprehensive she would lose that pretty ribbon if she did
not withdraw. I was then on horseback, and, to my great confusion, had
not the presence of mind to alight and take care of it myself, upon
which Sir John has so teased and bantered me that I have had no rest
ever since. I beg you would write Sir John, and let him know that such
a misfortune deserves rather pity than upbraidings. And now, Madam, I
suppose you are almost as tired with our journey as we are, or (to go
as far as possible with the comparison) as three of Sir John's horses,
which we left upon the road.'
The writer of the article goes on to say:
* * * * *
'We must now turn away for a moment from the pleasant scenes at
Ludgvan, and follow Borlase's friend of college days as he enters
the chapel at St. Stephen's--the youngest member, perhaps, of that
distinguished assembly. Born in the year 1700, Sir John St. Aubyn was
only just of age when, in 1722, he was returned to Parliament for his
native county. Different indeed, yet in one respect alike, had been
the destinies of the friends since we left them after their journey
in the beginning of the year. Parting, the one to mix in the affairs
of State in times the most perplexing, the other to the peaceful
seclusion of his country parsonage; each had, nevertheless, marked
out for himself a path of mental activity. That the confidence of his
country, though entrusted to so young a man, had not been misplaced,
may be judged from an extract in the correspondence before us. Thus, a
gentleman writing from London, March 2nd, 1726, observes: "Sir R.----
[Sir Robert Walpole] this Session has met with a strong opposition in
the House of Commons; Sir John St. Aubyn has gained a great reputation
in that House, and the opinions of our politicians in relation to war
or peace are as different as their faces."
'A year or two later an incident in Cornish history gave him an
opportunity of making himself more than ever beloved at home. In
1727, when, as Hume tells us, "the Courts of France and Spain were
perfectly reconciled, and all Europe was freed from the calamities of
war, the peace of Great Britain was disturbed by tumults amongst the
tinners of Cornwall, who, being provoked by a scarcity of corn, rose
in arms and plundered the granaries of the county." At this time it
happened that Sir John had just completed a new pier at the Mount,
to facilitate the exportation of tin, which was shipped in large
quantities at that place.[135] The consequence was that the tinners
congregated in considerable numbers; the place became a rendezvous
for malcontents, and fresh riots broke out. Very serious consequences
were apprehended, and what might actually have happened none can say,
had it not been that the magnanimous spirit and unselfish patriotism
of the young statesman showed itself in a measure of local policy
which doubly endeared him to his countrymen. He "forthwith advanced
a considerable sum of money to the tinners, by which they were saved
from starving, or the necessity of plundering their neighbours."
"Constant in his attendance and application to the business of the
House of Commons," writes Borlase, in a note attached to the St.
Aubyn pedigree, "he soon learnt to speak well, but spoke seldom, and
never but on points of consequence. He was heard with pleasure by
his friends, and with respect by others." In 1734 he seconded the
repeal of the Septennial Act, in a speech which will be found in the
"Handy Book of British Eloquence."'
And here we must leave the _Quarterly_ Reviewer for awhile, in order
to give a sample of Sir John's oratorical powers. I quote from the
report, in the _Gentleman's Magazine_ for 1734, of his speech of the
13th March, on seconding Mr. Bromley's motion.
Sir John began by vigorously sketching the characters of those
monarchs who were fond of 'Long Parliaments,' and thus referred to the
Parliaments of Charles II., who, he said, 'naturally took a surfeit of
Parliaments in his Father's time, and was therefore extremely desirous
to lay them aside. But this was a scheme impracticable. However, in
effect he did so, for he obtained a Parliament, which by its long
Duration, like an army of Veterans, became so exactly disciplined to
his own Measures, that they knew no other command but from that Person
who gave them their Pay.
'This was a safe and a most ingenious way of enslaving a Nation. It
was very well known that Arbitrary Power, if it was open and avowed,
would never prevail here. The people were therefore amused with the
Specious Form of their Antient Constitution; it existed, indeed, in
their Fancy; but, like a mere Phantom, had no Substance nor Reality
in it, for the Power, the Authority, the Dignity of Parliament were
wholly lost. This was that remarkable Parliament which so justly
obtained the opprobrious Name of "Model," from which, I believe, some
Later Parliaments have been exactly copied.'
He then went on to describe the evils of Long Parliaments, saying:
'But this must be the Work of Time. Corruption is of so base a
Nature, that at first sight it is extremely shocking. Hardly anyone
has submitted to it all at once. His Disposition must be previously
understood; the particular Bait must be found out with which he is to
be allured; and, after all, it is not without many struggles that he
surrenders his Virtue. Indeed, there are some who will at once plunge
themselves over Head and Ears into any base Action; but the generality
of mankind are of a more cautious Nature, and will proceed only by
some leisurely Degrees. One or two perhaps have deserted their Colours
the first Campaign; some have done it in a second. But a great many
who have not that eager Disposition to Vice will wait till a Third.
'For this reason, Short Parliaments have been less Corrupt than Long
Ones; they are observed, like Streams of Water, always to grow more
impure the greater Distance they run from the Fountain-head.'
The independent speaker finished with this spirited peroration:
'The Power of the Crown is very justly apprehended to be growing to a
monstrous--I should have said, too great--a Size, and several Methods
have been unsuccessfully proposed for restraining it within due Bounds.
'But our Disease, I fear, is of a complicated Nature, and I think
that this Motion is wisely intended to remove the first and Principal
Disorder. Give the people their antient Right of frequent new
Elections; That will restore the decay'd Authority of Parliament, and
will put our Constitution into a natural Condition of working out
her Cure. Sir, upon the whole I am of opinion that I can't express a
greater Zeal for his Majesty, for the Liberties of the People, or the
Honour and Dignity of this House, than in seconding the Motion which
the Hon. Gentleman has made you.'
It should be remembered that such sentiments as these were uttered to
an audience--not of his constituents, whom he might have felt bound to
please, but to a thoroughly corrupted House of Commons, at a period
when '_not_ to be corrupted was the shame;' and in the presence of
a powerful Minister, whom few men of the day were either strong or
virtuous enough to dare to thwart. The chubby, youthful-faced portrait
of the little Sir John hangs in the dining-room at Clowance: childish
the face may be; but, as if in apology for his small, juvenile
presence, he points with his right hand to the Mount, to indicate that
his principles were as firm and unshaken as that 'hoar rock.'[136]
The _Quarterly_ Reviewer (from whom we again quote), after concluding
his observations on Sir John's speech in 1734, goes on to say:
'In the same year a curious incident occurred in the neighbourhood
of his seat at Clowance, with which Sir John was only indirectly
connected in his capacity of Justice of the Peace, but which was
ultimately attended with very serious consequences to himself and
his family. A certain Henry Rogers, by trade a pewterer, having some
fancied claim to an estate called Skewis, seized the manor house,
and, surrounding himself with a band of cut-throats, organized a
rebellion on his own account, and bade defiance to the country round.
Having beaten off from his house, not without bloodshed, first the
sheriff, next the constables, and finally the military themselves,
the villain succeeded in making good his escape. He was subsequently
arrested at Salisbury, and brought to Launceston for trial, where the
grand jury found five bills of murder against him, and Lord Chief
Justice Hardwicke publicly returned thanks to Sir John "for his steady
endeavours to bring him to justice."[137]
'The terror, however, which this ruffian caused in the neighbourhood
can scarcely be realized nowadays, and the menacing letters received
by Lady St. Aubyn so preyed upon her mind, that they brought on a
"sensible decay," or, as we should call it now, a rapid decline, from
the effects of which, in 1740, she died.[138]
'With the death of his wife, Sir John's interest in country life came
to an end; and leaving his son to the care and instruction of his old
friend at Ludgvan, he set out for a foreign land. Meanwhile, however,
the parliamentary horizon was rapidly clouding over; a crisis was
clearly imminent; and, on his return to England, it was to find that,
for the present at least, his sorrow must be drowned in more work,
in a redoubled attention to those duties which his early reputation
now pointed to him to fulfil. And thus, as the Walpole Administration
draws on to its close, the figure of Sir John St. Aubyn--the "little
baronet," as he was called--comes prominently to the front as one of
the most vigorous, as he certainly was the most conscientious, of the
opponents of the then unpopular Prime Minister. On the subject of
the vote of thanks, including an approbation of the manner in which
the Spanish War had been prosecuted, which was carried by a small
majority in the House of Commons early in 1741, he writes (April 9th)
as follows: "I believe ye Folks in ye country are very much puzzled
abo^t many of our Proceedings, and I don't wonder at y^r doubts about
that unseasonable vote of Innocence; especially when ye Opportunity
was so fairly given, w^{ch} ye Nation has been so long expecting us to
take ye advantage of." But the country party the while felt that no
opportunity must be lost, and no vigour spared in the attack. Contrast
the tone of the following extract from a letter dated May 5th, and
note how the space of one single month had served to fan the flame.
Sir John now inveighs against "such Insolence in Administration, such
wantonness in Power, w^{ch} surely nothing could produce but that
mistaken vote of Innocence, w^{ch} so lately happen'd. And yet," he
continues, "this is y^e Man ag^t whom we want evidence to advise his
Removal, when at my very door there are such glaring Proofs, which,
in less corrupt times, would deprive Him of his Head." Day by day the
enemies of the Ministry acquired fresh strength: the elections were
against the Court interest, even Westminster returning two members
hostile to it. Walpole tottered on the brink of ruin, and had it
not been that, during a short adjournment of the House in 1742, he
resigned his office and was elevated to the peerage, he might, as we
know, even have been committed to the Tower.
'No sooner had Parliament reassembled than a measure was brought in
by Lord Limerick, and seconded by Sir John St. Aubyn, to inquire into
the conduct of the last twenty years. This was lost by two votes; but
another, also proposed by Lord Limerick on the 23rd of March, for
an inquiry into the conduct of Robert, Earl of Orford, was carried,
and a Select Committee appointed by ballot. And now came Sir John's
political triumph. To this committee he was appointed by every vote
in the House of Commons, to the number of 518. "An honour," says the
MS. from which we quote, "neither then nor before (as far as the
Records of Parliament can reach) ever conferred on any member, as Mr.
Speaker Onslow on the spot observed to Sir John's great commendation."
When the committee was appointed he declined the offer of the chair,
and Lord Viscount Limerick was chosen chairman. The following is an
extract from a letter of Sir John's, dated from the Secret Committee
Chamber, June 22nd, 1742: "We are now," he writes, "winding up our
bottoms as well as we can under y^e disabillitys which we have been
fetter'd with, nothwithstanding which, we shall show the world
enough to convince if not convict. I am sorry there has been so much
unconcern in y^e Gentlemen of our country; I wish I could say in some
an unconcern only. We have had, and I wish we mayn't for ever now have
lost, y^e only opportunity which may happen to retrieve y^e Honour and
establish y^e National Institutions of y^e Country.... The Town is in
high spirits at present, upon the accounts we have from Germany and
Italy. This turn is not owing to y^e merit of y^e new Administration,
but to y^e Vigour of this Parliament, which has had Its free Operation
during this Inter-Regnum of Power, and whenever that happens, England
must have Its due Influence upon y^e Continent; and if she had acted
as she ought for some years past, what might have been brought about,
when y^e bare expectation of her acting has produc'd such great
events?"
'"About this time," says Dr. Borlase, "Sir John being offer'd to take
place as one of the Lords of the Admiralty, he was ready, he said,
to serve his King and country, but would take no place unless upon
the express condition that his freedom and independency in Parliament
should remain unquestioned and uncontroll'd. These were not times to
endure, much less shake hands with such inflexible Virtues; as he
coveted no place, he never had one, 'though capable of any.'"
'On the 31st March, 1744, when war was declared with France, the
inhabitants of Mount's Bay became alarmed for the safety of their
trade. Two things were required; a stationary armed vessel to protect
their shores and fisheries from privateers (for three of the principal
fishermen had already been taken prisoners), and a cruiser to convey
the exports and imports necessary for working the mines. For the
part he took in obtaining these advantages, Sir John received the
thanks of the gentlemen of the neighbourhood, assembled as usual in
their Parliament at the Bowling Green at Marazion. St. Michael's
Mount he had restored from a ruined monastic cell to a comfortable
dwelling-house; but he never lived to visit it again, dying of fever,
at Pencarrow, on his way home in the year 1744, at the early age of
forty-four; "to the great regret of all who knew him; and to his
country's loss of a most faithful friend."
'"The dignity of this ancient family," writes Borlase in the brief
memoir attached to his pedigree, "owes much to this gentleman;" and
Dr. Oliver, of Bath, in a letter of sympathy on the occasion of
his death, speaks of him as "one who had bravely withstood all the
temptation that honours or profit could lay in his way, and dared
to stand almost single on the field of Purity, while thousands fell
on his right hand and ten thousands on his left, the easy Prey of
corruption." Farther on he adds, "Let us thank Heaven who lent us
the great, good man so long, and neither wonder nor murmur at his
being taken from us so soon, especially when we consider how little
Influence his Example had upon Earth." There is something in a
character like his which renders it worthy of the admiration and the
love of generations; nay, of centuries, far beyond his own.'
The year before he died the following verses appeared in the
_Gentleman's Magazine_ (vol. xiii.) in allusion to the firm patriotism
and self-reliant character of our hero: