Winchilsea his adherent, the Duke of Newcastle and his quibbling friend
my Lord Chancellor [Hardwicke], Mr. Pulteney, and Harry Pelham. Lord
Carteret, Duke of Newcastle, and Mr. Pulteney, while they act seemingly
in concert at this juncture, having distinct views and different
interests of their own to pursue, are all striving to deceive and
overreach one another; and each separately relating to their own private
friends what passes at these conferences conducive to their own points,
the whole of the conference, through different channels, flows into the
world. Lord Carteret, feeling he has the strength of the closet and the
confidence and favour of the King, whilst he is making his court by
foreign politics,[17] hates and detests Mr. Pulteney for all the trouble
he gives him in pursuing his points at home; and knowing that the moment
Mr. Pulteney goes into the House of Lords, he will become an absolute
nullity, he is ready to feed the exorbitant appetite of his demands with
any morsels it craves for at present, provided in return he can gain
that one point of Mr. Pulteney's going into the House of Lords. On the
other hand, Mr. Pulteney, knowing he has at present the House of Commons
in his hands, and seeing too plainly that though he has the power of the
closet, he has none of the favour, and that every point he carries there
is extorted, not granted--carried by force, not by persuasion--hates my
Lord Carteret for engrossing that favour which he proposed at least to
share, if not to engross himself; and whilst he is forcing seven or
eight of his followers into employment, proposes to remain himself in
the House of Commons in order to retain the same power, in order to
force a new batch of his friends, three or four months hence, in the
same manner upon the King, which reduces the struggle between Lord
Carteret and him to this short point, that if Mr. Pulteney goes into the
House of Lords, Lord Carteret dupes him; if he does not, he dupes my
Lord Carteret. The Duke of Newcastle, whose envy is so strong that he is
jealous of everybody, and whose understanding is so weak that nobody is
jealous of him, is reciprocally made use of by these two men to promote
their different ends; and being jealous of Lord Carteret from feeling
his superior interest with the King, and jealous of Mr. Pulteney from
his superior interest to his brother [Mr. Pelham] in the House of
Commons, is like the hungry ass in the fable between the two bundles of
hay, and allured by both without knowing which to go to, tastes neither,
and will starve between them. He wants Mr. Pulteney's power in the House
of Commons to be kept as a check and bridle upon Lord Carteret, who has
outrun him so far in the palace, and yet wants Mr. Pulteney out of the
House of Commons to strengthen his own power there by the proxy medium
of his brother. Thus stands the private contest and seeming union among
these present rulers, or rather combatants for rule.
II.
ON THE MINISTRY OF LORD CARTERET, FEB., 1742.
+Source.+--_Sir Charles Hanbury Williams_, quoted by Horace Walpole to
Sir Horace Mann, Sept. 11, 1742; and also to be found in Williams'
_Collected Poems_.
O my poor country! is this all
You've gain'd by the long-labour'd fall
Of Walpole and his tools?
He was a knave indeed,--what then?
He'd parts,--but this new set of men
A'n't only knaves, but fools.
III.
ON PULTENEY'S ACCEPTANCE OF A PEERAGE, JULY, 1742.
+Source.+--_A Collection of Poems, principally consisting of the most
celebrated pieces of Sir Charles Hanbury Williams_, 1763, p. 36. The
names in the British Museum copy, from which this and the following are
transcribed, are filled in by Horace Walpole, to whom this copy belonged.
I'm not the man you knew before,
For I am P[ultene]y now no more,
My titles hide my name.
(Oh how I blush to own my case!)
My dignity was my disgrace,
And I was rais'd to shame.
[17] _I.e._, by advancing the King's views in favour of Hanover and
encouraging the passion for war which Walpole had so long repressed.
Carteret attended George II. throughout the campaign of 1743, and was
even present--the last prime minister to take part in an action--at the
Battle of Dettingen. He spoke German well, which greatly endeared him to
the King.
THE ORIGIN OF THE SEVEN YEARS' WAR (1741-1748).
+Source.+--Samuel Boyse: _Historical Review of the Transactions
of Europe_, 1739-45, pp. 69-73.
The late Emperor, in order to preserve the Succession of his hereditary
Dominions entire, had obtain'd from the chief Powers in _Europe_, the
_Guarantee_ of the _Pragmatic Sanction_ of which it is therefore
necessary to give the Reader some Account. _Leopold_, his Father,
apprehensive of the Troubles which the Failure of the Male Line in his
Family might excite not only in _Germany_, but in _Europe_, form'd the
Design of settling the Succession in the Female Line, as the only way to
prevent all Disputes, and keep his Dominions entire. He communicated his
Intentions to his Sons _Joseph_ and _Charles_ (who both succeeded him)
by whom this Regulation was approved; and afterwards by his Ministers he
had it ratify'd in the Imperial Dyet. _Joseph_, his Successor, made no
Alteration in it, and died without Male Issue. _Charles_ VI. seven Years
after his Accession, having no Male Heir, and seeing that if the Male
Line should end in him, the right of Succession would remain in his
Nieces, and not his Daughters, in order to secure the Succession to his
own Posterity, by confining the Entail, had a new Instrument drawn up,
which in 1720, after being approved by his Council, was sworn to by all
the Estates of his hereditary Dominions. But foreign Courts, foreseeing
the Difficulties that might attend it, were averse to intermeddle with
it. In 1724 _Great Britain_ and _France_ refused to guarantee it, tho'
then Mediators between the _Emperor_ and _Spain_. This occasion'd the
first Treaty of _Vienna_ in 1725, in which this Prince threw himself
into the Hands of _Spain_, and gave up _Naples_ and _Sicily_ on the sole
Condition of that Crown's guaranteeing the _Pragmatic Sanction_. In 1726
he obtain'd the Guarantee of _Russia_, and some Months after the
Imperial Dyet confirmed it as a Publick irrevocable Law. In 1731, by the
second Treaty of _Vienna_, we consented to give it our Sanction; and in
1732, the King of _Denmark_, and the _States General_ follow'd our
Example. The Elector of _Saxony_ in 1733 acquiesced in it, on account of
the Emperor's contributing to raise him to the Throne of _Poland_, and
by the last Treaty of _Vienna_ in 1738, _France_ also confirm'd it, in
Consideration of the Cession of _Lorrain_. Yet both the Courts of
_Paris_ and _Madrid_, who had obtain'd large Accessions of Territory for
their Guarantees, were the first to violate their Engagements; whereas
_Great Britain_, _Holland_ and _Russia_, who got nothing by theirs,
continued firm to what they had promis'd.
The only Princes who refus'd to acknowledge it at the Emperor's Death,
were the Electors of _Bavaria_, _Cologne_, and _Palatine_. As to the two
first, their Interests were too nearly concern'd not to oppose a measure
that defeated the Claim of their House to so rich and powerful a
Succession: As to the latter, it is not well known what his Motives
were, unless a Disinclination to the _Austrian_ Interests, which he
discover'd all his Life.
The Emperor in 1736, had married the Archduchess _Mary Teresa_, his
eldest Daughter, to the Duke of _Lorrain_, for whom, by the succeeding
Treaty of _Vienna_, he obtain'd the Grand Duchy of _Tuscany_. The
eminent Services his august House had received from this Prince and his
Ancestors, very well entitled him to this illustrious Alliance. Had this
monarch liv'd a little longer, it is thought he would have procured his
Son-in-Law the Dignity of King of the _Romans_, a Step that would, in a
great measure, have prevented the Confusions that follow'd, and which
almost brought his Family to the Brink of Ruin. This fatal Neglect was
owing to the Empress's Youth, and the Hopes conceived she might still
have a Male Heir.
The Emperor was no sooner dead, than pursuant to his will, Mary Teresa,
his eldest Daughter, was declared Queen of _Hungary_ and _Bohemia_, and
peaceably invested in the Sovereignty of all his hereditary Dominions.
This Princess immediately took care to notify her Accession to the
different Courts of _Europe_, by whom she was acknowledged, and
especially by that of _France_, who on this occasion renew'd its
Assurance, in the strongest Terms, of performing its Guarantee of the
_Pragmatic Sanction_. But her Letters of Notification to the Court of
_Munich_ were returned unopen'd, the Elector declaring he could not
acknowledge the Princess's Titles, without Prejudice to his own Claim,
as founded on the Will of _Ferdinand I._, which imported, "That the
eldest Archduchess, Daughter of the said _Ferdinand_, who should be
alive when the said Succession should be _open_, should succeed to the
two Crowns of _Hungary_ and _Bohemia_, in case there be no _Male Heir_
of any of the three Brothers of that Emperor." Now the Male Line of that
House being extinct by the Death of _Charles_ VI., the Elector being
descended from _Anne_, second daughter to _Ferdinand I._ (the eldest
dying issueless) claimed the Succession as now _open_ by the Terms of
the Will. On the other hand, the Court of _Vienna_ maintain'd that the
Succession was not _open_, the last Words of the Will, according to the
original Copy in the _Austrian_ Archives being "in case there shall be
no _lawful Heir_ living of any of the Emperor's three Brothers."
It is easy to see, the Elector's Claim was to no less than the _Whole_
of the late Emperor's succession. The King of _Spain_ also publish'd his
Pretensions to all the late Emperor's Dominions, and made Preparations
for invading _Italy_. In short the new Queen beheld that Storm
gathering, which quickly overspread _Germany_, and which gave her but
too much Occasion for exerting that Magnanimity and Constancy of Mind,
which heighten her eminent Virtues, and have render'd her justly the
Admiration of her Enemies themselves.
To these Claimants, whose Pretensions might have been foreseen, appear'd
a third no way expected, but whose Title seem'd to be as well founded,
as his Power to support it was unquestionable. This was the young King
of _Prussia_, who claim'd the Principality of _Silesia_, as antiently
belonging to the _Brandenburgh_ Family, from whom the House of _Austria_
had gain'd it by unjust means. As this Prince assembled a numerous Army
on the _Emperor's_ Death, every one imagined it was to support the
_Pragmatic Sanction_. But, instead of this, in _November_ he enter'd
_Silesia_, at the head of 30,000 Men, and soon made himself master of
_Breslaw_, the Capital, and the greatest Part of the Country, the
_Austrians_ being in no Condition to oppose him. His Behaviour to the
vanquish'd was so generous, as easily won their Affections; the rather,
as the major Part of that People were of the reform'd Communion, and had
suffer'd on that Account much Persecution from the House of _Austria_;
whereas the Court of _Berlin_ had always declared and often interposed
in their Favour.
As soon as the King of _Prussia_ had struck his Blow, he caused, by his
Ministers, the following verbal Proposals to be laid before the Court of
_Vienna_:
I. _That he would guarantee the Queen's Dominions in_ Germany _with his
whole Force. And for that End_
II. _He would enter into a close Alliance with the Courts of_ Vienna,
Petersburgh, _and the Maritime_ Powers.
III. _That he would use his utmost Endeavours to get the D. of_ Lorrain
_raised to the Imperial Throne_.
IV. _That he would advance the Queen in ready Money two Millions of
Florins._
V. _In Consideration of all which, he only desired the absolute cession
of Silesia._
The Queen's Answer was strong and peremptory: She thank'd the King for
his Offers with regard to the D. of Lorrain; but as the Election, by the
Golden Rule, should be free, she thought raising a War in Germany was no
likely means of contributing to that End. That as to the Offer of two
Millions, the contributions his Army had raised in Silesia amounted to
more: And, as to the cession of that Province, her Majesty being
resolved to maintain the Pragmatic Sanction, could never consent to the
Dismembring any Province belonging to the Succession handed down to her,
without violating her Honour and her Conscience....
THE '45.
I.
LANDING OF THE YOUNG PRETENDER; THE RAISING OF THE STANDARD; SURRENDER
OF EDINBURGH.
+Source.+--Robert Forbes: _The Lyon in Mourning_. Edited by H. Paton for
the Scottish History Society 1895. Vol. xx., pp. 201-210.
_Journal of the Prince's imbarkation and arrival, etc., the greatest
part of which was taken from Duncan Cameron at several different
conversations I had with him._
After the battle of Fontenoy and taking of Tournay, among other
regiments the one commanded by Lord John Drummond was garrisoned in
Tournay, in which corps Duncan Cameron (some time servant to old Lochiel
at Boulogne in France) served. When Duncan was in Tournay he received a
letter from Mr. Æneas MacDonald, banker in Paris, desiring him forthwith
to repair to Amiens, and if possible to post it without sleeping, where
he should receive orders about what he was to do. Accordingly Duncan set
out, and in a very short time posted to Amiens, from whence Æneas, etc.,
had set out, but had left a letter for Duncan, ordering him to follow
them to Nantes, to which place he set out without taking any rest, where
he found the Prince and his small retinue, consisting of seven only,
besides servants.
The seven were the Duke of Athol, Sir Thomas Sheridan, Sir John
Macdonald, Colonel Strickland, Captain O'Sullivan, Mr. George Kelly (a
nonjurant clergyman), and Æneas MacDonald, banker at Paris, brother to
Kinlochmoidart.
As Duncan Cameron had been brought up in the island of Barra, and knew
the coast of the Long Isle well, in some part of which the Prince
intended to land first, so Duncan's business was to descry to them the
Long Isle.
At Nantes the Prince and his few attendants waited about fifteen days
before the _Elizabeth_ ship of war came, which was to be their convoy in
the expedition. To cover the design the better, Sir Thomas Sheridan
passed for the father, and the Prince for the son, for none knew the
Prince to be in company but the seven, some few others, and Mr. Welch
(an Irishman, a very rich merchant in Nantes) who was to command the
frigate of sixteen guns, on board of which the Prince and the few
faithful friends with the servants were to imbark.
After the Prince was on board he dispatched letters to his father, and
the King of France, and the King of Spain, advising them of his design,
and no doubt desiring assistance.
The Prince when in Scotland, used to say that the 10th of June was the
day on which he stole off, and that he did not mind it to be his
father's birth-day till night was far spent. From whence some have
affirmed that to have been the day of the embarkation, and others to
have been the day when he left Paris and began to be incog.
They had not been above five or six days at sea till one evening the
_Lyon_ ship of war appeared, and came pretty near them and then
disappeared. Next morning she came again in view and disappeared. She
continued to do so three or four times, and the last time of her
appearing she came within a mile or so of them: when the captain of the
_Elizabeth_ (a Frenchman) came on board the frigate, and told Mr. Welch
if he would assist him by keeping one side of the _Lyon_ in play at a
distance, he would immediately put all things in order for the attack.
Mr. Welch, well knowing the trust he had on board, answered him civilly,
and told him it was what he could not think of doing, and withal
remarked to him it was his humble opinion that he should not think of
fighting unless he should happen to be attacked, because his business
was to be convoy to the frigate in the voyage. However, he said, as he
pretended not to any command over him, he might do as he thought proper.
The French captain to all this replied, that from the _Lion's_ appearing
and disappearing so often, it seemed as if she were looking out for
another ship to assist her, and if she should happen to be joined by any
other, they no doubt would instantly fall upon the _Elizabeth_ and the
frigate, and devour them both: and therefore he behoved to think it the
wisest course to fight the _Lion_ when single, because the _Elizabeth_
in that case was fit enough for the engagement, and would bid fair
enough to give a good account of the _Lion_. Upon this the French
captain drew his sword, took leave of Mr. Welch and his company, went on
board the _Elizabeth_ with his sword still drawn in his hand, and gave
the necessary orders for the attack.
Immediately the _Elizabeth_ bore down upon the _Lion_ (each of them
consisting of about sixty guns, and therefore equally matched), and
begun the attack with great briskness. The fight continued for five or
six hours, when the _Lion_ was obliged to sheer off like a tub upon the
water.
About the time when the captain came on board the frigate, the Prince
was making ready to go on board the _Elizabeth_ for more air and greater
conveniency every way, the frigate being crowded with the gentlemen, the
servants, and the crew. His friends reckoned it very lucky that he had
not gone on board.
The frigate all the time of the engagement lay at such a small distance,
that (as the Prince observed to several friends in Scotland) the _Lion_
might have sunk her with the greatest ease. But he said it was their
good fortune that the _Lion_ had despised them, and thought not the
frigate worth the while. Besides the _Lion_ found enough of employment
for all her hands in playing her part against the _Elizabeth_.
During the time of the fight the Prince several times observed to Mr.
Welch what a small assistance would serve to give the _Elizabeth_ the
possession of the _Lion_, and importuned him to engage in the quarrel.
But Mr. Welch positively refused, and at last behoved to desire the
Prince not to insist any more, otherwise he would order him down to the
cabin.
After the fight was all over, Mr. Welch sailed round the _Elizabeth_,
and enquired particularly how matters stood with the captain and the
crew. A lieutenant came upon deck from the captain, who was wounded in
his cabin, and told Mr. Welch that between thirty and forty officers and
gentlemen (besides common men) were killed and wounded, and that if Mr.
Welch could supply him with a mainmast and some rigging, he would still
make out the voyage with him.
Mr. Welch replied that he could not furnish him with either mainmast or
rigging, and that although he should have happened to be capable to
serve him in these things, yet he would not have made it his choice to
lose so much time as it would require to put the _Elizabeth_ in some
better order. He desired to tell the captain it was his opinion he
should without loss of time return to France, and that he himself would
do his best to make out the intended voyage. The _Elizabeth_ accordingly
returned to France, and the frigate continued her course to the coast of
Scotland. She had not been long parted from the _Elizabeth_ till the
crew descried two ships of war at some distance, which they could not
have well got off from, but that a mist luckily intervened, and brought
them out of sight.
Two or three hours before landing, an eagle came hovering over the
frigate, and continued so to do until they were all safe on shore.
Before dinner the Duke of Athol had spied the eagle: but (as he told
several friends in Scotland) he did not chuse then to take any notice of
it, lest they should have called it a Highland freit[18] in him. When he
came upon deck after dinner, he saw the eagle still hovering about in
the same manner, and following the frigate in her course, and then he
could not help remarking it to the Prince and his small retinue, which
they looked upon with pleasure. His grace, turning to the prince, said,
"Sir, I hope this is an excellent omen, and promises good things to us.
The King of birds is come to welcome your royal highness upon your
arrival in Scotland."
When they were near the shore of the Long Isle, Duncan Cameron was sent
out in the long boat to fetch them a proper pilot. When he landed he
accidentally met with Barra's piper, who was his old acquaintance, and
brought him on board. The piper piloted them safely into Eriska (about
July 21st), a small island lying between Barra and South Uist. "At this
time," said Duncan Cameron, "there was a _devil of a minister_ that
happened to be in the island of Barra, who did us a' the mischief that
lay in his power. For when he had got any inkling about us, he
dispatched away expresses with information against us. But as the good
luck was, he was not well believed, or else we would have been a' tane
by the neck."
When Duncan spoke these words, "_a devil of a minister_," he bowed low
and said to me, "Sir, I ask you ten thousand pardons for saying so in
your presence. But, good faith, I can assure you, sir (asking your
pardon), he was nothing else but the _devil of a minister_."
When they landed in Eriska, they could not find a grain of meal or one
inch of bread. But they catched some flounders, which they roasted upon
the bare coals in a mean low hut they had gone into near the shore, and
Duncan Cameron stood cook. The Prince sat at the cheek of the little
ingle, upon a fail[19] sunk, and laughed heartily at Duncan's cookery,
for he himself owned he played his part awkwardly enough.
Next day the Prince sent for young Clanranald's uncle (Alexander
MacDonald of Boisdale), who lived in South Uist, and discovered himself
to him. This gentleman spoke in a very discouraging manner to the
Prince, and advised him to return home. To which it is said the Prince
replied, "I am come home, sir, and I will entertain no notion at all of
returning to that place from whence I came; for that I am persuaded my
faithful Highlanders will stand by me." Mr. MacDonald told him he was
afraid he would find the contrary. The Prince condescended upon Sir
Alexander MacDonald and the Laird of MacLeod as persons he might confide
in. Mr. MacDonald begged leave to tell him that he had pitched upon the
wrong persons; for from his own certain knowledge he could assure him
these gentlemen would not adhere in his interest; on the contrary, they
might chance to act an opposite part. And seeing the Prince had been
pleased to mention Sir Alexander MacDonald's name, Boisdale desired he
might run off an express to him, and let his return be the test of what
he had advanced. He added withal, that if Sir Alexander MacDonald and
the Laird of MacLeod declared for him, it was his opinion he might then
land on the continent, for that he doubted not but he would succeed in
the attempt. But if they should happen to refuse their assistance (which
he still insisted would be the case) then their example would prove of
bad consequence, and would tend only to make others backward and to keep
at home. And in that event he still thought it advisable to suggest his
returning back to where he came from.
According to this advice the Prince did send a message to Sir Alexander
MacDonald, intimating his arrival, and demanding assistance. Before the
messenger could return, Æneas MacDonald (anxious to have the honour
of seeing the Prince in the house of his brother, the Laird of
Kinlochmoidart) prevailed upon the Prince to set out for the continent,
and they arrived at Boradale in Moidart, or rather Arisaig, upon July
25th, St. James's day, 1745. When the messenger returned to the Prince
he brought no answer with him, for Sir Alexander refused to give any.
It is worth remarking here that though MacDonald of Boisdale had played
the game of the government by doing all he could to dissuade the Prince
from making the attempt: and after the standard was set up, by keeping
back all Clanranald's men (to the number of four or five hundred good
stout fellows) that lived in South Uist and the other isles, yet his
conduct could not screen him from rough and severe treatment. For after
the battle of Culloden he suffered in his effects as well as others, and
had the misfortune to be made a prisoner and to be carried to London by
sea, in which expedition he had the additional affliction of having his
brother, the Laird of Clanranald, senior (who had never stirred from his
own fireside), and his lady to bear him company, and none of them were
released till the 4th July, 1747. However, to do Boisdale justice, he
was of very great use to the Prince (as Donald MacLeod and Malcolm have
both declared) when wandering up and down through South Uist, Benbicula,
and other parts of the Long Isle, and exerted his utmost power to keep
him out of the hands of his enemies.
After the Prince's arrival upon the continent [mainland] some friends
met to consult what was to be done, and I have heard it affirmed by good
authority the Keppoch honestly and bravely gave it as his opinion that
since the Prince had risqued his person and generously thrown himself
into the hands of his friends, therefore it was their duty to raise
their men instantly merely for the protection of his person, let the
consequence be what it would. Certain it is that if Keppoch, Lochiel,
young Clanranald, etc., had not joined him, he would either have fallen
into the hands of his enemies or been forced immediately to cross the
seas again.
The royal standard was set up at Glenfinnan (August 19th), the property
of Clanranald, at the head of Lochshiel, which marches with Lochiel's
ground, and lies about ten miles west from Fort William. The Prince
had been a full week before this, viz. from Sunday the 11th at
Kinlochmoydart's house, and Lochiel had been raising his men who came up
with them just as the standard was setting up.
The Prince stayed where the standard was set up two days, and I have
heard Major MacDonell frequently say in the Castle of Edinburgh, that,
he had never seen the Prince more cheerful at any time, and in higher
spirits than when he had got together four or five hundred men about the
standard. Major MacDonell presented the Prince with the first good horse
he mounted in Scotland, which the Major had taken from Captain Scott,
son of Scotstarvet.