which took place in Westminster Hall, fitted up anew for the occasion,
with the Throne, and chairs for the Prince and the Duke, brave in Velvet
and Gold, Scarlet benches for the Peers, galleries for Ladies and
Foreign Ambassadors, boxes for the Lawyers and the Managers of the House
of Commons that preferred the Impeachment, and a great railed platform,
that was half like a Scaffold itself, for the Prisoner. So we Warders,
and a Strong Guard of Horse Grenadiers and Foot-Soldiers, brought him
down from the Tower to Westminster, Mr. Fowler, the Gentleman Gaoler,
attending with the Axe; but the Edge thereof turned away from his
Lordship. The Crown Lawyers, Sir William Yonge, Sir Dudley Rider, and
Sir John Strange, that were of Counsel for the Crown, opened against him
in a very bitter manner; at which the Old Sinner grinned, and likened
them to hounds fighting for a very tough Morsel which was scarce worth
the Tearing. Then he plagues the Lord Steward for permission for Counsel
to be granted to him to speak on his behalf, which by law could not be
granted, and for a short-hand writer to take minutes, which, after some
delay, was allowed. One Schield, that was the first Witness called,
deposing that Lord Lovat made one of a company of gentlemen who in 1740
drank healths and sang catches, such as "Confusion to the White Horse"
(meaning the heraldic cognizance of Hanover) "and all his generation,"
and
"When Jemmy comes o'er,
We shall have blood and blows galore,"
my Lord cries out upon him as a False Villain and Perjured Rascal. And
was thereupon admonished by the Lord Steward to more decorous behaviour.
Item: that he laid all the blame of the Frasers rising upon his Son,
saying with Crocodile Tears that he was not the first who had an
Undutiful Son; whereupon the young gentleman cries out in natural
Resentment that he would put the Saddle on the right Horse. But this and
many other charges were brought home to him, and that he had long
foregathered with the Pretender, of whom he spoke in a mock-tragedy
style as "the young man Thomas Kuli Khan." When upon his defence, he
told many Lies, and strove to Butter their Lordships with specious
Compliments and strained Eulogies; but 'twould not serve. The Lords
being retired into their own chamber, and the question being put whether
Simon Lord Lovat was guilty of all the charges of high treason brought
against him, every one, laying his hand on his left breast, and
beginning with the Junior Baron, answered, "GUILTY, upon my honour." And
the next day, which was the seventh of the Trial, he was solemnly
sentenced to Die as a Traitor; his Grace the Lord Steward making a most
affecting Speech, in which he reproached the Lord at the Bar with having
unnaturally endeavoured to cast the blame of his malpractices on his
son; "which," said his Grace, "if it be true, is an impiety that makes
one tremble: for, to quote a wise author of antiquity, the love of our
country includes all other social affections, which," he continued,
"shows a perfect knowledge of human nature; for we see, when that is
gone, even the tenderest of all affections--the parental--may be
extinguished with it." Upon which Admirable Discourse my fellow-Warder,
Miles Bandolier, fell a blubbering, and wiping his eyes with his laced
sleeve, whimpers that it is something, after all, to be a Lord to be
cast for Death in such Sweet Terms; for no Judge at the Old Bailey would
think of wasting Sugared words upon the rogue he sent to Tyburn. Which
is true.
When all was done, and the Lord Steward had, by breaking his Staff,
declared the commission void, the Prisoner with a grimace twinkling
about his wicked old mouth, bespoke his Majesty's good consideration,
and, turning to the Managers of the Commons, cries out, "I hope, as ye
are stout, ye will be merciful!" Upon which one Mr. Polwhedlyan, that
sate for a Cornish borough, and was a very Fat Man, thinking himself
directly concerned, shook his head with great gravity of countenance.
But the old Villain was but Play-acting again, and could but see that
the Game was up; for as the Lords were filing back to the House, he
calls after them, "God bless you all! I bid you an everlasting farewell,
for in this place we shall never meet again." He said "God bless you!"
with a kind of fiendish yowl quite horrible to behold; and if ever man's
benison sounded like a curse, it was that of bad old Lord Lovat.
A very sad sight at this memorable Trial was the Appearance and
Demeanour of J. Murray, of Broughton, Esq., that had been the
Chevalier's Secretary,--deepest of all in his Secrets, and most loved
and trusted by him. The unhappy man, to save his Life, had betrayed his
master and turned King's Evidence, not only against Lord Lovat, but many
other unhappy Gentlemen. I never saw such a shrinking, cowering,
hang-dog figure as was made by this Person in the Box; and burned with
shame within myself to think that this should be a Man of Gentle birth,
and that had touched the hand of a King's Son--Grandson, I mean.
Accomplished scoundrel as Lovat was, even a deeper abhorrence was
excited by this Judas: when he first stood up, the Lords, after gazing
at him for a moment with Contempt, turned their Backs upon him. The
Crown Lawyers treated him in the manner that an Old Bailey Counsellor
would cross-examine an approver in a case of Larceny; and as for the
Prisoner, he just shut his eyes while Murray was giving evidence; and
when he had finished, turns to the Gentleman Gaoler, and asks, with his
eyes still shut, "Is IT gone?" meaning Judas. At which there was some
merriment.
'Twas just a month after this trial, on April 9th, that Justice was done
upon Simon Fraser. He had eaten and drunk heartily, and cracked many
scurril Jokes while under sentence, and seemed not to care Twopence
whether he was Reprieved or Not. On the fatal day he waked about three
in the morning, and prayed, or pretended to pray, with great Devotion.
At all events, we Warders heard him; and he made Noise enough. At five
he rose, and called for a glass of Wine-and-Water, after drinking which
he Read till seven. Then he took some more Wine-and-Water, and at eight
desired that his Wig might be sent to the Barber to be combed out
genteelly. Also, among some nicknacks that he kept in a casket, he
looked out a purse made somewhat in the Scotch fashion, of sealskin, to
hold the money which he desired to give to the Executioner. At half
after nine he breakfasted very heartily of Minced Veal, which he hoped
would not indigest, he facetiously remarked, ordering Chocolate and
Coffee for his Friends, whose Health he drank himself in Wine-and-Water.
At eleven the Sheriffs sent to demand his Body, when he desired all
present, save we who were at the Door, to retire, that he might say a
short prayer. Presently he calls 'em again, saying, "I am ready." At the
bottom of the first Pair of Stairs from his Chamber, General Williamson,
the Commandant of the Garrison, invited him into his room to rest
himself. He complied most cheerfully, and in French desired that he
might be allowed to take leave of his Lady, and thank her for all the
civilities--for she had sent him victuals every day from her own Table,
dressed in the French fashion, which he much affected--which she had
shown him during his confinement. But the General told him, likewise in
French, that she was too much afflicted by his Lordship's Misfortunes to
bear the shock of parting with him, and so begged to be excused. Which
means, that she did not care about being pawed and mauled by this wicked
Old Satyr in his last Moments; though, with the curiosity natural to her
Sex, I saw with my own eyes Madame Williamson, in a new Hoop and a grand
silk Calash, and with half-a-dozen of her gossips, at a window of the
House on Tower Hill hard by the Sheriff's and overlooking the Scaffold.
Now we Warders closed up about him; and preceded and followed by
Foot-Soldiers, he was conveyed in the Governor's Coach to the Outward
Gate, and so delivered over to the Sheriffs, who, giving a Receipt for
his Body, conveyed him in another coach (hired for the two former Lords,
Kilmarnock and Balmerino) to the said House close to the Scaffold, in
which (the House) was a room lined with Black Cloth and hung with
Sconces.
A gentleman of a Pious Mien here beginning to read a Prayer for him, he
bade me help him up that he might Kneel. One of the Sheriffs then asked
him if he would take a Glass of Wine; but he said that he would prefer
Negus. But there was no warm water, unhappily, at hand, and says his
Lordship, with his old Grin, "The warm bluid is nae tappit yet;" so they
brought him a glass of burnt brandy-and-bitters, which he drank with
great Gusto.
He desired that all his Clothes should be given to his friends, together
with his Corpse, remarking that for such end he would give the
Executioner Ten instead of Five guineas, which is the customary
Compliment. To each of the dozen Warders there present he gave a
Jacobus; to Miles Bandolier fifty shillings; and on myself, who had
specially attended on him ever since he was first brought to the Tower,
he bestowed Five gold pieces. As I touched the money, he clapped me on
the shoulder, and says in his comical way,
"I warrant, now, that beef and pudding would sit as easy under thy laced
jerkin were 'J. R.,' and not 'G. R.,' blazoned on thee, back and
breast."
But anon a light cloud passed over his visage, and I heard him mutter to
himself in the Scottish dialect, "Beef and pudding! 'tis cauld kail for
Fraser the morn."
Then turning to the Sheriffs, he desired that his Head might be received
in a Cloth and put into the Coffin, the which they promised him;
likewise that (if it could be done without censure) the ceremony of
holding up the Head at the Four Corners of the Scaffold should be
dispensed with. His Lordship seemed now indeed very weak in his Body,
albeit in no way disconcerted as to his Mind; and, as Miles Bandolier
and your Humble Servant escorted him up the steps of the Scaffold, he
looked around, and gazing upon the immense concourse of people,
"God save us!" says he; "why should there be such a bustle about taking
off ane gray head, that cannot get up Three Steps without Three Bodies
to support it?"
From which it will be seen that his Lordship had a Merry Humour unto the
last.
No sooner was he on the fatal Platform than, seeing me (as he
condescended to think) much dejected, he claps me on the shoulder again,
saying, "Cheer up thy heart, laddie in scarlet. I am not afraid; why
should you?"
Then he asks for the Executioner,--that was none other, indeed, than
Jack Ketch, the Common Hangman, dressed up in black, with a Mask on, for
the days of Gentlemen Headsmen have long since passed away; though some
would have it that this was a Surgeon's Apprentice, that dwelt close to
their Hall in the Old Bailey, and turned Executioner for a Frolic; but I
am sure it was Ketch, for he came afterwards to the Stone Kitchen,
wanting to treat all present to Drink; but the meanest Grenadier there
would have none of the Hangman's liquor, for all that the Blood on his
jerkin was that of a Lord; and the fellow grew so impertinent at last,
that we Warders were constrained to turn him out of the Fortress, and
forbid him to return under pain of a Drubbing. "I shall see you no more
in the Tower," quoth the impudent rascal; "but, by ----, you shall all
of you meet me at Tyburn some day, and I'll sell your laced doublets in
Rosemary Lane after that your throttles are twisted." But to resume.
Lord Lovat gave this murderous wretch with the Axe Ten Guineas in a
Purse. Then he felt the edge of the Instrument itself, and said very
quietly that he "thought it would do." Soon after, he rose from an
Armchair which had been placed for him, and walks round and round his
Coffin, which was covered with Black Velvet, studded with Silver Nails,
and this Inscription on it (the which I copied off on my Tablets at the
time):--
SIMON DOMINUS FRASER DE LOVAT,
Decollat. April 9, 1747.
AEtat. suae 80.
Then he sat down again, and recited some Latin words which I did not
understand, but was afterwards told they were from Horace, and signified
that it is a sweet and proper thing to Die for one's Country; at the
which a Wag in one of the Gazettes of the time must needs turn this
decorous Sentiment into Ridicule, and compose an Epigram insulting
Misfortune, to this Effect:--
"With justice may Lovat this adage apply,
For the good of their country ALL criminals die."
Then did the unfortunate Nobleman desire all the people to stand off
except his two Warders, who again supported him while he prayed; after
which he calls up his Solicitor and Agent in Scotland, Mr. Wm. Fraser,
and, presenting his Gold-headed Cane to him, said, "I deliver you this
cane in token of my sense of your faithful services, and of my
committing to you all the power I have upon earth;" which is a Scotch
fashion, I believe, when they are Executed. And with this he kissed him
upon both cheeks; for this Lord was much given to hugging and
slobbering.
He also calls for Mr. James Fraser, likewise a Kinsman (and these
Northern Lords seem to have them by Hundreds), and says, "My dear Jamie,
I'm gaun to Haiv'n; but ye must e'en crawl a wee langer in this evil
Warld." And with this, the old Grin.
Then he took off his Hat, Wig, and Upper Clothes, and delivered them to
Mr. W. F., charging him to see that the Executioner did not touch them.
He ordered his Nightcap to be put on, and unloosing his Neckcloth and
the Collar of his Shirt, he kneeled down at the Block, and pulled the
Cloth which was to receive his Head close to him; but he being too near
that fatal Billet, the Executioner desired him to remove a little
further Back, which, with our assistance, was Immediately done; and his
Neck being properly placed, he told the Headsman he would say a short
Prayer, and then give the Signal by dropping his Handkerchief. In this
posture he remained about Half a Minute. Then, throwing down the
Kerchief, the Executioner, at ONE BLOW, severed his Head from his Body.
Then was a dreadful Crimson Shower of Gore all around; and many and many
a time at the Playhouse have I thought upon that Crimson Cascade on
Tower Hill, when, in the tragedy of _Macbeth_, the wicked Queen talks of
"the old man having so much blood in him."
The Corpse was put into the Coffin, and so into the Hearse, and was
carried back to the Tower. At four o'clock came an Undertaker from
Holborn Hill, very fine, with many mourning coaches full of Scots
gentlemen, and fetched away the Body, in order to be sent to Scotland,
and deposited in his own Tomb at Kirkhill. But leave not being given by
Authority as was expected, it was again brought back to the Tower, and
buried by the side of Kilmarnock and Balmerino, close to the
Communion-rails in the little church of St. Peter-on-the-Green, where so
much Royal and Noble Dust doth moulder away.
_Memorandum._--The Block on which this Nobleman suffered was but a
common Billet of Oak wood, such as Butchers use, and hollowed out for
the purpose of accommodating the neck; but it had not been stowed away
in the White Tower for a month before it was shown to the Public for
Money, and passed as the Block whereon Queen Anne Boleyn was beheaded.
So with the Axe, which was declared to be the one used in decapitating
K. C. 1st; but there's not a word of truth in the whole story. The
Block was hewn and the Axe was forged after the '45, and specially for
the doing of justice on the Rebel Lords.
Note also that Lord Lovat left it in a Codicil to his Will that all the
Pipers from Jonie Groat's house to Edinburgh were to play before his
Corpse, and have a handsome allowance in Meal and Whisky (on which this
sort of People mostly live) for so doing. Likewise that all the good old
Women of his county were to sing what they call a _Coronach_ over him.
And indeed Women, both young and old, are so good when there's any thing
pitiful to be done, that I make no doubt that the _Coronach_ would have
been sung if the old Rebel had gone back to Scotland; and if there were
found those to weep for Nero, I see no reason why some tears should not
have been shed for Simon, Lord Lovat.
But there is no denying, after all, that Simon Fraser was a very
complete Scoundrel. His whole life, indeed, had been but one series of
Crimes, one calendar of Frauds, one tissue of Lies. For at least seventy
out of his eighty years of life he had been cheating, cogging,
betraying, and doing the Devil's service upon earth; and who shall say
that his end was undeserved? A Scots Lord of his acquaintance was heard
to say that he deserved to be hung twenty times in twenty places for
twenty heinous Crimes that he had committed; and let this be borne in
mind, that this was the same Lord Lovat that, as Captain Fraser, and
being then a Young Man, was outlawed for a very atrocious Act of
Violence that he had committed upon a young Lady of Fashion and Figure,
whom he carried away (with the aid of a Band of his brutal Retainers)
in the dead of night, married by Force, with the assistance of a
hireling Priest of his, cutting the very clothes off her body with his
Dirk, and bidding his Pipers strike up to drown her cries. And yet such
a Ruffian as he undoubtedly was could maintain an appearance of a facete
disposition to the last; and he seems to have taken great pains to quit
the Stage, not only with Decency, but with that Dignity which is thought
to distinguish the Good Conscience and the Noble Mind. There is only one
more thing to be set down, and that is one that I, being the Warder who
(with Bandolier) attended him throughout his confinement, can vouch for
the truth of. It was falsely said at the time that this Lord sought to
defraud the Axe by much drinking of Wine: now I can aver that while in
custody he never drank above two pints a day; and the report may have
arisen from the considerable quantities of Brandy and Rum which were
used, night and morning, to bathe his poor feet and legs.
Now, Tranquillity being happily restored to these Kingdoms, and the
Chevalier safely gotten away to France (whither, however, that luckless
young Man was expelled, and in a very ignominious manner, at the Peace
of Aix-la-Chapelle), I do confess that I began to weary somewhat of my
fine Red Doublet, and of the Rosettes in my shoes; and although my
Loyalty to King George and the Protestant Succession was without stain,
I felt that it was somewhat beneath the dignity of a Gentleman Cavalier
to dangle all day beneath a Portcullis with a Partisan on one's
shoulder, or act as Bear Leader to the Joskins and simpering City Madams
that came to see the Curiosities. And I felt my own roaming Fit come
upon me as fierce as ever, and longed to be off to Foreign Parts again.
I could have taken service under the Duke of Cumberland in the wars of
Germany, and could have procured, perhaps, a pair of Colours in his
Royal Highness's army; but, odd to relate, ever since my Misadventure at
Vienna what time I was in little Squire Pinchin's service, I had
conceived a great Distaste for those High Dutch countries, and cared not
to go a campaigning there. Then there was fighting going on, and to
spare, in Italy, where the Austrians were doing their best to reduce
Genoa, the French opposing 'em tooth and nail. But I misliked the
Germans as well as their country, and saw not the Profit of getting shot
under the command of an Austrian Archduke. There were many other
Continental countries open to the enterprise of Gentlemen Adventurers
from England, but in most of them only Papists would go down; and to
turn Romanist, for whatever reward of Place or Dignity, was against my
principles.
Pending, however, my coming to some Determination as to my future mode
of life, I resolved to throw up my Post of Tower Warder receiving the
gratuity of Twenty Guineas which was granted to those resigning by the
bounty of his Majesty the King. Those who state that I left my
Employment in any thing like Disgrace are surely the vilest Traducers
and Libellers that ever deserved to have their tongues bored through
with a Red-hot Iron; but I do not mind myself admitting that my
situation had become somewhat unpleasant, and that I was sufficiently
anxious to change the scene of my Adventures. There was a certain
Waiting-maid belonging to Madam Williamson (that was General
Williamson's lady, Military Commandant) who had long cast Sheep's Eyes
upon me. I declare that I gave the Lass no encouragement; but what would
you have? I was in the prime of life, and she a buxom kind of Wench,
about twenty-two years of age. 'Twas following me here, and ogling me
there, and leaving love-billets and messages for me at the Guard-Room. I
will not deny but that from time to time I may have passed a jest with
the girl, nay, given her some few trinkums, and now and then treated her
to chocolate or sweet wine at Marylebone Gardens or the Flask at
Hampstead. You may be sure that on these occasions I did not wear my
Antiquated costume as a Tower Warder, but a blue Culloden frock,
gold-corded, and with crown buttons; a scarlet waistcoat and breeches;
a hat with a military cock; and a neat hanger by my side. By drawers,
masters of the games, and others, I was now always known as Captain.
Had I not been exceedingly wary and circumspect in all my dealings with
this Waiting-Woman,--poor thing! her name was Prue,--the affair might
have ended badly; and there might have been Rendezvous on the ramparts,
moonlight trysts on the Tower Green, and the like Follies. But I saw
that our Flirtation must not be permitted to go any further. The
Commandant's wife, indeed, had come to hear of it; and, sending for me
to her Parlour, must needs ask me what my Intentions were towards her
Maid. "Madam," I answered, taking off my hat, and making her a very low
bow, "I am a soldier; and I never knew a soldier yet that Intended any
thing; all he does is without any Intention at all." Upon which she bade
me to go for an Impudent fellow; and I doubt not, had I been under her
Husband's orders, would have had me set upon the Picket on the Parade
for my free speaking; but we Tower Warders were not amenable to such
Slavish Discipline; and, indeed, General Williamson, who stood by, was
pleased to laugh heartily at my answer, and gave me a crown to drink the
King's health, bidding me, however, take care what I was about, and see
that the poor girl came to no Hurt. And I being at that time somewhat
chary of imperilling my Independence, and minded to take neither a Wife
nor a Mistress, thought the very best thing I could do was to kiss,
shake hands, and Part, lest worse should come of it.
END OF VOL. II.
LONDON:
SAVILL AND EDWARDS, PRINTERS, CHANDOS STREET,
COVENT GARDEN.
* * * * *
Transcriber's Notes:
Obvious punctuation errors repaired.
Page 44, "han" changed to "than" (than other slave-owners)
Page 64, "ther" changed to "their" (from their own)
Page 112, "coutenance" changed to "countenance" (good-humoured
countenance)
Page 179, "a a" changed to "a" (a gold snuff-box)
Page 237, "Mishipmite" changed to "Midshipmite" (Midshipmite, and who I)
Page 242, "eigteenth" changed to "eighteenth" (my eighteenth year)
Page 262, "fo" changed to "for" ('Forty-five; and for)
Text uses both Guard-house and Guardhouse; pottle-pot and pottlepot;
stand-still and standstill; and Train-bands and Trainbands.