CONDUCT AS AN OFFICER.
As it was a few years after his marriage that he was promoted to the rank
of lieutenant-colonel, in which he continued till he had a regiment of
his own, I shall, for the future, speak of him by that title; and I may
not, perhaps, find any more proper place in which to mention what it is
proper for me to say of his behaviour and conduct as an officer. I shall
not here enlarge upon his bravery in the field, though, as I have heard
from others, that was very remarkable--I say from others, for I never
heard any thing of the kind from himself, nor knew, till after his death,
that he was present at almost every battle that was fought in Flanders
while the illustrious Duke of Marlborough commanded the allied army
there. I have also been assured from several very credible persons, some
of whom were eye-witnesses, that at the skirmish with the rebels at
Preston in Lancashire, (thirty years before that engagement at the other
Preston which deprived us of this gallant guardian of his country,) he
signalized himself very particularly; for he headed a small body of men,
I think about twelve, and set fire to the barricado of the rebels, in the
face of their whole army, while they were pouring in their shot, by which
eight of the twelve that attended him fell. This was the last action of
the kind in which he was engaged before the long peace which ensued; and
who can express how happy it was for him, and indeed for his country,
of which he was ever so mindful, and in his latter years so important a
friend, that he did not then fall, when the profaneness which mingled
itself with this martial rage seemed to rend the heavens, and shocked
some other military gentlemen who were not very remarkable for their
caution in this respect.
But I insist not on things of this nature, which the true greatness of
his soul would hardly ever permit him to mention, unless when it tended
to illustrate the divine care over him in these extremities of danger,
and the grace of God in calling him from so abandoned a state. It is well
known that the character of an officer is not to be approved in the
day of combat only. Colonel Gardiner was truly sensible that every day
brought its duties along with it, and he was constantly careful that no
pretence of amusement, friendship, or even devotion itself, might prevent
their being properly discharged.
I doubt not that the noble persons in whose regiments he was
lieutenant-colonel, will always be ready to bear an honourable and
grateful testimony to his exemplary diligence and fidelity in all that
related to the care of the troops over which he was set, whether in
regard to the men or the horses. He knew that it is incumbent on
those who have the honour of presiding over others, whether in civil,
ecclesiastical, or military offices, not to content themselves with doing
only so much as may preserve them from the reproach of gross and visible
neglect; but seriously to consider how much they can possibly do without
going out of their proper sphere, to serve the public, by the due
inspection of those committed to their care. The duties of the closet and
of the sanctuary were so adjusted as not to interfere with those of the
parade, or any other place where the welfare of the regiment called
him. On the other hand, he was solicitous not to suffer these things to
interfere with religion, a due attendance on which he apprehended to
be the surest method of attaining all desirable success in every other
interest and concern in life. He therefore abhorred every thing that
looked like a contrivance to keep his soldiers employed with their horses
and their arms at the seasons of public worship--an indecency which I
wish there were no room to mention. Far from that, he used to have them
drawn up just before it began, and from the parade they went off to the
house of God. He understood the rights of conscience too well to impose
his own particular profession in religion on others, or to treat those
who differed from him in the choice of its modes, the less kindly or
respectfully on that account. But as most of his own company, and many of
the rest, chose (when in England) to attend him to the dissenting chapel,
he used to march them up thither in due time, so as to be there before
the worship began. And I must do them the justice to say, that so far as
I could ever discern, when I have seen them in large numbers before me,
they behaved with as much reverence, gravity, and decorum, during the
time of divine service, as any of the worshippers.
That his remarkable care to maintain good discipline among them (of which
we shall afterwards speak) might be the more effectual, he made himself
on all proper occasions accessible to them, and expressed a great
concern for their interests, which, being genuine and sincere, naturally
discovered itself in a variety of instances. I remember I had once
occasion to visit one of his dragoons in his last illness at Harborough,
and I found the man upon the borders of eternity--a circumstance which,
as he apprehended himself, must add some peculiar weight and credibility
to his discourse. He then told me, in his colonel's absence, that he
questioned not that he should have everlasting reason to bless God on
Colonel Gardiner's account, for he had been a father to him in all his
interests, both temporal and spiritual. He added, that he had visited
him, almost every day during his illness, with religious advice and
instruction, and had also taken care that he should want for nothing that
might conduct to the recovery of his health. He did not speak of this
as the result of any particular attachment to him, but as the manner in
which he was accustomed to treat those under his command. It is no wonder
that this engaged their affection to a very great degree; and I doubt not
that if he had fought the fatal battle of Prestonpans at the head of that
gallant regiment of which he had the care for so many years, and which
is allowed by most unexceptionable judges to be one of the finest in the
British service, and consequently in the world, he had been supported in
a much different manner, and had found a much greater number who would
have rejoiced in an opportunity of making their own breasts a barrier in
the defence of his.
It could not but greatly endear him to his soldiers, that so far as
preferments lay in his power, or were under his influence, they were
distributed according to merit. This he knew to be as much the dictate of
prudence as equity. I find from one of his letters before me, dated but
a few months after his conversion, that he was solicited to use his
interest with the Earl of Stair in favour of one whom he judged a very
worthy person; and that it had been suggested by another, who
recommended him, that if he so succeeded, he might expect some handsome
acknowledgment. But he answers with some degree of indignation, "Do you
imagine I am to be bribed to do justice?" For such it seems he esteemed
it, to confer the favour which was asked from him on one so deserving.
Nothing can more effectually tend to humble the enemies of a state, than
that such maxims should universally prevail in it; and if they do not
prevail, the worthiest men in an army or a fleet may sink under repeated
discouragements, and the basest exalted, to the infamy of the public, and
perhaps to its ruin.
In the midst of all the gentleness which Colonel Gardiner exercised
towards his soldiers, he made it very apparent that he knew how to
reconcile the tenderness of a really faithful and condescending friend
with the authority of a commander. Perhaps hardly any thing conduced more
generally to the maintaining of this authority, than the strict decorum
and good manners with which he treated even the private gentlemen of his
regiment; which has always a great efficacy in keeping inferiors at
a proper distance, and forbids, in the least offensive manner,
familiarities which degrade the superior, and enervate his influence. The
calmness and steadiness of his behaviour on all occasions also greatly
tended to the same purpose. He knew how mean a man looks in the
transports of passion, and would not use so much freedom with many of
his men as to fall into such transports before them, well knowing that
persons in the lowest rank of life are aware how unfit _they_ are to
govern others, who cannot govern themselves. He was also sensible how
necessary it is in all who preside over others, and especially in
military officers, to check irregularities when they first begin to
appear; and, that he might be able to do so, he kept a strict inspection
over his soldiers; in which it was observed, that as he generally chose
to reside among them as much as he could, (though in circumstances which
sometimes occasioned him to deny himself in some interests which were
very dear to him,) so, when they were around him, he seldom staid long in
a place; but was frequently walking the streets, and looking into their
quarters and stables, as well as reviewing and exercising them himself.
It has often been observed that the regiment to which he was so many
years lieutenant-colonel, was one of the most regular and orderly
regiments in the public service, so that perhaps none of our dragoons
were more welcome to the towns where their character was known. Yet no
such bodies of men are so blameless in their conduct but something will
be found, especially among such considerable numbers, worthy of censure,
and sometimes of punishment. This Colonel Gardiner knew how to inflict
with a becoming resolution, and with all the severity which he judged
necessary--a severity the more awful and impressive, as it was already
attended with meekness; for he well knew that when things are done in a
passion, it seems only an accidental circumstance that they are acts
of justice, and that such indecencies greatly obstruct the ends of
punishment, both as to reforming offenders, and to deterring others from
an imitation of their faults.
One instance of his conduct, which happened at Leicester, and which was
related by the person chiefly concerned to a worthy friend from whom
I had it, I cannot forbear inserting. While part of the regiment was
encamped in the neighbourhood of that place, the colonel went incognito
to the camp in the middle of the night; for he sometimes lodged at his
quarters in the town. One of the sentinels then on duty had abandoned
his post, and, on being seized, broke out into some oaths and profane
execrations against those that discovered him--a crime of which the
colonel had the greatest abhorrence, and on which he never failed to
animadvert. The man afterwards appeared much ashamed and concerned for
what he had done. But the colonel ordered him to be brought early the
next morning to his own quarters, where he had prepared a picket, on
which he appointed him a private sort of penance; and while he was put
upon it, he discoursed with him seriously and tenderly upon the evils and
aggravations of his fault, admonished him of the divine displeasure which
he had incurred, and urged him to argue, from the pain which he then
felt, how infinitely more dreadful it must be to "fall into the hands of
the living God," and, indeed, to meet the terrors of that damnation
which he had been accustomed impiously to call for on himself and his
companions. The result of this proceeding was, that the offender accepted
his punishment, not only with submission, but with thankfulness. He went
away with a more cordial affection for his colonel than he ever had
before, and spoke of the circumstance some years after to my friend, in
such a manner that there seemed reason to hope it had been instrumental
in producing a change not only in his life, but in his heart.
There cannot, I think, be a more proper place for mentioning the great
reverence this excellent officer always expressed for the name of the
blessed God, and the zeal with which he endeavoured to suppress, and if
possible to extirpate, that detestable sin of swearing and cursing which
is every where so common, and especially among our military men. He often
declared, at the head of his regiment, his sentiments with respect to
this enormity, and urged his captains and their subalterns to take the
greatest care that they did not give the sanction of their example to
that which by their office they were obliged to punish in others. Indeed
his zeal on these occasions wrought in a very active, and sometimes in a
remarkably successful manner, not only among his equals, but sometimes
among his superiors too. An instance of this in Flanders I shall have an
opportunity hereafter to produce; at present I shall only mention his
conduct in Scotland a little before his death, as I have it from a
very valuable young minister of that country, on whose testimony I can
thoroughly depend; and I wish it may excite many to imitation.
'The commanding officer of the king's forces then about Edinburgh,
with the other colonels, and several other gentlemen of rank in their
respective regiments, favoured him with their company at Bankton, and
took dinner with him. He too well foresaw what might happen amid such a
variety of tempers and characters; and fearing lest his conscience might
have been ensnared by a sinful silence, or that, on the other hand, he
might seem to pass the bounds of decency, and infringe upon the laws of
hospitality by animadverting on guests so justly entitled to his regard,
he happily determined on the following method of avoiding each of these
difficulties. As soon as they were come together, he addressed them with
a great deal of respect, and at the same time with a very frank and
determined air, telling them that he had the honour in that district to
be a justice of the peace, and consequently that he was sworn to put the
law in execution, and, among the rest, those against swearing; that he
could not execute them upon others with any confidence, or by any means
approve himself a man of impartiality and integrity to his own heart,
if he suffered them to be broken in his presence by persons of any rank
whatsoever; and that therefore he entreated all the gentlemen who then
honoured him with their company that they would please to be upon their
guard, and that if any oath or curse should escape them, he hoped they
would consider his legal animadversion upon it as a regard to the duties
of his office and the dictates of his conscience, and not as owing to any
want of deference to them.
The commanding officer immediately supported him in this declaration, as
entirely becoming the station in which he was, assuring him that he would
be ready to pay the penalty, if he inadvertently transgressed; and when
Colonel Gardiner on any occasion stepped out of the room, he himself
undertook to be the guardian of the law in his absence; and as one of the
inferior officers offended during this time, he informed the colonel, so
that the fine was exacted and given to the poor,[*] with the universal
approbation of the company. The story spread in the neighbourhood, and
was perhaps applauded highly by many who wanted the courage to "go and do
likewise." But it may be said, with the utmost propriety, of the worthy
person of whom I write, that he feared the face of no man living where
the honour of God was concerned. In all such cases he might be justly
said, in Scripture phrase, "to set his face like a flint;" and I
assuredly believe, that had he been in the presence of a sovereign
prince who had been guilty of this fault, his looks at least would have
testified his grief and surprise, if he had apprehended it unfit to have
borne his testimony in any other way.
[*Note: It is observable that the money which was forfeited on this
account by his own officers, whom he never spared, or by any others of
his soldiers who rather chose to pay than submit to corporal punishment,
was, by the colonel's order, laid by in a bank till some of the private
men fell sick, and then it was laid out in providing them with proper
help and accommodations in their distress.]
Lord Cadogan's regiment of dragoons, during the time he was
lieutenant-colonel of it, was quartered in a variety of places, both
in England and Scotland, from many of which I have letters before
me; particularly from Hamilton, Ayr, Carlisle, Hereford, Maidenhead,
Leicester, Warwick, Coventry, Stamford, Harborough, Northampton, and
several other places, especially in our inland parts. The natural
consequence was, that the colonel, whose character was on many accounts
so very remarkable, had a very extensive acquaintance; and I believe I
may certainly say, that wherever he was known by persons of wisdom and
worth, he was proportionably respected, and left behind him traces of
unaffected devotion, humility, benevolence, and zeal for the support and
advancement of religion and virtue.
The equable tenor of his mind in these respects is illustrated by his
letters from several of these places; and though I have but comparatively
a small number of them now in my hands, yet they will afford some
valuable extracts; which I shall therefore here lay before my reader,
that he may the better judge as to the colonel's real character in
particulars which I have already mentioned, or which may hereafter occur.
In a letter to his lady, dated from Carlisle, November 19, 1738, when
he was on his journey to Herefordshire, he breathes out his grateful,
cheerful soul in these words:
"I bless God I was never better in my lifetime, and I wish I could be so
happy as to hear the same of you: or rather, in other words, to hear that
you have obtained an entire trust in God. That would infallibly keep you
in perfect peace, for the God of truth has promised it. Oh, how ought we
to be longing 'to be with Christ,' which is infinitely better than any
thing we can propose here! to be there, where no mountains shall separate
between God and our souls. And I hope it will be some addition to our
happiness, that, you and I shall be separated no more; but that as we
have joined in singing the praises of our glorious Redeemer here, we
shall sing them in a much higher key through an endless eternity. Oh
eternity, eternity! What a wonderful thought, is eternity!"
From Leicester, August 6, 1739, he writes thus to his lady:
"Yesterday I was at the Lord's table, where you and the children were not
forgotten. But how wonderfully was I assisted when I came home, to plead
for you all with many tears." And then, speaking of some intimate friends
who were impatient, (as I suppose by the connection) for his return to
them, he takes occasion to observe the necessity of endeavouring to
compose our minds, and say with the Psalmist, "My soul, wait thou only
upon God." Afterwards, speaking of one of his children, who he heard had
made a commendable progress in learning, he expresses his satisfaction,
and adds; "But, how much greater joy would it give me to hear that he was
greatly advanced in the school of Christ! Oh that our children may but be
wise unto salvation, and may grow in grace as they do in stature!"
These letters, which to so familiar a friend evidently lay open the
heart, and show the ideas and affections which were lodged deepest there,
are sometimes taken up with an account of sermons he had attended, and
the impression they had made upon his mind. I shall mention only one,
as a specimen of many more, which was dated from a place called Cohorn,
April 15:
"We had here a minister from Wales, who gave us two excellent discourses
on the love of Christ to us, as an argument to engage our love to him.
And indeed, next to the greatness of his love to us, methinks there is
nothing so astonishing as the coldness of our love to him. Oh that he
would shed abroad his love upon our hearts by his Holy Spirit, that ours
might be kindled into a flame! May God enable you to trust in Him, and
then you will be kept in perfect peace!"
We have met with many traces of that habitual gratitude to the blessed
God, as his Heavenly Father and constant friend, which made his life
probably one of the happiest that ever was spent on earth. I cannot omit
one more, which appears to me the more worthy of notice, as being a short
turn in as hasty a letter as any I remember to have seen of his, which he
wrote from Leicester in June, 1739. "I am now under the deepest sense of
the many favours the Almighty has bestowed upon me. Surely you will help
me to celebrate the praises of our gracious God and kind benefactor."
This exuberance of grateful affection, which, while it was almost every
hour pouring itself forth before God in the most genuine and emphatical
language, felt itself still as it were straitened for want of a
sufficient vent, and therefore called on others to help him with their
concurrent praises, appears to me the most glorious and happy state in
which a human soul can find itself on this side heaven.
Such was the temper which this excellent man appears to have carried
along with him through such a variety of places and circumstances; and
the whole of his deportment was suitable to these impressions. Strangers
were agreeably struck with his first appearance, there being much of the
Christian, the well-bred man, and the universal friend in it; and as
they came more intimately to know him, they discovered more and more the
uniformity and consistency of his whole temper and behaviour; so that
whether he made only a visit for a few days to any place, or continued
there for many weeks or months, he was always beloved and esteemed,
and spoken of with that honourable testimony, from persons of the most
different denominations and parties, which nothing but true sterling
worth, (if I may be allowed the expression,) and that in an eminent
degree, can secure.