SHOWS SOMETHING OF THE TRIALS AND PERPLEXITIES OF OUR GOOD SIR JOHN
OVER THE BUSINESS
In the meantime Sir John himself had been passing through various
anxieties of his own, though I can only give you a very brief account
of his doings from the notes in my little diary, and the remembrance of
his own conversation. It was not till long afterwards that I realised
how much greater cause we should have had to tremble had we known more
of the brave knight’s movements during these months of summer. I have
told you how my lady’s heart was lightened by learning that he had
at last taken his departure from Avignon. No doubt, dear soul, she
regarded it as the tardy result of her wifely prayers and counsels.
But had she known of the packet he bore with him, which, if discovered
by the agents of King George, would have put an end to all hope of
pardon for ever, what terrors she would have suffered, what anguish of
anxiety she would have endured; and with good reason--for the King had
entrusted to Sir John a letter to the King of Sweden, begging for his
help in a new endeavour to recover his birthright.
The news of the Forfeited Estates Bill, which had been passed, was
a great blow to Sir John, for the thought that others should suffer
through him was intolerable to his kind and honest heart, and he fully
agreed with my lady’s dictum, that anything she could save out of
the estate must go to the paying of private debts even to the last
sixpence. When the news of the treacherous discovery of his Mine
reached him, he was further distressed, realising all that it meant
for him. As Mr. Campbell, in writing of this, had warned him that it
might be necessary for some of his friends to go and consult with him
as to a method of procedure, he, after confiding his troubles to his
friend, the Earl of Mar, and receiving kind permission from the King,
decided to go to Hamburg where he should be within easy reach of the
Hague, and also in the way of meeting his brother, the doctor, who with
his master, the Czar, was expected shortly in these parts.
He accordingly set out from Avignon about the middle of July, going
first to Brussels and then to Amsterdam, but upon finding there letters
from home of the greatest importance, he hurried to Lubeck, where,
after waiting some days, he was rejoiced to welcome his nephew, Sir
Harry Stirling, who laid before him my Lord Townshend’s proposals,
and explained the situation of things at home. Thinking that having
got such lenient conditions there was no great press in making up
his mind on the matter, Sir John, having written an account of it to
my Lord Mar, proceeded on his errand to Hamburg, where he found that
General Hamilton, with whom he was ordered to consult on the King’s
affairs, was not in that place, and indeed was at too great a distance
to communicate with him. He met instead the agent of the Swedish King,
Colonel Sparre, and accepting his offer to bring him to Sweden under
cover of his own passport, he went with him to Travemunde, only to find
it in possession of a small Russian garrison, which was nevertheless
strong enough to bar the way to suspected travellers, Russia and Sweden
being at enmity at that time. He was for some days weather-bound in
a small town on the Elbe about forty miles from Hamburg, which he
described as a “miserable nasty hole, where the inhabitants did nothing
but drink bad beer, smoke bad tobacco, and chatter in a tongue which
he could not understand.” Cut off from all letters, and chafing at
the delay, he fell into a fit of depression, he told us after, that
bordered on despair. But the weather clearing at last, he made his way
back to Hamburg, where he found a letter from my Lord Mar, bidding him
give up the notion of going to Sweden at this time.
As he had learned from Colonel Sparre that though the King of Sweden
was favourable to King James, many of his statesmen were not, and that
according to Sparre’s opinion it was not a good time to approach him on
the subject, Sir John felt less regret in giving up the mission than
he otherwise might have done. He remained some days longer at Hamburg,
in hopes of hearing from Mar in reply to his letter about his private
business, and when it reached him he was pleased to find it contained
a very kind and gracious message from the King, to the effect that
his Majesty was glad to hear of the probability of Sir John’s success
in his own affairs, and said that now he could do nothing in what was
intrusted to him, that was to be his chief concern. These generous
words, as you will imagine, warmed the heart of Sir John, for he was
in a strait between two strong desires, namely: the furtherance of the
King’s success, and the welfare of his own family; or to put it in my
Lord Mar’s words, he was “in a nice situation ’twixt honour on the one
side and interest on the other.”
He went on to say, “The world is malicious enough always to put the
worst construction on things, so a man who values his reputation ought
to think well in such a case, and do what he really thinks right.”
It cost Sir John no little pain to give up, here and now, all thought
of helping in the Cause to which he was so much devoted; for he knew
very well that once returned to Scotland he would be carefully watched,
and only in covert and secret ways could his assistance again be given.
It was a trial also to his pride to think how he might be pointed at as
a turn-coat and a renegade, who took the King’s favours and rejoiced in
his confidence, only to throw him over and desert him in the end. To a
man of honour the situation was indeed extremely difficult, and when it
is remembered that Sir John had besides a warm and affectionate heart
towards the King, it is easy to imagine how he was torn in two, at the
thought of thus parting from his friends.
However, his calmer judgment told him there was but one thing to be
done, and that the happiness of those depending on him must be his
first care. To make up in some degree for his desertion from active
service on the King’s behalf, he had written to his brother, the
doctor, hoping to enlist him in the Cause, and begging him to do his
utmost to gain the Czar’s help and interest in the same. Through Sir
Harry Stirling he received full confirmation of his hopes, for Dr.
Robin wrote that he and his master heartily wished King George at the
Devil, and the latter regretted that he was too far away to be able to
send him there. The Czar was also anxious and willing to assist Sir
John in his own affairs, if Mr. Campbell’s proposals were likely to
fail, a promise which accorded well with Sir John’s inclinations, for
he felt it would be easier to accept a ton of assistance from the Czar
of Russia, than one ounce of favour from the Elector of Hanover.
He had by this time made his way, after being much delayed by storms,
to Amsterdam, which he reached on the 29th of September, and here, a
few days later, Mr. Erskine found him. Sir John’s delight at meeting
with his brother was much dashed by the latter’s assurance that his
departure for England, with scarce a day’s delay, was the only course
open to him if he wished to benefit by the efforts of his friends on
his behalf. It was in vain he pleaded his master’s needs, his own
desire to meet with Doctor Erskine, and the necessity of at least
waiting for returns to his letters from my Lord Mar. He had not heard
from Avignon now for five weeks, and he was at heart somewhat uneasy
as to the reason of the silence. The Earl might have some cause for
displeasure, thinking that after all Sir John should not prefer his own
advantage to the King’s, or his letters anent the business with the
Czar might have miscarried, and all his work would go for naught.
To none of this would Mr. Erskine listen. He informed Sir John that
it would be now almost a race between himself and the Commissioners
who were on their way to Alva, if indeed not already there. Should
they reach the mine before Sir John had secured his pardon, they might
decide to put such conditions on the latter that it would never be
accepted. Mr. Erskine offered to stay for a time in Holland, and
as far as in him lay, to take his brother’s place. He would see or
correspond with Sir Harry and the doctor, and all communications
with Avignon might be carried on through him as if he were Sir John
himself. In another way he reminded him, he might really be benefiting
the King’s cause by his immediate departure. If he refused, after
receiving the offer of such easy terms, to return home at once, my
Lord Townshend might suspect that there was something stirring in the
King’s affairs to keep him on the Continent, and would cause his agents
to be more vigilant among them, which at the present juncture would
not be convenient. But if so trusted a friend of the Earl of Mar were
permitted to leave the party, it would seem to suggest that matters
were not in a good way, and their hopes of present success very low.
In fact the “golden tongue” did its work, and so eloquently did it
speak that at length Sir John was convinced of his brother’s wisdom,
and agreed to all that he proposed. Immediately upon this he wrote two
letters to the Earl of Mar with full explanations of his plans and his
difficulties, his hopes and fears, but unfortunately these letters
were delayed in the transit, as the earl’s to himself had been, and
there followed some weeks of pain and distrust between the friends.
On the 8th of October, Sir John, “with a very heavy heart,” set sail
for England, and the news being carried to Avignon, without the true
explanation of his departure, the company there were plunged in wrath
and dismay, and even for a few days entertained doubts of their late
companion’s honesty. A letter from Mr. Erskine to my Lord Mar a little
later cleared up the mystery and restored tranquillity to their minds,
but the stories followed Sir John to England, and it grieved him not a
little to have suspicion thrown upon his loyalty, by those who should
have known him better.
It was, to be sure, a surprising thing for friends and foes alike to
see Sir John Erskine, whom all supposed to be in exile, and in high
danger of being attainted, walking openly in the streets of London, in
company with this or that member of the Government. Courteous, genial
and debonnaire as ever, he did not look like a proscribed outlaw, still
less like a deserter turned spy, and many were the stories invented
and circulated before the real truth of the matter leaked out. When it
became known, I think there were few who did not rejoice and wonder,
for the story of the Silver Glen was like a fairy-tale, and I suppose
that Sir John was the only man in Britain who had been bribed to accept
his Remission from King George.
The interview with my Lord Townshend was entirely satisfactory. No
oaths were exacted, no questions asked. The pardon was duly signed,
sealed, and delivered on the 22nd day of October, and on the 27th Sir
John set out post for Scotland, with relief in his heart, and “a broad
seal in his pocket.”