FLETCHER OF SALTOUN
FAMOUS SCOTS SERIES
_The following Volumes are now ready_--
THOMAS CARLYLE. By HECTOR C. MACPHERSON
ALLAN RAMSAY. By OLIPHANT SMEATON
HUGH MILLER. By W. KEITH LEASK
JOHN KNOX. By A. TAYLOR INNES
ROBERT BURNS. By GABRIEL SETOUN
THE BALLADISTS. By JOHN GEDDIE
RICHARD CAMERON. By Professor HERKLESS
SIR JAMES Y. SIMPSON. By EVE BLANTYRE SIMPSON
THOMAS CHALMERS. By Professor W. GARDEN BLAIKIE
JAMES BOSWELL. By W. KEITH LEASK
TOBIAS SMOLLETT. By OLIPHANT SMEATON
FLETCHER OF SALTOUN. By G. W. T. OMOND
FLETCHER OF SALTOUN
BY
G : W : T OMOND
FAMOUS
SCOTS:
SERIES
PUBLISHED BY:
CHARLES SCRIBNER’S SONS
NEW YORK
PREFACE
In 1792 the eleventh Earl of Buchan published a volume of _Essays on
the Life and Writings of Fletcher of Saltoun and the Poet Thomson_. It
contains our only biography of Fletcher; but, though founded on
original sources of information, it is frequently inaccurate, and
must, therefore, be used with great caution. The author of the article
on Fletcher in the third edition of the _Encyclopædia Britannica_
(1797) mentions that the tenth Earl Marischal, when Governor of
Neuchâtel, suggested to Rousseau that he should write the life of
Fletcher. Rousseau was furnished with MSS. for this purpose; but
nothing came of it, and most of the materials on which that work was
to have been founded seem to have been lost. Some interesting
documents, however, are preserved in the University Library at
Edinburgh, including MSS. used by Lord Buchan, and a letter to him
from Lord Hailes, who had evidently been applied to for information.
(Laing MSS. 364.)
Mr. F. Espinasse refers to most of the printed authorities for the
life of Fletcher, in a succinct but exhaustive article in the
_Dictionary of National Biography_, vol. xix. p. 292; and in the
_Scottish Review_ for July 1893 (vol. xxii. p. 61) there is a very
interesting paper on ‘Andrew Fletcher, the Scottish Patriot,’ from the
pen of Mr. J. R. Donaldson. Many allusions to Fletcher’s conduct as a
member of the last Scottish Parliament are to be found in the
Godolphin Correspondence in the British Museum. (Add. MSS. 28,055.)
I have to thank Mr. Fletcher of Saltoun for allowing me to consult a
volume of _Recollections respecting the Family of Saltoun_, and for an
opportunity of examining the library and visiting the scenes of
Fletcher’s early life.
Mr. E. Gordon Duff, librarian of the John Rylands Library, Manchester,
and Mr. R. A. S. Macfie have for some time been engaged in compiling a
Bibliography of Fletcher; and I desire to thank them for their
kindness in placing their MS. unreservedly in my hands. There is
considerable doubt respecting the authorship of several pamphlets
which have been attributed to Fletcher, as well as regarding the
places at which his works were printed; and if this Bibliography
appears in print, it will be found most valuable by all who take an
interest in his writings.
G. W. T. O.
OXFORD, _March 1897_.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I
PAGE
Fletcher’s Birth and Education--Travels Abroad--A Member
of the Scottish Parliament--Goes to the Continent 9
CHAPTER II
The Whig Plot--Comes to England with Monmouth--Shoots
Dare--Is found guilty of High Treason and attainted--The
Estate of Saltoun forfeited 20
CHAPTER III
Adventures in Spain--Serves in Hungary against the Turks--Returns
to Scotland at the Revolution--Reforms in the
Scottish Parliament--Saltoun Restored--Darien 37
CHAPTER IV
Fletcher’s Political Writings--‘A Discourse on Militias’--The
Affairs of Scotland--Supports Slavery as a Cure for
Mendicancy--Attacks the Partition Treaty 49
CHAPTER V
The First Session of the Union Parliament--Fletcher proposes
his Twelve Limitations on the Crown--An Act of Security--The
Supplies are refused 61
CHAPTER VI
‘A Conversation concerning a Right Regulation of Government
for the Common Good of Mankind’ 85
CHAPTER VII
A New Ministry in Scotland--Scenes in the Parliament House--The
Act of Security becomes Law--England retaliates
by passing the Alien Act 96
CHAPTER VIII
A Ministerial Crisis, and a Change of Government in Scotland--The
Government is defeated--The Limitations again--Fletcher’s
Duel with Roxburghe--The Act for a Treaty
of Union passed 108
CHAPTER IX
The Union Commission at Westminster--The Act of Union
passed--Belhaven’s Speech--Violent Conduct of Fletcher
and other Members during the Debates 129
CHAPTER X
Arrest of Fletcher--His Release--The Jacobite Prisoners of
1708--Death of Belhaven--Fletcher retires into Private
Life--Conversations with Wodrow--His Death--Views
of his Character 142
CHAPTER I
Fletcher’s Birth and Education--Travels Abroad--A Member of the
Scottish Parliament--Goes to the Continent.
Andrew Fletcher, eldest son of Sir Robert Fletcher of Saltoun, in the
county of Haddington, and of Catherine, daughter of Sir Henry Bruce of
Clackmannan, was born in the year 1653. He was educated either at home
or in the parish school of Saltoun until 1665. On the thirteenth of
January in that year his father died, having, on his deathbed,
intrusted the charge of educating his son to Burnet, the future Bishop
of Salisbury, who had just been presented to the living of Saltoun, of
which Sir Robert was the patron. Burnet’s first published work was, _A
Discourse on the Memory of that rare and truly virtuous person, Sir
Robert Fletcher of Saltoun, written by a gentleman of his
acquaintance_. This volume, which the author calls, ‘The rude essay of
an unpolished hand,’ contains almost nothing about either Sir Robert
or his son; and, in fact, Burnet does little more than use his patron
as a peg on which to hang a string of platitudes. But from the moment
Burnet became minister of Saltoun, Andrew Fletcher lived in an
atmosphere of learning. There was a library belonging to the Church of
Saltoun, founded by one of the parish ministers, and added to by
Burnet and the Fletcher family; and among this collection of books we
may fancy Burnet and his pupil spending many hours. There were two
catalogues, one of them written by Sir Robert Fletcher; and in August
1666 we find the ‘Laird of Saltoun,’ then thirteen years of age,
visiting the library, comparing the books with the catalogues, and
gravely reporting to the Presbytery of Haddington that Burnet was
taking proper care of the books.
These books were chiefly theological, but among them were _The Acts of
the Second Parliament of King Charles_, from which Burnet might teach
the boy many useful lessons, and the ‘_Book of the Martyrs_, 3 vol. in
folio, gifted by my Lady Saltoun.’ For the support of this library
Burnet left a sum of money; and it is still known in the district as
‘Bishop Burnet’s Library.’ The books are preserved in a room in the
manse of Saltoun under the charge of the parish minister, and
prominent among them are a fine folio edition of Burnet’s own works,
and a black-letter copy of Foxe’s _Book of Martyrs_.
Of Fletcher’s earliest days little is recorded, except that he was,
from infancy, of a fiery but generous nature. According to family
tradition Burnet imbued his pupil ‘with erudition and the principles
of free government’; and perhaps it is not mere fancy which leads us
to picture the keen, eager, excitable boy reading the _Book of
Martyrs_, and listening to Burnet, who describes his system of
education in the account which he gives of the manner in which he
taught the Duke of Gloucester in after years. ‘I took,’ he says, ‘to
my own province, the reading and explaining the Scriptures to him, the
instructing him in the Principles of Religion and the Rules of Virtue,
and the giving him a view of History, Geography, Politics, and
Government.’ History, politics, and the theory of government--these
were, all through his life, Andrew Fletcher’s favourite studies; and
we cannot doubt that Burnet not only drilled him thoroughly in Greek
and Latin, as he certainly did, but also fostered that taste for
letters from which not even the turmoil of politics could ever wean
him.
Fletcher also owed much to the influence of his mother; and to this he
himself, in his later years, bore testimony. ‘One day,’ it is recorded
in the private family history, ‘after Andrew Fletcher had entertained
his company with a concert of music, and they were walking about in
the hall at Saltoun, a gentleman fixed his eye on the picture of
Katherine Bruce, where the elegant pencil of Sir Peter Lely had
blended the softness and grace that form the pleasing ornaments of the
sex. “That is my mother,” says Andrew; “and if there is anything in
my education and acquirements during the early part of my life, I owe
them entirely to that woman.”’
Burnet remained at Saltoun until November 1669, when he was appointed
Professor of Divinity at Glasgow. It is, however, possible that
Fletcher was sent to the University of Edinburgh before that date, as
the name of an Andrew Fletcher occurs in the University Register for
the year 1668. This may not have been young Fletcher of Saltoun; but
in any case we would suppose, from the acquirements which he
afterwards displayed, that he had received a University education,
though this is not to be gathered from Lord Buchan, who says: ‘When he
had completed his course of elementary studies in Scotland, under the
care of his excellent preceptor, he was sent to travel on the
Continent.’ But as Fletcher was only fifteen when Burnet left Saltoun,
it seems more probable that he was sent to the University of Edinburgh
for a year or two before starting on the ‘Grand Tour.’
Of his travels nothing appears to be known; but he doubtless followed
the route usually taken, through France, Germany, and Italy, by young
Scotsmen of family, who, it need scarcely be said, were almost always
sent to finish their education by visiting foreign countries. Fletcher
knew French, but with regard to Italian Lord Buchan mentions a curious
fact. ‘He had,’ says Lord Buchan, ‘acquired the grammatical knowledge
of the Italian so perfectly as to compose and publish a treatise in
that language; yet he could not speak it, as he found when having an
interview with Prince Eugene of Savoy, and being addressed in that
language by the Prince, he could not utter a syllable to be
understood.’
Having returned to Scotland, he was, in June 1678, sent as one of the
members for Haddingtonshire to the Convention of Estates which met
that summer. His colleague was Adam Cockburn of Ormiston, a fine
gentleman of the old school, but one of the most virulent
Presbyterians even of that day. It is to be observed that the rolls of
parliament have the name of ‘James Fletcher of Saltoun.’ It appears,
from the Official Return of Members (published in 1878) that the
original commissions for Haddingtonshire have been lost; but there is
no doubt whatever that the rolls are wrong, and the name ‘James’
appears by a mistake instead of ‘Andrew.’
This Convention of Estates, in which Lauderdale was Lord High
Commissioner, sat from the 26th of June to the 11th of July. It was
summoned for the purpose of voting money to maintain the troops who
were to be employed in suppressing the conventicles or field meetings
of the Presbyterians; and a supply of thirty thousand pounds a year,
for five years, was granted. The Opposition, led by Hamilton, could
muster only thirty-nine votes, while the supporters of the Government
numbered one hundred, including, of course, all the Bishops. Among the
thirty-nine was Fletcher, who thus, from the outset of his public
life, took his stand against the arbitrary system on which Scotland
was governed until the Revolution.
During this short session an incident took place which was very
characteristic of Fletcher. The Estates had ordered that none but
members were to be admitted to the Parliament House. Fletcher’s
brother Henry, however, had managed to slip in. He was discovered,
fined, and sent to the Tolbooth. So next day Andrew Fletcher ‘pitched
on little William Tolemache as no member,’ as Lord Fountainhall puts
it. On this Lauderdale was forced to declare that he was one of his
servants, whom he was entitled to bring into the House. This is the
first instance of that hot, pertinacious spirit which Fletcher so
often displayed on the floor of the Parliament House; nor, trifling as
the incident was, must it be forgotten that it required some courage
to face Lauderdale, whose easygoing, plausible manner concealed a most
vindictive spirit.
The Government had now resolved to rule Scotland by the sword; and
their policy was to turn the militia, as far as possible, into a
standing army. The Scottish Privy Council was ordered to draw five
thousand foot and five hundred horse from the militia, and quarter
them at the expense of the heritors in all the counties; and
instructions were given that, in addition to the oaths of allegiance
and supremacy, the soldiers should be called upon to swear ‘to
maintain the present Government in Church and State, as it is now
established by law, and to oppose the damnable principle of taking up
arms against the King, or those commissionate by him.’ In other words,
the militia of Scotland, where a majority of the people were opposed
to the Church established by law, were to swear that they would
maintain the principles of passive obedience and non-resistance. And
this oath was to be taken, ‘not in the ordinary way that such military
oaths used to be executed, by drawing up the troop or company together
in a body, but that every soldier, one after another, shall by himself
swear the same.’
Of the ‘New Model,’ as, borrowing the phraseology of the Commonwealth,
the Ministers called the troops, two hundred foot and forty-six horse
were quartered upon Haddingtonshire; and this led Fletcher into
collision with the Government. At the end of July 1680, along with
Sinclair of Stevenston and Murray of Blackbarrony, he was accused,
before the Privy Council, of seditiously obstructing the King’s
Service, ‘in putting the Act of the Privy Council to execution for
levying the five thousand five hundred men out of the militia.’ It
was expected that the accused, who, says Lord Fountainhall, stated
‘difficulties and scruples,’ would be fined and imprisoned, but they
escaped with a rebuke. In January of the following year Lord Yester,
Fletcher, and ten other gentlemen of Haddingtonshire, presented a
petition to the Privy Council, ‘complaining of the standing forces,
ther quartering upon them.’ This petition was extremely resented,
because it spoke of the quartering of soldiers on the country, in time
of peace, as contrary to law, and seemed to reflect upon the
Government.
At the general election of 1681 there was a double return from
Haddingtonshire. The Lairds of Saltoun and Ormiston were returned by
those freeholders who opposed the Government, and Hepburn of Humbie
and Wedderburn of Gosford by the Ministerial party. It is said that
when the matter came before the committee on disputed elections,
Bishop Paterson of Edinburgh, who was chairman, proposed that ‘for the
sake of serving the King,’ some votes which had been given in favour
of Fletcher should not be counted. But this dishonest advice was not
taken; the case was fairly tried, and Fletcher and Cockburn were
declared to have been duly elected.
The Duke of York was Commissioner in this Parliament, which met on the
28th of July 1681. The two great measures of the session were the ‘Act
acknowledging and asserting the Right of Succession to the Imperial
Crown of Scotland,’ which was passed for the purpose of securing the
succession of the Duke of York, and the famous ‘Act anent Religion and
the Test.’
Both of these measures were strenuously opposed by Fletcher, who is
said to have written a number of private letters to members of the
Parliament, imploring them to vote against the Succession Act, on the
ground that the Duke was both a Roman Catholic and a tyrant.
The Test Act was, in spite of its vast importance, brought in and
passed in the course of a single day; but at least one amendment was
moved by Fletcher. ‘Mr. Fletcher of Saltoun,’ says Dalrymple, ‘after
long opposing the bill, with all the fire of ancient eloquence, and of
his own spirit, made a motion which the Court party could not, in
decency, oppose; that the security of the Protestant Religion should
be made a part of the Test.’
The new clause was prepared by Sir James Dalrymple, then Lord
President of the Court of Session, who so framed it that the
‘Protestant Religion’ was defined as that set forth in the Old Scots
Confession of Faith of 1567, which was inconsistent with Episcopacy,
and also allowed the lawfulness of resistance. ‘That was a book,’ says
Burnet, ‘so worn out of use, that scarce any one in the whole
Parliament had ever read it. None of the Bishops had, as appeared
afterwards.’ The result was that Fletcher’s amendment, as framed by
Dalrymple, became part of the Act, all the Bishops agreeing to it.
Fletcher also resisted the monstrous and unconstitutional clause which
compelled the county electors, on pain of forfeiting the franchise, to
swear that they would never attempt to ‘bring about,’ as the statute
puts it, ‘any change or alteration either in church or state, as it is
now established by the laws of this Kingdom.’ There was a division on
this question. No lists remain to show how the members voted; but the
following protest is inscribed on the rolls of Parliament: ‘That part
of the Act--If the Test should be put to the Electors of Commissioners
for Shires to the Parliament, having been put to the vote by itself,
before the voting and passing of the whole Act; and the same being
carried in the Affirmative, the Laird of Saltoun and the Laird of
Grant, having voted in the negative, desired their dissent might be
marked.’
Fletcher had now incurred the implacable enmity of the Duke of York,
who, says Mackay, ‘would not forgive his behaviour in that
Parliament’; and he was, moreover, soon involved once more in trouble
with the Privy Council. The Estates had voted money for the public
service; and Fletcher was named as one of the Commissioners of Supply
for Haddingtonshire. Part of the Commissioners’ duty was to arrange
for the troops which were quartered on the country; and in April 1682
the Lord Advocate accused them before the Privy Council for not
meeting with the Sheriff-Depute, to set prices on corn and straw,
grass and hay, for the soldiers’ horses; ‘or at least for making a
mock act, in setting down prices, but not laying out the localities
where the forces may be served with these necessaries.’ In short, the
Laird of Saltoun and the Commissioners of Supply did all they could to
thwart and annoy the Government.
‘After much trouble and pains,’ in the words of Lord Fountainhall, the
gentlemen of East Lothian consented to fix store-houses and magazines
in the county; but in a short time Fletcher came to the conclusion
that he could no longer remain in Scotland. He accordingly went to
London, perhaps to consult Burnet on the situation, and thence made
his way to the Continent.