LOCKHART, GEORGE, a
celebrated political partisan, and author of Memoirs concerning the Affairs
of Scotland, Commentaries, &c., &c., was the eldest son Sir George Lockhart,
by Philadelphia, youngest daughter of Philip, fourth lord Wharton. He was
born in the neighbourhood of Edinburgh, in the year 1673. He appears to have
been educated for the Scottish bar, but, having succeeded, on the death of
his father, to a very ample fortune, he seems to have turned his attention
chiefly to politics, and having obtained a seat in the Scottish parliament,
1703, he distinguished himself by his opposition to all the measures of the
court, and his ceaseless activity in behalf of the fallen episcopal church,
and the exiled royal family. Singularly unlike his father, in discernment of
the justice of a cause and liberality of principle, he appears to have
resembled him in the stubborn courage with which he pursued any favourite
object. To all the principles of the Revolution, he professed a deep
aversion, and the union of the kingdoms of Scotland and England he
considered, especially in regard to the former, as likely to terminate in
that misery which a peculiar class of politicians always argue to be the
consequence of any change, or some reason which it is difficult to fathom;
he was, however, named, by the queen, one of the commissioners upon that
famous treaty, and, with the exception of the archbishop of York, was the
only tory that was so named. "He had no inclination to the employment," he
has himself told us, "and was at first resolved not to have accepted it, but
his friends, and those of his party believing he might be serviceable, by
giving an account how matters were carried on, prevailed with him to alter
his resolution." Before entering upon the duties of his high office, he
accordingly took their advice, in what manner he was to conduct himself,
and, in particular, "whether or not he should protest and enter his dissent
against those measures, being resolved to receive instructions from them, as
a warrant for his procedure, and to justify his conduct: so, when they all
unanimously returned this answer, that if he should protest, he could not
well continue longer to meet with the other commissioners; and, if he
entered his dissent, it would render him odious to them, and that they would
be extremely upon the reserve with him, so as he would be utterly incapable
to learn any thing that might be useful afterwards in opposing the design;
whereas, if he sat quiet, and concealed his opinion as much as possible,
they, expecting to persuade him to leave his old friends and party, would
not be so shy, and he might make discoveries of their designs, and thereby
do a singular service to his country; therefore they agreed in advising him,
neither to protest or dissent, nor do any thing that might discover his
opinion and design, unless he could find two or three more that would concur
and go along with him, (which was not to be expected,) but to sit silent,
making his remarks of every thing that passed, and remain with them as long
as he could; and then, at last, before signing the result of the treaty, to
find out some pretence of absenting himself." Such were the feelings and
intentions which he brought to the accomplishment of a transaction which he
was chosen for the purpose of furthering, in the most expeditious and most
efficient manner; and he relates with pride that he acted up to his
instructions, that he acted as a spy on the proceedings of the others, and,
at least, was enabled to interrupt and render more laborious the
consummation of a measure which his party was unable to stifle. The
archbishop, disdaining to follow a similar course, absented himself from the
meetings.
But Lockhart had other and
more dangerous duties to perform for his party; he held a commission from
the Scottish Jacobites to communicate with the English tories, and, if
possible, to ascertain how far the latter might be brought to concur in a
scheme, projected in Scotland, for the restoration of the son of the
abdicated monarch by force. This commission he executed with similar
fidelity, but he found the English less zealous than the Scots, and
disinclined to any attempt, at least during the lifetime of the queen. All
the transactions which might be interesting to the exiled family, he
faithfully reported to the courts of Versailles and St Germains, through the
instrumentality of an emissary, called captain Straiton, while he submitted
his proceedings to the cognizance of his brother Jacobites, whom he aptly
termed his constituents. His account of the proceedings of the
commissioners, is distorted by party colouring, beyond the usual allotment
of such document, and one is tempted to ask how a person, who saw, in every
branch of the proceedings, something so irredeemably wicked, could have so
far compromised his conscience, as to have permitted himself to be
chosen as one of those whose duty it was to assist in and further
them.
The scheme of a general
rising was designed for the purpose of stifling the projected union; but the
attempt having failed, the Jacobites were compelled to debate the treaty,
clause by clause, in open parliament, where, notwithstanding every artifice
for exciting public clamour, it was triumphantly carried. Lockhart, through
the whole, was uniform in his opposition—adhered to every protest that was
taken against it, and, in more than one instance, entered protests against
it in his own name. He also, in conjunction with Cochrane of Kilmaronock,
gave fifty guineas to Cunningham of Eckatt, for the purpose of forwarding a
design of forcibly dispersing the parliament by an army of Cameronians,
which he proposed to raise in the western shires, but which, as he alleged,
he was prevented from doing by the intrigues of the duke of Hamilton.
The union having been
ratified by the parliaments of both kingdoms, and peaceably carried into
effect, the next hope of the Jacobites was the French invasion, which Hooke
had negotiated with them during the preceding year, and to which they now
looked forward with the most ardent expectation. Of all the partizans of
James, perhaps none were more zealous, on this occasion, than the subject of
this memoir; but, fortunately for himself, he followed in the train, and
acted by the advice of the duke of Hamilton, who, being at the time at his
seat in Lancaster, and taken there into custody by a king’s messenger, could
not meet his Scottish friends at Dumfries, according to agreement, till the
defeat of the French fleet rendered any further appearance at that time
unnecessary, in consequence of which he himself, as well as his friends,
escaped any thing like serious prosecution. Mr Lockhart also having the
powerful influence of his uncle, lord Wharton, exerted in his favour,
remained unmolested.
The next hope of the
Jacobites was in the inclinations of the queen, which, with all her
coldness, they naturally expected, and indeed had, if we may believe their
own account, and lay much weight on a few occidental circumstances, a
well-grounded hope, that they might be extended to her brother and his
family; and that they might more effectually influence her counsels, it was
resolved, that no influence or endeavour should be spared in procuring seats
in parliament for the heads of the party. Mr Lockhart started for the county
of Edinburgh, and had sufficient interest to secure his election, though he
was obnoxious both to the court and the presbyterians, to whom he seems to
have been always inimical. The first session of the first British
parliament, did not afford much scope for that species of ingenuity for
which Mr Lockhart has taken so much credit to himself; and by his efforts,
joined to those of Mr Houston, younger of Houston, Lag, younger of Lag, Duff
of Drummure, and Cochrane of Kilmaronock, all unwavering supporters of the
same political creed, little or nothing was effected. The next session was
almost wholly occupied with the affair of Sacheverel, in whose behalf the
Jacobites were joined by those supporters of the house of Hanover, who
either conceived, or for political purposes alleged, that the church was in
danger, while the affairs of Scotland were neglected amidst more exciting
discussions. A field was soon, however, to be opened, in which they doubted
not shortly to reap a rich harvest.
At the period when a waiting
woman in the queen’s bed-chamber was sapping the foundation of the Godolphin
and Marlborough administration, that ministry requested leave to dismiss Mrs
Masham, threatening her with an address from the two houses of parliament;
to which was to be attached an invitation to Prince George, of Hanover. "As
such treatment much chagrined the queen against her ministry," says
Lockhart, "she was very desirous to secure herself against such attempts,
and did avowedly solicite a great many members of both houses of parliament,
that they would not consent to a motion to deprive her of the liberty
allow’d to the meanest housekeeper in her dominions, viz., that of choosing
her own domestic servants."—"And I accordingly," continues the narrator, in
a very remarkable passage bearing on one of the most obscure points in
British history, "procured an address, in a very high monarchical
style, from the barons and freeholders in the county of Edinburgh; and
having brought it up with me when I came to parliament, I was introduced by
the duke of Hamilton to present the same; and having read it to her majesty,
she seemed very well pleased, gave a gracious return to the address, and
then told me, tho’ I had almost always opposed her measures, she did not
doubt of my affection to her person, and hoped I would not concur in the
design against Mrs Masham, or for bringing over the prince of Hanover. At
first I was somewhat surprised, but recovering myself, I assured her I
should never be accessary to imposing any hardship or affront upon her; and
as for the prince of Hanover, her majesty might judge, from the address I
had read, that I should not be acceptable to my constituents, if I gave my
consent for bringing over any of that family, either now or any time
hereafter. At this she smiled, and I withdrew; and then she said to the
duke, she believed I was an honest man; and the duke replied, he could
assure her I liked her majesty and all her father’s bairns." [Lockhart
Papers, i. 307.]The gradual steps towards a delicate and dangerous subject,
so naturally laid down in this valuable passage--the hope expressed by the
queen that the Jacobite partisan was averse to the removal of the favourite,
and the introduction of the prince—the surprise of the Jacobite, and his
ingenious extension of the request--the queen’s smile and remark on his
honesty—and, finally, the cautious but bold extension of the insinuations in
the kindly rejoinder of the duke, all speak to the authenticity of the
scene, and the accurate observation of the narrator. That he may be depended
on, there is little doubt. The cautious Hallam considers that the Lockhart
Papers sufficiently prove that the author "and his friends were confident of
the queen’s inclinations in the last years of her life, though not of her
resolution." Nor can a vanity to be esteemed the depository of the secrets
of princes, be likely to operate on a man whose works are not to be
witnessed by his own age. On the whole, the passage may be said almost to
prove that the queen’s "inclinations" were with her brother; but a
"resolution" on either side, she appears to have never attained.
The circumstance last
mentioned was soon followed by the renowned downfall of Anne’s whig
ministry. Strong but ineffectual attempts were made by the whigs at the
elections. Lockhart was violently opposed in Edinburghshire, but carried his
election by a great majority, as did Sir Hugh Paterson of Bannockburn for
the shire of Stirling, and Sir Alexander Areskine, lord lyon king at arms,
for the shire of Fife, both thorough paced Jacobites and violent
episcopalians. The last of these gentlemen, along with Mr Carnegie of
Boysack, Mr James Murray, second son to the viscount Stormont, afterwards
created by the Pretender lord Dunbar, and Sir Alexander Cuming of Cantar,
joined Mr Lockhart in a close confederacy, agreeing to mutual support, in
cordially prosecuting the great objects for which they had come into
parliament, viz., the dissolving of the treaty of union, and the breaking up
of the protestant succession. Keeping their agreement as secret as was
compatible with its efficacy, and prudently cultivating the friendship of
the English tories, they soon became conspicuous, and were regarded by both
sides of the house as men of superior consequence, whose feelings and views
it was necessary to consult in all measures regarding Scotland. The first
fruit of this confederacy was a broach of the union, committed by the house
of lords, in reversing a sentence of the magistrates of Edinburgh which shut
up the meeting-house of a Mr Greenshields, the first clergyman who
introduced the English liturgy into the service of the Scots Episcopal
church. The full harvest was the act of toleration, with the oath of
abjuration annexed, to be imposed upon all the ministers of the Scottish
church; the act restoring lay patronage; and the act for the observing
certain holidays, all of which were prepared by Mr Lockhart, and by him and
his friends forced upon the ministry, contrary to the expressed opinion of
the people, and with the avowed purpose of undermining the presbyterian
interest.
At the same time that he was
so deeply engaged in forwarding the particular views of himself and his
friends, in regard to affairs purely Scottish, Mr Lockhart was also employed
upon the more general business, or what may be called the drudgery of the
house. He was one, and the only Scotsman, who was upon the commission of the
house for examining the national accounts, with the view of criminating the
ex-whig ministers; and, as chairman of that commission, gave in a long
report, intended to implicate the duke of Marlborough, a person whose
conduct was certainly not pure, while it still affords a pleasing contrast
to that of his accusers. The report, however, when it came to be examined,
discovered only the headstrong party spirit of its authors, and not much
against the accused, but the usual political corruption, too characteristic
of the period.
The duties of a commissioner
upon the national accounts, did not, however, by any means absorb the whole
attention of the indefatigable Lockhart, for while he devoted himself to the
service of the pretender, he also proposed a bill in parliament to bestow
upon curates the bishops’ rents, to resume all grants of church property
that had been made to the universities, which he declared to be public
nuisances, mere nests of rebellion, which could not be soon enough
annihilated. The service to be accomplished in favour of the exiled family
by these measures, is not very clear, and we are prevented from knowing the
effect their proposal would have produced, from his friends declining to
adopt them. So high, indeed, was he borne by his zeal, that an order was
obtained by his friends from St Germains, recommending to him moderate
measures, and dissuading him from attempts to openly force the English
ministry upon desperate projects, as they were themselves well enough
disposed, and were the best judges of the means whereby their good
intentions would be carried into effect. This order he dared not disobey,
but he owns it was much against his inclination, and takes the liberty of
affirming that it injured the pretender’s interest.
On the duke of Hamilton being
appointed ambassador to the court of France, he selected the subject of our
memoir to wait privately upon him, and to act according to his orders upon
an affair of extraordinary moment, which he never explained, but which
Lockhart understood to be the pretender’s restoration, and he was just
leaving Scotland with the hope of being called to accompany the duke upon
that pleasing duty, when he heard that a quarrel betwixt Hamilton and lord
Mohun had brought both these distinguished noblemen to an untimely end. This
circumstance he affirms to have been fatal to the hopes of the pretender, no
one having been found capable of conducting so delicate a business till the
period when disputes in the cabinet and the death of the queen rendered the
case hopeless. But these circumstances did not damp his ardour, or prevent
him from impeding the government, which he could not overturn. Accordingly,
on the attempt to extend the malt tax to Scotland, in the year 1713, he made
a desperate effort, in which he was seconded by the earls of Mar, Eglinton,
Ilay, &c., for the dissolution of the union, a project which narrowly failed
of success, as we have narrated more at large in the life of John, duke of
Argyle. The attempt to assimilate the Scottish to the English militia which
followed, he resisted, and, in his personal friendship, defended the
hereditary title of the duke of Argyle to the lieutenancy of the county of
Argyle. His friends, who could not see the advantage of such a measure, were
displeased, but his design was to bring over the duke to the interests of
the Pretender, of which he was always suspicious the ministry were less
careful than of their own. He, however, continued to sit and to act with
them, under the strongest assurances from Bolingbroke, that every thing he
could desire would be done for the Pretender so soon as it was possible to
do it with safety, till the prorogation before the death of the queen, when
he retired to his residence in the country, and though the same parliament
was assembled on the death of the queen, did not attend it, having lost all
hope of the Pretender’s restoration by other means than arms.
He accordingly began
privately to provide horses and arms for himself and his dependants, though
from his late conduct he was not trusted by the leaders of the party to the
extent that might have been expected. Nothing, indeed, but mere general
surmises seem to have reached him till the month of August, 1715, when
warrants were already issued out against all who were suspected as favouring
the designs of the earl of Mar, and under one of these warrants he was,
early in that month, apprehended at his house of Dryden, and committed
prisoner to the castle of Edinburgh. In these circumstances he immediately
wrote to the duke of Argyle, who, in return for his services in regard to
the militia bill, procured his enlargement, after he had been fifteen days a
prisoner, on his giving bail for six thousand merks. He was no sooner
liberated than he waited upon his rebel associates, who had not been
apprehended; but, finding them still disinclined to the communication, he
retired to his house at Carnwath, where he secretly and diligently employed
his personal influence in the furtherance of the cause, though still
unacknowledged by any of the ostensible leaders of the insurrection, and
waited till the arrival of the Pretender, or the transit of the Forth by
Mar, should give the signal for him and his friends to appear in arms. In
the mean time, a letter from the duke of Argyle informed him that his
practices were well known to the government, and requiring him forthwith to
repair to his house at Dryden. Every thing, arms, horses, &c., were again
disposed of in the best manner that could be devised, and he immediately
repaired to Dryden, where he negotiated with Kenmure and the southern
rebels; his troop of horse, under the command of his brother Philip
Lockhart, being sent to join them at Biggar, he himself staying behind for a
few days to arrange some minor concerns. To ensure his safety after
concluding his transactions with the rebels, he wrote to the lord justice
clerk, requesting to know whether he should remain in Edinburgh or go home
to Dryden, and was ordered to choose the latter alternative. Mackintosh,
however, having that night crossed the Forth, on his march to the south, a
party of soldiers was sent out to Dryden, who apprehended Lockhart, and
carried him again to the castle; a circumstance which saved both his life
and his estate, as well as those of many others who were prepared to set out
with him on an expedition that proved desperate—his whole troop being taken
at Preston, along with the rest of their companions, and his brother shot as
a deserter by order of a court-martial.
Mr Lockhart suffered a long
confinement, but escaped, through the steadiness of his friends, that
punishment which was likely to have followed his conduct, and which the
government, could they have elicited sufficient evidence, would most
willingly have inflicted; but he was by no means cured of his affection for
the exiled family, and before two years had elapsed, he was employed as an
agent to bring up six thousand bolls of oatmeal, to be given to the king of
Sweden as the hire or the reward for his setting the Pretender upon the
British throne. Of all the attempts made by the party in its despair, this
was certainly the most singular; yet he seems to have embarked in it with
that ardour which marked his character, and he contrived to obtain, from the
earl of Eglinton, the offer of three thousand guineas towards its
accomplishment. It was soon, however, found to be a project which could not
be carried into effect. He narrowly escaped being involved in the affair of
Glenshiel, and when the Spanish battalion was brought to Edinburgh, he
supplied the commander, Don Nicolas, with what money he wanted till he could
be supplied with bills from the Spanish ambassador in Holland, telling him,
at the same time, that "it was unkind in him to allow himself to be
straightened, when he knew the king, for whose cause he suffered, had so
many friends in town that would cheerfully assist him."
In 1718, the Pretender
commenced a correspondence with Mr Lockhart, which continued with little
interruption till l727, when it fell into the hands of the government, by
what means has never been fully explained, though most probably it was in
consequence of a dispute Mr Lockhart had got into with the episcopal
college, respecting the election of a bishop of the name of Gillon, whose
ordination was keenly opposed by a number of the presbyters, who objected to
the nomination that had been made of him by the Pretender, as unduly
influenced by Lockhart, who, for a number of years, had been the only
channel through which they communicated with their exiled prince. Many
meetings were held, and much rancour displayed on the subject, by the
enraged presbyters, who threatened the consequences of the rebellion, in
which most of the parties were implicated, if the consecration was persisted
in. The bitterness of the disputants made it impossible for them to be
secret: the whole came before the public, and the government being masters
of the channel of communication, the earliest packet transmitted to Lockhart
was waited for, and sent to London. Orders were immediately sent to seize
Strahan, a merchant in Leith, to whom the packet had been directed, and,
under a strong guard of dragoons, to send him to London. Before setting out,
however, he was well instructed how to conduct himself, supplied with money
by Lockhart, and the earls of Kincardine and Dundonald, with the assurance,
that if he behaved with firmness, nothing could be brought legally home to
him, while his family, in the mean time, should be carefully seen to, and he
himself would gain honour by the incident. Warrants were at the same time
issued for the apprehension of Mr Lockhart and Mr Corsar, one of his
friends. The latter was apprehended at Glammis, but the former, taking the
alarm, effected his escape into Durham, where he remained in the house of a
friend till the 8th of April, when he sailed for Dort, where he arrived in
safety. He immediately wrote to the Pretender, through lord Inverness,
stating the circumstances into which he had fallen, and that he was waiting
his master’s commands before finally resolving how to dispose of himself. In
the mean time, he met lord North and Grey at Brussels, who had also been
under the necessity of leaving his native country for dabbling in the
affairs of the Pretender, and was thus far on his way to the court of that
personage, where he hoped to be trusted with the management of his affairs,
which, in the hands of colonel Hay and James Murray, (created lords
Inverness and Dunbar,) were generally supposed to have fallen into disorder,
pressing at the same time that Mr Lockhart should accompany him, and take
charge of the affairs of Scotland, while he attended to those of England.
Lockhart, however, would not approach the court of the Pretender without his
orders, shrewdly suspecting that James was too fond of the lady Inverness,
who was lord Dunbar’s sister, to part permanently with either of the three.
The lord North and Grey proceeded to his destination, but found, instead of
the premiership which he expected, an appointment provided for him in the
army of Spain, with which he was obliged to be content. Inverness had been
nominally superseded by Sir John Graham, who proposed the most flattering
terms to Lockhart; but the former was still first in the Pretender’s
affection, and, along with Dunbar, held the entire management of his
counsels, which were, and had long been, very far from what the latter
gentleman wished. By their advice, and in pursuance of his own feelings, the
Pretender no sooner heard of the death of George I. than he left Bologna for
Lorrain in the greatest haste, intending to put himself at the head of the
Highlanders, and with their assistance, conquer and secure the throne of the
three kingdoms; a similar project to that which his son attempted in the
year 1745. A messenger was sent to consult Lockhart, who, astonished at the
folly of the proposal, assured the Pretender that it would prove the ruin of
himself and all his friends, and would deprive him of the power of ever
again renewing the attempt. More wise than his son upon a like occasion, he
accepted the advice, and returned to Avignon. Lockhart tendered him,
afterwards, some long letters, containing very good advices, with which he
probably had little hope that he would comply, and learning, in the month of
April, 1728, that his friends the duke of Argyle, lord Ilay, and Duncan
Forbes, then lord advocate for Scotland, had procured him liberty to return
and to live at home unmolested, he embraced the opportunity of doing so,
nothing being required of him but his simple promise that he would live in
peace. He was, however, required to go by the way of London, and to return
thanks personally to George II., who was now in possession of the throne.
"This," he says, "did not go well down with me, and was what I would most
gladly have avoided, but there was no eviting of it; and as others, whose
sincere attachment to the king was never doubted, had often preceded me on
such like occasions, I was under the necessity of bowing my knee to Baal,
now that I was in the house of Rimmon." Having performed this piece of
unwilling submission, he returned to his family in 1728, evidently in
despair of furthering the cause in which he had so long exerted himself, and
determined to resign all connexion with politics. Of his after history, we
have been unable to learn more than that he was slain in a duel on December
17, 1731, having entered the fifty-ninth year of his age.
He was married on the 13th of
April, 1697, to Euphemia Montgomery, third daughter of Alexander, ninth earl
of Eglinton, by his first wife, Margaret, daughter of William, lord
Cochrane, son of the earl of Dundonald. He had seven sons and eight
daughters. His eldest son George, possessing somewhat of the prudent
foresight of his father, delivered himself up in the year 1746, to Sir John
Cope, the day after the battle of Gladsmuir, and was for a considerable time
a prisoner at large in England. His grandson George, continued with Charles
till after the fatal battle of Culloden, after which he escaped to the
continent, and died an exile at Paris some few months before his father, in
the year 1761.
As an author, Mr Lockhart is
entitled to very considerable praise. His Memoirs concerning the Affairs of
Scotland, and his commentaries, though neither so clear nor so impartial as
could be wished, are yet valuable materials for history, and throw very
considerable light both upon the individual characters and transactions of
those times. And his register of letters is still more interesting, as
giving us not only an account of the proceedings, but the acts themselves,
of the Jacobites of the period. His memoirs were surreptitiously published
during his lifetime, by a friend to whom he had lent them, and a key to the
names (given in the published volume in initials) was afterwards circulated.
He left his papers carefully concealed, with instructions to his heir, to
abstain from publishing them till the year 1750; but the connexion of his
grandson with the rebellion of 1745 rendering their appearance even then
inexpedient, they lay unnoticed until, at the request of count Lockhart,
they were edited by Mr Anthony Anfrere in 1817.
We have only to add, that in
private life his character seems to have been exceedingly amiable, and he
enjoyed, in a high degree, the respect and affection, notwithstanding the
contrariety of their political principles, of the best and wisest public man
of his age, Duncan Forbes of Culloden. |