In the vale of Hexham, on
the summit of a steep hill, clothed with wood, and washed at its base by
a rivulet, called the Devil's Water, stand the ruins of Dilstone Castle.
A bridge of a single arch forms the approach to the castle or mansion;
the stream, then mingling its rapid waters with those of the Tyne,
rushes over rocks into a deep dell embowered with trees, above a hundred
feet in height, and casting a deep gloom over the sounding waters
beneath their branches.
Through the arch of the
bridge, a mill, an object ever associated with peace and plenty, is
seen; and, beyond, it, the eye rests upon the bare, dilapidated walls of
the castle. Its halls, its stairs, its painted chambers, may still be
traced; its broken towers command a view of romantic beauty; but all
around it is desolate and ruined, like, the once proud and honoured
family who dwelt beneath its roof.
This was once the
favourite abode of the Ratcliffes, or Radclilfes, supposed to be a
branch of the Radcliffes in Lancashire,from whom were, it is said,
descended the Earls of Sussex, who became the owners of Dilstone in the
days of Queen Elizabeth.
James Radcliffe, Earl
of Derwentwater
During several
generations after the Conquest, a family of the name of Devilstone was
in possession of Dilstone, until the time of Henry the Third. The
estates then passed to many different owners; the Tynedales, the
Crafters, the Claxtons, were successively the masters of the castle; and
it was not, according to some accounts, until the tenth year of Queen
Elizabeth's reign, that it first owned for its lord one of that
unfortunate race to whom it finally belonged, until escheated to the
Crown. But certain historians have asserted that, so early as the reign
of Henry the Sixth, Dilstone was the seat of Sir Nicholas Radcliffe.| At
this period, too, other estates were added to those already enjoyed by
the Radcliffes. Sir Nicholas married the heiress of Sir John De
Derwentwater, to whom had belonged, for several centuries, the manors of
Castlerigg and Keswick, and who, since the time of Edward the First, had
enjoyed great consideration in the county of Cumberland. This alliance
with the Derwentwater family, although it brought to the Radcliffe the
possession of a territory, which, for its beauty and value, monarchs
might envy, did not for many years, entice thern to a removal to the
mansion of Castlerigg. That old dwelling-place, a gloomy fortress, among
"storm-shaken mountains and howling wildernesses," was far less
commodious than the castle at Dilstone, then in great fame from the
flourishing monastery which reared its head in the Yale of Hexham.
Castlerigg, heing, eventually, abandoned by the Radecliffes, went
utterly to decay; the materials of the old manor-house are supposed to
have been employed in forming a new residence on Lord's Island, iu
Keswick Lake; and the estate was divided into tenancies, which, in
process of time, were in-franchised. The ancient demesne of the De
Derwentwaters has now passed into the hands of the Trustees of Greenwich
Hospital, and the oaks of the park which skirts the lake have of late
years supplied much valuable timber.
The family of Radcliffe
continued, during several centuries after the intermarriage with the De
Derwentwaters, to increase in wealth and importance. It was not,
however, ennobled until the reign of James the Second, in 1688, when, in
consequence of the eldest son of Sir Francis Radcliffe having married
during his father's life time the Lady Mary Tudor, a natural daughter of
Charles the Second, by Mistress Mary Davis, Sir Francis was created Earl
of Derwentwater, Baron Dilstone, and Viscount Langley "This alliance to
the royal blood," says the biographer of Charles Radcliffe, "gave them a
title to match with the noblest families in the kingdom, and was
likewise the occasion of that strict attachment which the several
branches of the Derwentwater family have inviolably preserved for the
line of Stuarts ever since." There was also another reason for this act
of royal favour on the one hand, and for this devotion on the other: Sir
George Eadcliffe, we find by the Macpherson papers, was Governor of
James the Second when he was Duke of York, and (luring the troubles of
the Great -Rebellion; aud, under his care, the young prince remained
some time in the city of Oxford,
Whatsoever may be thought
of the effect of this connection with royalty, in ennobling an ancient
and loyal race, the marriage produced a lasting influence on the
fortunes of the family. That they were proud of the alliance appears
from the circumstance that the children of that marriage used to wear
the prince's feather, that plume which has, since the days of Edward the
Black Prince, distinguished the heir apparent to royalty. But the
consanguinity in blood to the Stuarts produced another, and a far more
serious result. The sons of the Lady Mary Tudor and of Francis, second
Earl of Derwentwater, were educated, like brothers, with the son of the
abdicated monarch. James. Radcliife, who was born about the year 1092,
and who afterwards became Earl of Derwentwater, passed his childhood at
St. Germains with his royal namesake, James Stuart. The brother of the
Earl, Charles, was also brought up in France; both of these youths,
whose fate was afterwards so tragical, were reared in the faith of the
Church of Rome, and under the tuition of the Roman Catholic clergy. They
thus grew up, -without perhaps hearing, certainly without entertaining,
a doubt of those rights which they died to assert. "The late Earl of
Derwentwater," writes the biographer of Charles Radclyffe, ''and his
brother Charles were so strongly attached to the Pretender's party, that
their advice or consent was not so much as asked in those consultations
that were held among the disaffected previous to the Rebellion; neither
did the party think it necessary, because they were always sure of them
whenever they should come to action."
In 1705, Francis, Earl of
Derwentwater, died; and during a season of domestic tranquillity, whilst
as yet the Jacobites were full of hopes that the succession would be
restored to the Stuart line, his son James succeeded to the Earldom, and
to the vast estates which had accumulated to give dignity and influence
to rank. Besides the castle of Dilstone and Castlerigg, which Leland,
who visited Cumberland in 1539, describes as still being the "head place
of the Radcliffes," many other valuable properties, had been gradually
added to the patrimonial possessions.
It was the disposition of
Lord Derwentwater to employ the advantages of wealth and birth to the
benefit of others. He returned to England, English in heart, and became
the true model of an English nobleman. "He was a man," said a
contemporary writer, "formed by nature to be beloved; for he was of so
universal a beneficence, that he seemed to live for others." Residing
among his own people, among them he spent his estate, and passed his
days in deeds of kindness, and in acts of charity, which regarding no
differences of faith as obstacles to the course of that heavenly virtue,
were extended alike by this unfortunate nobleman to Protestant and to
Roman Catholic. In his days, Dilstone was the scene of an open-hearted
hospitality, "which," observes the renegade Jacobite who has chronicled
the events of the period, "few in that country do, and none can, come up
to." That castle-hall, now ruined and for ever deserted, was thronged by
the distressed, who, whether the poor denizens of the place or the
wanderer by the way side, found there relief, and went away consoled.
The owner of the castle gave bread to thousands, who long remembered his
virtues, and mourned his fate. He conciliated the good will of his
equals, and disarmed the animosity of those who differed from him in
opinion. Beloved, trusted, almost reverenced in the prime of youth,
James Earl of Derwentwater held, at the period of the first Rebellion,
the enviable position of one whose station was remembered only in
conjunction with the higher dignity of virtue. To the solid qualities of
integrity, he added a sweetness and courtesy of manner which must have
lent to even homely features their usual charm Blessing and blest, he
thus dwelt amid the romantic scenery of the Vale of Hexham.
Lord Derwentwater married
Anna Maria, one of the five daughters of Sir John Webb, Baronet of Old
stock in Wiltshire. An ancestor of Sir John Webb had first acquired the
title in the reign of Charles the First for "his family having both shed
their blood in the King's cause, and contributed, as far as they were
able, with their purses, in his defence," as is expressed in their
patent.
During the reign of Queen
Anne, Lord Derwentwater took no part in the various intrigues which were
carried on by the Jacobite party. He lived peaceably at Dilstone, where
his name was long honoured after the tragical events which hurried him
into an early grave had occurred. But this tragical demeanour does not
argue, as it has been supposed, that the early playmate of James had
become indifferent to the cause of the Stuarts. The friends of the
exiled family founded their hopes of its restoration 011 the well-known
partiality of Queen Anne for her brother, and on the circumstance of her
having seen the last of her children consigned to the tomb. There seems
no reason to doubt but that, had Anne lived longer, she would have
taken rneasures, in unison with the
wishes of the hulk of the nobility, and in conjunction with her confidential ministers, to have placed the Chevalier St. George the next
in succession. In this hope, the wishes of the most respectable portion
of the Jacobite nobility were tramquilized.
The sudden decease of
Queen Anne disconcerted the hopes of those who had been thus waiting for
the course of events; and the immediate change of ministry depriving
those who were favourable to the house of Stuart of power, the
succession of George the First was secured, under the aspect, for a few
weeks, of the most perfect national repose. It has been well explained,
that, unless some circumstances connected with the birth and education
of the Chevalier had favoured the interests of Hanover, a very different
result would have appeared. The notion so diligently spread abroad, of a
supposititious birth—the foreign education of the young Prince—above
all, the pains which had been taken to inculcate in his heart a devotion
to the faith of both his parents, were considerations which strongly
favoured the accession of the Elector of Hanover.
A year passed away, and
that tranquillity was succeeded by an ill-concerted, immature
enterprise, headed by a man of every talent except the right sort; and
chilled, rather than aided, bj the presence of that melancholy exile who
presented himself for the first and last time, to sadden by the gloom of
his aspect, and the Inertness
of his measures, the hearts that yearned to welcome him hack to Britain.
It was towards the latter
end of August, in 1715, in the shire of Berth, that the people first
hegan to assemble themselves in a body, until they marched to a small
market town, named Kirk Michael, where the Chevalier was first
proclaimed, and his standard set up. Meantime several noblemen and
gentlemen, both in England and in Scotland, influenced by the Earl of
Mar, began to collect their servants and dependants from different
places, and under various pretexts, for their proceedings. There were
also measures concerted in London by the Chevalier's friends; and among
the more active of the partisans, was a certain Captain Robert Talbot,
an Irish officer, who, upon being acquainted with the projected
insurrection, took shipping and sailed for Newcastle-upon-Tyne. By this
agent, the resolutions which had been adopted by the Jacobites in London
were conveyed to their friends in the north of England. This was part of
the scheme of the Jacobites; London was the centre of all their
conferences, and from the metropolis intelligence was secretly conveyed
in various directions: measures were concerted; the parties who were to
engage were furnished with means to act, and brought together; letters
were carried by private hands to various confederates, and debates and
correspondence were carried on some months before the Rebellion actually
broke out.
The plot was managed with
care and address. The common conveyance of letters was dangerous, and
the office of delivering them was undertaken by gentlemen of Jacobite
principles, who rode from place to place as travellers, pretending
merely that they were viewing the country, and making inquiries to
gratify curiosity: these travellers were all Irish and Papists.
Another class of agents,
consisting of Mr. Clifton, a brother of Sir Gervase Clifton, and of Mr.
Beaumont, both gentlemen of Nottinghamshire, and attended by Mr. Buxton,
a clergyman of Derbyshire, rode like gentlemen, with servants, but were
armed with swords and pistols. These emissaries also continued moving
from place to place, and kept up a constant intercourse between the
disaffected parties, until all things were ready for action.
Under these
circumstances, Government took a decided step, which, as it turned out,
brought the whole concerted plot into action sooner than the
confederates had originally intended. Means were taken for the
apprehension of several suspected Jacobites. Towards the end of
September, Lord Derwentwater, among others, received notice that there
was a warrant issued by the Secretary of State to apprehend him, and
that messengers were actually arrived at Durham in order to seize his
person.
The following- is a
copy of the warrant, and affords a specimen, which may he novel to some
readers, of the form in which such affairs are couched The origins, is
still preserved by the present Earl of Newhuigh, the descendant of
Charles Radcliffe. I am indebted to the courtesy of the Earl of Newburgh
for permission to copy this document, and also for several particulars
concerning the family of Radcliffe, which I have interwoven with this
biography :—
"James Stanhope, Esq.,
one of his Majesty's most Honourable Privy Council, and Principal
Secretary of State.
"These are in his
Majesty's name, to authorise and require you, taking a constable to your
assistance, forthwith to make strict and diligent search in such places
as you shall have notice, for the Right Honourable James, Earl of Derwentwater; and him having found, you are to seize and apprehend for
suspicion of Treason, and to bring him, together with his papers, before
me to be examined concerning the Premisses, and to be further dealt with
according to law: for the due execution whereof, all Mayors, Sheriffs,
Justices of the Peace, Constables, and all his Majesty's officers, Civil
and Military, and loving subjects whom it may concern, are to be aiding
and assisting to you as there shall be occasion. And for so doing, this
shall be your warrant. Given at Whitehall the two-and-twentieth day
of September, 1715.
"James Stanhope."
" To Richard Shorman,
John Hutching, and John Turner, three of his Majesty's Messengers in
Ordinary."
On receiving this
information, Lord Derwentwater, who had at that time taken no ostensible
part in the consultations of the Jacobites, and who, as it was thought
by many who knew him intimately, was undecided whether to join the
insurgents or not, adopted the line of conduct most suitable to
innocence. He repaired to the house of a neighbouring justice of the
peace, whose name has not been given at length, and boldly placed
himself in his hands. He demanded what were the grounds of his
accusation. Unhappily the magistrate's loyalty was not unimpeachable.
Had this gentleman been zealously affected to the Government, or had he
been a true friend to Lord Derwentwater, he would either have persuaded
that nobleman to surrender to the messengers of Government, or he would have detained him,
and thus prevented the. rash outbreak which afterwards ensued. Such is
the opinion of one who knew all the parties concerned in the
insurrection well. Such is the statement of Mr. Robert Patten, himself a
Jacobite, and chaplain to Mr. Forster. He afterwards turned King's
evidence, and received for that treachery, or, as he is pleased to call
it, penitence, a suitable remuneration. [His pension was raised for his
services from fifty to eighty pounds per annum.—See Caledonian Mercury,
1722.]
Lord Derwentwater
unfortunately adopted a course which could but have one termination. He
concealed himself from those who were employed to apprehend him. Clear
from any direct imputation, had he then given himself up, he would have
been released; and he might have been deterred from a participation in
the disastrous scenes which ensued. He had now two children, a son and a
daughter. He had many valuable considerations to forfeit for the one
abstract principle of indefeasible right to the throne. Few men had more
to venture. Many of the Jacobites went into the field with tarnished
characters, and with ruined fortunes: they might gain, — they could not
lose by the perilous undertaking. Amid the bands of high-born and highly
principled men who co-operated in both the Rebellions, adventurers would
appear, whose previous lives shed dishonour upon any cause; but the
irreproachable, the prosperous, the beloved, could desire little more
for themselves than what they already possessed: they ventured
their rich and glorious harks upon the current; and let those who sully
every motive with suspicion, say that there was no virtue, no
patriotism, in the Jacobite party.
By his own descendant,
Lord Derwentwater is believed to have hesitated upon the verge of his
fate, but to have been urged into it by his brother Charles. Young and
ardent, courageous even to rashness, the first to offer himself where an
enterprise was the most hazardous, seeming to set no value upon his life
where glory was to be obtained, the darling of his party, and, to sum up
the whole, only twenty-two years of age, Mr. Radclilfe rashly drew his
brother into a confederacy, so agreeable to his own ambitious and
fearless spirit. But there was another individual on whom the
responsibility of that luckless movement iu the North must chiefly rest.
This was Mr. Thomas Forster the younger, of Etherston in the county of
Northumberland, and member for the county. During the first thirty years
of his life, this gentleman had scarcely been known beyond the precincts
of his paternal estate. He became a member of Parliament, and was drawn
into the vortex of party without talents to adorn or judgment to guide
his conduct. Although a Protestant, Mr. Forster soon made his house the
place of rendezvous for all the, non-jurors and disaffected people of
the county in which he lived; and he became involved in the dangers of
their schemes, almost before, he was aware of the perils which he was
about to encounter. The party of the Jacobites was composed of very
dissimilar materials. Whilst some adopted its projects to retrieve
character, or to attain, as they vainly hoped, fortune, whilst others
were actuated by genuine motives, there were many who mingled in the
mazes of the intricate politics of that day from vanity, and the love of
being at the head of faction: such was Forster; and his career was
unsatisfactory and inglorious as his character was weak.
A warrant for Mr.
Forster's apprehension having been sent forth, he was, like Lord
Derwentwater, obliged to fly from place to place, until he arrived at
the house of Mr. Fenwick, at Bywell. Lord Derwentwater, meantime, had
been secreted under the roof of a man named Lambert, in a cottage, where
he had remained in safety. His horses had been seized by one of the
neighbouring magistrates, and had been detained in custody for several
weeks, pursuant to an order in council; yet, when he had need of them
they were returned. "I afterwards asked that lord," Mr. Batten relates,
"how he came so quietly by his horses from the justice's possession,
whom the believing neighbourhood esteemed a most rigid Whig. I was
answered thus, by that lord's repeating a saying of Oliver Cromwell's, '
that he could gain his ends with an ass load of gold,' and left me to
make the application."
Mr. Fenwick, of Bywell,
was a secret, though not an avowed Jacobite; and it was soon agreed that
at his house should he
collected all those who were favourable to the cause. A meeting of the
party-was accordingly held: it was decided that finding there was now no
longer any safety in shifting from place to place, and that since, in a
few days, they in flight all be hurried up to London, and secured in
prisons, where they might be separately examined, and induced to betray
each other;—it was now time to appear boldly in arms, and to show the
loyalty of the confederates to King .Tames.
In pursuance of this
resolution, the place and hour of meeting were appointed the very next
morning; the sixth of October was named, and all were to assemble at Greenrig. Here those who rode from Bywell were met by Mr. Forster, with
a party of twenty gentlemen. The meeting might have recalled the days of
the Cavaliers: the winding of the river Tyne in the valley; the rural
village of Bywell; on the rising ground to the right a ruin, once the
fortress of the vale, and held in former times by the Baliols, presented
a scene of tranquil beauty, which some who met that day were destined
never to look upon again.
The low situation of
Greenrig was deemed inconvenient for the purpose of the insurgents, and
the party ascended a hill called the Waterfalls, from which they could
see the distant country. This spot is thus described: "As you look upon
Bywell from the most pleasing point of view, the landskip lies in the
following order: — from the road near the front of the river, the ruined
piers of a bridge become the front objects; behind which, in a regular
cascade, the whole river falls over a wear, extended from bank to bank,
in height above eight feet perpendicular; a mill on the right hand, a
salmon lock on the left: the tower and the. two churches stretch along
the banks of the upper basin of the river, with a fine curvature; the
solemn ruins of the ancient castle of the Baliols lift their towers
above the trees on the right, and make an agreeable contrast with the
adjoining mansion-house. The whole background appears covered with
wood."
On this height Mr.
Forster and his party paused; but they had not been long there before
they saw the Earl of Derwentwater, who came that morning from Dilstone,
advancing. He was attended by several friends and by all his servants,
some mounted on his coach-horses, and all well armed. As they marched
through Corbridge, this gallant troop drew their swords. They were
reinforced by several other gentlemen at the house of Mr. Errington,
where they stopped; and they then advanced to the spot where their
friends awaited their approach. They now mustered sixty horse, mostly
composed of gentlemen and their attendants. After a short council it was
decided that they should proceed towards the river Coquet, to Plainfield:
here they were joined by several stragglers: they inarched that evening
to Rothbury, a small market-town, where they remained all night, and continued
their inarch on the following morning, the seventh of October, to
Warkworth Castle.
In thus assembling his
friends and his tenantry, Lord Derwentwater was not blameless of undue
influence and oppression. The instances, indeed, of threats and absolute
compulsion being used to augment the forces of the Jacobites, and to
draw unwilling dependants into participation, are very numerous ; they
may be collected from various petitions, borne out by evidence, among
the State Papers for 1715 and 1716. It is true that such excuses were
certain to be alleged by many persons unjustly; but, where the charges
were substantiated, we must with pain confess that the virtues of the
Earl of Derwentwater, as well as those of other Jacobites, are sullied
by a violent exercise of power over their tenantry. One man, named
George Gibson, afterwards, in memorialising Lord Townshend from
Newgate, affirms that upon his refusal to carry a message from Lord
Derwentwater to Mr. Forster, two days before the insurrection, and
returning to his own house instead, he was one night dragged out of bed
by seven or eight men, and hurried off to serve in the said insurrection
without a single servant of his own attending him. It was proved also,
by King's evidence, that the unfortunate man did all in his power to
escape from Kelso, and really made, the attempt; but it was defeated,
for he was ever an object of suspicion to the Earl of Derwentwater and
Mr. Forster, whose watchfulness kept him among the rebel troops. Party
may do much to blunt the feelings; yet there was too much of what was
good in the character of Lord Derwentwater for him, in the solitude of
his own prison, not to remember in after days the heavy responsibilities
which even by one act of this nature he had incurred, in compelling a
man to act against his will and conscience.
Warkworth was probably
chosen as a resting-place for the insurgents, on account of its
strength. Si tuated only three-quarters of a mile from the sea, on the
river Coquet, over which is thrown a bridge, guarded by a lofty tower,
the Castle of Warkworth, which guards the town, commands a view both
varied with objects of interest and importance.
From a lofty turret of
the castle a great extent of land and ocean is to be seen. The great
Tower of the Percys, from which this turret rises, is decorated with the
lion of Brabant, and is seated on the brink of a cliff above the town.
From this lofty structure the eye, stretching along the coast, may
discern the castles of Dunstanbrough and Bam-borough: the Fern Islands,
dotted upon the face of the waters, the Fort of Alemouth, and, at a.
little distance, the mouth of the river Coquet, with its island and
ruined monastery. To the north, a richly cultivated country extends as
far as Alnwick; to the south lies a plain, interspersed with villages and woods; the
shore, to which it inclines, is indented with many ports and creeks; the
smoke rising from many scattered hamlets, and the spires of churches
enliven the smiling prospect.
In this secure station
the rebels remained for two days; and here Mr. Forster assumed the rank
of General of the Forces in the North, a title which had been bestowed
on him by the Earl of Mar. On the day after his arrival at Warkworth,
Mr. Forster sent Mr. Buxton, who was chaplain to the troops, to desire
Mr. Ton, the parish clergyman, to pray for the Chevalier as King; and,
in the Litany, for Mary, the Queen Mother, and to omit the petition for
King George, the Prince and Princess of Wales, &c. Mr. Ton declining to
make this alteration, Mr. Buxton took possession of the reading-desk,
and performed the service, whilst the deposed clergyman took flight, ami, hastening to Newcastle, gave notice there of what had occurred.
This was the first place where the Chevalier was prayed for in England;
and Mr. Buxton's sermon, observes our historian, "gave mighty
encouragement to his hearers, being full of exhortations, flourishing
arguments, and cunning insinuations to be hearty in the cause." These
incentives were aided by a "comely personage," and considerable
eloquence and erudition.
On the following day,
after proclaiming James King of England with all due formality and with
the sound of trumpet, Mr. Forster attending the ceremony in disguise,
the troops marched to Morpeth, their numbers increasing as they went. At
Felton Bridge, they were joined by seventy horse, composed of gentlemen
from the borders; and by the time they reached Morpeth, their number had
augmented to three hundred: these were all horse-soldiers: Mr. Forster
refused the foot as auxiliaries, otherwise the increase would have been
considerable. The reason assigned for this rejection was the
impossibility of supplying the men with arms; but the fairest assurances
were given to the friends of the cause that arms and ammunition would
soon be procured, and regiments listed forthwith.
The spirits of the
Jacobite army were now high; their hopes were raised by the daily
increase of their party. Newcastle was their next object, and thither
they prepared to march, having first proclaimed the Chevalier,—Mr.
Buxton taking upon himself the office of herald. Newcastle was, however,
on her defence: the city gates were closed against the troops, and they
turned towards Hexham, and thence inarched to a moor near Dilstone
Castle, and here they halted for some days. This was a feint, as they
intended, it is thought, to have surprised the town of Newcastle. But
the news they received from that place were far from encouraging. The
gentry iu the neighbourhood had rallied for its defence; and Lord
Scarborough, the lord-lieutenant of the county, had entered the town
with a body of men. Still there was a powerful High Church party, who,
as the Jacobites hoped, would declare for the Chevalier. It was from Newcastle that Lord
Derwentwater had been apprised, in the first instance, that there were
messengers- sent to apprehend him. The insurgents, therefore, continued
near Hexham, where they seized on all the horses and arms they could,
read prayers in the churches for King James, ami proclaimed him in the
market-place.
The Earl of Derwentwater
had appointed his brother to the command of his troop, whilst Captain
Shaftoc was under Mr. Radclilfe. This, in some respects, was an
unfortunate step: the young and brave commander had never even seen an
army before : he was inexperienced, and ignorant of all military
discipline: what he wanted in knowledge, he is said, however, to have
made up for by the influence he acquired over his men, and by the power
he had of inciting them to great exploits.
Whilst the rebel forces
lay at Hexham, they received the intelligence that Lord Kenmure, the
Earls of Nithisdale, of Carnwath, and Wintoun, had risen in Nithisdale,
and had marched thence to England to join the troops in Northumberland,
and had even advanced as far as Rothbury. On the nineteenth of October,
Mr. Forster joined the Scottish army at Rothbury, and afterwards marched
with an increasing force to Kelso. Here prayers were read in the great
kirk by Mr. Buxton; "and I," relates Mr. Batten, "preached on these
words, Deut. xxi. 17,— the latter part of the verse: "The right of the firstborn is his.'" The
service of the Church of England was then read for the first time on
that side of the Tweed.
William Gordon, Viscount
Kenmure, had the command of the Jacobite army until they had crossed
the Tweed. Like the Earl of Derwentwater, thin unfortunate nobleman is
declared to have shewn reluctance to take up arms. On having been
solicited by the Earl of Mar to command the forces, and assured that he
would join him, he at first refused the offer, but had finally acceded,
and had set up the standard of the Chevalier at Moffat, in Annandale.
The standard was made, for this occasion, by Lady Kenmure, the sister of
Robert, sixth Earl of Carnwath. It was very handsome; one side being
blue, with the arms of Scotland wrought in gold; on the other side a
thistle,— the words so often uttered during the Rebellion, and re-echoed
in many a Scottish heart, "No Union," were wrought underneath the
thistle. Above it were the words nemo me dipune lacessit; white
pendants were, attached to the standard, on which were inscribed—" For
our Wronged King and Oppressed Country!" " For our Lives and Liberties!"
But the nobleman who had
taken this prominent part in the Rebellion of 1715, although possessed of
extraordinary knowledge in politics and civil affairs, was an utter
stranger to all military business. His mild temper and his unoffending
Character inspired compassion for his subsequent fate,
but unfitted him for the office of command: his gentler qualities were
united, nevertheless, to a resolute and lofty mind. The fate of this
nobleman, like that of his most distinguished friends, was a brief
tragedy.
Lord Kenmure had a troop
of gentlemen with him, the command of which he gave to the Hon. Bazil
Hamilton of Beldoun, and a nephew of the Duke of Hamilton.
Among other characters
who were conspicuous on this occasion, was the celebrated Brigadier
Mackintosh. The sixth regiment, named after the Brigadier as chief of
the clan, was commanded by a kinsman. The Brigadier had served in
Germany, and had there gained his military rank. Descended from the
ancient house of Fife, the chieftain hail increased his influence by
marrying, while a minor, the heiress of Clanchattan, in right of whom he
became chieftain of that clan, comprising many others. His motto, "Touch not the cat without a glove," and the coat-of-arms supported by
two wild cats, with a cat for the crest, were not inappropriate. No
suspicion had been entertained of Mackintosh's adherence to the
Chevalier, with whom he became acquainted abroad, until he actually
joined the party.
The Earl of Carnwath,
Lord Nairn, Lord Charles Murray, and the Earl of Wyntoun, commanded
the other Scottish regiments, which were generally better armed than
those of the English. The Earl of Derwentwater, and the Lords Widdrington had the two principal English regiments, of which there
were four.
On the twenty-fifth of
October, the united, army of Scots and English left Kelso, and marched
to Jedburgh. On their march, some of the Scots, taking umbrage, left
the army under the guidance of the Earl of Wintoun; and although that
nobleman afterwards returned with his troop, above four hundred
Highlanders deserted, and returned to their country.
During the progress of
the insurgent forces, there is little reason to conclude that Lord
Derwentwater took a very active or important part in the various
consultations which were held, always with great disunion, and with a
melancholy want of judgment, between the General, Mr. Forster, and his
military council. The amiable nobleman appears to have assigned to his
less discreet brother the entire, guidance of his troop. "His temper
and disposition," as he expresses it in his defence, "disposed him to
peace. He was totally inexperienced in martial affairs; that he entered
upon the undertaking without any previous concert with its chief
promoters,—without any preparation of men, horses, and arms, or other
warlike accoutrements," was at once an instance of his imprudence and a
mitigation of his error. There was, indeed, no doubt but that Lord Derwentwater might have brought many hundreds of his followers to the
field, even from one portion of his estate only; for he possessed the extensive lead
mines on Alstone Moor, where a large body of men were daily employed,
and received from him their sole means of support."
But whether or not this
unfortunate nobleman failed in energy or in zeal; whether he entered
with his whole heart into the cause of James Stuart; or whether, with
the conscientious scruples of a gentle nature, he shrank from involving
in the risk of this insurrection the majority of his humble dependants,
he acted throughout the whole of this brief campaign with the
consideration for others so characteristic of his mind. He truly
affirmed on his trial, that no one could charge him with any cruel,
severe, or harsh action during his continuance in arms : and his conduct
in the last extremity corresponded to his previous forbearance. Such
dispositions appear to have been cherished, indeed, by the rest of the
Jacobite party. The merciful temper of the Chevalier, and his known
aversion to destructive measures, may have had its influence over those
who asserted his claims. There was something like the spirit of the
cavalier of the Great Bebel-lion in Mr. Forster's reply to some of his
officers, who wished to put down or burn a Presbyterian meetinghouse at Penrith: "It is by clemency, and not by cruelty, that we are to
prevail.''
After the insurgent
troops had marched from place to place for some time, It was decided
that the English regiments should recross the border; and after many disputes and much
loss of time, they resolved upon a march into Lancashire, a country
abounding at that time in Roman Catholic, gentry, and strongly
Jacobite. This decision, like most of the other military movements of
the unfortunate Jacobites, was the work of a strong party in' the camp,
and was founded upon the alleged authority of private letters, which
gave the assurance of a general insurrection taking place on the
appearance of the insurgent force. The unlucky change of plans
superseded a meditated attack upon the town of Dumfries. "Nothing,"
observes Mr. Patten, "could be a greater token of a complete
infatuation,—that Heaven confounded all their devices, and that their
destruction was to be of their own working, than their omitting such an
opportunity." After a rapid march from Langholm in the west of Scotland,
across the borders, and through Penrith, Appleby, and Kendal, to Rirby
Lonsdale, the combined force entered the county of Lancaster; and having
entered Lancaster without opposition, they resolved to proceed to
Preston. It is now that the last disastrous events of Lord
Derwentwater's brief career brought to light his excellent qualities,
his pure and amiable motives of action. It is not possible to read the
account of the battle of Preston, in which he was engaged, without a deep regret for the
personal misfortunes of one so young, so well intentioned, and so
esteemed, as this ill-fated nobleman.
The forces of the
Jacobites amounted, after being joined by a party of volunteers under
the Lords Rothes and Torpichen, and since their separation from the
Highlanders, to about two thousand men. The foot was commanded by
Brigadier Mackintosh; and six hundred Northumbrian and Dumfriesshire
horsemen, by Lord Kenmure and Mr. Forster.
On the ninth instant the
march to Preston was commenced; the cavalry troops reached that town on
the same evening; but the day proving rainy, and the roads heavy, the
foot regiments were left at a small market-town called Cars tang,
half-way between Manchester and Preston. Two troops of Stanhope's
dragoons, formerly quartered at Preston, having retired as the rebels
approached, the spirits of the Jacobite officers and the ardour of their
men were greatly encouraged. On the following day, Thursday' the tenth
of November, the Chevalier was proclaimed at Preston, and here the
rebels were joined by many country gentlemen, their tenants and
servants: this was the first accession to the party since their entrance
into Lancashire. The new allies were chiefly Roman Catholics, a
circumstance which aroused the instinctive dread of the Scottish
volunteers to persons of that persuasion. The High Church party hung
hack from joining the cause. The Roman Catholics began, according to the
historian of the Rebellion of 1715, "to show their blind side," being
never right hearty for their cause until they are "mellow," as they call
it, "over a bottle or two."
The town of Preston
seated on the river Ribble, was a place from which an enemy might, in
the year 1715, have been easily repulsed. About a mile and a half from
the town, a bridge over the river offered an admirable stand for a
besieged garrison; it might have been so easily barricaded, that it
would have been impracticable to pass that way if the commonest
precautions had been adopted. The river in this part was not fordable
for a considerable distance on either side of the bridge, and it could
have been easily rendered impassable. From the Ribble bridge to the
town, the road ran between two steep banks; and this way, or lane, was
then so narrow, that in several places two men could not ride abreast.
It was here that Oliver Cromwell had met with a famous resistance from
the King's forces in 1648, large millstones having been rolled down upon
him from the rising grounds, so that the republican general was in
considerable danger, and he only escaped with life by making his horse
plunge into a quicksand.
This lane formed a
curious natural outwork; and might easily have been barricaded, but the
deficiencies of Mr. Forster's generalship were fatal to so simple and
obvious a plan of defence. He confined his exertions to the town,
barricaded the streets, and posted men in the
bye-lanes and houses. The Jacobite troops formed four main barriers: one
in the. churchyard, commanded by Brigadier Mackintosh. This barrier was
to be supported by four noblemen, who, at the head of the volunteer
horse, (as in many instances ir. the army of Charles the First,)
composed of gentlemen solely, was planted in the churchyard of Old St.
"Wilfred, as the parish-church of Preston was then called : their
leaders were the Earl of Derwentwater, Lord Kenmure, the Earl of
Nithisdale, and the Earl of Wintoun,—a truehearted band as ever braved
the terrors of an encounter with their countrymen. At a little distance
from the churchyard and at the extremity of a lane leading into the
fields, Lord Charles Murray defended another post, The third was at a
windmill, and that Colonel Mackintosh was appointed to command. The
fourth was in the town.
Lord Derwentwater and his
brothers were the objects, even before the action began, of universal
approbation. Whatever may have been the real or supposed reluctance of
the former to engage in the cause, it vanished as he came into action.
There he stood, having stripped off his clothes to his waistcoat,
encouraging the men, giving them money to induce them to cast up the
trenches, and animating them to a vigorous defence. His brother
addressed the soldiers also, and displayed all the ardour of his
fearless spirit. "No man of distinction," wrote a Scottish prisoner in
the Marshalsea to his friend in the North, "behaved himself better than
the Earl of Derwentwater. He kept himself most with the Scots,
abundantly exposing himself." But all this was in vain, if we dare to
call any manifestations of heroic devotion in vain.
With singular incapacity,
Mr. Forster had failed in procuring the necessary intelligence of the
movements of the enemy. He had been assured by the Lancashire gentlemen,
that General Wills, who headed the King's forces, could not come within
forty miles of Preston without their knowledge. On Saturday, the twelfth
of November, after he had ordered the forces to march toward Manchester,
the intelligence reached him that General Wills had advanced as far as
Wigan to attack the rebels. Even at this crisis affairs might have been
retrieved: a body of the Jacobites was, indeed, sent forward to defend
the Ribble bridge, whilst Mr. Forster went on with a party of horse to
reconnoitre. lie soon saw the enemy's dragoons ; but instead of
disputing the, bridge, or allowing Colonel Farquharson, belonging to
Mackintosh's battalion, to keep the pass, he ordered a retreat to the
town. Then all was confusion, slaughter, disgrace. General Wills
advanced; he remembered the disaster of Oliver Cromwell; he looked
carefully around him, and caused the hedges and fields to be viewed; but
no enemy appeared to dispute his progress. The dragoons advanced towards
the. town; at first, their General conjectured that it must have
been abandoned. When he discovered his mistake, he ordered his troops to
pass through a gate which leads into the fields at the back of the town,
and immediately disposed his forces so as to prevent either a sally or a
retreat.
The insurgents, meantime,
were prepared to receive him. The ancient church of St. Wilfred, which
has since 1714 been replaced by a modern structure, and endowed with
another name, that of St. John, must have been shaken to its foundations
with the explosion of the cannon, as it was discharged beneath its
ancient walls. The besieged formed four main barriers; one a little
below the church, commanded by Brigadier Mackintosh: the Earl of Derwentwater and his gallant volunteers were commanded to support that
barrier in particular, and here the first attack was made; but it met
with so fierce a reception, and such a fire upon the assailants, that
the dragoons were obliged to retreat to the entrance of the town. Of
this repulse Lord Derwentwater and his youthful brother gained the chief
credit. The scene that followed is a detail of fruitless gallantry, and
of an agonised but ill-concerted resistance. The fatality which attended
the Stuart cause, and which rendered the bloodshed of its gallant
champions unavailing to promote it, was here conspicuous. That fatality
was doubtless resolvable into a want of common sense, in entrusting the
command of the forces into incompetent hands. All night, indeed, the
Jacobite forces met their opponents with a determined resistance, that
made up, in some measure, for inequality of numbers: the besieged were
in many instances sheltered from the enemy's shot, and they had also the
advantage on their side of cannon, with which General Wills was not
supplied. In the course of that night of horrors, whilst the brave were
carried away, mangled or dying, Lord Charles Mur ray, who was attacked
late in the evening, wanted a reinforcement of men. ITe sent Mr. Patten
to the Earl of Derwentwater to ask for aid; it was granted; Mr. Patten
passing in safety on account of his black coat, upon which neither party
would fire, conducted a troop of fifty volunteers to Lord Charles, who
maintained his post, and obliged the enemy to retire with loss. Had it
not been for another of Mr. Forster's fatal blunders, the insurgents
would still have remained in possession of the town of Preston, which
has always, from its commanding situation, been deemed, in all the civil
commotions of the kingdom, as a military post of great importance.
All Saturday night, the
platoons of the King's forces were incessantly playing upon the
insurgents from two principal houses which the besiegers had taken, but
few persons of importance were killed. Several houses were set on fire
by both parties, but the wind was still, otherwise the inhabitants and
the Jacobite troops must have perished in the flames. Towards morning
the information arrived 'n the town through some of the King's soldiers
who had been made prisoners, that General Carpenter, with three
regiments of Dragoons was marching towards Preston, and that he had
arrived at Clithero. This intelligence spread great consternation among
the Jacobites; and a capitulation began to be mentioned among them; jet
it is probable they would still have held out, had not one of the.
avenues into Preston, by an inexcusable oversight of the Jacobite
General, been left unguarded.
It was discovered by some
of the King's men, that the street leading to Wigan had not been
barricaded. This weak point was thereupon attacked by Lord Forrester,
at the head of that brave and old regiment, called Preston's regiment.
The assailants marched into a straight passage behind the houses: then
Lord Forrester came into the open street, and faced Mackintosh's
barrier; there were many shots fired at him, and he was wounded; yet lie
went back, and lead his men fearlessly into the street, where many of
that regiment fell a sacrifice to this dauntless assault. It prevailed;
and from that time the fate of the heroes of the churchyard of Preston,
of Derwentwater and his noble comrades was determined. But, during that
appalling conflict, whilst the blood of the valiant was tinging the
streets of Preston, where was the General, who should have shared the
dangers with his officers? "I had almost forgot to tell you," writes
the plain-spoken Scottish soldier above referred to, "that in the
hottest time of our little action, which was about eleven on Saturday
night, Lord Charles Murray's men falling short of ammunition, Robertson
of Guy, and another gentleman, were sent to the General, Mr. Forster,
for a recruit. When they got access, they found him lying in his naked bed, with a sack-posset, and some confections
by him; which I humbly
judge was not a very becoming posture at that time for a General. He
took all along particular care of himself.''
Towards morning Mr.
Forster in conjunction with Lord Widdrington and Colonel Oxburgh,
proposed a capitulation. It was considered, that by submission, terms of
mercy might be procured by the insurgent troops. Those who thus argued
had had no experience of the temper of those to whom they trusted, or
they would have willingly died sword in hand rather than have confided
in such slender hopes of clemency. The Earl of Derwentwater was among
those who counselled the surrender. From his general character, the
reasons which he assigned afterwards iu his defence, for such advice,
have ever been credited. When the fury of the action was over, the
amiable nobleman perceived that it was his duty to coincide in a step by
which the lives of his countrymen might be spared: he trusted to tho
mediation of Colonel Oxburgh, who offered to go to the King's forces,
and to request a cessation of arms; and who also promised, by his
personal influence, to obtain fair terms of capitulation. As a guarantee
for the suspension of hostilities, Lord Derwentwater volunteered to
become one of the hostages until the morning, should General Wills
require it. It appears that his offer was accepted, and
that while the Earl was in the camp of General Wills, he received
assurances of King George's being a prince of known clemency, — a
virtue which was said to form a distinguishing mark in his character.*
But Mr. Radcliffe, young and ardent, opposed the capitulation with the
vehemence natural to his character. During the whole of the action, he
had been in the midst of the lire, and had displayed the utmost
intrepidity; and now, he declared, that he would rather die with his
sword in his hand, like a man of honour, than be dragged like a felon to
the gallows, there to be hanged like a dog." He was, of course, obliged
to submit to the majority. The common soldiers joined in his
declamations. "Never," writes the Scottish soldier, "was a handful of
men more ready to fight" than those at Preston." It was with difficulty
that the gallant Highlanders could be restrained from sallying forth,
with their claymores, at all hazards, upon the enemy. They chafed under
the disappointment and humiliation of that day; but all was to little
purpose. Perhaps no power of words could express the bitter feelings of
that hour better than the homely phrases of an eye-witness of the scene.
"On Sunday, to our
surprise, about three in the afternoon," writes the Highlander from his
prison, we saw a drum of the enemy beating a chamade in the street. In
an instant we were all called from our posts to the
Market-place: the horsemen were ordered to mount. This made us believe
the parley had been proposed by General Wills, and that we were to break
out and attack them sword i n hand,—at least, break through them at that
end of the town; but we soon found it was proposed by Mr. Forster, and
that there was a cessation rill nine next morning, and a capitulation to
be made. This was very choaking to us all, but there was no helping of
it; for no sooner had we left, our posts, than they made themselves
master nf them, and of our cannon."
Whilst the chamade was
beating, Colonel Cotton, sent by General Wills, rode up the street, and
alighted at the sign of the Mitre: the firing meantime had not ceased
from several of the houses: the common soldiers were ignorant of the
real state of the case, and believed that General Wills had sent to
offer honourable terms, not knowing that the offer of a capitulation had
proceeded from their own party.
Still there were
obstacles to the capitulation raised by the Scottish party, who were
represented by Brigadier Mackintosh. "He could not," he replied, when
urged for his consent, "answer for the Scotch, for they were people of
desperate fortunes, and he had been a soldier himself, and knew what it
was to be a prisoner at discretion." When this demur was stated to
General Wills, "Go back to your people again," was his answer to those
who stated it: will attack the town, and
I will not spare a man of yon." At the subsequent trial of the rebels,
General Wills was able, with truth, to deny the charge of having given
his unhappy prisoners any hopes, to induce them to sign the
capitulation. "All the terms he offered them," such was his assertion,
"was, that he would save their lives from the soldiers till further
orders, if they surrendered at discretion : (the meaning of which was,
that by the rules of war it was in his power to cut them all to pieces,
but he would give them their lives till further orders;) and if they did
not comply, he would renew the attack, and not spare a man."
No sooner had the news of
the capitulation been bruited about the streets, than it was received
with a sorrow and indignation almost past description. Had the unlucky
and pusillanimous Mr. Forster appeared at that moment, he "would
certainly," as Mr. Fatten relates, "have been cut to pieces." Even in
his chamber, the General was attacked by his own Secretary, Mr. Murray,
and a pistol which was aimed at him only averted by Mr. Fattens hand.
The truth is, even Forster's fidelity has been doubted; and
subsequently, the mild treatment which he received during his
imprisonment, and his escape from prison, have been construed, with what
justice it is difficult to say, into a confirmation of this charge.
On the morning after the
surrender, the rebels were all made prisoners
and disarmed, soon after daybreak. That day, so fatal to the Jacobites
of 1715, witnessed also the battle of Sherriff Muir under Lord Mar, and
the retaking of the town of Inverness by Lovat. It must have aggravated
the regrets of those who then laid down their arms, to see the
townspeople of Preston plundered, in despite of every hope to the
contrary, by the King's forces, as they dislodged the dejected Jacobites
from their quarters. But these irregularities were soon checked.
At last the sound of
trumpets and the beating of drums were heard: the two Generals were
enter'ng the town in form. They rode into the Market-place, around which
the Highlanders were drawn up with their arras. The lords and gentlemen
among the rebels were first secured, and placed severally under guard in
separate rooms at the inn. Then the poor Highlanders laid down their
arms where they stood, and were marched off to the church, under a
sufficient guard. Here the thrifty Scots amused themselves by making
garments of the linings of the pews, which they ripped off from the
seats.
Seven noblemen, besides
one thousand four hundred and ninety others, including gentlemen and
officers, were taken at Preston.* Generally speaking, they were treated
well by the military: "The Dragoons were civil to us," writes the
Highlander, "their officers choosing rather to want beds themselves than
we shouldn't At Wigan the prisoners were allowed to commune together,
under the inspection of sentinels; and a warm altercation occurred
between Lord Widilrington and Brigadier Mackintosh, in the presence of
Lord Derwentwater, who took little notice of the Brigadier, but turning
to another gentleman, said: "You see what we have brought ourselves to
by giving credit to our highborn Tories,— to such men as Fenwick, Tate,
Green, and Allgood. If you outlive misfortune, and return to live in the
North, I desire you never to be seen in converse with such rogues in
disguise, who promised to join us, and animated us to rise with them."
The gentleman promised that he would observe his Lordship's counsels. "Ah!" said Lord Derwentwater, "I know you to be of an easy temper."
The prisoners were now
carried on towards London by easy marches, Mr. Batten accompanying his
patron, Mr. Forster. As they went, the undaunted Highlanders called out
to the country people who came to gaze at them, " "Where are all your
high-church Tories? If they would not fight with us, let them come and
rescue us." This indiscretion redoubled the. vigilance of the watch put
upon the rebels. From Daventry to London, Mr. Forster and Mr. Batten
were greeted by the common people with encomiums upon a warming-pan, in
allusion to the supposed birth of the Pretender. When the prisoners
arrived at Barnet, messengers came to meet them, and to pinion their
arms with cords,—More for distinction," adds the
subservient Mr. Patten, "than for any pain that attended." Yet the
indignity must have been cruelly galling to the highborn and gallant men
who were thus mercilessly paraded to their doom and the cries of the
populace.
At Highgate a strong
detachment of horse-soldiers and dragoons received the prisoners from
Lumley's Horse, which had hitherto guarded them; and now they were
separated into pairs, a foot-soldier holding the bridle of each horse;
and in this manner the Jacobite peers, Lord Derwentwater among the rest,
were conducted to London through "a hedge of a mob," as the Highland
soldier declares, hired, as he hints, at Lord Pelham's charge, to muster
that day. Cries of "Long live King George!" and "Down with the
Pretender! " greeted the car as they passed on to their several
destinations. A Quaker, fixing his eyes on Mr. Patten, and seeing his
black dress, remarked, " Friend, thou hast been the trumpeter of
rebellion to those men,—thou must answer for them." The moralizer was
touched by a grenadier with the butt end of his musket, so that the "spirit fell into the ditch." But the Quaker was not rebuffed. "Friend,"
he said to the soldier, "thou art, I fear, no true friend to King
George."
Even at the last, Mr.
Forster had hopes, it is said, of being released by a Tory mob. The
Jacobite noblemen had been, indeed, all along misled, or ignorant of the
real inclinations of the mass of the people. The dread of what they term
"popery" is a deep und engrossing passion in the hearts of the lower and
even of the middle classes, and it formed an effectual harrier against
the restoration of the Stuarts. The cause of those unfortunate Princes
was never, in this country, as it was in Scotland, the cause of the
people. The personal attachment of the Highlanders to the ancient race
of Stuart, and there devotion to their clan, superseded their religious
scruples hut that was not the case in the South.
The Earl of Derwentwater
and his brother were consigned to different prisons,—the former to the
Tower, the latter to Newgate; a very strict guard was set upon the
Earl, and no one was allowed to see him or speak to him.
On the seventh of
January, 1716, the case of the seven rebel lords was brought before
the House of Commons; and Mr. Lechmere moved that they should not be
left to the ordinary method of prosecutions, but should be proceeded
against by way of impeachment. In a long and, as far as the report
enables a reader to judge, able speech, he referred to the declaration
of the Pretender, given under his sign manual and privy seal at Commercy, on the twenty-fifth of October, 1715. "This paper," Mr.
Lechmere observed, "which he held in his hand, was sufficient to fire
the thoughts of every gentleman there; and the House could do no more
than to resent this so far as to make
themselves the prosecutors of those who avowed the cause of the
Pretender, and set themselves at the head of armies, in the heart of his
Majesty's dominions." In conclusion, "he impeached James, Earl of Derwentwater, of high treason, which impeachment he undertook to make
good."
Six other members then
severally impeached the other six Jacobite lords ; and an impeachment was
carried up to the Bar of the House of Lords, with an assurance "that
articles to make good the charge against the Earl of Derwentwater and
the other noblemen would shortly be exhibited."
A committee of the House
of Commons, with Mr. Lechmere as their chairman, was therefore formed;
and the articles were framed, and read before the Bar of the House of
Lords. On the tenth of January the Jacobite lords were summoned to hear
the articles of impeachment: a few days were allowed to them to prepare
their replies. On the following Saturday, the Earl of Derwentwater was
brought by the Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod before the Bar, where he
knelt, until told by the Lord Chancellor to rise. He then delivered his
answer.
Those who, in perusing
the annals of these times, look for strength of character in the state
prisoners who were now brought before the tribunal of tire House of
Lords, or for consistency in those principles which had led them into
the field, will be painfully disappointed. In two instances alone was
there displayed an undaunted demeanour, and a resolute adherence to the
cause which they had avowed; and these were shewn in the subsequent
rebellion, by the brave and admirable Lord Balmerino, and by the
unfortunate Charles Radcliffe.
The Earl of Derwentwater
expressed, in his reply, the "deepest concern and affliction to a
charge of so high and heinous a nature as that brought against him. He
acknowledged with sorrow that he had been in arms, and did march through
and invade several parts of the kingdom; and that he was thereby guilty
of the offence whereof he was charged in the articles. "But," he
continued, "if any one offence of that kind was ever attended with
circumstances which might move compassion, the said Earl hopes he may be
entitled to it." He then referred to his peaceable disposition, and
pleaded his youth and inexperience; the absence of all malice, of all
concerted conspiracy; his having made no warlike preparations. He
pleaded also, that he could not be justly reproached with any cruel or
harsh conduct while he bore arms: he specified his adv ice to those with
him to submit at Preston, and to trust to the King's mercy. He adduced
his anxiety to save the lives of his Majesty's subjects by avoiding
further bloodshed, and brought in proof a letter which he had written to
those of his own party, conjuring them to capitulate. Under such
circumstances, the Earl implored the mediation both of their Lordships
and of the Commons for mercy on his behalf, "which will lay him," so he
declared in conclusion, "under the highest obligations of duty and affection to his Majesty, and perpetual gratitude to both Houses."
The answer not appearing
to the Lords to be sufficiently "express and clear," the Earl was then
asked by the Chancellor, whether he meant to plead guilty to the
articles of the impeachment. The Earl replied that he did, and that he
submitted to the King's mercy. His answer and plea were entered
accordingly, and the Earl then withdrew.
On Thursday, February the
ninth, the Lords camc from their own House into the hall erected in
Westminster Hall, to pass sentence upon James, Earl of Derwentwater, and
upon the five other noblemen who had pleaded guilty with him; the Earl
of Wintoun, who had pleaded not guilty, being reserved for trial.
The Lord High Steward who
presided on this occasion was William Earl Cowper, Lord Chancellor,
who, for the time of trial, was called "your Grace," and had the
privilege of walking uncovered, his train borne, except whilst the
commission was read by the Clerk of the Crown.
The usual proclamation
rang through the Court, and the Sergeant-at-Arms, saying "Oyez ! Oyez!
Oyez!" enforced silence. Then another proclamation was made, commanding
the Lieutenant of the Tow er to bring forth his prisoners to the Bar,
and accordingly the six rebel lords were brought to the Bar by the
Deputy-Governor of the Tower, having the axe carried before them by the
Gentleman Jailer, who stood with it on the left
hand of the prisoners, with the edge turned from him. The prisoners,
after kneeling before the Bar, bowed to hit, Grace the High Steward, and
also to the Beers, whose sail privilege it is to try those of the same
rank iv the scale of society as themselves, and often, from extensive
intermarriages, connected by ties of blood. The articles of impeachment
against James Earl of Derwentwater were read, and the prisoner's reply.
He was then asked if he
pleaded guilty to the high treason in the said articles of impeachment.
His Lordship replied, "I do." He was ordered to withdraw; but was
called before the Bar the same day to receive judgment. Upon being asked
by the Lord High Steward "Why judgment should not be passed upon him
according to law?" the Earl repeated a few circumstances mentioned in
his answer to the articles. His voice was scarcely articulate as he
proceeded to say, "But the terrors of your Lordship's just sentence,
which at once deprive me of my life and estate, and complete the
misfortunes of my wife and innocent children, are so heavy upon my mind,
I am scarcely able to allege what may extenuate my offence, if any thing
may do it." He then again besought of their Lordships the mediation in
his behalf.
After the Lords
Widdrington, Kenmure, Nithisdale, and Carnwath had been severally
addressed, and had replied to the Court, proclamation for silence was
again made, and judgment was given. It was prefaced by a long and
elaborate address; which, however elegant, however explanatory, however
just, it may be considered, was strongly tinctured by the adulatory
spirit of the day, and was calculated to wound and to harden the
offending prisoners, rather than to unfold with dignity the reasons for
condemnation. In conclusion, since nothing could, in the narrowing view
of party, be too dictatorial for the unfortunate Jacobites, they were
exhorted not to rely any longer on the usual directors of their
consciences, but to be assisted by some of the pious and learned divines
of the Church of England. This was addressed to men who wore, with two
exceptions, of the Church of Rome, and whose chief reliance must
naturally be upon those of their own persuasion.
The terrible sentence of
the law was then recorded. It was that usually given against the meanest
offenders in like kind, the most ignominious and painful parts being
remitted by the grace of the Crown to persons of quality. Judgment was,
however, pronounced, according to the usual form for high treason.
The prisoners were then
reconducted to the Tower; the Lord High Steward, standing up uncovered,
broke the staff of office, and declared the present commission to be
ended. The Peers returned to the House of Lords.
Little is known of the
dreary and solemn hours which intervened between the judgment and the
execution of the sentence. But one brief expression, in an old newspaper,
relative to the young and unhappy Earl of Derwentwater, speaks volumes:
"The Earl of Derwentwater is so desponding, that two warders are
obliged to sit up with him during the night." He was visited in his
prison by Thomas Townshend, Viscount Sydney, then Under Secretary of
State for George the First; one of the most amiable men, as well as
refined and elegant scholars of the day, and a nobleman whose
sensibility and delicacy of feeling, which prevented his taking a share
in the more active parts of public business, must have caused an
interview with the Earl of Derwentwater to have been deeply touching.
The Duke of Roxburgh also visited the condemned nobleman; but no record
is left of these communications. The Duke was at that time Keeper of the
Privy Seal for Scotland, and Lord-Lieutenant of the counties of Roxburgh
and Selkirk. He had recently distinguished himself at Sherriff Muir: he
was at this time a young man of twenty-five years of age, and one whom
all parties have commended. "Learned, without pedantry, he was,
perhaps," says Lockhart of Carnwath, "the best accomplished young man
of Europe." To these acquirements were added a singular charm of
manner. One can hardly suppose the visits of two such men not to have
had their source from some motive of kindness.
To the credit of the
House of Lords, an address was voted to the King,
petitioning that his Majesty would reprieve such of the rebel lords as
deserved his mercy. The royal answer was couched in these terms: that
"the King on this, and all occasions, would do what he thought
consistent with the dignity of the Crown and the safety of his people."
It was unfortunate that, both at this time and in the Rebellion of 1745,
there was no Queen Consort. A woman's heart would, one may trust, have
pleaded for the young, gallant, and beloved Derwentwater. The English
Court was, at that time, insulted by the audacious intrigues of foreign
mistresses. These women had no interest in the King's real fame, nor in
the national credit. Such was the case in the first Rebellion. In
1745 Queen Caroline, the wife of George the Second, was dead.
Accompanied by two
courageous ladies, the young Countess of Derwentwater threw herself at
the feet of the King, and implored mercy on her husband;. In the House
of Commons, the First Lord of the Treasury declared, that he had been
offered a bribe of sixty thousand pounds to save Lord Derwentwater. Sir
Richard Steele spoke loudly in favour of the condemned lords, but the
declaration of Walpole suppressed all hopes of mercy. "He was moved
with indignation," he said, "to see that there should be such unworthy
members of this great body as to open their mouths, without blushing, in
favour of rebels and parricides."
He adjourned the House until the first of March, it being understood
that the peers would be executed in the mean time. It is some
consolation to reflect that the Minister had, on this occasion, only a
majority of seven.
At this juncture, when
all hope seemed lost, Mary, Dowager Countess of Derwentwater, proffered
the following petition in behalf of her sons. One can hardly suppose how
it could have been disregarded; but the Monarch had few sympathies with
his people of England.
"The humble Petition of
Mary Countess of Derwentwater, 1716, to the King's most excellent
Majesty, sheweth,
"That the Earl of Derwentwater and Charles
Radcliffe (your petitioner's two and only sons)
having been unfortunately engaged and surprised into a horrid and open
Rebellion against your most sacred Majesty, have surrendered themselves
at Preston, and submitted to your Majesty's great clemency and mercy.
"Their crimes are so
enormous, that your petitioner can scarce hope for a pardon; yet the
greatness of their offence doth not make your petitioner lay aside, all
hopes of mercy, when your petitioner and they, who are both very young,
throw themselves, absolute- and entirely, at your Majesty's feet for it;
and as they have a just abhorrence and a sincere and true repentance for
what is past, so they will give undoubted security and proof of their
most dutiful behaviour to your Majesty's Government for the future.
''Wherefore your
petitioner most humbly prays that your Majesty will, out of your royal
clemency and boundless mercy and compassion, spare the lives of your
petitioner's sons, and grant them your most gracious pardon.
"And your petitioner
shall ever, as in duty bound, &c."
The petition was
unavailing, and the unfortunate young nobleman prepared to meet his
doom.
On the twenty-fourth of
February, at ten o'clock, the Ear! of Derwentwater, with Lord Kenmure,
was carried in a hackney-coach from the Tower to the Transport Office in
Tower Hill, where there was a room prepared for their reception, hung
with black, and a passage or gallery railed in, which led to the place
of execution. The scaffold was surrounded with the Guards. Lord
Derwentwater suffered first. He was observed to turn very pale as he
proceeded through the gallery and ascended the steps; but there was a
modest composure observable in his demeanour. He held a book in his
hand, from which he read prayers for some time; then, requesting leave
of the Sheriffs to read a paper to the people, he went to the rails of
the scaffold, and there delivered the following touching and beautiful
address, which,
may be the sentiments and opinions with which it is perused, can hardly
fail to impress the reader as coming from a conscientious mind:—
"Being in a few minutes
to appear before the Tribunal of God, where, though most unworthy, I
hope for mercy, which I have not found from men now in power, I have
endeavoured to make my peace with His Divine Majesty, by most humbly
begging pardon for all the, sins of my life; and I doubt not of a
merciful forgiveness, through the merits of the passion of my Saviour
Jesus Christ; for which end I earnestly desire the prayers of all good
Christians.
"After this, I am to
ask pardon of those whom I might have scandalized by pleading guilty at
my trial. Such as were permitted to come to me, told me, that, having
been undeniably in arms, pleading guilty was but the consequence of
having submitted to mercy, and many arguments were used to prove there
was nothing of moment in so doing,—among others, the universal practice
of signing leases, whereof the preambles ran in the name of the persons
in possession.
"But I am sensible that
in this I have made bold with my loyalty, having never owned any other
but King James the Third for my lawful King: him I had an inclination to
serve from my infancy, and was moved thereto by a natural love I had to
his person, knowing him to be capable of making his people happy; and
though he had been born of a different religion to mine, I should have
done for him all that lay in my power, as my ancestors have done for his
predecessors, being thereto hound by the laws of God and man.
"Wherefore, if in this
affair I have acted rashly, it ought not to affect the innocent; I
intended to wrong nobody, but to serve my King and my country, and that
without self-interest,—hoping, by the example I gave, to have induced
others to their duty; and God, who sees the secrets of my heart, knows I
speak the truth. Some means have been proposed to me for saving my life,
which I looked upon as inconsistent with honour and innocence, and
therefore I rejected them; for, with God's assistance, I shall prefer
any death to the doing a base unworthy action. I only wish now, that the
laying down my life might contribute to the service of my King and
country, and the re-establishment of the ancient and fundamental
constitution of these kingdoms; without which, no lasting peace or true
happiness can attend them. Then I should, indeed, part with my life
even with pleasure; as it is, I can only pray, that these blessings may
be bestowed upon my dear country; and since I can do no more, I beseech
God to accept of my life as a small sacrifice to it.
"I die a Roman Catholic:
I am in perfect charity with all the world (I thank God for it), even
with those of the present Government, who are most instrumental in my
death. I freely forgive all such as ungenerously reported
false things of me; and I hope to be forgiven the trespasses of my youth
by the Father of Mercies, into whose hands I commend my soul. Derwextwatek."
P.S. "If that Prince who
now governs had given me my life, I should have thought myself obliged
never more to have taken up arms against him."
After delivering this
address, the unfortunate nobleman thus spoke to the executioner: "You
will find something for you in my pocket [this was two half-guineas],
and I have given that gentleman [pointing to a person who held his hat
and wig] somewhat more for you. Let me lie down once, to see how the
block fits me." This he did. Then, kneeling down again, and uttering a
short prayer with the executioner, he arose, and undressed himself for
execution, the headsman assisting him. After which, the Earl desired the
executioner to take notice, that "when he. heard the words 'sweet
Jesus!' then he should do his office so soon as he pleased." After
which, his Lordship laid himself down on the. block, and said, "I
forgive my enimies, and hope that God will forgive me;" and then,
turning his head up towards the executioner, he exclaimed, "After the
third time I cry ''sweet Jesus!' strike then, and do what is most
convenient to you."
A solemn and appalling
scene then ensued. The voice of Lord Derwentwater was heard to exclaim,
and the watchful ear of the executioner caught these words: "Sweet
Jesus, receive my spirit; sweet Jesus, he merciful unto me; sweet
Jesus"—he seemed to be going on, when the sentence was broken and the
voice for ever hushed, the executioner severing his Lordship's head from
his body, which he did at one stroke. Then the executioner took up the
head, and at the several quarters of the scaffold elevated it with both
his hands, crying with a loud voice, "Behold the head of a traitor! God
save King George!" "When he had done so, the friends of the Earl not
being provided with hearse or coffin, Sir John Eryer, the Sheriff,
ordered the body to be wrapped in black baize, to be conveyed to a
hackney coach, and delivered to his friends, one of whom had wrapped up
his head in a handkerchief.
On the day of the
execution, Mary, Countess of Derwentwater, accompanied by another
female, dressed herself as a fishwoman, and in a cart drove under Temple
Bar, having previously bribed some people to throw the head of her lord
into her lap, as she passed under the pinnacle on which it was placed.
Various accounts have
been given of the interment of the Earl of Derwentwater. He is generally
believed to have been buried in the church of St. Giles-in-the-Fields,
near the altar. But a popular tradition has found credence, that he was
buried at Dilstone.
"Or rather, a piece of
red cloth, which is still preserved at Hassop, the seat of the Earl of
Newburgh, the marks of blood being still visible.
This has arisen from the
Jacobite ditty, called "Derwentwater's Good Night," or has probably
given origin to that lay, in which the Earl is made to say:—•
"Albeit that here in
London town
It is my fate to die,
O carry me to Northumberland,
In my father's grave to
lie
There chaunt my solem requiem,
In Hexham'r holy towers,
And let six maids of fair Tynedale,
Scatter my grave with flowers."
This is said to have been
his last request, but to have been refused, for fear of any popular
tumult in the North. Either a pretended burial in the church of St.
Giles took place, or the Earl's body was removed, "for it was
certainly," says Mr. Hogg, "carried secretly to Dilstone, where it was
deposited by the side of the Earl's father, in his chapel." "A little
porch before the farm-house of Whitesmocks," adds the same authority, "is pointed out as the exact spot where the Earl's remains rested,
avoiding Durham." The coffin is said to have been opened during the
present century, and the body of the Earl recognized, both by his
appearance of youth, his features, and the suture round his neck. It is
seldom satisfactory to state what has no other source than common
report. In the North, the aurora borealis is still said to be called "Lord Derwentwater's Lghts," because, on the night of his execution, it
appeared remarkably vivid.
It is, at any rate,
pleasant to reflect, that one who "gave bread to thousands" is
remembered by this beautiful appearance in the county winch he loved
and where his virtues are remembered and his errors forgotten.
His fate was hard. Let us
not, contrary to nature, call up motives of state policy to vindicate
the death of this brave and honourable man. The Earl of Derwentwater was
one upon whom clemency might safely have been shown. Generous, liberal,
sincere, a prince might have relied upon his assurance that, had mercy
been shown to him, it would never have been repaid by treachery. His
youth and inexperience,— his wife, his children,—should not have been
forgotten: nor should it have been forgotten, that the principles of
loyalty for which his life was forfeited, have dictated some of the most
important services which have been rendered to the state, and have
secured the existence of an hereditary government.
Of what the Earl of
Derwentwater might have he-come, in character, in intellect, his early
fate has prevented our judging. In person he was noble and elegant; his
portraits do not give the impression of that beauty of feature which has
been ascribed to him. In character he was irreproachable. lie was, in
one sense, one of those noblemen of whom it were well for this country
to have more: he lived among those from whom he drew his fortunes —
their benefactor and their friend.
The widowed Countess of
Derwentwater died at Brussels in August,
1723. The descendants of the Earl are now extinct, a son and daughter
who survived him having both died. His Lordship's brother married a
Scottish peeress, and is the ancestor of the present Earl of Newburgh,
the rightful representative of the Earl of Derwentwater.
"The domains of the Derwentwater family in Cumberland are," says Lord Mahon, "among the
very few forfeitures of the Jacobites which have never been restored by
the clemency of the House of Hanover." In 1788, a clear rent of two
thousand five hundred pounds was, however, granted out of these estates
to the Newburgh family. "They were first," says the same authority, "settled on Greenwich Hospital, but have since been sold to Mr. Marshall,
of Leeds."
The deeds of the
Derwentwater estates were preserved in the following manner: "On the.
night when Preston surrendered, Lord Derwentwater found means," as Mr.
Hogg relates, "to send messengers to Capheaton, to prevent the family
there from appearing in arms. By his orders, the family papers were
removed to Capheaton, and they were laid between two walls and a
chimney. A slater employed about the house discovered several chests
with the Derwentwater arms engraved on the lids. Being a rigid
Presbyterian, he informed old Sir Ambrose Middleton, of Belsay, who
being Deputy-Lieutenant for the Duke, of Somerset, searched Capheaton
for arms, and under that pretence broke open the walls, and found the deeds, from
the concealment of which Greenwich Hospital had been put to some
difficulties."
Such was the fate of the
last memorial of the unfortunate Earl of Derwentwater. It is impossible
to help regretting that a name once so honoured should have become
extinct; and there appears to be an unaccountable injustice in that
oblivion, whilst most of the Scottish forfeited titles have been
restored. |