NOTES TO VOLUME II.

237 (return)
[ Note 2 K, p.237 Nothing was heard within doors in parliament, but sarcastic repartee and violent declamation between the two parties, who did not confine their altercation to these debates, but took the field against each other in periodical papers and occasional pamphlets. The paper called The Craftsman, had already risen into high reputation all over England, for the wit, humour, and solid reasoning it contained. Some of the best writers in the opposition, including lord Bolingbroke and Mr. P. made use of this vehicle to convey their animadversions upon the minister, who, on his side, employed the most wretched scribblers to defend his conduct. It was in consequence of two political pamphlets, written in opposition to each other, by “lord Hervey and Mr. P., and some recrimination they produced in the house of commons, that his lordship challenged the other to single combat, and had well nigh lost his life in the duel, which was fought in Hyde Park.]

260 (return)
[ Note 2. L, p. 260. Captain Jenkins was master of a Scottish merchant-ship. He was boarded by the captain of a Spanish guardacosta, who treated him in the most barbarous manner. The Spaniards, after having rummaged his vessel for what they called contraband commodities, without finding anything to justify their search, insulted him with the most opprobrious invectives. They tore off one of his ears, bidding him carry it to his king, and tell him they would serve him in the same manner should an opportunity offer: they tortured him with the most shocking cruelty, and threatened him with immediate death. This man was examined at the bar of the house of commons, and being asked by a member, what he thought when he found himself in the hands of such barbarians? “I recommended my soul to God,” said he, “and my cause to my country.” The behaviour of this brave seaman, the sight of his ear, which was produced, with his account of the indignities which had been offered to the nation and sovereign of Great Britain, filled the whole house with indignation. Jenkins was afterwards employed in the service of the East India company; he approved himself worthy of his good fortune, in a long engagement with the pirate Angria, during which he behaved with extraordinary courage and conduct; and saved his own ship, with three others that were under his convoy.]

262 (return)
[ Note 2 M, p. 262. Among the laws enacted in the course of this session was an act against gaming, which had become universal through all ranks of people, and likely to prove destructive to all morals, industry, and sentiment. Another bill passed, for granting a reward to Joanna Stevens, on her discovering, for the benefit of the public, a nostrum for the cure of persons afflicted with the stone—a medicine which has by no means answered the expectations of the legislature.

In the house of lords, complaint was made by lord Delaware of a satire, entitled Manners, written by Mr. Whitehead, in which some characters of distinction were severely lashed in the true spirit of poetry. It was voted a libel: a motion was made to take the author into custody; but he having withdrawn himself, the resentment of the house fell upon E. Dodsley, the publisher of the work, who was committed to the usher of the black rod, though lord Carteret, the earl of Abingdon, and lord Talbot, spoke in his behalf.]

283 (return)
[ Note 2 N, p.283. In May, a dreadful plague broke out at Messina in Sicily. It was imported in cotton and other commodities brought from the Morea; and swept off such a multitude of people, that the city was almost depopulated: all the galley slaves who were employed in burying the dead, perished by the contagion; and this was the fate of many priests and monks who administered to those who were infected. The dead bodies lay in heaps in the streets, corrupting the air, and adding fresh fuel to the rage of the pestilence. Numbers died miserably, for want of proper attendance and necessaries; and all was horror and desolation. At the beginning of winter it ceased, after having destroyed near fifty thousand inhabitants of Messina, and of the garrisons in the citadel and castle. It was prevented from spreading in Sicily by a strong barricado drawn from Melazzo to Taormina; but it was conveyed to Reggio in Calabria by the avarice of a broker of that place, who bought some goods at Messina. The king of Naples immediately ordered lines to be formed, together with a chain of troops, which cut off all communication between that place and the rest of the continent.]

301 (return)
[ Note 2 O, p. 301. This nobleman, so remarkable for his courage and thirst of glory, exhibited a very extraordinary instance of presence of mind on the morning that preceded this battle. He and some volunteers, accompanied by his aidecamp, and attended by two orderly dragoons, the rode out before day to reconnoitre the situation of the enemy; and fell in with one of their advanced guards. The sergeant who commanded it immediately turned out his men, and their pieces were presented when the earl first perceived them. Without betraying the least mark of disorder, he rode up to the sergeant, and assuming the character of a French general, told him, in that language, that there was no occasion for such ceremony. Then he asked, if they had perceived any of the enemy’s parties; and being answered in the negative, “Very well,” said he, “be upon your guard; and if you should be attacked, I will take care that you shall be sustained.” So saying, he and his company retired, before the sergeant could recollect himself from the surprise occasioned by this unexpected address. In all probability he was sensible of his mistake; for the incident was that very day publicly mentioned in the French army. The prince of Tingray, an officer in the Austrian service, having been taken prisoner in the battle that ensued, dined with mares-chal count Saxe, who dismissed him on his parole, and desired he would charge himself with a facetious compliment to his old friend, the earl of Crawford. He wished his lordship joy of being a French general, and said he could not help being displeased with the sergeant, as he had not procured him the honour of his lordship’s company at dinner.]

310 (return)
[ Note 2 P, p. 310. Such an expensive war could not be maintained without a very extraordinary exertion of a commercial spirit: accordingly we find that Great Britain, since the death of king William, has risen under our pressures with increased vigour and perseverance. Whether it be owing to the natural progression of trade extending itself from its origin to its acme, or ne plus ultra, or to the encouragement given by the administration to monied men of all denominations; or to necessity, impelling those who can no longer live on small incomes to risk their capitals in traffic, that they may have a chance for bettering their fortunes; or lastly, to a concurrence of all these causes; certain it is, the national exports and imports have been sensibly increasing for these forty years: the yearly medium of woollen exports, from the year 1738 to 1743 inclusive, amounted to about three millions and a half, which was a yearly increase, on the medium, of five hundred thousand pounds above the medium from 1718 to 1724. From this article, the reader will conceive the prodigious extent, and importance of the British commerce.]

321 (return)
[ Note 2 Q, p. 321. The resolutions of the commons on this head were printed by authority in the London Gazette, signifying, that those who were, or should be, proprietors of any part of the public debt, redeemable by law, incurred before Michaelmas, in the year one thousand seven hundred and forty-nine, carrying an interest of four per centum per annum, who should, on or before the twenty-eighth day of February in that year, subscribe their names, signifying their consent to accept of an interest of three pounds per centum, to commence from the twenty-fifth day of December, in the year one thousand seven hundred and fifty-seven, subject to the same provisions, notices, and classes of redemption, to which their respective sums at four per centum were then liable, should, in lieu of their present interest, be entitled to four per centum till the twenty-fifth day of December, in the year one thousand seven hundred and fifty; and after that day, to three pounds ten shillings per centum per annum, till the twenty-fifth day of December, one thousand seven hundred and fifty-seven; and no part of that debt, except what was due to the East India company, should be redeemable to this period. That if any part of the national debt, incurred before last Michaelmas, redeemable by law, and carrying an interest of four per centum, should remain unsubscribed on or before the thirtieth day of May, the government should pay off the principal. For this purpose Ins majesty was enabled to borrow of any person or persons, bodies politic or corporate, any sum or sums of money not exceeding that part of the national debt which might remain unsubscribed, to be charged on the sinking fund, upon any terms not exceeding the rate of interest in the foregoing proposal.

All the duties appropriated to the payment of the interest were still continued, and the surplus of these incorporated with the sinking fund for the discharge of the principal. Books were opened for the subscription at the Exchequer, the Bank of England, and the South Sea house; and copies of these resolutions transmitted to the directors of all the monied corporations.]

322 (return)
[ Note 2 R, p. 322. The most remarkable circumstance attending the progress of this bill, which made its way through both houses, and obtained the royal assent, was the number of contradictory petitions in favour and in prejudice of it, while it remained under consideration. The tanners of leather in and about the town of Sheffield in Yorkshire, represented, That if the bill should pass, the English iron would be undersold; consequently, a great number of furnaces and forges would be discontinued; in that case the woods used for fuel would stand uncut, and the tanners be deprived of oak bark sufficient for the continuance and support of their occupation. They nevertheless owned, that should the duty be removed from pig iron only, no such consequence could be apprehended; because, should the number of furnaces be lessened, that of forges would be increased. This was likewise the plea urged in divers remonstrances by masters of iron-works, gentlemen, and freeholders, who had tracts of wood-land in their possession. The owners, proprietors, and farmers of furnaces and iron forges, belonging to Sheffield and its neighbourhood, enlarged upon the great expense they had incurred in erecting and supporting iron-works, by means of which great numbers of his majesty’s subjects were comfortably supported. They expressed their apprehension, that should the bill pass into a law, it could not in any degree lessen the consumption of Swedish iron, which was used for purposes which neither the American nor British iron would answer; but that the proposed encouragement, considering the plenty and cheapness of wood in America, would enable the colonies to undersell the British iron, a branch of traffic which would be totally destroyed, to the ruin of many thousand labourers, who would be compelled to seek their livelihood in foreign countries. They likewise suggested, that if all the iron manufacturers of Great Britain should be obliged to depend upon a supply of iron from the plantations, which must ever be rendered precarious by the hazard of the seas and the enemy, the manufactures would probably decay for want of materials, and many thousand families be reduced to want and misery. On the other hand, the ironmongers and smiths belonging to the flourishing town of Birmingham in Warwickshire, presented a petition, declaring, That the bill would be of great benefit to the trade of the nation, as it would enable the colonists to make larger returns of their own produce, and encourage them to take a greater quantity of the British manufactures. They affirmed, that all the iron-works in the island of Great Britain did not supply half the quantity of that metal sufficient to carry on the manufacture; that if this deficiency could be supplied from the colonies in America, the importation would cease, and considerable sums of money be saved to the nation. They observed, that the importation of iron from America could no more affect the iron-works and freeholders of the kingdom, than the like quantity imported from any other country; but they prayed that the people of America might be restrained from erecting slitting or rolling-mills, or forges for plating iron, as they would interfere with the manufacturers of Great Britain.

Many remonstrances to the same effect were presented from different parts of the kingdom, and it appeared, upon the most exact inquiry, that the encouragement of American iron would prove extremely beneficial to the kingdom, as it had been found, upon trial, applicable to all the uses of Swedish iron, and as good in every respect as the produce of that country.]

330 (return)
[ Note 2 S, p. 330. One of the most remarkable acts which passed in the course of this session, was that for regulating the commencement of the year, and correcting the calendar, according to the Gregorian computation, which had been adopted by all other nations in Europe. By this new law it was decreed that the new year should begin on the 1st day of January, and that eleven intermediate nominal days, between the second and fourteenth days of September, 1752, should for that time be omitted; so that the day succeeding the second should be denominated the fourteenth of that month. By this establishment of the new style, the equinoxes and solstices will happen nearly on the same nominal days on which they fell in the year 325, at the council of Nice; and the correspondence between the English merchants and those of foreign countries will be greatly facilitated, with respect to the dates of letters and accounts.]

331 (return)
[ Note 2 T, p. 330. An indulgent parent was poisoned by his only daughter, on whom, besides other marks of tenderness and paternal affection, he had bestowed a liberal education, which greatly aggravated her guilt and ingratitude. Another young woman was concerned in the assassination of her own uncle, who had been her constant benefactor and sole guardian. A poor old woman, having, from the ignorance and superstition of her neighbours, incurred the suspicion of sorcery and witchcraft, was murdered in Hertfordshire by the populace, with all the wantonness of barbarity. Rape and murder were perpetrated upon an unfortunate woman in the neighbourhood of London, and an innocent man suffered death for this complicated outrage, while the real criminals assisted at his execution, heard him appeal to heaven for his innocence, and, in the character of friends, embraced him, while he stood on the brink of eternity.]

348 (return)
[ Note 2 U, p. 348. Several European nations had settlements at Surat, which was one of the most frequented cities of the East, from the great concourse of Mahometan pilgrims, who make it their road from India, in their visits to the tomb of their prophet at Mecca. In order to keep the seas clear of pirates between Surat and the gulf of Arabia and Persia, the mogul had been at the annual expense of a large ship, fitted out on purpose to carry the pilgrims to Judda, which is within a small distance of Mecca. For the security of this ship, as well as to protect the trade of Surat, he granted to his admiral, the fiddee, chief of a colony of caffrees, or blacks, a revenue called the tanka, to the value of three lacks of rupees, amounting to above thirty-seven thousand pounds, arising partly from the adjacent lands, and partly from the revenues of Surat, which were paid him yearly by the governor of the castle, who is appointed by the mogul to keep the city under proper subjection, without, however, interfering with the government of it.]

357 (return)
[ Note 2 X, p. 357. The ministry having resolved to send a body of forces to America, to act in conjunction with the provincial troops raised on that continent, it became necessary that the mutiny act should be rendered more clear and extensive. When this bill, therefore, fell under consideration, it was improved with a new clause, providing, “That all officers and soldiers of any troops being mustered and in pay, which are or shall be raised in any of the British provinces in America, by authority of the respective governors or governments thereof, shall at all times, and in all places, when they happen to join or act in conjunction with his majesty’s British forces, be liable to martial law and discipline, in like manner, to all intents and purposes, as the British forces are; and shall be subject to the same trial, penalties, and punishment.”]

364 (return)
[ Note 2 Y, p. 364. The king, on his side, promised to pay to the landgrave, for these succours, eighty crowns banco, by way of levy-money, for every trooper or dragoon duly armed and mounted, and thirty crowns banco for every foot soldier; the crown to be reckoned at fifty-three sols of Holland, or at four shillings and ninepence three farthings English money; and also to pay to his serene highness, for the eight thousand men, an annual subsidy of an hundred and fifty thousand crowns banco, during the four years, to commence from the day of signing the treaty; which subsidy was to be increased to three hundred thousand crowns yearly, from the time of requiring the troops, to the time of their entering into British pay; and in case of their being dismissed, the said subsidy of three hundred thousand crowns was then to revive and be continued during the residue of the term: but, if twelve thousand men were demanded and furnished, the subsidy was then to be increased in proportion; and in case the king of Great Britain should at any time think fit to send back these troops before the expiration of the treaty, notice thereof was to be given to his serene highness three months beforehand: one month’s pay was to be allowed them for their return, and they were to be furnished gratis with the necessary transport vessels.]

372 (return)
[ Note 2 Z, p. 372. It is with pleasure we seize this opportunity of recording an instance of gallantry and patriotism in a British officer, which would have done honour to the character of a Roman tribune. Captain Cunningham, an accomplished young gentleman, who acted as engineer in second at Minorca, being preferred to a majority at home, and recalled to his regiment by an express order, had repaired with his family to Nice in Italy, where he waited for the opportunity of a ship bound for England, when he received certain intelligence that the French armament was destined for the place he had quitted. His lady, whom he tenderly loved, was just delivered, and two of his children were dangerously ill of the small-pox. He recollected that the chief engineer at Minorca was infirm, and indeed disabled by the gout, and that many things were wanting for the defence of the fortress. His zeal for the honour and service of his country immediately triumphed over the calls of tenderness and of nature. He expended a considerable sum of money in purchasing timber for the platforms, and other necessaries for the garrison; hired a ship for transporting them thither; and tearing himself from his wife and children, thus left among strangers in a foreign country, embarked again for Minorca, where he knew he should be in a peculiar manner exposed to all the dangers of a furious siege. In the course of this desperate service he acquitted himself with that vigilance, skill, and active courage, which he had on divers former occasions displayed, until the assault was given to the queen’s bastion; when, mixing with the enemy, sword in hand, he was disabled in his right arm by the shot of a musket and the thrust of a bayonet. His behaviour was so acceptable to his sovereign, that when he returned to England he was preferred to the rank of colonel in the Guards. He afterwards acted as chief engineer in the attempts and descents which were made on the French coast. Though grievously maimed, he accepted the same office in the expedition to Guadaloupe, where he died universally regretted.]

378 (return)
[ Note 3 A, p. 378. When the French ambassador returned to London, he proposed that orders should be immediately despatched to the English governors in America, with express orders to desist from any new undertaking, and all acts of hostility; but with regard to the lands on the Ohio, to put, without delay, matters on the same footing in which they stood before the late war, that the respective claims of both nations might be amicably referred to the commissaries at Paris. The British court agreed to the cessation of hostilities, and the discussion of the disputes by the ministers of the two crowns, on condition that all the possessions in America should be previously put in the situation prescribed by the treaty of Utrecht, confirmed by that of Aix-la-Chapelle. The French ministry, instead of complying with this condition, produced an evasive draft of a preliminary convention, and this was answered by a counter-proposal. At length the ambassador of France demanded, as preliminary conditions, that Great Britain would renounce all claim to the south coast of the river St. Laurence, and the lakes that discharge themselves into that river; cede to the French twenty leagues of country lying along the river of Fundy, which discovers Acadia, or Nova Scotia; and all the land between the rivers Ohio and Ouabache. A memorial was afterwards presented on the same subject, including the affairs of the neutral islands in the West Indies; but this was amply refuted in another piece, in which the British ministry observed, that even at this very opening of the commission established in Paris, for terminating amicably the disputes in North America, the French invaded Nova Scotia, erected three forts in the heart of that province, and would have destroyed the English settlement at Halifax, had they not been prevented: that the like hostilities were committed upon his Britannic majesty’s subjects on the Ohio and Indian lakes, where the governors appointed by the French king, without any shadow of right, prohibited the English from trading; seized their traders by force, and sent them prisoners to France; invaded the territories of Virginia, attacked a fort that covered its frontier, and, to secure their usurpations, erected, with an armed force, a chain of forts on the lands which they had invaded; that his Britannic majesty had complained of these hostilities to the court of Versailles, but without effect; so that he found himself obliged to provide for the security of his subjects; and as the encroachments made by France were hostile, it could never be unlawful, or irreconcile-able with the assurance of his majesty’s peaceable disposition, to repel an aggressor; and that the same motive of self-defence had forced him to seize the French ships and sailors, in order to deprive that court of the means of making an invasion, with which their ministers in all the courts of Europe had menaced England.]

379 (return)
[ Note 3B, p. 379. To Lieut. Gen. Fowke, or, in his absence, to the Commander-in-Chief in his Majesty’s garrison of Gibraltar. War-office, March 21, 1756. “Sir,—I am commanded to acquaint you, that it is his majesty’s pleasure that you receive into your garrison lord Robert Bertie’s regiment to do duty there; and in case you should apprehend that the French intend to make any attempt upon his majesty’s island of Minorca, it is his majesty’s pleasure that you make a detachment out of the troops of your garrison equal to a battalion, to be commanded by a lieutenant-colonel and major; such lieutenant-colonel and major to be the eldest in your garrison, to be put on board the fleet for the relief of Minorca, as the admiral shall think expedient, who is to carry them to the said island. I am, your humble servant, B.”

To Lieut. Gen. Fowke, or, in his absence, to the Commander-in-Chief at Gibraltar. War-office, March 26,1756. “Sir,—I am commanded to acquaint you, that it is his majesty’s pleasure, in case the island of Minorca should be in any likelihood of being attacked, that you make a detachment from the troops in your garrison equal to a battalion, commanded by a lieutenant-colonel and major, for the relief of that place, to be put on board the fleet, at the disposition of the admiral: such lieutenant-colonel and major to be the eldest in your garrison.”

To Lieut. Gen. Fowke, or, in his absence, to the Commander-in-chief in his Majesty’s garrison of Gibraltar. War-office, April 1, 1756. “Sir,—It is his majesty’s pleasure, that you receive into your garrrison the women and children belonging to lord Robert Bertie’s regiment.”

To Lieut. Gen. Fowke, or the Commander-in-Chief at Gibraltar. War-office, May 12, 1756. “Sir,—I wrote to you by general Steward: if that order is not complied with, then you are now to make a detachment of seven hundred men out of your own regiment and Guise’s; and also another detachment out of Pulteney’s and Panmure’s regiments, and send them on board the fleet for the relief of Mahon. But if that order has been complied with, then you are to make only one detachment of seven hundred men, to be commanded by another lieutenant-colonel and major, and to send it to Mahon; and you are also to detain all such empty vessels as shall come into your harbour, and keep them in readiness for any further transportation of troops. I have also his royal highness the duke of Cumberland’s commands, to desire that you will keep your garrison as alert as possible during this critical time, and give such other assistance as may be in your power for the relief of Minorca; taking care, however, not to fatigue or endanger your own garrison.”]

387 (return)
[ Note 3 C, p. 387. His majesty seems to have abated of this respect in the sequel, if we may believe the assertions of his Polish majesty’s queen and the court of Vienna, who affirmed, that sentinels were posted within the palace where the queen and royal family resided; as also at the door of the secret cabinet, where the papers relating to foreign transactions were deposited. The keys of this cabinet were seized, and all the writings demanded. The whole Saxon ministry were discharged from their respective employments, and a new commission was established by the king of Prussia for the administration of affairs in general. When the queen entreated this prince to remove the sentinels posted within the palace and contiguous passages, agreeably to his assurances that all due respect should be observed towards the royal family, the king ordered the guards to be doubled, and sent an officer to demand of her majesty the keys of the secret cabinet. The queen obtained this officer’s consent that the doors should be sealed up, but afterwards he returned with orders to break them open: then her majesty, placing herself before the door, said, she trusted so much to the promise of the king of Prussia, that she could not believe he had given such orders. The officer declaring that his orders were positive, and that he durst not disobey them, she continued in the same place, declaring, that if violence was to be used, he must begin with her. The officer returning to acquaint the king with what had passed, her majesty conjured the ministers of Prussia and England to remind his majesty of his promise; but her representations had no effect: the officer returned with fresh orders to use force, in spite of the opposition she might make against it in person. The queen, finding herself in danger of her life, at length withdrew: the doors were forced, the chests broke open, and all the papers seized.]

388 (return)
[ Note 3 D, p. 388. The letter was to the following effect:—“Veldt-Mareschal Count Rutowski, It is not without extreme sorrow I understand the deplorable situation, which a chain of misfortunes has reserved for you, the rest of my generals, and my whole army; but we must acquiesce in the dispensations of Providence, and console ourselves with the rectitude of our sentiments and intentions. They would force me, it seems, as you gave me to understand by major-general the baron de Dyherrn, to submit to conditions the more severe, in proportion as the circumstances become more necessitous. I cannot hear them mentioned. I am a free monarch: such I will live; such I will die; and I will both live and die with honour. The fate of my army I leave wholly to your discretion. Let your council of war determine whether you must surrender prisoners of war, fall by the sword, or die by famine. May your resolutions, if possible, be conducted by humanity: whatever they may be, I have no longer any share in them; and I declare you shall not be answerable for aught but one thing, namely, not to carry arms against me or my allies. I pray God may have you, Mr. Mareschal, in his holy keeping.—Given at Koningstein, the 14th of October, 1756. “AUGUSTUS, Kex.” “To the Veldt-Mareschal the Count Rutowski.”

392 (return)
[ Note 3 E, p. 392. Rear-admiral Knowles being, in the month of December, one thousand seven hundred and forty-nine, tried at Deptford, before a court-martial, for his behaviour in and relating to an action which happened on the first day of October in the preceding year, between a British squadron under his command, and a squadron of Spain, the court was unanimously of opinion, that the said Knowles, while he was standing for the enemy, might, by a different disposition of his squadron, have begun the attack with six ships as early in the day as four of them were engaged; and that, therefore, by his neglecting so to do, he gave the enemy a manifest advantage; that the said Knowles remained on board the ship Cornwall with his flag, after she was disabled from continuing the action, though he might, upon her being disabled, have shifted his flag on board another ship; and the court were unanimously of opinion he ought to have done so, in order to have conducted and directed, during the whole action, the motions of the squadron intrusted to his care and conduct. Upon consideration of the whole conduct of the said Knowles, relating to that action, the court did unanimously agree that he fell under part of the fourteenth article of the articles of war, namely, the word negligence, and no other; and also under the twenty-third article.—The court, therefore, unanimously adjudged, that he should be reprimanded for not bringing up the squadron in closer order than he did, and not beginning the attack with as great force as he might have done; and also for not shifting his flag, upon the Cornwall’s being disabled.]

395 (return)
[ Note 3 F, p. 395. It was enacted, that persons pawning, exchanging, or disposing of goods, without leave of the owner, should suffer in the penalty of twenty shillings; and, on non-payment, be committed for fourteen days to hard labour; afterwards, if the money could not be then paid, to be whipped publicly in the house of correction, or such other place as the justice of the peace should appoint, on publication of the prosecutor; that every pawnbroker should make entry of the person’s name and place of abode who pledges any goods with him; and the pledger, if he require it, should have a duplicate of that entry; that a pawnbroker receiving linen or apparel intrusted to others to be washed or mended, should forfeit double the sum lent upon it, and restore the goods; that upon oath of any person whose goods are unlawfully pawned or exchanged, the justice should issue a warrant to search the suspected person’s house; and upon refusal of admittance the officer might break open the door; that goods pawned for any sum not exceeding ten pounds might be recovered within two years, the owner making oath of the pawning, and tendering the principal, interest, and charges; that goods remaining unredeemed for two years should be forfeited and sold, the overplus to be accounted for to the owner on demand.]

396 (return)
[ Note 3 G, p. 395. It likewise imported, that all contracts or agreements made between clothiers and weavers in respect to wages, should, from and after the first of May, in the year one thousand seven hundred and fifty-seven, be valid, notwithstanding any rate established, or to be established; but that these contracts or agreements should extend only to the actual prices or rates of workmanship or wages, and not to the payment thereof in any other manner than in money; and that if any clothier should refuse or neglect to pay the weaver the wages or price agreed on, in money, within two days after the work should be performed and delivered, the same being demanded, he should forfeit forty shillings for every such offence.]

401 (return)
[ Note 3 H, p. 401. Admiral F..... s’s reasons for not signing the warrant for admiral Byng’s execution.

“It may be thought great presumption in me to differ from so great authority as that of the twelve judges; but when a man is called upon to sign his name to an act which is to give authority to the shedding of blood, he ought to be guided by his own conscience, and not by the opinions of other men.

“In the case before us, it is not the merit of admiral Byng that I consider; whether he deserves death or not, is not a question for me to decide; but whether or not his life can be taken away by the sentence pronounced on him by the court-martial, and after having so clearly explained their motives for pronouncing such a sentence, is the point which alone has employed my serious consideration.

“The twelfth article of war, on which admiral Byng’s sentence is grounded, says (according to my understanding of its meaning), ‘That every person, who, in time of action, shall withdraw, keep back, or not come into fight, or do his utmost, &c. through motives of cowardice, negligence, or disaffection, shall suffer death.’ The court-martial does, in express words, acquit admiral Byng of cowardice and disaffection, and does not name the word negligence. Admiral Byng does not, as I conceive, fall under the letter or description of the twelfth article of war. It may be said that negligence is implied, though the word is not mentioned, otherwise the court-martial would not have brought his offence under the twelfth article, having acquitted him of cowardice and disaffection. But it must be acknowledged that the negligence implied cannot be wilful negligence; for wilful negligence in admiral Byng’s situation, must have proceeded either from cowardice or disaffection, and he is expressly acquitted of both these crimes; besides, these crimes, which are implied only and not named, may indeed justify suspicion and private opinion, but cannot satisfy the conscience in case of blood.

“Admiral Byng’s fate was referred to a court-martial, his life and death were left to their opinions. The court-martial condemn him to death, because, as they expressly say, they were under a necessity of doing so by reason of the letter of the law, the severity of which they complained of, because it admits of no mitigation. The court-martial expressly say, that for the sake of their consciences, as well as in justice to the prisoner, they most earnestly recommend him to his majesty for mercy; it is evident, then, that in the opinions and consciences of the judges he was not deserving of death.

“The question then is, shall the opinions or necessities of the court-martial determine admiral Byng’s fate? If it should be the latter, he will be executed contrary to the intentions and meaning of his judges; if the former, his life is not forfeited. His judges declare him not deserving of death; but, mistaking either the meaning of the law, or the nature of his offence, they bring him under an article of war, which, according to their own description of his offence, he does not, I conceive, fall under; and then they condemn him to death, because, as they say, the law admits of no mitigation. Can a man’s life be taken away by such a sentence? I would not willingly be misunderstood, and have it believed that I judge admiral Byng’s deserts; that was the business of a court-martial, and it is my duty only to act according to my conscience; which, after deliberate consideration, assisted by the best light a poor understanding can afford it, remains still in doubt, and therefore I cannot consent to sign a warrant whereby the sentence of the court-martial may be carried into execution; for I cannot help thinking, that however criminal admiral Byng may be, his life is not forfeited by that sentence. I do not mean to find fault with other men’s opinions; all I endeavour at is, to give reasons for my own; and all I desire or wish is, that I may not be misunderstood; I do not pretend to judge admiral Byng’s deserts, nor to give any opinion on the propriety of the act. “Signed, 6th Feb. 1757, at the Admiralty, ” J. F..... S.”]

419 (return)
[ Note 3 I, p. 419. “The Imperial grenadiers (says he) are an admirable corps; one hundred companies defended a rising ground, which my best infantry could not carry. Ferdinand, who commanded them, returned seven times to the charge; but to no purpose. At first he mastered a battery, but could not hold it. The enemy had the advantage of a numerous and well-served artillery. It did honour to Lichtenstein, who had the direction. Only the Prussian army can dispute it with him. My infantry were too few. All my cavalry were present, and idle spectators, excepting a bold push by my household troops, and some dragoons. Ferdinand attacked without powder; the enemy, in return, were not sparing of theirs. They had the advantage of a rising ground, of intrenchments, and of a prodigious artillery. Several of my regiments were repulsed by their musketry. Henry performed wonders. I tremble for my worthy brothers; they are too brave. Fortune turned her back on me this day. I ought to have expected it; she is a female, and I am no gallant. In fact, I ought to have had more infantry. Success, my dear lord, often occasions destructive confidence. Twenty-four battalions were not sufficient to dislodge sixty thousand men from an advantageous post. Another time we will do better. What say you of this league, which has only the marquis of Brandenburgh for its object? The great elector would be surprised to see his grandson at war with the Russians, the Austrians, almost all Germany, and an hundred thousand French auxiliaries. I know not whether it would be disgrace in me to submit, but I am sure there will be no glory in vanquishing me.”]

422 (return)
[ Note 3 K, p. 422. This remarkable capitulation, which we shall give here at full length, on account of the disputes that rose shortly after, concerning what the French called an infraction of it, was to the following effect:—

His majesty, the king of Denmark—touched with the distresses of the countries of Bremen and Verden, to which he has always granted his special protection; and being desirous, by preventing those countries from being any longer the theatre of war, to spare also the effusion of blood in the armies which are ready to dispute the possession thereof—hath employed his mediation by the ministry of the count de Lynar. His royal highness the duke of Cumberland, general of the army of the allies, on the one part, and his excellency the mareschal duke de Richelieu, general of the king of France’s forces in Germany, on the other, have, in consideration of the intervention of his Danish majesty, respectively engaged their word of honour to the count de Lynar, to abide by the convention hereafter stipulated; and he, the count de Lynar, correspondently to the magnanimity of the king his master’s intention, obliges himself to procure the guarantee mentioned in the present convention; so that it shall be sent to him, with his full powers, which there was no time to make out in the circumstances which hurried his departure.

Article I. Hostilities shall cease on both sides within twenty-four hours, or sooner, if possible. Orders for this purpose shall be immediately sent to the detached corps.

II. The auxiliary troops of the army of the duke of Cumberland, namely, those of Hesse, Brunswick, Saxe-Gotha, and even those of the count de la Lippe Bucke-bourg, shall be sent home; and as it is necessary to settle particularly their march to their respective countries, a general officer of each nation shall be sent from the army of the allies, with whom shall be settled the route of those troops, the divisions they shall march in, their subsistence on their march, and their passports to be granted them by his excellency the duke de Richelieu to go to their own countries, where they shall be placed and distributed as shall be agreed upon between the court of France and their respective sovereigns.

III. His royal highness the duke of Cumberland obliges himself to pass the Elbe, with such part of his army as he shall not be able to place in the city of Stade; that the part of his forces which shall enter into garrison in the said city, and which it is supposed may amount to between four and six thousand men, shall remain there under the guarantee of his majesty the king of Denmark, without committing any act of hostility; nor, on the other hand, shall they be exposed to any of the French troops. In consequence thereof, commissaries, named on each side, shall agree upon the limits to be fixed round that place, for the convenieucy of the garrison; which limits shall not extend beyond half a league or a league from the place, according to the nature of the ground or circumstances, which shall be fairly settled by the commissaries. The rest of the Hanoverian army shall go and take quarters in the country beyond the Elbe; and, to facilitate the march of those troops, his excellency the duke de Richelieu shall concert with a general officer, sent from the Hanoverian army, the route they shall take; obliging himself to give the necessary passports and security for the free passage of them and their baggage, to the places of their destination; his royal highness the duke of Cumberland reserving to himself the liberty of negotiating between the two courts for an extension of those quarters. As to the French troops, they shall remain in the rest of the duchies of Bremen and Verden, till the definitive reconciliation of the two sovereigns.

IV.. As the aforesaid articles are to be executed as soon as possible, the Hanoverian army, and the corps which are detached from it, particularly that which is at Buck Schantz and the neighbourhood, shall retire under Stade in the space of eight-and-forty hours. The French army shall not pass the river Oste, in the duchy of Bremen, till the limits be regulated. It shall, besides, keep all the posts and countries of which it is in possession; and, not to retard the regulation of the limits between the armies, commissaries shall be nominated and sent on the 10th instant to Bremen-worden by his royal highness the duke of Cumberland, and his excellency the mareschal duke de Richelieu, to regulate, as well the limits to be assigned to the French army, as those that are to be observed by the garrison at Stade, according to Art. III.

V. All the aforesaid articles shall be faithfully executed, according to their form and tenor, and under the faith of his majesty the king of Denmark’s guarantee, which the count de Lynar, his minister, engages to procure.

Done at the camp at Closter-Seven, 8th Sept. 1757. (Signed) WILLIAM.

SEPARATE ARTICLES. Upon the representation made by the count de Lynar, with a view to explain some dispositions made by the present convention, the following articles have been added:—

I. It is the intention of his excellency the mareschal duke de Richelieu, that the allied troops of his royal highness the duke of Cumberland shall be sent back to their respective countries, according to the form mentioned in the second article; and that, as to their separation and distribution in the country, it shall be regulated between the courts, those troops not being considered as prisoners of war.

II. It having been represented that the country of Lunenberg cannot accommodate more than fifteen battalions and six squadrons, and that the city of Stade cannot absolutely contain the garrison of six thousand men allotted to it, his excellency the mareschal duke de Richelieu, being pressed by M. de Lynar, who supported this representation by the guarantee of his Danish majesty, gives his consent; and his royal highness the duke of Cumberland engages to cause fifteen battalions and six squadrons to pass the Elbe, and the whole body of hunters, and the remaining ten battalions and twenty-eight squadrons shall be placed in the town of Stade, and the places nearest to it that are within the line, which shall be marked by posts from the mouth of the Liche in the Elbe, to the mouth of the Elmerbeck in the river Oste; provided always, that the said ten battalions and twenty-eight squadrons shall be quartered there as they are at the time of signing this convention, and shall not be recruited under any pretext, or augmented in any case; and this clause is particularly guaranteed by the count de Lynar in the name of his Danish majesty.

III. Upon the representation of his royal highness the duke of Cumberland, that the army and the detached corps cannot both retire under Stade in eight-and-forty hours, agreeable to the convention, his excellency the mareschal duke de Richelieu hath signified, that he will grant them proper time, provided the corps encamped at Buck Schantz, as well as the army encamped at Bremen-worden, begin their inarch to retire in four-and-twenty hours after signing the convention. The time necessary for other arrangements, and the execution of the articles concerning the respective limits, shall be settled between lieutenant-general Sporcken, and the marquis de Villemar, first lieutenant-general of the king’s army. Done, &c]

433 (return)
[ Note 3 L, p. 433. The letter, which was written in French, we have translated for the reader’s satisfaction:—“I am informed that the design of a treaty of neutrality for the electorate of Hanover is not yet laid aside. Is it possible that your majesty can have so little fortitude and constancy, as to be dispirited by a small reverse of fortune? Are affairs so ruinous that they cannot be repaired? I hope your majesty will consider the step you have made me hazard, and remember that you are the sole cause of these misfortunes that now impend over my head. I should never have abandoned the alliance of France, but for your flattering assurances. I do not now repent of the treaty I have concluded with your majesty: but I expect you will not ingloriously leave me at the mercy of my enemies, after having brought upon me all the force of Europe. I depend upon your adhering to your repeated engagements of the twenty-sixth of last month, and that you will listen to no treaty in which I am not comprehended.”]

438 (return)
[ Note 3 M, p. 438. It was enacted, That every person subscribing for five hundred pounds, should be entitled to four hundred and fifty in annuities, and fifty pounds in lottery tickets, and so in proportion for a greater or lesser sum; that the lottery should consist of tickets of the value of ten pounds each, in a proportion not exceeding eight blanks to a prize; the blanks to be of the value of six pounds each; the blanks and prizes to bear an interest after the rate of three pounds per cent., to commence from the first day of January, in the year one thousand seven hundred and fifty-nine; and that the sum of four millions five hundred thousand pounds, to be raised by annuities, should bear an interest after the rate of three pounds ten shillings percent, from the fifth day of July in the present year; which annuities should stand reduced to three pounds per cent, after the expiration of twenty-four years, and afterwards he redeemable in the whole, or in part, by sums not less than five hundred thousand pounds, at one time: six months’ notice having been first given of such payments respectively; that any subscriber might, on or before the twenty-ninth day of April, make a deposit of ten pounds per cent, on such sums as he should choose to subscribe towards raising these five millions, with the cashiers of the bank, as a security for his future payments on the days appointed for that purpose; that the several sums so received by the cashiers should be paid into the receipt of the exchequer, to be applied from time to time to such services as should then have been voted by the house of commons in this session of parliament, and not otherwise; that any subscriber, paying the whole or any part of his subscription previous to the clays appointed for the respective payments, should be allowed a discount at the rate of three per cent, from the days of such respective payments to the respective times on which such payments were directed to be made, and that all persons who should make their full payments on the said lottery, should receive their tickets as soon as they could be conveniently made out.]

440 (return)
[ Note 3 N, p. 440. Among those rendered perpetual, we find an act of the 13th and 14th of Charles II. for preventing theft and rapine. An act of the 9th of George I. for punishing persons going armed in disguise. A clause in the act of the 6th of George II. to prevent the breaking down the bank of any river; and another clause in the said act, to prevent the treacherous cutting of hop-binds. Several clauses in an act of the 10th of George II. for punishing persons setting on fire any mine, &c. The temporary part of the act of the 20th of George II. for taking away the hereditary jurisdictions of Scotland, relating to the power of appealing to circuit courts. Those continued were,—1. An act of the 12th of George II. for granting liberty to carry sugar, &c, until the twenty-ninth of September, in the year one thousand seven hundred and sixty-four, and to the end of next session of parliament. 2. An act of the 5th of George II. to prevent frauds by bankrupts, &c., for the same period. 3. An act of the 8th of George II. for encouraging the importation of naval stores, &c, for the same period. 4. An act of the 19th of George II. for preventing frauds in the admeasurement of coals, &c. until June 24, 1759; and to this was added a perpetual clause for preventing the stealing or destroying of madder roots. 5. An act of the 9th George II. for encouraging the manufacture of British sail-cloth until the twenty-ninth of September, one thousand seven hundred and sixty-four. 6. An act of the 4th of George II. for granting an allowance upon British-made gunpowder, for the same period. 7, An act of the 4th of George II. for encouraging the trade of the sugar colonies, until the twenty-ninth of September, one thousand seven hundred and sixty-one. And 8, so much of the act of the 15th and 16th of George II. to empower the importers of rum, &c, as relates to landing it before the payment of duties, until the 29th of September, one thousand seven hundred and sixty-four.]

461 (return)
[ Note 3 O, p. 461. Translation of the Letter written by the Duke of Brunswick to his brother Prince Ferdinand. “Sir,—I know you too well to doubt that the situation in which we stand at present, with respect to each other, gives you abundance of uneasiness; nor will you doubt that it gives me equal concern. Indeed, it afflicts me greatly. Meanwhile I could never, my dearest brother, have believed that you would be the person who should carry away from me my eldest son. I am exceedingly mortified to find myself under the hard necessity of telling you that this step is contrary to the law of nations, and the constitution of the empire; and that, if you persist in it, you will disgrace your family, and bring a stain upon your country, which you pretend to serve. The hereditary prince, my son, was at Hamburgh by my order, and you have carried him to Stade. Could he distrust his uncle,—an uncle who hath done so much honour to his family? Could he believe that this uncle would deprive him of liberty, a liberty never refused to the lowest officer? I ordered him to make a tour to Holland: could not the lowest officer have done as much? Let us suppose for a moment that my troops, among whom he served, were to have staid with the Hanoverians, would it not have been still in my power to give an officer leave of absence, or even leave to resign his commission? And would you hinder your brother, the head of your family, and of such a family as ours, to exercise this right with regard to a son, who is the hereditary prince, of whose rights and prerogatives you cannot be ignorant? It is impossible you could have conceived such designs, without the suggestion of others. Those who did suggest them have trampled on the rights of nature, of nations, and of the princes of Germany; they have induced you to add to all these the most cruel insult on a brother whom you love, and who always loved you with the warmest affection. Would you have your brother lay his just complaints against you before the whole empire, and all Europe? Are not your proceedings without example? What is Germany become? What are its princes become, and our house in particular? Is it the interest of the two kings, the cause of your country, and my cause that you pretend to support?—I repeat it, brother, that this design could not have been framed by you. I again command my son to pursue his journey and I cannot conceive you will give the least obstruction; if you should (which I pray God avert), I solemnly declare that I will not be constrained by such measures, nor shall I ever forget what I owe to myself. As to my troops, you may see what I have written on that head to the Hanoverian ministry. The duke of Cumberland, by the convention of Closter-Seven, dismissed them, and sent them home; the said ministry gave me notice of this convention, as a treaty by which I was bound. The march of the troops was settled; and an incident happening, they halted: that obstacle being removed, they were to have continued their march. The court of Hanover will be no longer bound by the convention, while I not only accepted it upon their word, but have also, in conformity with their instructions, negotiated at Versailles, and at Vienna. After all these steps, they would have me contradict myself, break my word, and entirely ruin my estate, as well as my honour. Did you ever know your brother guilty of such things? True it is, I have, as you say, sacrificed my all; or rather, I have been sacrificed. The only thing left me is my honour; and in the unhappy contrast of our situations, I lament both you and myself, that it should be from you, my dear brother, I should receive the cruel advice to give up my honour. I cannot listen to it: I cannot recede from my promise. My troops, therefore, must return home, agreeably to what the duke of Cumberland and the Hanoverian ministry stipulated with regard to me in the strongest manner. I am afraid that the true circumstances of things are concealed from you. Not to detain your express too long, I shall send you, by the post, copies of all I have written to the Hanoverian ministry. It will grieve your honest heart to read it. I am, with a heart almost broken, yet full of tenderness for you, your, &c. “Blanckenbourg, Nov. 27,1757.”]

467 (return)
[ Note 3 P, p. 467. A detail of the cruelties committed by those barbarians cannot be read without horror. They not only burned a great number of villages, but they ravished, rifled, murdered, and mutilated the inhabitants, without distinction of age or sex, without any other provocation or incitement than brutal lust and wantonness of barbarity. They even violated the sepulchres of the dead, which have been held sacred among the most savage nations. At Camin and Breckholtz they forced open the graves and sepulchral vaults, and stripped the bodies of generals Schlaberndorf and Ruitz, which had been deposited there. But the collected force of their vengeance was discharged against Custrin, the capital of the New Marche of Brandenburgh, situated at the conflux of the Warta and the Oder, about fifteen English miles from Franckfort. The particulars of the disaster that befel this city, are particularly related in the following extracts from a letter written by an inhabitant and eye-witness.

“On the thirteenth of August, about three o’clock in the afternoon, a sudden report was spread that a body of Russian hussars and cossacks appeared in sight of the little suburb. All the people were immediately in motion, and the whole city was filled with terror, especially as we were certainly informed that the whole Russian army was advancing from Meseric and Konigswalda, by the way of Landsberg. A reinforcement was immediately sent to our piquet-guard, in the suburb, amounting, by this junction, to three hundred men, who were soon attacked by the enemy, and the skirmish lasted from four till seven o’clock in the evening. During this dispute, we could plainly perceive, from our ramparts and church-steeple, several persons of distinction mounted on English horses, reconnoitring our fortification through perspective glasses. They retired, however, when our cannon began to fire: then our piquet took possession of their former post in the suburb; and the reinforcement we had sent from the city returned, after having broken down the bridge over the Oder. Next day count Dohna, who commanded the army near Franckfort, sent in a reinforcement of four battalions, ten squadrons, and a small body of hussars, under the command of lieutenant-general Scherlemmer. The hussars and a body of dragoons were added to the piquet of the little suburb; the four battalions pitched their tents on the Anger, between the suburbs and the fortification; and the rest of the dragoons remained in the field to cover the long suburb. General Scherlemmer, attended by our governor, colonel Schuck, went with a small party to observe the enemy; but were obliged to retire, and were pursued by the cossacks to the walls of the city. Between four and five o’clock next morning the poor inhabitants were roused from their sleep by the noise of the cannon, intermingled with the dismal shrieks and hideous yellings of the cossacks belonging to the Russian army. Alarmed at this horrid noise, I ascended the church-steeple, from whence I beheld the whole plain, extending from the little suburb to the forest, covered with the enemy’s troops, and our light horse, supported by the infantry, engaged in different places with their irregulars. At eight I descried a body of the enemy’s infantry, whose van consisted of four or five thousand men, advancing towards the vineyard, in the neighbourhood of which they had raised occasional batteries in the preceding-evening; from these they now played on our piquet-guard and hussars, who were obliged to retire. They then fired, en ricochet, on the tents and baggage of the four battalions encamped on the Anger, who were also compelled to retreat. Having thus cleared the environs, they threw into the city such a number of bombs and red-hot bullets, that by nine in the morning it was set on fire in three different places; and, the streets being-narrow, it burned with such fury that all our endeavours to extinguish it proved ineffectual. At this time the whole atmosphere appeared like a shower of fiery rain and hail; and the miserable inhabitants thought of nothing but saving their lives by running into the open fields. The whole place was filled with terror and consternation, and resounded with the shrieks of women and children, who ran about in the utmost distraction, exposed to the shot and bomb-shells, which, bursting, tore in pieces every thing that stood in their way. As I led my wife, with a young child in her arms, and drove the rest of my children and servants half naked before me, those instruments of death and devastation fell about us like hail; but, by the mercy of God, we all escaped unhurt. Nothing could be more melancholy and affecting than a sight of the wretched people flying in crowds, and leaving their all behind, while they rent the sky with their lamentations. Many women of distinction I saw without shoes and stockings, and almost without clothes, who had been roused from their beds, and ran out naked into the streets. When my family had reached the open plain, I endeavoured to return, and save some of my effects; but I could not force my way through a multitude of people, thronging out at the gate, some sick and bed-ridden persons being carried on horseback and in carriages, and others conveyed on the backs of their friends, through a most dreadful scene of horror and desolation. A great number of families from the open country, and the defenceless towns in Prussia and Pomerania, had come hither for shelter with their most valuable effects, when the Russians first entered the king’s territories. These, as well as the inhabitants, are all ruined; and many, who a few days ago possessed considerable wealth, are now reduced to the utmost indigence. The neighbouring-towns and villages were soon crowded with the people of Custrin; the roads were filled with objects of misery; and nothing was seen but nakedness and despair; nothing heard but the cries of hunger, fear, and distraction. For my own part, I stayed all night at Goitz, and then proceeded for Berlin. Custrin is now a heap of ruins. The great magazine, the governor’s house, the church, the palace, the store and artillery-houses; in a word, the old and new towns, the suburbs, and all the bridges, were reduced to ashes; nay, after the ashes were destroyed, the piles and sterlings were burned to the water’s edge. The writings of all the colleges, together with the archives of the country, were totally consumed, together with a prodigious magazine of corn and flour, valued at four millions of crowns. The cannon in the arsenal were all melted; and the loaded bombs and cartridges, with a large quantity of gunpowder, went off at once with a most horrid explosion. A great number of the inhabitants are missing, supposed to have perished in the flames, or under the ruins of the houses, or to have been suffocated in the subterraneous vaults and caverns, to which they had fled for safety.

Nothing could be more inhuman, or contrary to the practice of a generous enemy, than such vengeance wreaked upon the innocent inhabitants; for the Russians did not begin to batter the fortifications until all the rest of the place was destroyed. In the course of this campaign, the Russian cossacks are said to have plundered and burned fourteen large towns and two hundred villages, and wantonly butchered above two thousand defenceless women and children. Such monsters of barbarity ought to be excluded from all the privileges of human nature, and hunted down as wild beasts without pity or cessation. What infamy ought these powers to incur, who employ and encourage such ruthless barbarians?]

468 (return)
[ Note 3 Q, p. 468. As very little notice was taken, in the detail published by authority, of any part which this great man acted in the battle of Hochkirchen, and a report was industriously circulated in this kingdom, that he was surprised in his tent, naked, and half asleep,—we think it the duty of a candid historian to vindicate his memory and reputation from the foul aspersion thrown by the perfidious and illiberal hand of envious malice, or else contrived to screen some other character from the imputation of misconduct. The task we are enabled to perform by a gentleman of candour and undoubted credit, who learned the following particulars at Berlin from a person that was eye-witness of the whole transaction. Field-mareschal Keith, who arrived in the camp the very day that preceded the battle, disapproved of the situation of the Prussian army, and remonstrated to the king on that subject. In consequence of his advice, a certain general was sent with a detachment to take possession of the heights that commanded the village of Hochkirchcn; but by some fatality he miscarried. Mareschal Keith was not in any tent, but lodged with prince Francis of Brunswick, in a house belonging to a Saxon major. When the first alarm was given in the night, he instantly mounted his horse, assembled a body of the nearest troops, and marched directly to the place that was attacked. The Austrians had taken possession of the hill which the Prussian officer was sent to occupy, and this they fortified with cannon; then they made themselves masters of the village in which the free companies of Auginelli had been posted. Mareschal Keith immediately conceived the design of the Austrian general, and knowing the importance of this place, thither directed all his efforts. He in person led on the troops to the attack of the village, from whence he drove the enemy; but being overpowered by numbers continually pouring down from the hills, he was obliged to retire in his turn. He rallied his men, returned to the charge, and regained possession of the place; being again repulsed by fresh reinforcements of the enemy, he made another effort, entered the village a third time, and finding it untenable, ordered it to be set on fire. Thus he kept the Austrians at bay, and maintained a desperate conflict against the flower of the Austrian army, from four in the morning till nine, when the Prussians were formed, and began to file off in their retreat. During the whole dispute he rallied the troops in person, charged at their head, and exposed his life in the hottest of a dreadful fire, like a private captain of grenadiers. He found it necessary to exert himself in this manner, the better to remove the bad effects of the confusion that prevailed, and in order to inspirit the troops to their utmost exertion by his voice, presence, and example. Even when dangerously wounded, at eight in the morning, he refused to quit the field; but continued to signalize himself in the midst of the carnage until nine, when he received a second shot in his breast, and fell speechless into the arms of Mr. Tibay, an English volunteer, who had attended him during the whole campaign. This gentleman, who was likewise wounded, applied to a Prussian officer for a file of men to remove the mareschal, being uncertain whether he was entirely deprived of life. His request was granted; but the soldiers, in advancing to the spot, were countermanded by another officer. He afterwards spoke on the same subject to one of the Prussian generals, a German prince, as he chanced to pass on horseback: when Mr. Tibay told him the field-mareschal was lying wounded on the field, he asked if his wounds were mortal; and the other answering he was afraid they were, the prince shrugged up his shoulders, and rode off without further question. The body of this great officer, being thus shamefully abandoned, was soon stripped by the Austrian stragglers, and lay exposed and undistinguished on the field of battle. In this situation it was perceived by count Lasci, son of the general of that name, with whom mareschal Keith had served in Russia. This young count had been the mareschal’s pupil, and revered him as his military father, though employed in the Austrian service. He recognised the body by the large scar of a dangerous wound, which general Keith had received in his thigh at the siege of Oczakow, and could not help bursting into tears to see his honoured master thus extended at his feet, a naked, lifeless, and deserted corpse. He forthwith caused his body to be covered and interred. It was afterwards taken up, and decently buried by the curate of Hochkirchen; and finally removed to Berlin, by order of the king of Prussia, who bestowed upon it those funeral honours that were due to the dignified rank and transcendent merit of the deceased; merit so universally acknowledged, that even the Saxons lamented him as their best friend and patron, who protected them from violence and outrage, even while he acted a principal part in subjecting them to the dominion of his sovereign.

479 (return)
[ Note 3 R, p. 479. Among other transactions that distinguish the history of Great Britain, scarce a year glides away without producing some incident that strongly marks the singular character of the English nation. A very extraordinary instance of this nature, relating to the late duke of Marlborough, we shall record among the events of this year, although it derived its origin from the latter end of the last, and cannot be properly enumerated among those occurrences that appertain to general history. Towards the end of November, in the preceding year, the above-mentioned nobleman received, by the post, a letter directed “To his Grace the duke of Marlborough, with care and speed,” and containing this address:

“My Lord,—As ceremony is an idle thing upon most occasions, more especially to persons in my state of mind, I shall proceed immediately to acquaint you with the motive and end of addressing this epistle to you, which is equally interesting to us both. You are to know, then, that my present situation in life is such, that I should prefer annihilation to a continuance in it. Desperate diseases require desperate remedies; and you are the man I have pitched upon, either to make me or unmake yourself. As I never had the honour to live among the great, the tenor of my proposals will not be very courtly; but let that be an argument to enforce a belief of what I am now going to write. It has employed my invention for some time, to find out a method of destroying another without exposing my own life: that I have accomplished, and defy the law. Now, for the application of it. I am desperate, and must be provided for. You have it in your power: it is my business to make it your inclination to serve me, which you must determine to comply with, by procuring me a genteel support for my life, or your own will be at a period before this session of parliament is over. I have more motives than one for singling you out upon this occasion; and I give you this fair warning, because the means I shall make use of are too fatal to be eluded by the power of physic. If you think this of any consequence, you will not fail to meet the author on Sunday next, at ten in the morning, or on Monday (if the weather should be rainy on Sunday), near the first tree beyond the stile in Hyde-Park, in the foot-walk to Kensington. Secrecy and compliance may preserve you from a double danger of this sort, as there is a certain part of the world where your death has more than been wished for upon other motives. I know the world too well to trust this secret in any breast but my own. A few days determine me your friend or enemy. “FELTON.

“You will apprehend that I mean you should be alone; and depend upon it, that a discovery of any artifice in this affair will be fatal to you. My safety is insured by my silence, for confession only can condemn me.”

The duke, in compliance with this strange remonstrance, appeared at the time and place appointed, on horseback and alone, with pistols before him, and the star of his order displayed, that he might be the more easily known. He had likewise taken the precaution of engaging a friend to attend in the Park, at such a distance, however, as scarce to be observable. He continued some time on the spot without seeing any person he could suspect of having wrote the letter, and then rode away: but chancing to turn his head when he reached Hyde-Park-Corner, he perceived a man standing at the bridge, and looking at the water, within twenty yards of the tree which was described in the letter. He forthwith rode back at a gentle pace, and, passing by the person, expected to be addressed: but as no advance of this kind was made, he, in repassing, bowed to the stranger, and asked if he had not something to communicate? The man replying, “No, I don’t know you;” the duke told him his name, adding, “Now you know me, I imagine you have something to say to me.” But he still answered in the negative, and the duke rode home. In a day or two after this transaction, another letter was brought to him, couched in the following terms:

“My Lord,—You receive this as an acknowledgment of your punctuality as to the time and place of meeting on Sunday last, though it was owing to you it answered no purpose. The pageantry of being armed, and the ensign of your order, were useless and too conspicuous. You needed no attendant, the place was not calculated for mischief, nor was any intended. If you walk in the west aisle of Westminster Abbey, towards eleven o’clock on Sunday next, your sagacity will point the person whom you will address, by asking his company to take a turn or two with you. You will not fail, on inquiry, to be acquainted with the name and place of abode. According to which direction you will please to send two or three hundred pound bank-notes the next day by the penny post. Exert not your curiosity too early; it is in your power to make me grateful on certain terms. I have friends who are faithful, but they do not bark before they bite.—“I am, &c, F.”

The duke, determining if possible to unveil this mystery, repaired to the Abbey at the time prescribed; and, after having walked up and down for five or six minutes, saw the very same person to whom he had spoken in Hyde-Park, enter the Abbey with another man of a creditable appearance. This last, after they had viewed some of the monuments, went into the choir, and the other turning back advanced towards the duke, who, accosting him, asked him if he had anything to say to him,” or any commands for him? He replied, “No, my lord. I have not.”—“Sure you have,” said the duke; but he persisted in his denial. Then the duke, leaving him, took several turns in the aisle, while the stranger walked on the other side. But nothing further passed between them; and although the duke had provided several persons in disguise to apprehend the delinquent, he forebore giving the signal, that, notwithstanding appearances, he might run no risk of injuring an innocent person. Not long after this second disappointment he received a third letter, to the following effect:

“My Lord,—I am fully convinced you had a companion on Sunday: I interpret it as owing to the weakness of human nature; but such proceeding is far from being ingenuous, and may produce bad effects, whilst it is impossible to answer the end proposed. You will see me again soon, as it were by accident, and may easily find where I go to; in consequence of which, by being sent to, I shall wait on your grace, but expect to be quite alone, and to converse in whispers; you will likewise give your honour, upon meeting, that no part of the conversation shall transpire. These and the former terms complied with ensure your safety; my revenge, in case of non-compliance (or any scheme to expose me), will be slower, but not less sure; and strong suspicion the utmost that can possibly ensue upon it, while the chances would be tenfold against you. You will possibly be in doubt after the meeting, but it is quite necessary the outside should be a mask to the in. The family of the Bloods is not extinct, though they are not in my scheme.”

The expression, “You will see me again soon, as it were by accident,” plainly pointed at the person to whom he had spoke in the park and in the Abbey; nevertheless, he saw him not again, nor did he hear anything further of the affair for two months, at the expiration of which the post brought him the following letter:

“May it please your Grace,—I have reason to believe, that the son of one Barnard, a surveyor, in Abingdon-buildings, Westminster, is acquainted with some secrets that nearly concern your safety: his father is now out of town, which will give you an opportunity of questioning him more privately; it would be useless to your grace, as well as dangerous to me, to appear more publicly in this affair. “Your sincere friend, “ANONYMOUS. “He frequently goes to Storey’s-gate coffee-house.”

In about a week after this intimation was received, the duke sent a person to the coffee-house, to inquire for Mr. Barnard, and tell him he would be glad to speak to him. The message was delivered, and Barnard declared he would wait upon his grace next Thursday, at half an hour after ten in the morning. He was punctual to his appointment, and no sooner appeared than the duke recognised him to be the person to whom he had spoke in the Park and the Abbey. Having conducted him into an apartment, and shut the door, he asked, as before, if he had anything to communicate: and was answered, as formerly, in the negative. Then the duke repeated every circumstance of this strange transaction; to which Barnard listened with attention and surprise, yet without exhibiting any marks of conscious guilt or confusion. The duke observing that it was matter of astonishment to see letters of such import written with the correctness of a scholar; the other replied, that a man might be very poor and very learned at the same time. When he saw the fourth letter, in which his name was mentioned, with the circumstance of his father’s absence, he said, “If is very odd, my father was then out of town.” An expression the more remarkable, as the letter was without date, and he could not, as an innocent man, be supposed to know at what time it was written. The duke having made him acquainted with the particulars, told him, that if he was innocent he ought to use his endeavours-to detect the writer of the letters, especially of the last, in which he was expressely named. To this admonition he returned no other answer but a smile, and then withdrew.—He was afterwards taken into custody, and tried at the Old Bailey,for sending a threatening letter, contrary to the statute; but no evidence could be found to prove the letters were of his handwriting: nor did any presumption appear against him, except his being in Hyde-Park, and in Westminster Abbey, at the time and place appointed in the first two letters. On the other hand, Mr. Barnard proved, that, on the Sunday when he saw the duke in Hyde-Park, he was on his way to Kensington on particular business, by his father’s order, signified to him that very morning: that he accordingly went thither, and dined with his uncle, in company with several other persons, to whom he related what had passed between the duke of Marlborough and him in the Park: that his being afterwards in Westminster Abbey was the effect of mere accident: that Mr. James Greenwood, his kinsman, who had lain that preceding night at his father’s house, desired him to dress himself, that they might walk together in the Park; and he did not comply with his request till after much solicitation: that he proposed to enter the Park without passing through the Abbey, but was prevailed upon by Mr. Greenwood, who expressed a desire of seeing the newly-erected monument of general Hardgrave: that as he had formerly communicated to his friend the strange circumstance of the duke’s speaking to him in Hyde-park, Mr. Greenwood no sooner saw that nobleman in the Abbey, than he gave notice to Mr. Barnard, who was very short-sighted; and that from his passing them several times, concluding he wanted to speak with Mr. Barnard alone, he quitted him and retired into the choir, that they might commune together without interruption. It likewise appeared, from undoubted evidence, that Barnard had often mentioned openly to his friends and acquaintance, the circumstance of what passed between him and the duke in the Park and in the Abbey; that his father was a man of unblemished reputation, and in affluent circumstances; that he himself was never reduced to any want, or such exigence as might impel him to any desperate methods of obtaining money; that his fidelity had been often tried, and his life always irreproachable. For these reasons he was acquitted of the crime laid to his charge, and the mystery remains to this day undiscovered.

After all, the author of the letters does not seem to have had any real design to extort money, because the scheme was very ill calculated for that purpose; and indeed could not possibly take effect without the most imminent risk of detection. Perhaps his aim was nothing more than to gratify a petulance and peculiarity of humour, by alarming the duke, exciting the curiosity of the public, puzzling the multitude, and giving rise to a thousand ridiculous conjectures. If anything more was intended, and the duke earnestly desired to know the extent of the scheme, he might, when he closeted the person suspected, have encouraged him to a declaration, by promising inviolable secrecy on his word and honour, in which any man would have confided as a sacred obligation. On the whole, it is surprising that the death of the duke, which happened in the course of this year, was never attributed to the secret practices of this incendiary correspondent, who had given him to understand that his vengeance, though slow, would not be the less certain.]

485 (return)
[Note 3 S, p. 485. The next bill that fell under the cognizance of the house, related to a law transaction, and was suggested by a petition presented in the name of the sheriffs, and grantees of post-fines under the crown of England. They enumerated and explained the difficulties under which they laboured, in raising and collecting these fines within the respective counties; particularly when the estate conveyed by fine was no more than a right of reversion, in which case they could not possibly levy the post-fine, unless the purchaser should obtain possession within the term of the sheriffalty, or pay it of his own free will, as they could not distrain while the lands were in possession of the donee. They therefore proposed a method for raising these post-fines, by a proper officer to be appointed for that purpose; and prayed that leave might be given to bring in a bill accordingly. This petition was seconded by a message from the king, importing, that his majesty, as far as his interest was concerned, gave his consent that the house might act in this affair as they should think propel.

The commons, in a committee of the whole house, having taken into consideration the merits of the petition, formed several resolutions; upon which a bill was founded for the more regular and easy collecting, accounting for, and paying of post-fines, which should be due to the crown, or to the grantees thereof under the crown, and for the ease of sheriffs in respect to the same. Before it passed into a law, however, it was opposed by a petition in favour of one William Daw, a lunatic, clerk of the king’s silver office, alleging, that should the bill pass, it would deprive the said Daw and his successors of an ancient fee belonging to his office, on searches made for post-fines by the under sheriffs of the several counties; therefore, praying that such provision might be made for the said lunatic as to the house should seem just and reasonable. This, and divers other petitions respecting the bill being discussed in the committee, it underwent several amendments, and was enacted into a law; the particulars of which cannot be properly understood without a previous explanation of this method of conveying estates; a subject obscure in itself, founded upon a seeming subterfuge of law, scarce reconcileable with the dictates of common sense, and consequently improper for the pen of an historian.]

490 (return)
[ Note 3 T, p. 490. As the curiosity of the reader may be interested in these resolutions, we shall here insert them for his satisfaction. The committee resolved, that the ell ought to contain one yard and one quarter, according to the yard mentioned in the third resolution of the former committee upon the subject of weights and measures; that the pole, or perch, should contain in length five such yards and a half; the furlong two hundred and twenty; and the mile one thousand seven hundred and sixty: that the superficial perch should contain thirty square yards and a quarter; the rood one thousand two hundred and ten; and the acre four thousand eight hundred and forty: that according to the fourth, fifth, and sixth resolutions of the former committee, upon the subject of weights and measures, agreed to by the house on the second day of June in the preceding year, the quart ought to contain seventy cubical inches and one half; the pint thirty-five and one quarter; the peck five hundred and sixty-four; and the bushel two thousand two hundred and fifty-six. That the several parts of the pound, mentioned in the eighth resolution of the former committee, examined and adjusted in presence of this committee,—viz. the half pound or six ounces, quarter of a pound or three ounces, two ounces, one ounce, two half ounces, the five-penny weight, three-penny weight, two-penny weight, and one-penny weight, the twelve grains, six grains, three grains, two grains, and two of one grain each,—ought to be the models of the several parts of the said pound, and to be used for sizing or adjusting weights for the future. That all weights exceeding a pound should be of brass, copper, bell-metal, or cast-iron; and all those of cast-iron should be made in the form, and with a handle of hammered iron, such as the pattern herewith produced, having the mark of the weight cast in the iron; and all the weights of a pound, or under, should be of gold, silver, brass, copper, or bell-metal. That all weights of cast-iron should have the initial letters of the name of the maker upon the upper bar of the handle; and all other weights should have the same, together with the mark of the weight, according to this standard, upon some convenient part thereof. That the yard, mentioned in the second resolution of the former committee upon the subject of weights and measures, agreed to by the house in the last session, being the standard of length, and the pound mentioned in the eighth resolution, being the standard of weight, ought to be deposited in the court of the receipt of the exchequer, and the chief baron, and the seal of office of the chamberlain of the exchequer, and not to be opened but by the order and in the presence of the chancellor of the exchequer and chief baron for the time being. That the most effectual means to ascertain uniformity in measures of length and weight, to be used throughout the realm, would he to appoint certain persons, at one particular office, with clerks and workmen under them, for the purpose only of fixing and adjusting, for the use of the subjects, all measures of length, and all weights, being parts, multiples, or certain proportions of the standards to be used for the future. That a model or pattern of the said standard yard, mentioned in the second resolution of the former committee, and now in the custody of the clerk of the house, and a model or pattern of the standard pound, mentioned in the eighth resolution of that committee, together with models or patterns of the parts of the said pound now presented to the house, and also of the multiples of the said pound, mentioned in this report (when the same are adjusted), should be kept in the said office, in custody of the said persons to be appointed for sizing weights and measures, under the seal of the chief baron of the exchequer for the time being; to be opened only by order of the said chief baron, in his presence, or the presence of one of the barons of the exchequer, on the application of the said persons, for the purpose of correcting and adjusting, as occasion should require, the patterns or models used at the said office, for sizing measures of length and weight delivered out to the subjects. That models or patterns of the said standard yard and standard pound aforesaid, and also models or patterns of the parts and multiples aforesaid of the said pound, should be lodged in the said office for the sizing of such measures of length or weight, as, being parts, multiples, or proportions of the said standards, should hereafter he required by any of his majesty’s subjects. That all measures of length and weight, sized at the said office, should be marked in some convenient part thereof, with such marks as should be thought expedient, to show the identity of the measures and weights sized at the said office, and to discover any frauds that may be committed therein. That the said office should he kept within a convenient distance of the court of exchequer at Westminster; and all the measures of length and weight, within a certain distance of London, should be corrected and re-assized, as occasion should require, at the said office. That, in order to enforce the uniformity in weights and measures to be used for the future, all persons appointed by the crown to act as justices of the peace in any county, city, or town corporate, being respectively counties within themselves, throughout the realm, should be empowered to hear and determine, and put the law in execution, in respect to weights and measures only, without any of them being obliged to sue out a dedimus, or to act in any other matter; and the said commissioners should be empowered to sue, imprison, inflict, or mitigate such penalties as should be thought proper; and have such other authorities as should be necessary for compelling the use of weights and measures, agreeably to the aforesaid standards. The models or patterns of the said standard yard and pound, and of the parts and multiples thereof, before-mentioned, should be distributed in each county, in such a manner as to be readily used for evidence in all eases where measures and weights should be questioned before the said commissioners, and for adjusting the same in a proper manner.]

504 (return)
[ Note 3 U, p. 504. The letter was to this effect: To their excellencies Messrs. Hopson and Moore, general officers of his Britannic Majesty at Basseterre. “Gentlemen—I have received the letter which your excellencies have done me the honour to write, of the twenty-fifth. You make me proposals which could arise from nothing but the facility with which you have got possession of the little town and citadel of Basseterre; for otherwise you ought to do me the justice to believe they could not be received. You have strength sufficient to subdue the exteriors of the island; but with respect to the interiors, the match between us is equal. As to the consequences that may attend my refusal, I am persuaded they will be no other than such as are prescribed by the laws of war. Should we be disappointed in this particular, we have a master powerful enough to revenge any injury we may sustain. “I am, with respect, “Gentlemen, “Your most obedient servant, “Nadau D’Etreil.” It is pretty remarkable, that the apprehension of cruel usage from the English, who are undoubtedly the most generous and humane enemies under the sun, not only prevailed among the common French soldiery throughout this whole war, but even infected officers of distinction, who ought to have been exempted from these prejudices, by a better acquaintance with life, and more liberal turn of thinking.]

505 (return)
[ Note 3 X, p. 505. The reasons assigned by the commodore for his conduct in this particular are these:—The bay of Dominique was the only place in which he could rendezvous and unite his squadron. Here he refreshed his men, who were grown sickly in consequence of subsisting on salt provisions. Here he supplied his ships with plenty of fresh water. Here he had intercourse once or twice every day with general Barrington, by means of small vessels which passed and repassed from one island to the other. By remaining in this situation, he likewise maintained a communication with the English Leeward Islands, which being in a defenceless condition, their inhabitants were constantly soliciting the commodore’s protection; and here he supported the army, the commander of which was unwilling that he should remove to a greater distance. Had he sailed to Port-Royal, he would have found the enemy’s squadron so disposed, that he could not have attacked them, unless M. de Bompart had been inclined to hazard an action. Had he anchored in the bay, all his cruisers must have been employed in conveying provisions and stores to the squadron. There he could not have procured either fresh provisions or water; nor could he have had any communication with, or intelligence from, the army in the Leeward Islands, in less than eight or ten days.]

511 (return)
[ Note 3 Y, p. 511. The following anecdote is so remarkable, and tends so much to the honour of the British soldiery, that we insert it without fear of the reader’s disapprobation:—Captain Ochterlony and ensign Peyton belonged to the regiment of brigadier-general Mouckton. They were nearly of an age, which did not exceed thirty: the first was a North Briton, the other a native of Ireland. Both were agreeable in person, and unblemished in character, and connected together by the ties of mutual friendship and esteem. On the day that preceded the battle, captain Ochterlony had been obliged to fight a duel with a German officer, in which, though he wounded and disarmed his antagonist, yet he himself received a dangerous hurt under the right arm, in consequence of which his friends insisted on his remaining in camp during the action of the next day, but his spirit was too great to comply with this remonstrance. He declared it should never be said that a scratch, received in a private rencounter, had prevented him from doing his duty, when his country required his service; and he took the field with a fusil in his hand, though he was hardly able to carry his arms. In leading up his men to the enemy’s intrenchment, he was shot through the lungs with a musquet ball, an accident which obliged him to part with his fusil: but he still continued advancing; until, by the loss of blood, he became too weak to proceed farther. About the same time Mr. Peyton was lamed by a shot, which shattered the small hone of his left leg. The soldiers, in their retreat, earnestly begged, with tears in their eyes, that captain Ochterlony would allow them to carry him and the ensign off the field. But he was so bigoted to a severe point of honour, that he would not quit the ground, though he desired they would take care of his ensign. Mr. Peyton, with a generous disdain, rejected their good offices, declaring, that he would not leave his captain in such a situation; and in a little time they remained the sole survivors of that part of the field.

Captain Ochterlony sat down by his friend; and, as they expected nothing but immediate death, they took leave of each other. Yet they were not altogether abandoned by the hope of being protected as prisoners: for the captain, seeing a French soldier with two Indians approach, started up, and accosting them in the French language, which he spoke perfectly well, expressed his expectation that they would treat him and his companion as officers, prisoners, and gentlemen. The two Indians seemed to be entirely under the conduct of the Frenchman, who coming up to Mr. Peyton, as he sat on the ground, snatched his laced hat from his head, and robbed the captain of his watch and money. This outrage was a signal to the Indians for murder and pillage. One of them, clubbing his firelock, struck at him behind, with a view to knock him down; but the blow missing his head, took place upon his shoulder. At the same instant the other Indian poured his shot into the breast of this unfortunate young gentleman; who cried out, “Oh, Peyton, the villain has shot me.” Not yet satisfied with cruelty, the barbarian sprung upon him, and stabbed him in the belly with his scalping-knife. The captain having parted with his fusil, had no weapon for his defence, as none of the officers wore swords in the action. The three ruffians, finding him still alive, endeavoured to strangle him with his own sash; and he was now upon his knees, struggling against them with surprising exertion. Mr. Peyton, at this juncture, having a double-barrelled musket in his hand, and seeing the distress of his friend, fired at one of the Indians, who dropped dead upon the spot. The other thinking the ensign would now be an easy prey, advanced towards him; and Mr. Peyton, having taken good aim at the distance of four yards, discharged his piece the second time, but it seemed to take no effect. The savage fired in his turn, and wounded the ensign in his shoulder; then, rushing upon him, thrust his bayonet through his body. He repeated the blow, which Mr. Peyton attempting to parry, received another wound in his left hand: nevertheless, he seized the Indian’s musket with the same hand, pulled him forwards, and with his right drawing a dagger which hung by his side, plunged it in the barbarian’s side. A violent struggle ensued: but at length Mr. Peyton was uppermost; and, with repeated strokes of his dagger, killed his antagonist outright. Here he was seized with an unaccountable emotion of curiosity, to know whether his shot had taken place on the body of the Indian: he accordingly turned him up; and, stripping off his blanket, perceived that the ball had penetrated quite through the cavity of the breast. Having thus obtained a dear-bought victory, he started up on one leg; and saw captain Ochterlony standing at the distance of sixty yards, close by the enemy’s breastwork, with the French soldier attending him. Mr. Peyton then called aloud,—“Captain Ochterlony, I am glad to see you have at last got under protection. Beware of that villain, who is more barbarous than the savages. God bless you, my dear captain! I see a party of Indians coming this way, and expect to be murdered immediately.” A number of those barbarians had for some time been employed on the left, in scalping and pillaging the dying and the dead that were left upon the field of battle; and above thirty of them were in full march to destroy Mr. Peyton. This gentleman knew he had no mercy to expect; for, should his life be spared for the present, they would have afterwards insisted upon sacrificing him to the manes of their brethren whom he had slain; and in that case he would have been put to death by the most excruciating tortures. Full of this idea, he snatched up his musket, and, notwithstanding his broken leg, ran about forty yards without halting: feeling himself now totally disabled, and incapable of proceeding one step farther, he loaded his piece, and presented it to the two foremost Indians, who stood aloof, waiting to be joined by their fellows; while the French, from their breastworks, kept up a continual fire of cannon and small arms upon this poor solitary and maimed gentleman. In this uncomfortable situation he stood, when he discerned at a distance a Highland officer, with a party of his men, skirting the plain towards the field of battle. He forthwith waved his hand in signal of distress, and being perceived by the officer, he detached three of his men to his assistance. These brave fellows hastened to him through the midst of a terrible fire, and one of them bore him off on his shoulders. The Highland officer was captain Macdonald of colonel Frasor’s battalion; who, understanding that a young gentleman, his kinsman, had dropped on the field of battle, had put himself at the head of this party, with which he penetrated to the middle of the field, drove a considerable number of the French and Indians before him, and finding his relation still unscalped, carried him off in triumph. Poor captain Ochterlony was conveyed to Quebec, where in a few days he died of his wounds. After the reduction of that place, the French surgeons who attended him declared, that in all probability he would have recovered of the two shots he had received in his breast, had he not been mortally wounded in the belly by the Indian’s scalping-knife.

As this very remarkable scene was acted in sight of both armies, general Townshend, in the sequel, expostulated with the French officers upon the inhumanity of keeping up such a severe fire against two wounded gentlemen who were disabled, and destitute of all hope of escaping. They answered that the fire was not made by the regulars, but by the Canadians and savages, whom it was not in the power of discipline to restrain.]

513 (return)
[ Note 3 Z, p. 513. How far the success of this attempt depended upon accident, may be conceived from the following particulars:—In the twilight, two French deserters were carried on board a ship of war, commanded by captain Smith, and lying at anchor near the north shore. They told him that the garrison of Quebec expected that night to receive a convoy of provisions, sent down the river in boats from the detachment above, commanded by M. de Bouganville. These deserters, standing upon deck, and perceiving the English boats with the troops gliding down the river in the dark, began to shout and make a noise, declaring they were part of the expected convoy, captain Smith, who was ignorant of general Wolfe’s design, believing their affirmation, had actually given orders to point the guns at the British troops; when the general, perceiving a commotion on board, rowed alongside in person and prevented the discharge, which would have alarmed the town, and entirely frustrated the attempt.

The French had posted sentries along shore, to challenge boats and vessels, and give the alarm occasionally. The first boat that contained the English troops being questioned accordingly, a captain of Eraser’s regiment, who had served in Holland, and who was perfectly well acquainted with the French language and customs, answered without hesitation to Qui vit? which is their challenging word, La France: nor was he at a loss to answer the second question, which was much more particular and difficult. When the sentinel demanded a quell regiment? to what regiment? the captain replied, De la Reine; which he knew, by accident, to be one of those that composed the body commanded by Bougainville. The soldier took it for granted this was the expected convoy; and saying Passe, allowed all the boats to proceed without further question. In the same manner the other sentries were deceived; though one, more wary than the rest, came running down to the water’s edge, and called, “Pourquoi est ce que vous ne parlez plus haut? Why don’t you speak with an audible voice?” To this interrogation, which implied doubt, the captain answered, with admirable presence of mind, in a soft tone of voice, “Tai toi! nous serons entendues!Hush! we shall be overheard and discovered!” Thus cautioned, the sentry retired without further altercation. The midshipman who piloted the first boat, passing by the landing place in the dark, the same captain, who knew it from his having been posted formerly with his company on the other side of the river, insisted on the pilot’s being mistaken; and commanded the rowers to put ashore in the proper place, or at least very near it.

When general Wolfe landed, and saw the difficulty of ascending the precipice, he said to the same officer in a familiar strain, “I don’t believe there is any possibility of getting up; but you must do your endeavour.” The narrow path that slanted up the hill from the landing place the enemy had broken up, and rendered impassible by cross ditches, besides the intrenchment at the top: in every other part the hill was so steep and dangerous, that the soldiers were obliged to pull themselves up by the roots and boughs of trees growing on both sides of the path.]

515 (return)
[ Note 4 A, p. 515 The chagrin and mortification of Lally are strongly marked in the following intercepted letter to M. de Legret, dated from the camp before Madras:—

“A good blow might be struck here: there is a ship in the road, of twenty guns, laden with all the riches of Madras, which it is said will remain there till the 20th. The expedition is just arrived, but M. Gerlin is not a man to attack her; for she has made him run away once before. The Bristol, on the other hand, did but just make her appearance before St. Thomas; and, on the vague report of thirteen ships coming from Porto-Novo, she took fright; and, after landing the provisions with which she was laden, she would not stay long enough even to take on board twelve of her own guns, which she had lent us for the siege.

“If I was the judge of the point of honour of the company’s officers, I would break him like glass, as well as some others of them.

“The Fidelle, or the Harlem, or even the aforesaid Bristol, with her twelve guns restored to her, would be sufficient to make themselves masters of the English ship, if they could manage so as to get to windward of her in the night. Maugendre and Tremillier are said to be good men; and were they employed only to transport two hundred wounded men that we have here, their service would be of importance.

“We remain still in the same position: the breach made these fifteen clays, all the time within fifty toises of the wall of the place, and never holding up our heads to look at it.

“I reckon we shall, on our arrival at Pondieherry, endeavour to learn some other trade, for this of war requires too much patience.

“Of one thousand five hundred sepoys which attended our army, I reckon near eight hundred are employed upon the road to Pondieherry, laden with sugar, pepper, and other goods; and as for the coulis, they are all employed for the same purpose, from the first day we came here.

“I am taking my measures from this day to set fire to the Black-town, and to blow up the powder-mills.

“You will never imagine that fifty French deserters, and one hundred Swiss, are actually stopping the progress of two thousand men of the king and company’s troops, which are still here existing, notwithstanding the exaggerated accounts that every one makes here according to his own fancy, of the slaughter that has been made of them; and you will be still more surprised if I tell you, that, were it not lor the combats and four battles we sustained, and for the batteries which failed, or, to speak more properly, which were unskilfully made, we should not have lost fifty men, from the commencement of the siege to this day. I have written to M. de Larche, that if he persists in not coming here, let who will raise money upon the Poleagers for me, I will not do it; and I renounce (as I informed you a month ago I would do) meddling directly or indirectly with any thing whatever that may have relation to your administration, whether civil or military. For I had rather go and command the Caffrees of Madagascar than remain in this Sodom, which it is impossible but the fire of the English must destroy sooner or later, even though that from heaven should not. “I have the honour to be, &c. &c. (Signed) “LALLY.”

“P. S.—I think it necessary to apprize you, that as M. de Soupire has refused to take upon him the command of this army, which I have offered to him, and which he is empowered to accept, by having received from the court a duplicate of my commission, you must of necessity, together with the council, take it upon you. For my part, I undertake only to bring it back either to Arcot or Sadraste. Send, therefore, your orders, or come yourselves to command it; for I shall quit it upon my arrival there.”]

521 (return)
[ Note 4 B, p. 521. That the general was not pleased with the behaviour of lord George Sackville, may be gathered from the following compliment to the marquis of Granby, implying a severe reflection upon his superior in command.

Orders of his serene highness prince Ferdinand of Brunswick, relative to the behaviour of the troops under him, at the famous battle near Minden, on the first of August, 1759.

“His serene highness ordered his greatest thanks to be given to the whole army, for their bravery and good behaviour yesterday, particularly to the English infantry, and the two battalions of Hanoverian guards; to all the cavalry of the left wing; and to general Wan-genheim’s corps, particularly the regiment of Holstein, the Hessian cavalry, the Hanoverian regiment du corps, and Hammerstin’s; the same to all the brigades of heavy artillery. His serene highness declares publicly, that, next to God, he attributes the glory of the day to the intrepidity and extraordinary good behaviour of these troops, which he assures them he shall retain the strongest sense of as long as he lives; and if ever, upon any occasion, he shall be able to serve these brave troops, or any of them in particular, it will give him the utmost pleasure. His serene highness orders his particular thanks to be likewise given to general Sporeken, the duke of Holstein, lieutenant-generals Imhoff and Urf. His serene highness is extremely obliged to the count de Buckebourg, for his extraordinary care and trouble in the management of the artillery, which was served with great effect: likewise to the commanding officers of the several brigades of artillery, viz. colonel Browne, lieutenant-colonel Hutte, Major Hasse, and the three English captains, Philips, Drummond, and Foy. His serene highness thinks himself infinitely obliged to major-generals Waldegrave and Kingsley, for their great courage, and the good order in which they conducted their brigades. His serene highness further orders it to be declared to lieutenant-general the marquis of Grandby, that he is persuaded that, if he had had the good fortune to have had him at the head of the cavalry of the right wing, his presence would have greatly contributed to make the decision of that day more complete and more brilliant. In short, his serene highness orders that those of his suite whose behaviour he most admired be named, as the duke of Richmond, colonel Fitzroy, captain Ligonier, colonel Watson, captain Wilson, aidecamp to major-general Waldegrave, adjutant, generals Erstorff, Bulow, Durendolle, the counts Tobe and Malerti; his serene highness having much reason tobe satisfied with their conduct. And his serene highness desires and orders the generals of the army, that upon all occasions when orders are brought to them by his aids-de-camp, that they may be obeyed punctually, and without delay.”]

522 (return)
[ Note 4 C, p. 522. The following extracts of letters from the duke de Belleisle to the mareschal de Contades, will convey some idea of the virtue, policy, and necessities of the French ministry:—

“I am still afraid that Fischer sets out too late: it is, however, very important, and very essential, that we should raise large contributions. I see no other resource for our most urgent expenses, and for refitting the troops, but in the money we may draw from the enemy’s country, from whence we must likewise procure subsistence of all kinds (independently of the money), that is to say, hay, straw, oats for the winter, bread, corn, cattle, horses, even men to recruit our foreign troops. The war must not be prolonged; and perhaps it may be necessary, according to the events which may happen between this time and the end of September, to make a downright desert before the line of the quarters which it may be thought proper to keep during the winter, in order that the enemy may be under a real impossibility of approaching us: at the same time reserving for ourselves a bare subsistence on the route which may be the most convenient for us to take, in the middle of winter, to beat up or seize upon the enemy’s quarters. That this object may be fulfilled, I cause the greatest assiduity to be used in preparing what is necessary for having all your troops, without exception, well clothed, well armed, well equipped, and well refitted, in every respect, before the end of November, with new tents; in order that, if it should be advisable for the king’s political and military affairs, you may be able to assemble the whole or part of your army, to act offensively and with vigour, from the beginning of January; and that you may have the satisfaction to show your enemies and all Europe, that the French know how to act and carry on war in all seasons, when they have such a general as you are, and a minister of the department of war that can foresee and concert matters with the general.

“You must be sensible, sir, that what I say to you may become not only useful and honourable, but perhaps even necessary, with respect to what you know, and of which I shall say no more in a private letter.

“M. duc de BELLEISLE.”

“After observing all the formalities due to the magistrates of Cologne, you must seize on their great artillery by force, telling them that you do so for their own defence against the common enemy of the empire; that you will restore them when their city has nothing further to fear, &c. After all, you must take everything you have occasion for, and give them receipts for it.—

“You must, at any rate, consume all sorts of subsistence on the higher Lippe, Paderborn, and Warsburg; you must destroy everything which you cannot consume, so as to make a desert of all Westphalia, from Lipstadt and Munster, as far as the Rhine, on one hand: and on the other, from the higher Lippe and Paderborn, as far as Cassel; that the enemy may find it quite impracticable to direct their march to the Rhine, or the lower Roer; and this with regard to your army, and with regard to the army under M. de Soubise, that they may not have it in their power to take possession of Cassel, and much less to march to Marburg, or to the quarters which he will have along the Lahn, or to those which you will occupy, from the lower part of the left side of the Roer, and on the right side of the Rhine, as far as Dusseldorp, and at Cologne.”—

“You know the necessity of consuming or destroying, as far as is possible, all the subsistence, especially the forage betwixt the Weser and the Rhine on the one hand, and on the other betwixt the Lippe, the bishopric of Paderborn, the Dymel, the Fulda, and the Nerra; and so to make a desert of Westphalia and Hesse.”—

“Although the prince of Waldeck appears outwardly neutral, he is very ill-disposed, and deserves very little favour. You ought, therefore, to make no scruple of taking all you find in that territory: but this must be done in an orderly manner, giving receipts, and observing the most exact discipline. All the subsistence you leave in this country will fall to the enemy’s share, who will, by that means, be enabled to advance to the Lahn, and towards the quarters which you are to occupy on the left side of the Roer. It is therefore a precaution become in a manner indispensably necessary, to carry it all away from thence.”—

“The question now is, what plan you shall think most proper for accomplishing, in the quickest and surest manner, our great purpose: which must be to consume, carry off, or destroy, all the forage and subsistence of the country which we cannot keep possession of.”—

“The upper part of the Lippe, and the country of Paderborn, are the most plentiful; they must therefore be eat to the very roots.”.....

“You did mighty well to talk in the most absolute tone with regard to the necessaries Racroth and Duysbourg must furnish our troops: it is necessary to speak in that tone to Germans; and you will find your account in using the same to the regencies of the elector of Cologne, and still more to that of the palatine.

“After using all becoming ceremony, as we have the power in our hands, we must make use of it, and draw from the country of Bergue what shall be necessary for the subsistence of the garrison of Dusseldorp, and of the light troops, and reserve what may be brought thither from Alsace and the bishoprics for a case of necessity.”]

523 (return)
[ Note 4 D, p. 523. The following declarations were published by count Dohna, the Prussian general, on his entering Poland with a body of Prussian troops.

On the 15th of June.

His Prussian majesty, finding himself under a necessity to cause part of his armies to enter the territories of the republic of Poland, in order to protect them against the threatened invasion of the enemy; declares that,—

It must not be understood that his majesty, by this step taken, intends to make any breach in the regard he has always had for the illustrious republic of Poland, or to lessen the good understanding which has hitherto subsisted between them: but, on the contrary, to strengthen the same, in expectation that the illustrious republic will on its part act with the like neighbourly and friendly good-will as is granted to the enemy, than which nothing more is desired.

The nobility, gentry, and magistracy, in their respective districts, between the frontiers of Prussia, so far as beyond Posen, are required to furnish all kinds of provisions, corn, and forage necessary to support an army of 40,000 men, with the utmost despatch, with an assurance of being paid ready money for the same. But if, contrary to expectation, any deficiency should happen in supplying this demand, his majesty’s troops will be obliged to forage, and use the same means as those taken by the enemy for their subsistence.

In confidence, therefore, that the several jurisdictions upon the Prussian frontiers, within the territories of Poland, will exert themselves to comply with this demand as soon as possible, for the subsistence of the royal army of Prussia, they are assured that thereby all disorders will be prevented, and whatever is delivered will be paid for in ready money.

On the 17th of June. It was with the greatest astonishment that the king, my most gracious lord and master, heard that several of his own subjects had suffered themselves to be seduced from their allegiance, so far as to enter into the service of a potentate with whom he is at war; his majesty, therefore, makes known by these presents, that all of his subjects serving in the enemy’s armies, who shall be taken with arms in their hands, shall, agreeable to all laws, be sentenced to be hanged without mercy, as traitors to their king and country, of which all whom it may concern are desired to take notice, &c.

On the 22nd of June. We invite and desire that the nobility, archbishops, bishops, abbeys, convents, seignories, magistrates, and inhabitants of the republic of Poland, on the road to Posnania, and beyond it, would repair in person or by deputies, in the course of this week, or as soon after as possible, to the Prussian head-quarters, there to treat with the commander-in-chief, or the commissary at war, for the delivery of forage and provisions for the subsistence of the army, to be paid for with ready money.

We promise and assure ourselves that no person in Poland will attempt to seduce the Prussian troops to desert; that no assistance will be given them in such perfidious practices; that they will neither be sheltered, concealed, nor lodged; which would be followed by very disagreeable consequences: we expect, on the contrary, that persons of all ranks and conditions will stop any runaway or deserter, and deliver him up at the first advanced post, or at the head-quarters; and all expenses attending the same shall be paid, and a reasonable gratification superadded.

If any one hath inclination to enter into the king of Prussia’s service, with an intention to behave well and faithfully, he may apply to the head-quarters, and be assured of a capitulation for three or four years.

If any prince or member of the republic of Poland be disposed to assemble a body of men, and to join in a troop or in a company of the Prussian army, to make a common cause with it, he may depend on a gracious reception, and that due regard will be shown to his merit, &c.]

526 (return)
[ Note 4 E, p. 526. The obstinacy of the powers in opposition to Great Britain and Prussia appeared still more remarkable in their slighting the following declaration, which duke Louis of Brunswick delivered to their ministers at the Hague, in the month of December, after Quebec was reduced, and the fleet of France totally defeated:

“Their Britannic and Prussian majesties, moved with compassion at the mischief which the war that has been kindled for some years has already occasioned, and must necessarily produce, would think themselves wanting to the duties of humanity, and particularly to their tender concern for the preservation and well-being of their respective kingdoms and subjects, if they neglected the proper means to put a stop to the progress of so severe a calamity, and to contribute to the re-establishment of public tranquillity. In this view, and in order to manifest the purity of their intentions in this respect, their said majesties have determined to make the following declaration, viz.—

“That they are ready to send plenipotentiaries to the place which, shall be thought most proper, in order there to treat, conjointly, of a solid and general peace with those whom the belligerent parties should think fit to authorize, on their part, for the attaining so salutary an end.”]

529 (return)
[ Note 4 F, p. 529. Abstract of the report made to his Catholic majesty by the physicians appointed to examine the prince royal, his eldest son, in consequence of which his royal highness was declared incapable of succeeding to the throne of Spain. Translated from the original, published at Naples, Sept. 27.

1. Though his royal highness don Philip is thirteen years old, he is of low stature; and yet the king his father, and the queen his mother, are both of a very proper height.

2. His royal highness has some contraction in his joints; though he can readily move, and make use of them upon all occasions.

3. His royal highness is apt to stoop and to hold down his head as people of weak eyes often do.

4. The prince most evidently squints: and his eyes frequently water and are gummy, particularly his left eye: though we cannot say he is blind, but are rather certain of the contrary, as his royal highness can without doubt distinguish objects, both as to their colour and situation.

5. In his natural functions, and the most common sensations, he is sometimes indifferent to things that are convenient for him, and at other times is too warm and impetuous. In general, his passions are not restrained by reason.

6. The prince has an obstinate aversion to some kind of common food, such as fruits, sweetmeats, &c.

7. All sorts of noise or sound disturb and disconcert him; and it has the same effect whether it be soft and harmonious, or harsh and disagreeable.

8. The impressions that he receives from pain or pleasure are neither strong nor lasting; and he is utterly unacquainted with all the punctilios of politeness and good-breeding.

9. As to facts and places, he sometimes remembers them, and sometimes not; but he seems not to have the least idea of the mysteries of our holy religion.

10. He delights in childish amusements; and those which are the most boisterous please him best. He is continually changing them, and shifting from one thing to another.

Signed by Don Francis Beniore, chief physician to the king and kingdom; Don Emmanuel de la Rosa, physician to the queen; and the physicians Cæsar Ciribue, Don Thomas Pinto, Don Francis Sarrao, and Don Dominique San Severino.]

535 (return)
[ Note 4 G, p. 535. By this law it was enacted, that if any militia-man, who shall have been accepted and enrolled as a substitute, hired man, or volunteer, before the passing of the act, or who shall have been chosen by lot, whether before or after the passing of the act, shall, when embodied, or called out into actual service, and ordered to march, leave a family unable to support themselves, the overseers shall, by order of some one justice of the peace, pay out of the poor’s rates of such parish a weekly allowance to such family, according to the usual and ordinary price of labour and husbandry there; viz. for one child under the age of ten years, the price of one day’s labour; for two children under the age aforesaid, the price of two days’ labour; for three or four children under the age aforesaid, the price of three days’ labour; for five or more children under the age aforesaid, the price of four days’ labour; and for the wife of such militia-man, the price of one day’s labour; but that the families of such men only as shall be chosen by lot, and of the substitutes, hired men, and volunteers already accepted and enrolled, shall, after the passing of this act, receive any such weekly allowance. For removing the grievance complained of in the above petition, it is enacted, that where treasurers shall reimburse to overseers any money in pursuance of this act, on account of the weekly allowance to the family of any militia-man serving in the militia of any county or place other than that wherein such family shall dwell, they are to transmit an account thereof, signed by some justice for the place where such family shall dwell, to the treasurer of the county, &c. in the militia whereof such militia-man shall serve, who is thereupon to pay him the sum so reimbursed to such overseers, and the same to be allowed in his accounts.]

536 (return)
[ Note 4 H, p. 536. The openings to be made, and the passages to be improved and enlarged, were ascertained by two schedules annexed to the act. With respect to the houses, buildings, and grounds to be purchased, the mayor, aldermen, and commons of the city, in common council assembled, or a committee appointed by them, were empowered to fix the price by agreement, with the respective proprietors, or otherwise by a jury in the usual manner. With regard to party-walls, the act ordains, that the proprietor of either adjoining house may compel the proprietor of the other to agree to its being pulled down and rebuilt, and pay a moiety of the expense even though it should not be necessary to pull down or rebuild either of their houses: that all party-walls shall be at least two bricks and a half in thickness in the cellar, and two bricks thick upwards to the top of the garret-floor. It enacts, that if any decayed house belongs to several proprietors, any one of them, who is desirous to rebuild, may oblige the others to concur, and join with him in the expense, or purchase their shares at a price to be fixed by a jury. If any house should hereafter be presented by any inquest or grand jury in London, as being in a ruinous condition, the court of mayor and aldermen is, by this act, empowered to pull it down at the expense of the ground landlords. As to damaged pavements, not sufficiently repaired by the proprietors of the water-works, any justice of the peace in London is vested with power, upon their refusing or delaying to make it good, to cause it to be effectually relaid with good materials at their expense.]

538 (return)
[ Note 4 I, p. 538. The following declaration made to the chiefs of the opposition will render the memory of the late prince of Wales dear to latest posterity:—

His royal highness has authorized lord T. and sir F. D. to give the most positive assurances to the gentlemen in the opposition, of his upright intentions; that he is thoroughly convinced of the distresses and calamities that have befallen, and every day are more likely to befal this country; and therefore invites all well wishers to this country and its constitution to coalesce and unite with him, and upon the following principle only.—

His royal highness promises, and will declare it openly, that it is his intention totally to abolish any distinctions for the future of parties; and as far as lies in his power, and as soon as it does lie in his power, to take away for ever all proscription from any set of men whatever who are friends to the constitution; and therefore will promote for the present, and when it is in his power will immediately grant,—

First, A bill to empower all gentlemen to act as justices of the peace, paying land-tax for £300 per annum in any county where he intends to serve.

Secondly, His royal highness promises, in like manner, to support, and forthwith grant, whenever he shall have it in his power, a bill to create and establish a numerous and effectual militia throughout the kingdom.

Thirdly, His royal highness promises, in like manner, to promote and support, and likewise grant, when it is in his power, a bill to exclude all military officers in the land-service under the degree of colonels of regiments, and in the sea-service under the degree of rear-admirals, from sitting in the house of commons.

Fourthly, His royal highness promises that he will, when in his power, grant inquiries into the great number of abuses in offices, and does not doubt of the assistance of all honest men, to enable him to correct the same for the future.

Fifthly, His royal highness promises, and will openly declare, that he will make no agreement with, or join in the support of, any administration whatever, without previously obtaining the above-mentioned points in behalf of the people, and for the sake of good government. Upon these conditions, and these conditions only, his royal highness thinks he has a right not to doubt of having a most cordial support from all those good men who mean their country and this constitution well, and that they will become his and his family’s friends, and unite with him, to promote the good government of this country, and that they will follow him, upon these principles, both in court and out of court; and if he should live to form an administration, it should be composed, without distinction, of men of dignity, knowledge, and probity. His royal highness further promises to accept of no more, if offered to him, than £800,000 for his civil list, by way of rent-charge.

Answer to the foregoing proposal.

The lords and gentlemen to whom a paper has been communicated, containing his royal highness the prince’s gracious intentions upon several weighty and important points, of the greatest consequence to the honour and interest of his majesty’s government, and absolutely necessary for the restoring and perpetuating the true use and design of parliament, the purity of our excellent constitution, and the happiness and welfare of the whole nation, do therein with the greatest satisfaction observe, and most gratefully acknowledge, the uprightness and generosity of his royal highness’s noble sentiments and resolutions. And therefore beg leave to return their most dutiful and humble thanks for the same: and to assure his royal highness that they will constantly and steadily use their utmost endeavours to support those his wise and salutary purposes, that the throne may be strengthened, religion and morality encouraged, faction and corruption destroyed, the purity and essence of parliament restored, and the happiness and welfare of our constitution preserved.

When the above answer was returned to the prince, there were present, The Duke of B.—The Earl of L.—The Earl of S.—The Earl of T.—The Earl of W.—The Earl of S.—Lord F.—Lord W.—Sir Wat. Wil. Wynne.—Sir John H. C—Sir Walter B.—Sir Robert G.—Mr. F.—Mr. F.—Mr. C.]

547 (return)
[ Note 4 K, p. 547.

Ultimo die Octobris anno ab incarnationo

MDCCLX.

Auspicatissimo principe Georgio Tertio

Regnnm jam ineunte,

Pontis hujus, in reipublicæ commodum

Urbisque majestatem

(Latè turn flagrante bello)

à S. P. Q. L. suscepti,

Primum lapidem posuit

Thomas Chitty, miles,

Prætor;

Roberto Mylne, architecte

Utque apud posteros extet monumentum

Voluntatis suæ erga virum,

Qui vigore ingenii, animi constantia,

Probitatis et virtutis suæ felici quâdam contagione,

(Favente Deo,

Fautisque Georgii Secundi auspiciis!)

Imperium Britannicum

In Asia, Africa, et America

Restituit, auxit, et stabilivit;

Necnon patriæ antiquum honorem et auctoritateni

Inter Europæ gentes instauravit;

Gives Londinenses, uno consensu,

Huic ponti inscribi voluerunt nomen

GULIELMI PITT.]

549 (return)
[ Note 4 L, p. 549. This attempt was conducted in the following manner, having doubtless been concerted with the two-and-twenty hostages who resided in the fort. On the sixteenth day of February, two Indian women appearing at Keowee, on the other side of the river, Mr. Dogharty, one of the officers of the fort, went out to ask them what news. While he was engaged in conversation with these females, the great Indian warrior Ocunnastota joined them, desired he would call the commanding officer, to whom he said he had something to propose. Accordingly, lieutenant Cotymore appearing, accompanied by ensign Bell, Dogharty, and Foster the interpreter, Ocunnastota told him he had something of consequence to impart to the governor, whom he proposed to visit, and desired he might be attended by a white man as a safeguard. The lieutenant assuring him he should have a safeguard, the Indian declared he would then go and catch a horse for him; so saying, he swung a bridle twice over his head, as a signal; and immediately twenty-five or thirty muskets, from different ambuscades, were discharged at the English officers. Mr. Cotymore received a shot in his left breast, and in a few days expired: Mr. Bell was wounded in the calf of the left leg, and the interpreter in the buttock. Ensign Milne, who remained in the fort, was no sooner informed of this treachery, than he ordered the soldiers to shackle the hostages; in the execution of which order one man was killed on the spot, and another wounded in his forehead with a tomahawk; circumstances which, added to the murder of the lieutenant, incensed the garrison to such a degree, that it was judged absolutely necessary to put the hostages to death without further hesitation. In the evening a party of Indians approached the fort, and firing two signal pieces, cried aloud in the Cherokee language—“Fight manfully, and you shall be assisted.” They then began an attack; and continued firing all night upon the fort, without doing the least execution. That a design was concerted between them and the hostages appeared plainly from the nature of the assault; and this suspicion was converted into a certainty next day, when some of the garrison, searching the apartment in which the hostages lay, found a bottle of poison, probably designed to be emptied into the well, and several tomahawks buried in the earth; which weapons had been privately conveyed to them by their friends, who were permitted to visit them without interruption. On the third day of March, the fort of Ninety-six was attacked by two hundred Cherokee Indians with musketry, which had little or no effect; so that they were forced to retire with some loss, and revenged themselves on the open country, burning and ravaging all the houses and plantations belonging to English settlers in this part of the country, and all along the frontiers of Virginia. Not contented with pillaging and destroying the habitations, they wantoned in the most horrible barbarities; and their motions were so secret and sudden, that it was impossible for the inhabitants to know where the storm would burst, or take proper precautions for their own defence; so that a great number of the back settlements were totally abandoned.]

550 (return)
[ Note 4 M, p. 550. The garrison of Quebec, during the winter, repaired above five hundred houses which had been damaged by the English cannon, built eight redoubts of wood, raised foot-banks along the ramparts, opened embrasures, mounted artillery, blocked up all the avenues of the suburbs with a stockade, removed eleven months’ provisions into the highest parts of the city, and formed a magazine of four thousand fascines. Two hundred men were posted at Saint Foix, and twice the number at Lorette. Several hundred men marched to Saint Augustin, brought off the enemy’s advanced guard, with a great number of cattle, and disarmed the inhabitants. By these precautions the motions of the French were observed, the avenues of Quebec were covered, and their dominions secured over eleven parishes, which furnished them with some fresh provisions, and other necessaries for subsistence. Sixteen thousand cords of wood being wanted for the hospitals, guards, and quarters, and the method of transporting it from the isle of Orleans being found slow and difficult, on account of the floating ice in the river, a sufficient number of hand-sledges were made, and two hundred wood-fellers set at work in the forest of Saint Foix, where plenty of fuel was obtained, and brought into the several regiments by the men that were not upon duty. A detachment of two hundred men being sent to the other side of the river, disarmed the inhabitants, and compelled them to take the oath of allegiance: by this step the English became masters of the southern side of St. Laurence, and were supplied with good quantities of fresh provision. The advanced posts of the enemy were established at Point au Tremble, Saint Augustin, and Le Calvaire; the main body of their army quartered between Trois Rivieres and Jaques Quartier. Their general, having formed the design of attacking Quebec in the winter, began to provide snow-shoes or rackets, scaling-ladders, and fascines, and make all the necessary preparations for that enterprise. He took possession of Point Levi, where he formed a magazine of provisions; great part of which, however, fell into the hands of the English; for, as soon as the river was frozen over, brigadier Murray despatched thither two hundred men; at whose approach the enemy abandoned their magazine, and retreated with great precipitation. Here the detachment took post in a church until they could build two wooden redoubts, and mount them with artillery. In the meantime, the enemy returning with a greater force to recover the post, some battalions, with the light infantry, marched over the ice, in order to cut off their communication; but they fled with great confusion, and afterwards took post at Saint Michael, at a considerable distance farther down the river. They now resolved to postpone the siege of Quebec, that they might carry it on in a more regular manner. They began to rig their ships, repair their small craft, build galleys, cast bombs and bullets, and prepare fascines and gabions; while brigadier Murray employed his men in making preparations for a vigorous defence. He sent out a detachment, who surprised the enemy’s posts at Saint Augustin, Maison Brûlée, and Le Calvaire, where they took ninety prisoners. He afterwards ordered the light infantry to possess and fortify Cape Bouge, to prevent the enemy’s landing at that place, as well as to be nearer at hand to observe their motions; but when the frost broke up, so that their ships could fall down the river, they landed at Saint Augustin; and the English posts were abandoned one after another, the detachments retiring without loss into the city.]

558 (return)
[ Note 4 N, p. 558. A translation of the Declaration delivered by the Austrian minister residing at the Hague, to his serene highness Prince Louis of Brunswick, in answer to that which his highness had delivered on the part of his Britannic Majesty and the King of Prussia, on the 25th of November, 1759, to the ministers of the belligerent powers.

“Their Britannic and Prussian majesties having thought proper to make known, by the declaration delivered, on their part, at the Hague, the 25th of November last past, to the ambassadors and ministers of the courts of Vienna, Petersburgh, and Versailles, residing there:

“‘That being sincerely desirous of contributing to the re-establishment of the public tranquillity, they were ready to send plenipotentiaries to the place that shall be judged the most convenient, in order to treat there of this important object with those which the belligerent parties shall think proper to authorize on their side for attaining so salutary an end:’

“Her majesty the empress queen of Hungary and Bohemia, her majesty the empress of all the Russias, and his majesty the most Christian king, equally animated by the desire of contributing to the re-establishment of the public tranquillity, on a solid and equitable footing, declare in return,—

“That his majesty the Catholic king having been pleased to offer his mediation in the war which had subsisted for some years between France and England; and this war having besides nothing in common with that which the two empresses, with their allies, have likewise carried on for some years against the king of Prussia;

“His most Christian majesty is ready to treat of his particular peace with England, through the good offices of his Catholic majesty, whose mediation he has a pleasure in accepting;

“As to the war which regards directly his Prussian majesty, their majesties, the empress queen of Hungary and Bohemia, the empress of all the Russias, and the most Christian king, are disposed to agree to the appointing the congress proposed. But as, by virtue of their treaties, they cannot enter into any engagement relating to peace but in conjunction with their allies, it will be necessary, in order that they may be enabled to explain themselves definitively upon that subject, that their Britannic and Prussian majesties should previously be pleased to cause their invitation to a congress to be made to all the powers that are directly engaged in war against the king of Prussia; and namely, to his majesty the king of Poland, elector of Saxony, as likewise to his majesty the king of Sweden, who ought specifically to be invited to the future congress.”]

561 (return)
[ Note 4 O, p. 561. Copy of a Letter from the marquis of Granby to the earl of Holdernesse. My Lord, It is with the greatest satisfaction that I have the honour of acquainting your lordship of the success of the hereditary prince yesterday morning.

General Sporcken’s corps marched from the camp at Kalle to Liebenau, about four in the afternoon of the twenty-ninth; the hereditary prince followed the same evening with a body of troops, among which were the two English battalions of grenadiers, the two of Highlanders, and four squadrons of dragoons, Cope’s and Conway’s.

The army was under arms all day on the thirtieth, and about eleven at night marched off, in six columns, to Liebenau. About five the next morning, the whole army be assembled, and formed on the heights near Corbeke. The hereditary prince was, at this time, marching in two columns, in order to turn the enemy’s left flank; which he did by marching to Donhelbourg, leaving Klein-Eder on his left, and forming in two lines, with the left towards Dossel, and his right near Grimbeck, opposite to the left flank of the enemy, whose position was with the left to the high hill near Offendorf, and their right to Warbourg, into which place they had flung Fischer’s corps. The hereditary prince immediately attacked the enemy’s flank, and, after a very sharp dispute, obliged them to give way, and, by a continual fire, kept forcing them to fall back upon Warbourg. The army was at this time marching with the greatest diligence to attack the enemy in front, but the infantry could not get up in time: general Waldegrave, at the head of the British, pressed their march as much as possible: no troops could show more eagerness to get up than they showed. Many of the men, from the heat of the weather, and overstraining themselves to get on through morassy and very difficult ground, suddenly dropped down on their march.

General Mostyn, who was at the head of the British cavalry that was formed on the right of our infantry on the other side of a large wood, upon receiving the duke’s orders to come up with the cavalry as fast as possible, made so much expedition, bringing them up at full trot, though the distance was near five miles, that the British cavalry had the happiness to arrive in time to share the glory of the day, having successfully charged several times both the enemy’s cavalry and infantry.

I should do injustice to the general officers, to every officer and private man of the cavalry, if I did not beg your lordship would assure his majesty that nothing could exceed their gallant behaviour on that occasion.

Captain Philips made so much expedition with his cannon, as to have an opportunity, by a severe cannonade, to oblige those who had passed the Dymel, and were formed on the other side, to retire with the utmost precipitation.

I received his serene highness’s orders yesterday, in the evening, to pass the river after them, with twelve British battalions and ten squadrons, and am now encamped upon the heights of Wilda, about four miles from Warbourg, on the heights of which their grand army is encamped.

M. de Muy is now retiring from the heights of Volk-Missen, where he lay under arms last night, towards Wolfshagen. I cannot give your lordship any account of the loss on either side. Captain Faucitt, whom I send off with this, shall get all the intelligence he can upon this head before he sets off. I am, &c,

GRANBY.

Saturday morning, six o’clock.

P.S.—As I had not an opportunity of sending off captain Faucitt so soon as I intended, I opened my letter to acquaint your lordship that I have just joined the grand army with my detachment.]

564 (return)
[ Note 4 P, p. 564. The Germans are in general but indifferent engineers, and little acquainted with the art of besieging. On this occasion the Austrian general had no other prospect than that of carrying the place by a sudden attack, or intimidating count Tavenzein, the governor, to an immediate surrender: for he knew the Russian army was at a considerable distance; and judged, from the character of prince Henry of Prussia, that he would advance to the relief of the place long before it would be taken according to the usual forms. Influenced by these considerations, when he had invested the town, he sent a letter to the governor, specifying that his army consisted of fifty battalions, and fourscore squadrons; that the Russian army, amounting to seventy-five thousand men, was within three days’ march of Breslau; that no succour could be expected from the king of Prussia, encamped as he was on the other side of the Elbe, and overawed by the army of count Daun; that prince Henry, far from being in a condition to bring relief, would not be able to stand his ground against the Russians; that Breslau, being an open mercantile town (not a fortress), could not be defended without contravening the established rules of war; and therefore the governor, in case of obstinacy, had no reason to expect an honourable capitulation, the benefit of which was now offered. He, at the same time, sent a memorial to the civil magistrates, threatening the town with destruction, which could by no other means be prevented than by joining with the inhabitants in persuading the governor to embrace immediately the terms that were proposed. Count Tavenzein, instead of being intimidated, was encouraged by these menaces, which implied an apprehension in Laudolm that the place would be relieved. He therefore replied to the summons he had received, that Breslau was not simply a mercantile town, but ought to be considered as a place of strength, as being surrounded with works and wet ditches; that the Austrians themselves had defended it as such after the battle of Lissa, in the year one thousand seven hundred and fifty-seven; that the king his master having commanded him to defend the place to the last extremity, he could neither comply with general Laudohn’s proposals, nor pay the least regard to his threat of destroying the town; as he had not been intrusted with the care of the houses, but with the defence of the fortifications. The Austrian convinced him that same evening, that he threatened nothing but what he meant to perform. He opened his batteries, and poured in upon the town a most terrible shower of bombs and red-hot bullets, which continued till midnight. During this dreadful discharge, which filled the place with horror and desolation, he attempted the outworks by assault. The Croats attacked the covered way in different places with their usual impetuosity; but were repulsed with considerable loss, by the conduct and resolution of the governor and garrison. These proceedings having made no impression on Tavenzein, the besieging general had recourse again to negotiation; and offered the most flattering articles of capitulation, which were rejected with disdain. The governor gave him to understand, that the destruction of the town had made no change in his resolution; though it was a practice contrary to the law of arms, as well as to the dictates of common humanity, to begin the siege of a fortress by ruining the inhabitants; finally, he assured him he would wait for him upon the ramparts, and defend the place to the utmost of his power. His observation was certainly just: nothing could be more infamously inhuman than this practice of making war upon the helpless unarmed inhabitants of a town which has the misfortune to be beleaguered; yet the besieger pleaded the example of the Prussian monarch, who had before acted the same tragedy at Dresden. Laudohn being thus set at defiance, continued to batter and bombard; and several subsequent assaults were given to the fortifications.]

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