artillery was shipped at the Tower for that country, the duke of Argyle resolving to drive the earl of Mar out of Perth, to which town he had retired with the remains of his forces. The pretender having been amused with the hope of seeing the whole kingdom of England rise up as one man in his behalf, and the duke of Ormond having made a fruitless voyage to the western coast, to try the disposition of the people, he was now convinced of the vanity of his expectations in that quarter, and as he knew not what other course to take, he resolved to hazard his person among his friends in Scotland at a time when his affairs in that kingdona were absolutely desperate. From Bretagne he posted through part of France in disguise; and embarking in a small vessel at Dunkirk hired for that purpose, arrived on the 22nd of December at Peterhead, with six gentlemen in his retinue, one of whom was the marquis of Teignmouth, son to the duke of Berwick. He passed through Aberdeen incognito to Fetteresso, where he was met by the earls of Mar and Marischal, and about thirty noblemen and gentlemen of the first quality. Here he was solemly proclaimed; his declaration dated Commercy was printed and circulated through all the parts in that neighbourhood, and he received addresses from the episcopal clergy and the laity of that community in the diocese of Aberdeen.

On the 5th of January he made his public entry into Dundee, and on the 7th arrived at Scone, where he seemed determined to stay until the ceremony of his coronation should be performed; from thence he made an excursion to Perth, where he reviewed his forces; then he formed a regular council, and published six proclamations; one for a general thanksgiving on account of his safe arrival; another enjoining the ministers to pray for him in churches; a third establishing the currency of foreign coins; a fourth summoning the meeting of the convention of estates; a fifth ordering all sensible men to repair to his standard: and a sixth fixing the 23rd of January for his coronation. He made a pathetic speech in a grand council, at which all the chiefs of his party assisted. They determined, however, to abandon the enterprize, as the king's army was reinforced by the Dutch auxiliaries, and they themselves were not only reduced to a small number, but likewise destitute of money, arms, ammunition, forage, and provisions, for the duke of Argyle had taken possession of Burntisland, and transported a detachment to Fife, so as to cut off Mar's communication with that fertile country.

Notwithstanding the severity of the weather and a prodigious fall of snow, which rendered the roads almost impassable, the duke, on the 29th of January, began his march to Dumblane, and next day reached Tullibardine, where he received intelligence that the pretender and his forces had, on the preceding day, retired towards Dundee. He forthwith took possession of Perth, and then began his march to Aberbrothwick, in pursuit of the enemy. The chevalier de St. George being thus hotly pursued, was prevailed on to embark on board a small French ship that lay in the harbour of Montrose. He was accompanied by the earls of Mar and Melfort, lord Drummond, lieutenant-general Bulkley, and other persons of distinction, to the number of seventeen. In order to avoid the English cruisers, they stretched over to Norway, and coasting along the German and Dutch shores, arrived in five days at Gravelines. General Gordon, whom the pretender had left commander-in-chief of the forces, assisted by the earl marshal, proceeded with them to Aberdeen, where he secured three vessels to sail northward and take on board the persons who intended to make their escape to the continent. Then they continued their march through Strathspey and Strathdown to the hills of Badenoch, where the common people were quietly dismissed. This retreat was made with such expedition, that the duke of Argyle, with all his activity, could never overtake their rearguard, which consisted of a thousand horse, commanded by the earl marshal. Such was the issue of

a rebellion, that proved fatal to many noble families; a rebellion which in all probability would never have happened had not the violent measures of a whig ministry kindled such a flame of discontent in the nation, as encouraged the partizans of the pretender to hazard a revolt.

TREATMENT OF THE JACOBITE PRISONERS.

SIR WALTER SCOTT.

The prisoners of most note were sent up to London, into which they were introduced in a kind of procession, which did less dishonour to the sufferers than to the mean minds who planned and enjoyed such an ignoble triumph. By way of balancing the influence of the tory mob, whose violences in burning chapels, &c., had been of a formidable and highly criminal character, plans had been adopted by government to excite and maintain a rival spirit of tumult among such of the vulgar as were called, or called themselves, the low church party. Party factions often turn upon the most frivolous badges of distinction. As the tories had affected a particular passion for ale, as a national and truly English potation, their parliamentary associations taking the title of the October and the March clubs; so, in the spirit of opposition, the whigs of the lower rank patronised beer (distinguished, according to Dr. Johnson, from ale, by being either older or smaller,) and mug-houses were established, held by landlords of orthodox whig principles, where this protestant and revolutionary liquor was distributed in liberal quantities, and they speedily were thronged by a set of customers, whose fists and sticks were as prompt to assault the admirers of high church and Ormond, as the tories were ready to defend them. It was for the gratification of the frequenters of these mug-houses, as they were called, that the entrance of the Preston prisoners into London was graced with the mock honours of a triumphal procession.

The prisoners, most of them men of birth and education, were, on approaching the capital, all pinioned with cords like the vilest criminals. This ceremony they underwent at Barnet. At Highgate they were met by a large detachment of horse grenadiers and foot guards, preceded by a body of citizens decently dressed, who shouted to give example to the mob. Halters were put upon the horses ridden by the prisoners, and each man's horse was led by a private soldier. Forster, a man of high family, and still member of parliament for Northumberland, was exposed in the same manner as the rest. A large mob of the patrons of the mug-houses attended upon the occasion, beating upon warming-pans (in allusion to the vulgar account of the birth of the chevalier de St. George), and the prisoners, with all sorts of scurrilous abuse and insult, were led through the streets of the city in this species of unworthy triumph, and deposited in the jails of Newgate, the Marshalsea, and other prisons in the metropolis.

In consequence of this sudden increase of tenants, a most extraordinary change took place in the discipline of these melancholy abodes. When the high church party in London began to recover from the astonishment with which they had witnessed the suppression of the insurrection, they could not look back with much satisfaction on their own passive behaviour during the contest, if it could be called one, and now endeavoured to make up for it by liberally supplying the prisoners, whom they regarded as martyrs in their cause, with money and provisions, in which wine was not forgotten. The fair sex are always disposed to be compassionate, and certainly were not least so in this case, where the objects of pity were many of them

gallant young cavaliers, sufferers in a cause which they had been taught to consider as sacred. The consequence was, that the prisons overflowed with wine and good cheer, and the younger and more thoughtless part of the inmates turned to revelling and drowning in liquor all more serious thoughts of their situation; so that even lord Derwentwater himself said of his followers, that they were fitter inhabitants for Bridewell than a state prison. Money, it is said, circulated so plentifully among them, that when it was difficult to obtain silver for a guinea in the streets, nothing was so easy as to find change, whether of gold or silver, in the jail. A handsome, high-spirited young highland gentleman, whom the pamphlets of the day called Bottair (one of the family of Butter in Athole,) made such an impression on the fair visitors who came to minister to the wants of the Jacobite captives, that some reputations were put in peril by the excess of their attentions to this favourite object of compassion.

When such a golden shower descends on a prison, the jailor generally secures to himself the largest share of it; and those prisoners who desired separate beds, or the slightest accommodation in point of lodging, had to purchase them at a rate which would have paid for many years the rent of the best houses in St. James's square or Piccadilly. Dungeons, the names of which indicate their gloomy character, as the lion's den, the middle dark, and the like, were rented at the same extravagant prices, and were not only filled with prisoners, but abounded with good cheer.

These riotous scenes went on the more gaily that almost all had nursed a hope, that their having surrendered at discretion would be admitted as a protection for their lives. But when numerous bills of high treason were found against them, escape from prison began to be thought of, which the command of money, and the countenance of the friends without doors, as well as the general structure of the jails, rendered more easy than could have been expected. Thus, on the 10th of April, 1716, Thomas Forster escaped from Newgate, by means of false keys, and having all things prepared, got safely to France. On the 10th of May, brigadier Mackintosh, whom we have so often mentioned, with fourteen other gentlemen, chiefly Scottish, took an opportunity to escape in the following manner. The brigadier having found means to rid himself of his irons, and coming down stairs about eleven at night, he placed himself close by the door of the jail; and as it was opened to admit a servant at that time of night (no favourable example of prison discipline), he knocked down the jailor, and made his escape with his companions, some of whom were retaken in the streets, from not knowing whither to fly.

Among the fugitives who broke prison with Mackintosh, was Robert Hepburn of Keith.

This gentleman had pinioned the arms of the turnkey by an effort of strength, and effected his escape into the open street without pursuit. But he was at a loss whither to fly, or where to find a friendly place of refuge. His wife and family were, he knew, in London; but how, in that great city, was he to discover them, especially as they most probably were residing there under feigned names? While he was agitated by this uncertainty, and fearful of making the least inquiry, even had he known in what words to express it, he saw at a window in the street an ancient piece of plate, called the Keith tankard, which had long belonged to his family. He immediately conceived that his wife and children must be inhabitants of the lodgings, and entering, without asking questions, was received in their arms. They knew of his purpose of escape, and took lodgings as near the jail as they could, that they might afford him immediate refuge; but dared not give him any hint where they were, otherwise than by setting the well-known flagon where it might by good fortune catch his eye. He escaped to France.

THE FATE OF THE JACOBITES.

TOBIAS SMOLLETT.

On Thursday, the 19th of January, all the impeached lords pleaded guilty to the articles exhibited against them, except the earl of Wintoun, who petitioned for a longer time on various pretences. The rest received sentence of death on the 9th of February, in the court erected in Westminster Hall, where the lord chancellor Cowper presided as lord high steward on that occasion. The countess of Nithsdale and lady Nairn threw themselves at the king's feet as he passed through the apartments of the palace and implored his mercy on behalf of their husbands; but their tears and entreaties produced no effect; the council resolved that the sentence should be executed, and orders were given for that purpose to the lieutenant of the Tower, and the sheriffs of London and Middlesex.

The countess of Derwentwater, with her sister, accompanied by the duchesses of Cleveland and Bolton and several other ladies of the first distinction, was introduced by the dukes of Richmond and St. Albans into the king's bed-chamber, where she invoked his majesty's clemency for her unfortunate consort; she afterwards repaired to the lobby of the house of peers, attended by the ladies of the other condemned lords, and above twenty others of the same quality, and begged the intercession of the house, but no regard was paid to their petition. Next day they petitioned both houses of parliament; the commons rejected their suit. In the upper house the duke of Richmond delivered a petition from the earl of Derwentwater, to whom he was nearly related, at the same time declaring that he himself should oppose his solicitation; the earl of Derby expressed some compassion for the numerous family of lord Nairn; petitions for the rest were presented by other lords, moved with pity and humanity. Lord Townshend and others vehemently opposed their being read. The earl of Nottingham thought this indulgence might be granted ; the house assented to his opinion, and agreed to an address, praying his majesty would reprieve such of the condemned lords as should seem to deserve his mercy. To this petition the king answered, that on this and all other occasions he would do what he thought most consistent with the dignity of his crown and the safety of his people. The earl of Nottingham, president of the council; his brother, the earl of Aylesbury, chancellor of the duchy of Lancaster; his son, Lord Finch, one of the lords of the treasury; his kinsman, lord Guernsey, master of the jewel office, were altogether dismissed from his majesty's service. Orders were dispatched for executing the carls of Derwentwater and Nithsdale and the viscount Kenmuir immediately, the others were respited till the 7th of March. Nithsdale made his escape in woman's apparel, furnished and conveyed to him by his wife.

On the 24th of February, Derwentwater and Kenmuir were beheaded on Tower hill; the former was an amiable youth, brave, open, generous, hospitable, and humane. His fate drew tears from the spectators, and was a great misfortune to the country in which he lived; he gave bread to multitudes of people whom he employed on his estate; the poor, the widow, and the orphan rejoiced in his bounty. Kenmuir was a virtuous nobleman, calm, sensible, resolute, and resigned. He was a devout member of the English church, but the other died in the faith of Rome; both adhered to their political principles. On the 15th of March, Wintoun was brought to trial, and being convicted, received sentence of death.

When the king passed the land-tax bill (1716), which was ushered in with an extraordinary preamble, he informed both houses of parliament of the pretender's flight from Scotland. In the beginning of April a commission for trying the rebels met in the court of common pleas, when bills of high treason were found against Mr. Forster, Mackintosh, and twenty of their confederates. Forster escaped from

Newgate and reached the continent in safety; the rest pleaded not guilty, and were indulged with time to prepare for their trials. The judges appointed to try the rebels at Liverpool found a considerable number guilty of high treason; two-andtwenty were executed at Preston and Manchester. About a thousand prisoners submitted to the king's mercy, and petitioned for transportation. Pitts, the keeper of Newgate, being suspected of having connived at Forster's escape, was tried for his life at the Old Bailey and acquitted. Notwithstanding this prosecution, which ought to have redoubled the vigilance of the jailors, brigadier Mackintosh and several other prisoners broke from Newgate, after having mastered the keeper and turnkey, and disarmed the sentinel. The court proceeded with the trials of those that remained, and a great number were found guilty. Four or five were hanged, drawn, and quartered at Tyburn, and amongst these was one William Paul, a clergyman, who in his last speech professed himself a true and sincere member of the church of England, but not of the revolution schismatical church, whose bishops had abandoned the king, and shamefully given up their ecclesiastical rights, by submitting to the unlawful, invalid, lay deprivations authorised by the prince of Orange.

The earl of Oxford, who had now remained almost two years a prisoner in the Tower, presented a petition to the lords that his imprisonment might not be indefinite. Some of the tory lords affirmed that the impeachment was destroyed and determined by the prorogation of parliament, which superseded the whole proceedings, but the contrary was voted by the majority. The 13th of June was fixed for the trial, and the house of commons made acquainted with this determination. The commons appointed a committee to enquire into the state of the earl's impeachment, and in consequence of their report sent a message to the lords demanding a longer time to prepare for trial; accordingly the day was prolonged to the 24th of June; and the commons appointed the committee, with four other members, to be managers for making good the articles of impeachment. At the appointed time the peers repaired to the court in Westminster hall, where lord Cowper presided as lord steward; the commons were assembled as a committee of the whole house; the king, the rest of the royal family, and the foreign ministers assisted at the solemnity. The earl of Oxford was brought from the Tower, the articles of impeachment were read, with his answers, and the replications of the commons.

Sir Joseph Jekyl standing up to make good the first articles, lord Harcourt signified to their lordships that he had a motion to make, and they adjourned to their own house; there he represented that a great deal of time would be unnecessarily consumed in going through all the articles of the impeachment; that if the commons would make good the two articles for high-treason, the earl of Oxford would forfeit both life and estate, and there would be an end of the matter; whereas to proceed on the method proposed by the commons would draw the trial on to a prodigious length; he therefore moved that the commons might not be permitted to proceed until judgment should be first given on the articles of high-treason. He was supported by the earls of Anglesea and Nottingham, the lord Trevor, and a considerable number of both parties; and, though opposed by the earls of Sunderland, the lords Coningsby and Parker, the motion was carried in the affirmative. It produced a dispute between the two houses; the commons, at a conference, delivered a paper containing their reasons for asserting it as their undoubted right to impeach a peer either for treason or for high crimes and misdemeanors; or should they see occasion, to mix both in the same accusation. The house of lords insisted on their former resolution, and in another conference delivered a paper, wherein they asserted it to be a right in every court of justice to order and direct such methods of pro