{GEORGE II. 1727-1760}



BILL FOR REMOVING THE POWDER MAGAZINE AT GREENWICH.

In the latter end of November, the house of commons received a petition from several noblemen, gentlemen, and others, inhabitants of East Greenwich, and places adjacent, in Kent, representing, that in the said parish, within a quarter of a mile of the town distinguished by a royal palace, and royal hospital for seamen, there was a magazine, containing great quantities of gunpowder, frequently to the amount of six thousand barrels: that besides the great danger which must attend all places of that kind, the said magazine stood in an open field uninclosed by any fortification or defence whatsoever, consequently exposed to treachery and every other accident. They alleged, that if through treachery, lightning, or any other accident, this magazine should take fire, not only their lives and properties, but the palace and hospital, the king's yards and stores at Deptford and Woolwich, the banks and navigation of the Thames, with the ships sailing and at anchor in that river, would be inevitably destroyed, and inconceivable damage would accrue to the cities of London and Westminster. They, moreover, observed, that the magazine was then in a dangerous condition, supported on all sides by props that were decayed at the foundation; that in case it should fall, the powder would, in all probability, take fire, and produce the dreadful calamities above recited: they therefore prayed that the magazine might be removed to some more convenient place, where any accident would not be attended with such dismal consequences. The subject of this remonstrance was so pressing and important, that a committee was immediately appointed to take the affair into consideration, and procure an estimate for purchasing lands, and erecting a powder magazine at Purfleet, in Essex, near the banks of the river, together with a guard-house, barracks, and all other necessary conveniences. While the report of the committee lay upon the table for the perusal of the members, Mr. chancellor of the exchequer, by his majesty's command, acquainted the house, that the king, having been informed of the subject matter of the petition, recommended it to the consideration of the commons. Leave was immediately given to prepare a bill, founded on the resolutions of the committee; which having been duly considered, altered, and amended, passed through both houses to the foot of the throne, where it obtained the royal sanction. The magazine was accordingly removed to Purfleet, an inconsiderable and solitary village, where there will be little danger of accident, and where no great damage would attend an explosion; but in order to render this possible explosion still less dangerous, it would be necessary to form the magazine of small distinct apartments, totally independent of each other, that in case one should be accidentally blown up, the rest might stand unaffected. The same plan ought to be adopted in the construction of all combustible stores subject to conflagration. The marine bill and mutiny bill, as annual regulations, were prepared in the usual form, passed both houses without opposition, and received the royal assent.



ACT FOR THE IMPROVEMENT OF THE STREETS OF LONDON.

The next affair that engrossed the deliberation of the commons, was a measure relating to the internal economy of the metropolis. The sheriffs of London delivered a petition from the lord mayor, aldermen, and commons, in common council assembled, representing that several streets, lanes, and passages within the city of London, and liberties thereof, were too narrow and incommodious for the passing and repassing as well of foot passengers as of coaches, carts, and other carriages, to the prejudice and inconvenience of the owners and inhabitants of houses, and to the great hinderance of business, trade, and commerce. They alleged that these defects might be remedied, and several new streets opened within the said city and liberties, to the great ease, safety, and convenience of passengers, as well as to the advantage of the public in general, if they, the petitioners, were enabled to widen and enlarge the narrow streets, lanes, and passages, to open and lay out such new streets and ways, and to purchase the several houses, buildings, and grounds which might be necessary for these purposes. They took notice that there were several houses within the city and liberties, partly erected over the ground of other proprietors; and others, of which the several floors or apartments belonged to different persons, so that difficulties and disputes frequently arose amongst the said several owners and proprietors, about pulling down or rebuilding the party walls and premises; that such rebuilding was often prevented or delayed, to the great injury and inconvenience of those owners who were desirous to rebuild; that it would therefore be of public benefit, and frequently prevent the spreading of the fatal effects of fire, if some provision were made by law, as well for determining such disputes in a summary way, as for explaining and amending the laws then in being relating to the building of party-walls. They therefore prayed that leave might be given to bring in a bill for enabling the petitioners to widen and enlarge the several streets, lanes, and passages, and to open new streets and ways to be therein limited and prescribed, as well as for determining, in a summary way, all disputes arising about the rebuilding of houses or tenements within the said city and liberties, wherein several persons have an intermixed property; and for explaining and amending the laws in being, relating to these particulars. A committee being appointed to examine the matter of this petition, agreed to a report, upon which leave was given to prepare a bill, and this was brought in accordingly. Next day a great number of citizens represented, in another petition, that the pavement of the city and liberties was often damaged, by being broken up for the purposes of amending or new-laying water-pipes belonging to the proprietors of water-works, and praying that provision might be made in the bill then depending, to compel those proprietors to make good any damage that should be done to the pavement by the leaking or bursting of the water-pipes, or opening the pavement for alterations. In consequence of this representation, some amendments were made in the bill, which passed through both houses, and was enacted into a law, under the title of "An act for widening certain streets, lanes, and passages, within the city of London and liberties thereof, and for opening certain new streets and ways within the same, and for other purposes therein mentioned." [536] [See note 4 H, at the end of this Vol.]



BILL RELATIVE TO THE SALE OF FISH, &c.

The inhabitants of Westminster had long laboured under the want of a fish-market, and complained that the price of this species of provision was kept up at an exorbitant rate by the fraudulent combination of a few dealers, who engrossed the whole market at Billingsgate, and destroyed great quantities of fish, in order to enhance the value of those that remained. An act of parliament had passed, in the twenty-second year of his present majesty's reign, for establishing a free market for the sale of fish in Westminster; and, seven years after that period, it was found necessary to procure a second, for explaining and amending the first. but neither effectually answered the purposes of the legislature. In the month of January, of the present session, the house took into consideration a petition of the several fishermen trading to Billingsgate market, representing the hardships to which they were exposed by the said acts; particularly forfeitures of vessels and cargoes, incurred by the negligence of servants who had omitted to make the particular entries which the two acts prescribed. This petition being examined by a committee, and the report being made, leave was given to bring in a new bill, which should contain effectual provision for the better supplying the cities of London and Westminster with fish, and for preventing the abuses of the fishmongers. It was intituled, "A bill to repeal so much of an act passed in the twenty-ninth of George II. concerning a free market for fish at Westminster, as requires fishermen to enter their fishing vessels at the office of the searcher of the customs at Gravesend, and to regulate the sale of fish at the first hand in the fish-markets of London and Westminster; and to prevent salesmen of fish buying fish to sell again on their own account; and to allow bret and turbot, brill and pearl, although under the respective dimensions mentioned in a former act, to be imported and sold; and to punish persons who shall take or sell any spawn, brood, or fry of fish, unsizeable fish, or fish out of season, or smelts under the size of five inches, and for other purposes." Though this, and the former bill relating to the streets and houses of London, are instances that evince the care and attention of the legislature, even to minute particulars of the internal economy of the kingdom, we can hardly consider them as objects of such dignity and importance as to demand the deliberations of the parliament, but think they naturally fall within the cognizance of the municipal magistracy. After all, perhaps, the most effectual method for supplying Westminster with plenty of fish at reasonable rates, would be to execute with rigour the laws already enacted against forestalling and regrating, an expedient that would soon dissolve all monopolies and combinations among the traders; to increase the number of markets in London and Westminster, and to establish two general markets at the Nore, one on each side of the river, where the fishing vessels might unload their cargoes, and return to sea without delay. A number of light boats might be employed to convey fresh fish from these marts to London and Westminster, where all the different fish-markets might be plentifully supplied at a reasonable expense; for it cannot be supposed that, while the fresh fish are brought up the river in the fishing smacks themselves, which can hardly save the tides, to Billingsgate, they will ever dream of carrying their cargoes above bridge, or that the price of fish can be considerably lowered, while the fishing vessels lose so much time in running up to Gravesend or Billingsgate.



ACT FOR ASCERTAINING the QUALIFICATIONS OF MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT.

The annual committee being appointed to inquire what laws were expired or near expiring, agreed to certain resolutions; upon which a bill was prepared, and obtained the royal assent, importing a continuation of several laws, namely, the several clauses mentioned of the acts in the fifth and eighth of George I. against the clandestine running of uncustomed goods, except the clauses relating to quarantine; the act passed in the third of George II. relating to the carrying rice from Carolina; the act of the seventh of the same reign, re-fating to cochineal and indigo; and that of the twelfth of George II. so far as it related to the importation of printed books. There was also a law enacted, to continue to the twenty-ninth day of September in the year one thousand seven hundred and sixty-seven, an act passed in the twelfth year of queen Anne, for encouraging the making of sail-cloth, by a duty of one penny per ell laid upon all foreign-made sails and sail-cloth imported; and a bounty in the same proportion granted upon all home-made sail-cloth and canvass fit for or made into sails, and exported; another act was passed, for continuing certain laws relating to the additional number of one hundred hackney coaches and chairs, which law was rendered perpetual. The next law we shall mention was intended to be one of the most important that ever fell under the cognizance of the legislature: it was a law that affected the freedom, dignity, and independency of parliaments. By an act, passed in the ninth year of the reign of queen Anne, it was provided that no person should be chosen a member of parliament who did not possess in England or Wales an estate, freehold or copyhold, for life, according to the following qualifications: for every knight of a shire six hundred pounds per annum, over and above what will satisfy all incumbrances; and three hundred pounds per annum, for every citizen, burgess, and baron of the cinque ports. It was also decreed, that the return of any person not thus qualified should be void; and that every candidate should, at the reasonable request of any other candidate at the time of election, or of two or more persons who had a right to vote, take an oath prescribed to establish his qualifications. This restraint was by no means effectual. So many oaths of different kinds had been prescribed since the revolution, that they began to lose the effect they were intended to have on the minds of men; and, in particular, political perjury grew so common, that it was no longer considered as a crime. Subterfuges were discovered, by means of which this law relating to the qualification of candidates was effectually eluded. Those who were not actually possessed of such estates, procured temporary conveyances from their friends and patrons, on condition of their being restored and cancelled after the election. By this scandalous fraud the intention of the legislature was frustrated, the dignity of parliament prostituted, the example of perjury and corruption extended, and the vengeance of heaven set at defiance. Through this infamous channel the ministry had it in their power to thrust into parliament a set of venal beggars, who, as they depended upon their bounty, would always be obsequious to their will, and vote according to direction, without the least regard to the dictates of conscience, or to the advantage of their country. The mischiefs attending such a vile collusion, and in particular the undue influence which the crown must have acquired from the practice, were either felt or apprehended by some honest patriots, who after divers unsuccessful efforts, at length presented to the house a bill, importing that every person who shall be elected a member of the house of commons, should, before he presumed to take his seat, deliver to the clerk of the house, at the table, while the commons were sitting, and the speaker in the chair, a paper, or schedule, signed by himself, containing a rental or particular of the lands, tenements, or hereditaments, whereby he makes out his qualification, specifying the nature of his estate, whether messuage, land, rent, tithe, or what else; and if such estate consists of messuages, lands, or tithes, then specifying in whose occupation they are; and if in rent, then specifying the names of the owners or possessors of the lands and tenements out of which such rent is issuing, and also specifying the parish, township, or precinct and county, in which the said estate lies, and the value thereof; and every such person shall, at the same time, also take and subscribe the following oath, to be fairly written at the bottom of the paper or schedule: "I, A. B. do swear that the above is a true rental; and that I truly, and bona fide, have such an estate in law or equity, to and for my own use and benefit, of and in the lands, tenements, or hereditaments, above described, over and above what will satisfy and clear all incumbrances that may affect the same; and that such estate hath not been granted or made over to me fraudulently, on purpose to qualify me to be a member of this house. So help me God!" It was provided that the said paper or schedule, with the oath aforesaid, should be carefully kept by the clerk, to be inspected by the members of the house of commons, without fee or reward: that if any person elected to serve in any future parliament, should presume to sit or vote as a member of the house of commons before he had delivered in such a paper or schedule, and taken the oath aforesaid, or should not be qualified according to the true intent or meaning of this act, his election should be void; and every person so sitting and voting should forfeit a certain sum to be recovered, by such persons as should sue for the same by action of debt, bill, plaint, or information, whereon no essoign, privilege, protection, or wager of law should be allowed, and only one imparlance: that if any person should have delivered in, and sworn to his qualification as aforesaid, and taken his seat in the house of commons, yet at any time after should, during the continuance of such parliament, sell, dispose of, alien, or any otherwise incumber the estate, or any part thereof comprised in the schedule, so as to lessen or reduce the same under the value of the qualification by law directed, every such person, under a certain penalty, must deliver in a new or further qualification, according to the true intent and meaning of this act, and swear to the same, in manner before directed, before he shall again presume to sit or vote as a member of the house of commons; that in case any action, suit, or information should be brought, in pursuance of this act, against any member of the house of commons, the clerk of the house, shall, upon demand, forthwith deliver a true and attested copy of the paper or schedule so delivered in to him as aforesaid by such member to the plaintiff or prosecutor, or his attorney or agent, on paying a certain sum for the same; which, being proved a true copy, shall be admitted to be given in evidence upon the trial of any issue in any such action. Provided always, that nothing contained in this act shall extend to the eldest son or heir apparent of any peer or lord of parliament, or of any person qualified to serve as knight of the shire, or to the members for either of the universities in that part of Great Britain called England, or to the members of that part of Great Britain called Scotland. Such was the substance of the bill, as originally presented to the house of commons; but it was altered in such a manner as we are afraid will fail in answering the salutary purposes for which it was intended by those who brought it into the house. Notwithstanding the provisions made in the act as it now stands, any minister or patron may still introduce his pensioners, clerks, and creatures into the house, by means of the old method of temporary conveyance, though the farce must now be kept up till the member shall have delivered in his schedule, taken his oath, and his seat in parliament; then he may deliver up the conveyance, or execute a re-conveyance, without running any risk of losing his seat, or of being punished for his fraud and perjury. The extensive influence of the crown, the general corruptibility of individuals, and the obstacles so industriously thrown in the way of every scheme contrived to vindicate the independency of parliaments, must have produced very mortifying reflections in the breast of every Briton warmed with the genuine love of his country. He must have perceived that all the bulwarks of the constitution were little better than buttresses of ice, which would infallibly thaw before the heat of ministerial influence, when artfully concentrated; that either a minister's professions of patriotism were insincere; or his credit insufficient to effect any essential alteration in the unpopular measures of government; and that, after all, the liberties of the nation could never be so firmly established, as by the power, generosity, and virtue of a patriot king. This inference could not fail to awake the remembrance of that amiable prince, whom fate untimely snatched from the eager hopes and warm affection of a whole nation, before, he had it in his power to manifest and establish his favourite maxim, "That a monarch's glory was inseparably connected with the happiness of his people." [538] [See note 4 I, at the end of this Vol.]

{1760}



ACT FOR CONSOLIDATING ANNUITIES GRANTED IN 1759.

On the first day of February, a motion was made, and leave given, to bring in a bill for enabling his majesty to make leases and copies of offices, lands, and hereditaments, parcel of his duchy of Cornwall, or annexed to the same; accordingly it passed through both houses without opposition; and enacted that all leases and grants made, or to be made, by his majesty, within seven years next ensuing, in or annexed to the said duchy, under the limitations therein mentioned, should be good and effectual in law against his majesty, his heirs, and successors, and against all other persons that should hereafter inherit the said duchy, either by an act of parliament, or any limitation whatsoever. This act appears the more extraordinary as the prince of Wales, who has a sort of right by prescription to the duchy of Cornwall, was then of age, and might have been put in possession of it by the passing of a patent. The house having perused an account of the produce of the fund established for paying annuities granted in the year one thousand seven hundred and fifty-nine, with the charge on that fund on the fifth day of January in the succeeding year, it appeared that there had been a considerable deficiency in the said fund on the fifth day of July preceding, and this had been made good out of the sinking fund, by a resolution of the seventh of February, already particularized. They therefore instructed the committee of ways and means to consider so much of the annuity and lottery act passed in the preceding session as related to the three per centum annuities, amounting to the sum of seven millions five hundred and ninety thousand pounds, granted in the year one thousand seven hundred and fifty-nine; and also to consider so much of the said act as related to the subsidy of poundage upon certain goods and merchandise to be imported into this kingdom, and the additional inland duty on coffee and chocolate. The committee having taken these points into deliberation, agreed to the two resolutions we have already mentioned with respect to the consolidation; and a bill was brought in for adding those annuities granted in the year one thousand seven hundred and fifty-nine, to the joint stock of throe per centum annuities consolidated by the acts of the twenty-fifth, twenty-eighth, twenty-ninth, and thirty-second years of his majesty's reign, and for several duties therein mentioned, to the sinking fund. The committee was afterwards empowered to receive a clause for cancelling such lottery tickets as were made forth in pursuance of an act passed in the thirtieth year of his majesty's reign, and were not then disposed of: a clause for this purpose was accordingly added to the bill, which passed through both houses without opposition, and received the royal assent at the end of the session.



BILL FOR SECURING MONIES FOR THE USE OF GREENWICH HOSPITAL.

On the twenty-ninth day of April, lord North presented to the house a bill for encouraging the exportation of rum and spirits of the growth, produce, and manufacture of the British sugar-plantations, from Great Britain, and of British spirits made from molasses; a bill which in a little time acquired the sanction of the royal assent. Towards the end of April, admiral Town-shend presented a bill for the more effectual securing the payment of such prize and bounty-monies as were appropriated to the use of Greenwich hospital, by an act passed in the twenty-ninth year of his majesty's reign. As by that law no time was limited, or particular method prescribed, for giving notifications of the day appointed for the payment of the shares of the prizes and bounty-money; and many agents had neglected to specify, in the notification given in the London Gazette for payment of shares of prizes condemned in the courts of admiralty in Groat Britain, the particular day or time when such payments were to commence, whereby it was rendered difficult, if not impossible, to ascertain the time when the hospital at Greenwich became entitled to the unclaimed shares, of consequence could not enjoy the full benefit of the act; the bill now prepared imported, that, from and after the first day of September in the present year, all notifications of the payment of the shares of prizes taken by any of his majesty's ships of war, and condemned in Great Britain, and from and after the first day of February, in the year one thousand seven hundred and sixty-one, all notifications of the payment of the shares and prizes taken and condemned in any other of his majesty's dominions in Europe, or in any of the British plantations in America; and from and after the twenty-fifth day of December, in the year one thousand seven hundred and sixty-one, all notifications of the payment of the shares of prizes taken and condemned in any other of his majesty's dominions, shall be respectively given and published in the following manner:—If the prize be condemned in any court of admiralty in Great Britain, such notification, under the agent's hand, shall be published in the London Gazette; and if condemned in any court of admiralty in any other of his majesty's dominions, such notification shall be published in like manner in the Gazette, or other newspaper of public authority, of the island or place where the prize is condemned; and if there shall be no Gazette, or such newspaper, published there, then in some or one of the public newspapers of the place; and such agents shall deliver to the collector, customer, or searcher, or his lawful deputy; and if there shall be no such officer, then to the principal officer or officers of the place where the prize is condemned, or to the lawful deputy of such principal officers, two of the Gazettes or other newspapers in which such notifications are inserted; and if there shall not be any public newspapers in any such island or place, the agent shall give two such notifications in writing, under his hand; and every such collector, or other officer as aforesaid, shall subscribe his name on both the said Gazettes, newspapers, or written notifications; and, by the first ship which shall sail from thence to any port of Great Britain, shall transmit to the treasurer or deputy-treasurers of the said royal hospital one of the said notifications, with his name so subscribed, to be there registered; and shall faithfully preserve and keep the other, with his name thereon subscribed, in his own custody; and in every notification as aforesaid the agent shall specify his place of abode, and the precise day of the month and year appointed for the payment of the respective shares to the captors; and all notifications with respect to prizes condemned in Great Britain, shall be published in the London Gazette three days at least before any share of such prize shall be paid; and with respect to prizes condemned in any other part of his majesty's dominions, such notifications shall be delivered to the said collector, or other officers as aforesaid, three days at least before any share of such prizes shall be paid. It was likewise enacted, that the agents for the distribution of bounty-bills should insert, and publish under their hands, in the London Gazette, three days at least before payment, public notifications of the day and year appointed for such payment, and also insert therein their respective places of abode. The bill, even as it now stands, is liable to several objections. It may be dangerous to leave the money of the unclaimed shares so long as three years in the hands of the agent, who, together with his securities, may prove insolvent before the expiration of that term: then the time prescribed to the sailors, within which their claim is limited, appears to be too short, when we consider that they may be so circumstanced, turned over to another ship, and conveyed to a distant part of the globe, that they shall have no opportunity to claim payment; and should three years elapse before they could make application to the agent, they would find their bounty or prize money appropriated to the use of Greenwich hospital; nay, should they die in the course of the voyage, it would be lost to their heirs and executors, who, being ignorant of their title, could not possibly claim within the time limited.

{GEORGE II. 1727-1760}



ACT IN FAVOUR OF GEOEGE KEITH, &c.

A committee having been appointed to inquire into the original standards of weights and measures in the kingdom of England, to consider the laws relating thereto, and to report their observations thereupon, together with their opinion of the most effectual means for ascertaining and enforcing uniform and certain standards of weights and measures, they prepared copies, models, patterns, and multiples, and presented them to the house; then they were locked up by the clerk of the house; and lord Garysfort presented a bill, according to order, for enforcing uniformity of weights and measures to the standards by law to be established; but this measure, which had been so long in dependence, was not yet fully discussed, and the standards and weights were reserved to another occasion. A law was made for reviving and continuing so much of the act passed in the twenty-first year of his majesty's reign as relates to the more effectual trial and punishment of high-treason in the highlands of Scotland; and also for continuing two other acts passed in the nineteenth and twenty-first years of his majesty's reign, so far as they relate to the more effectual disarming the highlands of Scotland, and securing the peace thereof; and to allow further time for making affidavits of the execution of articles or contracts of clerks to attorneys or solicitors, and filing thereof. The king having been pleased to pardon George Keith, earl-marshal of Scotland, who had been attainted for rebellion in the year one thousand seven hundred and sixteen, the parliament confirmed this indulgence, by passing an act to enable the said George Keith, late earl-marshal, to sue or entertain any action or suit, notwithstanding his attainder, and to remove any disability in him, by reason of the said attainder, to take or inherit any real or personal estate that might or should hereafter descend or come to him, or which he was entitled to in reversion or remainder before his attainder. This nobleman, universally respected for his probity and understanding, had been employed as ambassador to the court of France by the king of Prussia, and was actually at this juncture in the service of that monarch, who in all probability interceded with the king of England in his behalf. When his pardon had passed the seals, he repaired to London, and was presented to his majesty, by whom he was very graciously received.



SESSION CLOSED.

These, and a good number of other bills of less importance, both private and public, were passed into laws by commission, on the twenty-second day of May, when the lord-keeper of the great seal closed the session with a speech to both houses. He began with an assurance that his majesty looked back on their proceedings with entire satisfaction. He said, the duty and affection which they had expressed for the king's person and government, the zeal and unanimity they had showed in maintaining the true interest of their country, could only be equalled by what his majesty had formerly experienced from his parliament. He told them it would have given his majesty the most sensible pleasure, had he been able to assure them that his endeavours to promote a general peace had met with more suitable returns. He observed that his majesty, in conjunction with his good brother and ally the king of Prussia, had chosen to give their enemies proofs of this equitable disposition, in the midst of a series of glorious victories; an opportunity the most proper to take such a step with dignity, and to manifest to all Europe the purity and moderation of his views. After such a conduct, he said, the king had the comfort to reflect that the further continuance of the calamities of war could not be imputed to him or his allies; that he trusted in the blessing of heaven upon the justice of his arms, and upon those ample means which the zeal of the parliament in so good a cause had wisely put into his hands; that his future successes in carrying on the war would not fall short of the past; and that, in the event, the public tranquillity would be restored on solid and durable foundations. He acquainted them that his majesty had taken the most effectual care to augment the combined army in Germany; and at the same time to keep up such a force at home as might frustrate any attempts of the enemy to invade these kingdoms; such attempts as had hitherto ended only in their own confusion. He took notice that the royal navy was never in a more flourishing and respectable condition; and the signal victory obtained last winter over the French fleet on their own coast, had given lustre to his majesty's arms, fresh spirit to his maritime forces, and reduced the naval strength of France to a very low ebb. He gave them to understand that his majesty had disposed his squadrons in such a manner as might best conduce to the annoyance of his enemies; to the defence of his own dominions, both in Europe and America; to the preserving and pursuing his conquests, as well as to the protection of the trade of his subjects, which he had extremely at heart. He told the commons, that nothing could relieve his majesty's royal mind, under the anxiety he felt for the burdens of his faithful subjects, but the public-spirited cheerfulness with which their house had granted him such large supplies, and his conviction that they were necessary for the security and essential interest of his kingdoms; he therefore returned them his hearty thanks for these supplies, and assured them they should be duly applied to the purposes for which they had been given. Finally, he recommended to both houses the continuance of that union and good harmony which he had observed with so much pleasure, and from which he had derived such important effects. He desired they would study to promote these desirable objects, to support the king's government, and the good order of their respective counties, and consult their own real happiness and prosperity.



CHAPTER XIX.

Remarkable Detection of a Murder by William Andrew Horne..... Popular Clamor against Lord George Sackville..... His Address to the Public..... He demands a Court- martial..... Substance of the charge against him..... His Defence..... Remarks on it..... Sentence of the Court- martial..... Earl Ferrers apprehended for Murder..... Tried by the House of Peers..... Convicted, and executed at Tyburn..... Assassination of Mr. Matthews, by one Stirn, a Hessian..... New Bridge begun at Blackfriars..... Conflagration in Portsmouth Yard..... Number of Ships taken by the Enemy..... Progress of Monsieur Thurot..... He makes a Descent at Carrickfergus..... Is slain, and his Ships taken..... Exploit of Captain Kennedy..... Remarkable Adventure of five Irish Seamen..... The Ramillies Man of War wrecked upon the Bolthead..... Treaty with the Cherokees..... Hostilities recommenced..... Their Towns destroyed by Colonel Montgomery..... His Expedition to the Middle Settlements..... Pate of the Garrison at Port Loudoun..... The British Interest established on the Ohio..... The French undertake the Siege of Quebec..... Defeat Brigadier Murray, and oblige him to retire into the Town..... Quebec besieged..... The Enemy's Shipping destroyed..... They abandon the Siege..... General Amherst reduces the French Port at the Isle Royale..... and takes Montreal..... French Ships destroyed in the Bay of Chaleurs..... Total Reduction of Canada..... Demolition of Louisbourg..... Insurrection of the Negroes in Jamaica..... Action at Sea off Hispaniola..... Gallant Behaviour of Captains O'Brien and Taylor in the Leeward Islands..... Transactions in the East Indies..... Achievements in the Bay of Quiberon..... Admiral Rodney destroys some Vessels on the Coast of France..... Preparations for a secret Expedition..... Astronomers sent to the East Indies..... Earthquakes in Syria..... Wise Conduct of the Catholic King..... Affairs of Portugal..... Turkish Ship of the Line carried into Malta..... Patriotic Schemes of the King of Denmark..... Memorial presented by the British Ambassador to the States-General..... State of the Powers at War..... Death of the Landgrave of Hesse-Cassel..... Offers made by the Neutral Powers of a Place for holding a Congress..... Skirmishes in Westphalia during the Winter..... Exactions by the French in Westphalia..... Skirmish to the Advantage of the Allies at Vacha..... Situation of the French Armies..... Exploit of Colonel Luckner at Butzback..... The French advance to Neustadt..... The Hereditary Prince of Brunswick defeated at Corback..... but retrieves his honour at Exdorf..... Victory obtained by the Allies at Warbourg..... The Hereditary Prince beats up the Quarters of the French at Zeirenberg..... Petty Advantages on both sides..... The Hereditary Prince marches to the Lower Rhine..... Is worsted at Canipen..... and repasses the Rhine..... Attempt of the Enemy against him..... Advantages gained by M. de Stainville..... The Allies and French go into Winter- quarters



DETECTION OF A MURDER.

The successes of the last campaign had flushed the whole nation with the most elevated hope of future conquest, and the government was enabled to take every step which appeared necessary to realize that sanguine expectation; but the war became every day more and more Germanised. Notwithstanding the immense sums that were raised for the expenses of the current year; notwithstanding the great number of land-forces maintained in the service, and the numerous fleets that filled the harbours of Great Britain; we do not find that one fresh effort was made to improve the advantages she had gained upon her own clement, or for pushing the war on national principles: for the reduction of Canada was no more than the consequence of the measures which had been taken in the preceding campaign. But, before we record the progress of the war, it may be necessary to specify some domestic occurrences that for a little while engrossed the public attention. In the month of December, in the preceding year, William Andrew Home, a gentleman of some fortune in Derbyshire, was executed at Nottingham, in the seventy-fourth year of his age, for the murder of an infant born of his own sister, in the year one thousand seven hundred and twenty-four. On the third day after the birth, this brutal ruffian thrust the child into a linen bag, and accompanied by his own brother on horseback, conveyed it to Annesley, in Nottinghamshire, where it was next day found dead under a hay-stack. Though this cruel rustic knew how much he lay at the mercy of his brother, whom he had made privy to this affair, far from endeavouring to engage his secrecy by offices of kindness and marks of affection, he treated him as an alien to his blood; not barely with indifference, but even with the most barbarous rigour. He not only defrauded him of his right, but exacted of him the lowest menial services; beheld him starving in a cottage, while he lived himself in affluence; and refused to relieve with a morsel of charity the children of his own brother begging at his gate. It was the resentment of this pride and barbarity which, in all likelihood, first impelled the other to revenge. He pretended qualms of conscience, and disclosed the transaction of the child to several individuals. As the brother was universally hated for the insolence and brutality of his disposition, information was given against him, and a resolution formed to bring him to condign punishment. Being informed of this design, he tampered with his brother, and desired that he would retract upon the trial the evidence he had given before the justices. Though the brother rejected this scheme of subornation, he offered to withdraw himself from the kingdom, if he might have five pounds to defray the expense of his removal. So sordidly avaricious was the other, that he refused to advance this miserable pittance, though he knew his own life depended upon his compliance. He was accordingly apprehended, tried, and convicted on his brother's evidence; and then he confessed the particulars of his exposing the infant. He denied, indeed, that he had any thought the child would perish, and declared he intended it as a present to a gentleman at whose gate it was laid; butas he appeared to be a hardened miscreant, devoid of humanity, stained with the complicated crimes of tyranny, fraud, rapine, incest, and murder, very little credit is due to his declaration.—In the course of the same month, part of Westminster was grievously alarmed by a dreadful conflagration, which broke out in the house of a cabinet-maker near Covent-garden, raged with great fury, and reduced near twenty houses to ashes. Many others were damaged, and several persons either burned in their apartments, or buried under the ruins. The bad consequences of this calamity were in a great measure alleviated by the humanity of the public, and the generous compassion of the prince of Wales, who contributed liberally to the relief of the sufferers.



CLAMOUR AGAINST LORD SACKVILLE.

But no subject so much engrossed the conversations and passions of the public as did the case of lord George Sackville, who had by this time resigned his command in Germany, and returned to England, the country which, of all others, it would have been his interest to avoid at this juncture, if he was really conscious of the guilt the imputation of which his character now sustained. With the first tidings of the battle fought at Minden the defamation of this officer arrived. He was accused of having disobeyed orders, and his conduct represented as infamous in every particular. These were the suggestions of a vague report, which no person could trace to its origin; yet this report immediately gave birth to one of the most inflammatory pamphlets that ever was exhibited to the public. The first charge had alarmed the people of England, jealous in honour, sudden and rash in their sentiments, and obstinately adhering to the prejudices they have espoused. The implied accusation in the orders of prince Ferdinand, and the combustible matter superadded by the pamphlet-writer, kindled up such a blaze of indignation in the minds of the people, as admitted of no temperament or control. An abhorrence and detestation of lord George Sackville, as a coward and a traitor, became the universal passion, which acted by contagion, infecting all degrees of people from the cottage to the throne; and no individual, who had the least regard for his own character and quiet, would venture to preach up moderation, or even advise a suspension of belief until more certain information could be received. Fresh fuel was continually thrown in by obscure authors of pamphlets and newspapers, who stigmatized and insulted with such virulent perseverance, that no one would have imagined they were actuated by personal motives, not retained by mercenary booksellers, against that unfortunate nobleman. Not satisfied with inventing circumstances to his dishonour, in his conduct on the last occasion, they pretended to take a retrospective view of his character, and produced a number of anecdotes to his prejudice, which had never before seen the light, and but for this occasion had probably never been known. Not that all the writings which appeared on this subject contained fresh matters of aggravation against lord George Sackville. Some writers, either animated by the hope of advantage, or hired to betray the cause which they undertook to defend, entered the lists as professed champions of the accused, assumed the pen in his behalf, devoid of sense, unfurnished with materials, and produced performances which could not fail to injure his character among all those who believed that he countenanced their endeavours, and supplied them with the facts and arguments of his defence. Such precisely was the state of the dispute when lord George arrived in London. While prince Ferdinand was crowned with laurel; while the king of Great Britain approved his conduct, and, as the most glorious mark of that approbation, invested him with the order of the garter, while his name was celebrated through all England, and extolled, in the warmest expressions of hyperbole, above all the heroes of antiquity; every mouth was opened in execration of the late commander of the British troops in Germany. He was now made acquainted with the particulars of his imputed guilt, which he had before indistinctly learned. He was accused of having disobeyed three successive orders he had received from the general, during the action at Minden, to advance with the cavalry of the right wing, which he commanded, and sustain the infantry that were engaged; and, after the cavalry were put in motion, of having halted them unnecessarily, and marched so slow, that they could not reach the place of action in time to be of any service, by which conduct the opportunity was lost of attacking the enemy when they gave way, and rendering the victory more glorious and decisive. The first step which lord George took towards his own vindication with the public, was in printing a short address, entreating them to suspend their belief with respect to his character, until the charge brought against him should be legally discussed by a court-martial, a trial which he had already solicited, and was in hopes of obtaining.



HE DEMANDS A COURT-MARTIAL.

Finding himself unable to stem the tide of popular prejudice, which flowed against him with irresistible impetuosity, he might have retired in quiet and safety, and left it to ebb at leisure. This would have been generally deemed a prudential step, by all those who consider the unfavourable medium through which every particular of his conduct must have been viewed at that juncture, even by men who cherished the most candid intentions; when they reflected upon the power, influence, and popularity of his accuser, the clanger of aggravating the resentment of the sovereign, already too conspicuous, and the risk of hazarding his life on the honour and integrity of witnesses, who might think their fortunes depended upon the nature of the evidence they should give. Notwithstanding those suggestions, lord George, seemingly impatient of the imputation under which his character laboured, insisted upon the privilege of a legal trial, which was granted accordingly, after the judges had given it as their opinion that he might be tried by a court-martial, though he no longer retained any commission in the service. A court of general officers being appointed and assembled to inquire into his conduct, the judge-advocate gave him to understand that he was charged with having disobeyed the orders of prince Ferdinand, relative to the battle of Minden. That the reader may have the more distinct idea of the charge, it is necessary to remind him, that lord George Sackville commanded the cavalry of the right wing, consisting of Hanoverian and British horse, disposed in two lines, the British being at the extremity of the right, extending to the village of Hartum; the Hanoverian cavalry forming the left, that reached almost to an open wood or grove, which divided the horse from the line of infantry, particularly from that part of the line of infantry consisting of two brigades of British foot, the Hanoverian guards, and Hardenberg's regiment. This was the body of troops which sustained the brunt of the battle with the most incredible courage and perseverance. They of their own accord advanced to attack the left of the enemy's cavalry, through a most dreadful fire of artillery and small arms, to which they were exposed in front and flank; they withstood the repeated attacks of the whole French gendarmerie, whom at length they totally routed, together with a body of Saxon troops on their left, and to their valour the victory was chiefly owing. The ground from which these troops advanced was a kind of heath or plain, which opened a considerable way to the left, where the rest of the army was formed in order of battle; but on the right it was bounded by the wood, on the other side of which the cavalry of the right wing was posted, having in front the village of Halen, from whence the French had been driven by the piquets in the army there posted, and in front of them a windmill, situated in the middle space between them and a battery placed on the left of the enemy.

Early in the morning captain Malhorti had, by order of prince Ferdinand, posted the cavalry of the right wing in the situation we have just described; the village of Hartum with enclosures on the right, a narrow wood on the left, the village of Halen in their front, and a windmill in the middle of an open plain, which led directly to the enemy. In this position lord George Sackville was directed to remain, until he should receive further orders; and here it was those orders were given which he was said to have disobeyed. Indeed he was previously charged with having neglected the orders of the preceding evening, which imported that the horses should be saddled at one in the morning, though the tents were not to be struck, nor the troops under arms, until they should receive further orders. He was accused of having disobeyed these orders, and of having come late into the field, after the cavalry was formed. Captain Winchingrode, aidecamp to prince Ferdinand, declared upon oath, that while the infantry of the right wing were advancing towards the enemy for the second time, he was sent with orders to lord George Sackville to advance with the cavalry of the right wing, and sustain the infantry, which was going to engage, by forming the horse under his command, upon the heath, in a third line behind the regiments; that he delivered these orders to lord George Sackville, giving him to understand, that he should march the cavalry through the woods or trees on his left to the heath, where they were to be formed; that on his return to the heath, he met colonel Fitzroy riding at full gallop towards lord George; and that he (Winchingrode) followed him back, in order to hasten the march of the cavalry. Colonel Ligonier, another of the prince's aidsdecamp, deposed, that he carried orders from the general to lord George to advance with the cavalry, in order to profit from the disorder which appeared in the enemy's cavalry; that lord George made no answer to these orders, but turning to the troops, commanded them to draw their swords, and march; that the colonel seeing them advance a few paces on the right forwards, told his lordship he must march to the left; that in the meantime colonel Fitzroy arriving with orders for the British cavalry only to advance, lord George said the orders were contradictory; and colonel Ligonier replied, they differed only in numbers, but the destination of his march was the same, to the left. Colonel Fitzroy, the third aidecamp to prince Ferdinand, gave evidence that when he told lord George it was the prince's order for the British cavalry to advance towards the left, his lordship observed that it was different from the order brought by colonel Ligonier, and he could not think the prince intended to break the line; that he asked which way the cavalry was to march, and who was to be their guide; that when he (the aidecamp) offered to lead the column through the wood on the left, his lordship seemed still dissatisfied with the order, saying, it did not agree with the order brought by colonel Ligonier, and desired to be conducted in person to the prince, that he might have an explanation from his own mouth; a resolution which was immediately executed. The next evidence, an officer of rank in the army, made oath that, in his opinion, when the orders were delivered to lord George, his lordship was alarmed to a very great degree, and seemed to be in the utmost confusion. A certain nobleman, of high rank and unblemished reputation, declared, that captain Winchingrode having told him it was absolutely necessary that the cavalry should march, and form a line to support the foot, he had given orders to the second line to march, and form a line to support the foot; that as soon as they arrived at the place where the action began, he was met by colonel Fitzroy, with an order for the cavalry to advance as fast as possible; that in marching to this place, an order came to halt, until they could be joined by the first line of cavalry; that afterwards, in advancing, they were again halted by lord George Sackville; that, in his opinion, they might have marched with more expedition, and even come up in time enough to act against the enemy: some other officers who were examined on this subject, agreed with the marquis in these sentiments.

Lord George, in his defence, proved, by undeniable evidence, that he never received the orders issued on the eve of the battle, nor any sort of intimation or plan of action, although he was certainly entitled to some such communication, as commander-in-chief of the British forces; that, nevertheless, the orders concerning the horses were obeyed by those who received them; that lord George, instead of loitering or losing time while the troops were forming, prepared to put himself at the head of the cavalry on the first notice that they were in motion; that he was so eager to perform his duty, as to set out from his quarters without even waiting for an aidecamp to attend him, and was in the field before any general officer of his division. He declared that, when captain Winchingrode delivered the order to form the cavalry in one line, making a third, to advance and sustain the infantry, he neither heard him say he was to march by the left, nor saw him point with his sword to the wood through which he was to pass. Neither of these directions were observed by any of the aids-de-camp or officers then present, except one gentleman, the person who bore witness to the confusion in the looks and deportment of his lordship. It was proved that the nearest and most practicable way of advancing against the enemy was by the way of the windmill, to the left of the village of Halen. It appeared that lord George imagined this was the only way by which he should be ordered to advance; that, in this persuasion, he had sent an officer to reconnoitre the village of Halen, as an object of importance, as it would have been upon the flank of the cavalry in advancing forwards; that when he received the order from Winchingrode to form the line, and advance, he still imagined this was his route, and on this supposition immediately detached an aidecamp to remove a regiment of Saxe-Gotha which was in the front; that he sent a second to observe the place where the infantry were, and a third to reconnoitre the enemy; that in a few minutes colonel Ligonier coming up with an order from prince Ferdinand to advance the cavalry, his lordship immediately drew his sword, and ordered them to march forward by the windmill. The colonel declared that when he delivered the order, he added, "by the left;" but lord George affirmed that he heard no such direction, nor did it reach the ears of any other person then present, except of that officer who witnessed to the same direction given by Winchingrode. It was proved that immediately after the troops were put in motion, colonel Fitzroy arrived with an order from prince Ferdinand, importing that the British cavalry only should advance by the left; that lord George declared their orders were contradictory, and seemed the more puzzled, as he understood that both these gentlemen came off nearly at the same time from the prince, and were probably directed to communicate the same order. It was therefore natural to suppose there was a mistake, as there might be danger in breaking the line, as the route by the wood appeared more difficult and tedious than that by the windmill, which led directly through open ground to the enemy: and as he could not think that if a body of horse was immediately wanted, the general would send for the British, that were at the farthest extremity of the wing, rather than for the Hanoverian cavalry who formed the left of the line, and consequently were much nearer the scene of action. It was proved that lord George, in this uncertainty, resolved to apply for an explanation to the prince in person, who he understood was at a small distance; that with this view he set out with all possible expedition; that having entered the wood, and perceived that the country beyond it opened sooner to the left than he had imagined, and captain Smith, his aidecamp advising, that the British cavalry should be put in motion he sent back that gentleman, with orders for them to advance by the left with all possible despatch; that he rode up to the general, who received him without any marks of displeasure, and ordered him to bring up the whole cavalry of the right wing in a line upon the heath; an order, as the reader will perceive, quite different from that which was so warmly espoused by the aidecamp; that as the marquis of Granby had already put the second line in motion, according to a separate order which he had received, and the head of his column was already in view, coming out of the wood, lord George thought it necessary to halt the troops on the left until the right should come into the line; and afterwards sent them orders to march slower, that two regiments, which had been thrown out of the line, might have an opportunity to replace themselves in their proper stations.

With respect to the confusion which one officer affirmed was perceivable in the countenance and deportment of this commander, a considerable number of other officers then present being interrogated by his lordship, unanimously declared that they saw no such marks of confusion, but that he delivered his orders with all the marks of coolness and deliberation. The candid reader will of himself determine, whether a man's heart is to be judged by any change of his complexion, granting such a change to have happened; whether the evidence of one witness, in such a case, will weigh against the concurrent testimony of all the officers whose immediate business it was to attend and observe the commander: whether it was likely that an officer, who had been more than once in actual service, and behaved without reproach so as to attain such an eminent rank in the army, should exhibit symptons of fear and confusion, when there was in reality no appearance of danger; for none of the orders imported that he should attack the enemy, but only advance to sustain the infantry. The time which elapsed from the first order he received by captain Winchingrode, to the arrival of colonel Ligonier, did not exceed eight minutes, during which his aide-camp, captain Hugo, was employed in removing the Saxe-Gotha regiment from the front, by which he proposed to advance. From that period till the cavalry actually marched in consequence of an order from lord George, the length of time was differently estimated in the opinion of different witnesses, but at a medium computed by the judge-advocate at fifteen minutes, during which the following circumstances were transacted: The troops were first ordered to advance forwards, then halted; the contradictory orders arrived and were disputed; the commander desired the two aidsdecamp to agree about which was the precise order, and he would obey it immediately: each insisting upon that which he had delivered, lord George hastened to the general for an explanation; and, as he passed the wood, sent back captain Smith to the right of the cavalry, which was at a considerable distance, to put the British horse in motion. We shall not pretend to determine whether the commander of such an important body may be excusable for hesitating, when he received contradictory orders at the same time, especially when both orders run counter to his own judgment, whether in that case it is allowable for him to suspend the operation for a few minutes, in order to consult in person the commander-in-chief about a step of such consequence to the preservation of the whole army. Neither will we venture to decide dogmatically on the merits of the march, after the cavalry were put in motion; whether they marched too slow, or were unnecessarily halted in their way to the heath. It was proved, indeed, that lord George was always remarkably slow in his movements of cavalry, on the supposition that if horses are blown they must be unfit for service, and that the least hurry is apt to disorder the line of horse to such a degree, as would rob them of their proper effect, and render all their efforts abortive. This being the system of lord George Sackville, it may deserve consideration, whether he could deviate from it on this delicate occasion, without renouncing the dictates of his own judgment and discretion; and whether he was at liberty to use his own judgment, after having received the order to advance. After all, whether he was intentionally guilty; and what were the motives by which he was really actuated, are questions which his own conscience alone can solve. Even granting him to have hesitated from perplexity, to have lingered from vexation, to have failed through error of judgment, he will probably find favour with the candid and humane part of his fellow-subjects, when they reflect upon the nature of his situation, placed at the head of such a body of cavalry, uninstructed and uninformed of plan or circumstance, divided from the rest of the army, unacquainted with the operations of the day, chagrined with doubt and disappointment, and perplexed by contradictory orders, neither of which he could execute without offering violence to his own judgment; when they consider the endeavours he used to manifest his obedience; the last distinct order which he in person received and executed; that mankind are liable to mistakes; that the cavalry were not originally intended to act, as appears in the account of the battle published at the Hague, by the authority of prince Ferdinand, expressly declaring that the cavalry on the right did not act, because it was destined to sustain the infantry in a third line; that if it had really been designed for action, it ought either to have been posted in another place, or permitted to advance straight forwards by the windmill, according to the idea of its commander; finally, when they recall to view the general confusion that seems to have prevailed through the manouvres of that morning, and remember some particulars of the action; that the brigades of British artillery had no orders until they applied to lord George Sackville, who directed them to the spot where they acquitted themselves with so much honour and effect, in contributing to the success of the day; that the glory and advantage acquired by the few brigades of infantry, who may be said to have defeated the whole French army, was in no respect owing to any general or particular orders or instructions, but entirely flowing from the native valour of the troops, and the spirited conduct of their immediate commanders; and that a great number of officers in the allied army, even of those who remained on the open heath, never saw the face of the enemy, or saw them at such a distance that they could not distinguish more than the hats and the arms of the British regiments with which they were engaged. With respect to the imputation of cowardice levelled at lord George by the unthinking multitude, and circulated with such industry and clamour, we ought to consider it as a mob accusation which the bravest of men, even the great duke of Marlborough, could not escape; we ought to receive it as a dangerous suspicion, which strikes at the root of character, and may blast that honour in a moment which the soldier has acquired in a long course of painful service, at the continual hazard of his life; we ought to distrust it as a malignant charge, altogether inconsistent with the former conduct of the person accused, as well as with his subsequent impatience and perseverance in demanding a trial, to which he never would have been called; a trial which, though his life was at stake, and his cause out of countenance, he sustained with such courage, fortitude, and presence of mind, as even his enemies themselves could not help admiring. Thus have we given a succinct detail of this remarkable affair, with that spirit of impartiality, that sacred regard to truth, which the importance of history demands. To the best of our recollection, we have forgot no essential article of the accusation, nor suppressed any material circumstance urged in defence of lord George Sackville. Unknown to his person, unconnected with his friends, unmoved by fear, unbiassed by interest, we have candidly obeyed the dictates of justice, and the calls of humanity, in our endeavours to dissipate the clouds of prejudice and misapprehension; warmed, perhaps, with an honest disdain at the ungenerous, and in our opinion, unjust persecution, which previous to his trial, an officer of rank, service, and character, the descendant of an illustrious family, the son of a nobleman universally respected, a Briton, a fellow-subject, had undergone.

{GEORGE II. 1727-1760}



SENTENCE OF THE COURT-MARTIAL.

The court-martial having examined the evidence and heard the defence, gave judgment in these words: "The court, upon due consideration of the whole matter before them, is of opinion that lord George Sackville is guilty of having disobeyed the orders of prince Ferdinand of Brunswick, whom he was, by his commission and instructions, directed to obey as commander-in-chief, according to the rules of war; and it is the further opinion of this court, that the said lord George Sackville is, and he is hereby adjudged, unfit to serve his majesty in any military capacity whatsoever." His sentence was confirmed by the king, who moreover signified his pleasure that it should be given out in public orders, not only in Britain, but in America, and every quarter of the globe where any English troops happened to be, that officers being convinced that neither high birth nor great employments can shelter offences of such a nature, and that seeing they are subject to censures much worse than death to a man who has any sense of honour, they may avoid the fatal consequences arising from disobedience of orders. To complete the disgrace of this unfortunate general, his majesty in council called for the council-book, and ordered the name of lord George Sackville to be struck out of the list of privy-counsellors.



EARL FERRERS APPREHENDED.

This summer was distinguished by another trial still more remarkable. Laurence earl Ferrers, a nobleman of a violent spirit, who had committed many outrages, and, in the opinion of all who knew him, given manifold proofs of insanity, at length perpetrated a murder, which subjected him to the cognizance of justice. His deportment to his lady was so brutal, that application had been made to the house of peers, and a separation effected by act of parliament. Trustees were nominated; and one Mr. Johnson, who had, during the best part of his life, been employed in the family, was now appointed receiver of the estates, at the earl's own request. The conduct of this man, in the course of his stewardship, gave umbrage to lord Ferrers, whose disposition was equally jealous and vindictive. He imagined all his own family had conspired against his interest, and that Johnson was one of their accomplices; that he had been instrumental in obtaining the act of parliament, which his lordship considered as a grievous hardship; that he had disappointed him in regard to a certain contract about coal-mines; in a word, that there was a collusion between Johnson and the earl's adversaries. Fired with these suppositions, he first expressed his resentment, by giving Johnson notice to quit the farm which he possessed on the estate; but finding the trustees had confirmed the lease, he determined to gratify his revenge by assassination, and laid his plan accordingly. On Sunday, the thirteenth day of January, he appointed this unhappy man to come to his house on the Friday following, in order to peruse papers, or settle accounts; and Johnson went thither without the least suspicion of what was prepared for his reception; for although he was no stranger to his lordship's dangerous disposition, and knew he had some time before incurred his displeasure, yet he imagined his resentment had entirely subsided, as the earl had of late behaved to him with remarkable complacency. He therefore, at the time appointed, repaired to his lordship's house at Stanton, in Leicestershire, at the distance of a short mile from his own habitation, and was admitted by a maid-servant. The earl had dismissed every person in the house, upon various pretences, except three women who were left in the kitchen. Johnson, advancing to the door of his apartment, was received by his lordship, who desired him to walk into another room, where he joined him in a few minutes, and then the door was locked on the inside. After a great deal of warm expostulation, the earl insisted upon his subscribing a paper, acknowledging himself a villain; and on his refusing to comply with this demand, declared he would put him to death. In vain the unfortunate man remonstrated against this cruel injustice, and deprecated the indignation of this furious nobleman. He remained deaf to all his entreaties, drew forth a pistol, which he had loaded for the purpose, and commanding him to implore heaven's mercy on his knees, shot him through the body while he remained in that supplicating attitude. The consequence of this violence was not immediate death; but his lordship, seeing the wretched victim still alive and sensible, though agonized with pain, felt a momentary motion of pity. He ordered his servants to convey Mr. Johnson up stairs to a bed, to send for a surgeon, and give immediate notice of the accident to the wounded man's family. When Mr. Johnson's daughter came to the house, she was met by the earl, who told her he had shot her father on purpose, and with deliberation. The same declaration he made to the surgeon on his arrival. He stood by him while he examined the wound, described the manner in which the ball had penetrated, and seemed surprised that it should be lodged within the body. When he demanded the surgeon's opinion of the wound, the operator thought proper to temporize for his own safety, as well as for the sake of the public, lest the earl should take some other desperate step, or endeavour to escape. He therefore amused him with hopes of Johnson's recovery, about which he now seemed extremely anxious. He supported his spirits by immoderate drinking, after having retired to another apartment with the surgeon, whom he desired to take all possible care of his patient. He declared, however, that he did not repent of what he had done; that Johnson was a villain who deserved to die; that, in case of his death, he (the earl) would surrender himself to the house of peers and take his trial. He said he could justify the action to his own conscience, and owned his intention was to have killed Johnson outright; but as he still survived, and was in pain, he desired that all possible means might be used for his recovery. Nor did he seem altogether neglectful of his own safety: he endeavoured to tamper with the surgeon, and suggest what evidence he should give when called before a court of justice. He continued to drink himself into a state of intoxication, and all the cruelty of his hate seemed to return. He would not allow the wounded man to be removed to his own house; saying he would keep him under his own roof that he might plague the villain. He returned to the chamber where Johnson lay, insulted him with the most opprobrious language, threatened to shoot him through the head, and could hardly be restrained from committing further acts of violence on the poor man, who was already in extremity. After he retired to bed, the surgeon procured a sufficient number of assistants, who conveyed Mr. Johnson in an easy chair to his own house, where he expired that same morning in great agonies. The same surgeon assembled a number of armed men to seize the murderer, who at first threatened resistance, but was soon apprehended, endeavouring to make his escape, and committed to the county prison. From thence he was conveyed to London by the gaoler of Leicester, and conducted by the usher of the black rod and his deputy into the house of lords, where the coroner's inquest, and the affidavits touching the murder, being read, the gaoler delivered up his prisoner to the care of the black rod, and he was immediately committed to the Tower. He appeared very calm, composed, and unconcerned, from the time of his being apprehended; conversed coolly on the subject of his imprisonment; made very pertinent remarks upon the nature of the habeas-corpus act of parliament, of which he hoped to avail himself; and when they withdrew from the house of peers, desired he might not be visited by any of his relations or acquaintances. His understanding, which was naturally good, had been well cultivated; his arguments were rational, but his conduct was frantic.



TRIED BY THE HOUSE OF PEERS.

The circumstances of the assassination appeared so cruel and deliberate, that the people cried aloud for vengeance; and the government gave up the offender to the justice of his country. The lord-keeper Henley was appointed lord high-steward for the trial of earl Ferrers, and sat in state with all the peers and judges in Westminster-hall, which was for this purpose converted into a very august tribunal. On the sixteenth day of April the delinquent was brought from the Tower in a coach, attended by the major of the Tower, the gentleman-gaoler, the warders, and a detachment of the foot-guards. He was brought into court about ten; and the lord-steward with the peers taking their places, he was arraigned aloud in the midst of an infinite concourse of people, including many foreigners, who seemed wonderfully struck with the magnificence and solemnity of the tribunal. The murder was fully proved by unquestionable evidence; but the earl pleaded insanity of mind; and, in order to establish this plea, called many witnesses to attest his lunacy in a variety of instances, which seemed too plainly to indicate a disordered imagination: unfounded jealousy of plots and conspiracies, unconnected ravings, fits of musing, incoherent ejaculations, sudden starts of fury, denunciations of unprovoked revenge, frantic gesticulations, and a strange caprice of temper, were proved to have distinguished his conduct and deportment. It appeared that lunacy had been a family taint, and affected divers of his lordship's relations; that a solicitor of reputation had renounced his business on the full persuasion of his being disordered in his brain; that long before this unhappy event, his nearest relations had deliberated upon the expediency of taking out a commission of lunacy against him, and were prevented by no other reason than the apprehension of being convicted of scandalum magnatum, should the jury find his lordship compos mentis: a circumstance which, in all probability, would have happened, inasmuch as the earl's madness did not appear in his conversation, but in his conduct. A physician of eminence, whose practice was confined to persons labouring under this infirmity, declared that the particulars of the earl's deportment and personal behaviour seemed to indicate lunacy. Indeed all his neighbours and acquaintances had long considered him as a madman; and a certain noble lord declared in the house of peers, when the bill of separation was on the carpet, that he looked upon him in the light of a maniac, and that if some effectual step was not taken to divest him of the power of doing mischief, he did not doubt but that one day they should have occasion to try him for murder. The lawyers, who managed the prosecution in behalf of the crown, endeavoured to invalidate the proofs of his lunacy, by observing that his lordship was never so much deprived of his reason but that he could distinguish between good and evil; that the murder he had committed was the effect of revenge for a conceived injury of some standing; that the malice was deliberate, and the plan artfully conducted; that immediately after the deed was perpetrated, the earl's conversation and reasoning were cool and consistent, until he drank himself into a state of intoxication; that in the opinion of the greatest lawyers, no criminal can avail himself of the plea of lunacy, provided the crime was committed during a lucid interval; but his lordship, far from exhibiting any marks of insanity, had in the course of this trial displayed uncommon understanding and sagacity in examining the witnesses, and making many shrewd and pertinent observations on the evidence which was given. These sentiments were conformable to the opinion of the peers, who unanimously declared him guilty.—After all, in examining the vicious actions of a man who has betrayed manifest and manifold symptoms of insanity, it is not easy to distinguish those which are committed during the lucid interval. The suggestions of madness are often momentary and transient: the determinations of a lunatic, though generally rash and instantaneous, are sometimes the result of artful contrivance; but there is always an absurdity which is the criterion of the disease, either in the premises or conclusion. The earl, it is true, had formed a deliberate plan for the perpetration of the murder; but he had taken no precautions for his own safety or escape; and this neglect will the more plainly appear to have been the criterion of insanity, if we reflect that he justified what he had done as a meritorious action; and declared he would, upon Mr. Johnson's death, surrender himself to the house of lords. Had he been impelled to this violence by a sudden gust of passion, it could not be expected that he should have taken any measure for his own preservation; but as it was the execution of a deliberate scheme, and his lordship was by no means defective in point of ingenuity, he might easily have contrived means for concealing the murder until he should have accomplished his escape; and, in our opinion, any other than a madman would either have taken some such measures, or formed some plan for the concealment of his own guilt. The design itself seems to have been rather an intended sacrifice to justice than a gratification of revenge. Neither do we think that the sanity of his mind was ascertained by the accuracy and deliberation with which he made his remarks, and examined the evidence at his trial. The influence of his frenzy might be past; though it was no sign of sound reason to supply the prosecutor with such an argument to his prejudice. Had his judgment been really unimpaired, he might have assumed the mask of lunacy for his own preservation. The trial was continued for two days; and on the third the lord-steward, after having made a short speech touching the heinous nature of the offence, pronounced the same sentence of death upon the earl which malefactors of the lowest class undergo: that from the Tower, in which he was imprisoned, he should, on the Monday following, be led to the common place of execution, there to be hanged by the neck, and his body be afterwards dissected and anatomized. This last part of the sentence seemed to shock the criminal extremely; he changed colour, his jaw quivered, and he appeared to be in great agitation; but during the remaining part of his life he behaved with surprising composure, and even unconcern. After he had received sentence, the lords, his judges, by virtue of a power vested in them, respited his execution for one month, that he might have time to settle his temporal and spiritual concerns. Before sentence was passed, the earl read a paper, in which he begged pardon of their lordships for the trouble he had given, as well as for having, against his own inclination, pleaded lunacy at the request of his friends. He thanked them for the candid trial with which he had been indulged, and entreated their lordships to recommend him to the king for mercy. He afterwards sent a letter to his majesty, remonstrating, that he was the representative of a very ancient and honourable family, which had been allied to the crown; and requesting that, if he could not be favoured with the species of death which in cases of treason distinguishes the nobleman from the plebeian, he might at least, out of consideration for his family, be allowed to suffer in the Tower, rather than at the common place of execution; but this indulgence was refused. From his return to the Tower to the day of his execution, he betrayed no mark of apprehension or impatience, but regulated his affairs with precision, and conversed without concern or restraint.



EARL FERRERS EXECUTED.

On the fifth day of May, his body being demanded by the sheriffs at the Tower-gate, in consequence of a writ under the great seal of England, directed to the lieutenant of the Tower, his lordship desired permission to go in his own landau; and appeared gaily dressed in a light coloured suit of clothes, embroidered with silver. He was attended in the landau by one of the sheriffs, and the chaplain of the Tower, followed by the chariots of the sheriffs, a mourning coach and six, filled with his friends, and a hearse for the conveyance of his body. He was guarded by a posse of constables, and a party of horse grenadiers, and a detachment of infantry; and in this manner the procession moved from the Tower, through an infinite concourse of people, to Tyburn, where the gallows, and the scaffold erected under it, appeared covered with black baize. The earl behaved with great composure to Mr. sheriff Vaillant, who attended him in the landau: he observed that the gaiety of his apparel might seem odd on such an occasion, but that he had particular reasons for wearing that suit of clothes; he took notice of the vast multitude which crowded round him, brought thither, he supposed, by curiosity to see a nobleman hanged: he told the sheriff he had applied to the king by letter, that he might be permitted to die in the Tower, where the earl of Essex, one of his ancestors, had been beheaded in the reign of queen Elizabeth; an application which, he said, he had made with the more confidence, as he had the honour to quarter part of his majesty's arms. He expressed some displeasure at being executed as a common felon, exposed to the eyes of such a multitude. The chaplain who had never been admitted to him before, hinting that some account of his lordship's sentiments on religion would be expected by the public, he made answer that he did not think himself accountable to the public for his private sentiments; that he had always adored one God, the creator of the universe; and with respect to any particular opinions of his own, he had never propagated them, or endeavoured to make proselytes, because he thought it was criminal to disturb the established religion of his country, as lord Bolingbroke had done by the publication of his writings. He added, that the great number of sects, and the multiplication of religious disputes, had almost banished morality. With regard to the crime for which he suffered, he declared that he had no malice against Mr. Johnson; and that the murder was owing to a perturbation of mind, occasioned by a variety of crosses and vexations. When he approached the place of execution, he expressed an earnest desire to see and take leave of a certain person who waited in the coach, a person for whom he entertained the most sincere regard and affection; but the sheriff prudently observing that such an interview might shock him, at a time when he had occasion for all his fortitude and recollection, he acquiesced in the justness of the remark, and delivered to him a pocket-book, a ring, and a purse, desiring they might be given to that person, whom he now declined seeing. On his arrival at Tyburn he came out of the landau, and ascended the scaffold with a firm step and undaunted countenance. He refused to join the chaplain in his devotions; but kneeling with him on black cushions, he repeated the Lord's Prayer, which he said he had always admired; and added, with great energy, "O Lord, forgive me all my errors, pardon all my sins." After this exercise, he presented his watch to Mr. sheriff Vaillant; thanked him and the other gentlemen for all their civilities; and signified his desire of being buried at Breden or Stanton, in Leicestershire. Finally, he gratified the executioner with a purse of money; then, the halter being adjusted to his neck, he stepped upon a little stage, erected upon springs, on the middle of the scaffold; and the cap being pulled over his eyes, the sheriff made a signal, at which the stage fell from under his feet, and he was left suspended. His body having hung an hour and five minutes, was cut down, placed in the hearse, and conveyed to the public theatre for dissection; where being opened, and lying for some days as the subject of a public lecture, at length it was carried off and privately interred. Without all doubt, this unhappy nobleman's disposition was so dangerously mischievous, that it became necessary, for the good of society, either to confine him for life as au incorrigible lunatic, or give him up at once as a sacrifice to justice. Perhaps it might be no absurd or unreasonable regulation in the legislature, to divest all lunatics of the privilege of insanity, and, in cases of enormity, subject them to the common penalties of the law; for though, in the eye of casuistry, consciousness must enter into the constitution of guilt, the consequences of murder committed by a maniac may be as pernicious to society as those of the most criminal and deliberate assassination, and the punishment of death can be hardly deemed unjust or rigorous, when inflicted upon a mischievous being, divested of all the perceptions of reason and humanity. At any rate, as the nobility of England are raised by many illustrious distinctions above the level of plebeians, and as they are eminently distinguished from them in suffering punishment for high treason, which the law considers as the most atrocious crime that can be committed, it might not be unworthy of the notice of the legislature to deliberate whether some such pre-eminence ought not to be extended to noblemen convicted of other crimes, in order to alleviate as much as possible the disgrace of noble families which have deserved well of their country; to avoid any circumstance that may tend to diminish the lustre of the English nobility in the eyes of foreign nations; or to bring it into contempt with the common people of our own, already too licentious, and prone to abolish those distinctions which serve as the basis of decorum, order, and subordination.



ASSASSINATION OF MR. MATTHEWS.

Homicide is the reproach of England: one would imagine there is something in the climate of this country that not only disposes the natives to this inhuman outrage, but even infects foreigners who reside among them. Certain it is, high passions will break out into the most enormous violence in that country where they are least controlled by the restraint of regulation and discipline; and it is equally certain, that in no civilized country under the sun there is such a relaxation of discipline, either religious or civil, as in England. The month of August produced a remarkable instance of desperate revenge, perpetrated by one Stirn, a native of Hesse-Cassel, inflamed and exasperated by a false punctilio of honour. This unhappy young man was descended of a good family, and possessed many accomplishments both of mind and person; but his character was distinguished by such a jealous sensibility, as rendered him unhappy in himself, and disagreeable to his acquaintance. After having for some years performed the office of usher in a boarding-school, he was admitted to the house of one Mr. Matthews, a surgeon, in order to teach him the classics, and instruct his children in music, which he perfectly understood. He had not long resided in his family, when the surgeon took umbrage at some part of his conduct, taxed him roughly with fraud and ingratitude, and insisted upon his removing to another lodging. Whether he rejected this intimation, or found difficulty in procuring another apartment, the surgeon resolved to expel him by violence, called in the assistance of a peace-officer, and turned him out into the street in the night, after having loaded him with the most provoking reproaches. These injuries and disgraces operating upon a mind jealous by nature and galled by adversity, produced a kind of frenzy of resentment, and he took the desperate resolution of sacrificing Mr. Matthews to his revenge. Next day, having provided a case of pistols, and charged them for the occasion, he reinforced his rage by drinking an unusual quantity of wine, and repaired in the evening to a public house, which Mr. Matthews frequented, in the neighbourhood of Hatton-Garden. There he accordingly found the unhappy victim sitting with some of his friends; and the surgeon, instead of palliating his former conduct, began to insult him afresh with the most opprobrious invectives. Stirn, exasperated by this additional indignity, pulled his pistols from his bosom; shot the surgeon, who immediately expired; and discharged the other at his own breast, though his confusion was such that it did not take effect. He was apprehended on the spot, and conveyed to prison; where, for some days, he refused all kind of sustenance, but afterwards became more composed. At his trial he pleaded insanity of mind; but, being found guilty, he resolved to anticipate the execution of the sentence. That same evening he drank poison; and, notwithstanding all the remedies that could be administered, died in strong convulsions. His body was publicly dissected, according to the sentence of the law; and afterwards interred with those marks of indignity which are reserved for the perpetrators of suicide.

{GEORGE II. 1727-1760}



NEW BRIDGE BEGUN AT BLACKFRIARS.

We shall close the domestic occurrences of this year with an account of two incidents, which, though of a very different nature in respect of each other, nevertheless concurred in demonstrating that the internal wealth and vigour of the nation were neither drained nor diminished by the enormous expense and inconveniencies of the war. The committee appointed to manage the undertaking for a new bridge over the river Thames, at Blackfriars, having received and examined a variety of plans presented by different artists, at length gave the preference to the design of one Mr. Mylne, a young architect, a native of North Britain, just returned from the prosecution of his studies at Rome, where he had gained the prize in the capital, which the academy of that city bestows on him who produces the most beautiful and useful plan on a given subject of architecture. This young man being in London, on his return to his own country, was advised to declare himself a candidate for the superintendency of the new bridge; and the plan which he presented was approved and adopted. The place being already ascertained, the lord-mayor of London, attended by the committee, and a great concourse of people, repaired to Blackfriars, and laid the first stone of the bridge; placing upon it a plate, with an inscription, which does more honour to the public spirit of the undertakers than to the classical taste of the author. [547] [See note 4 K, at the end of this Vol.] The other instance that denoted the wealth and spirit of the nation, was the indifference and unconcern with which they bore the loss of a vast magazine of naval stores belonging to the dock-yard at Portsmouth, which, in the month of July, was set on fire by lightning; and, consisting of combustibles, burned with such fury, notwithstanding all the endeavours of the workmen in the yard, the sailors in the harbour, and the troops in the town, that before a stop was put to the conflagration it had consumed a variety of stores to an immense value. The damage, however, was so immediately repaired, that it had no sort of effect in disconcerting any plan, or even in retarding any naval preparation.

How important these preparations must have been, may be judged from the prodigious increase of the navy, which, at this juncture, amounted to one hundred and twenty ships of the line, besides frigates, fire-ships, sloops, bombs, and tenders. Of these capital ships, seventeen were stationed in the East Indies, twenty for the defence of the West India islands, twelve in North America, ten in the Mediterranean, and sixty-one either on the coast of France, in the harbours of England, or cruising in the English seas for the protection of the British commerce. Notwithstanding these numerous and powerful armaments, the enemy, who had not a ship of the line at sea, were so alert with their small privateers and armed vessels, that in the beginning of this year, from the first of March to the tenth of June, they had made prize of two hundred vessels belonging to Great Britain and Ireland. The whole number of British ships taken by them, from the first day of June, in the year one thousand seven hundred and fifty-six, to the first of June in the present year, amounted to two thousand five hundred and thirty-nine; of these, seventy-eight were privateers, three hundred and twenty-one were retaken, and about the same number ransomed. In the same space of time, the British cruisers had made captures of nine hundred and forty-four vessels, including two hundred and forty-two privateers, many fishing boats and small coasters, the value of which hardly defrayed the expense of condemnation. That such a small proportion of ships should be taken from the enemy is not at all surprising, when we consider the terrible shocks their commerce had previously received, and the great number of their mariners imprisoned in England; but the prodigious number of British vessels taken by their petty coasting privateers, in the face of such mighty armaments, numerous cruisers, and convoys, seem to argue that either the English ships of war were inactive or improperly disposed, or that the merchants hazarded their ships without convoy. Certain it is, in the course of this year we find fewer prizes taken from the enemy, and fewer exploits achieved at sea, than we had occasion to record in the annals of the past. Not that the present year is altogether barren of events which redound to the honour of our marine commanders. We have, in recounting the transactions of the preceding year, mentioned a small armament equipped at Dunkirk, under the command of M. de Thurot, who, in spite of all the vigilance of the British commander stationed in the Downs, found means to escape from the harbour in the month of October last, and arrived at Gottenburgh in Sweden, from whence he proceeded to Bergen in Norway. His instructions were to make occasional descents upon the coast of Ireland: and, by dividing the troops, and distracting the attention of the government in that kingdom, to facilitate the enterprise of M. de Confians, the fate of which we have already narrated. The original armament of Thurot consisted of five ships, one of which, called the mareschal de Belleisle, was mounted with forty-four guns; the Begon, the Blond, the Terpsichore, had thirty guns each; and the Marante carried twenty-four. The number of soldiers put on board this little fleet did not exceed one thousand two hundred and seventy, exclusive of mariners, to the number of seven hundred; but two hundred of the troops were sent sick on shore before the armament sailed from Dunkirk; and in their voyage between Gottenburgh and Bergen they lost company of the Begon, during a violent storm. The severity of the weather detained them nineteen days at Bergen, at the expiration of which they set sail for the western islands of Scotland, and discovered the northern part of Ireland in the latter end of January. The intention of Thurot was to make a descent about Derry; but before this design could be executed, the weather growing tempestuous, and the wind blowing off shore, they were driven out to sea, and in the night lost sight of the Marante, which never joined them in the sequel. After having been tempest-beaten for some time, and exposed to a very scanty allowance of provisions, the officers requested of Thurot that he would return to France, lest they should all perish by famine; but he lent a deaf ear to this proposal, and frankly told them he could not return to France, without having struck some stroke for the service of his country. Nevertheless, in hopes of meeting with some refreshment, he steered to the island of Islay, where the troops were landed; and here they found black cattle, and a small supply of oatmeal, for which they paid a reasonable price; and it must be owned, Thurot himself behaved with great moderation and generosity.

While this spirited adventurer struggled with these wants and difficulties, his arrival in those seas filled the whole kingdom with alarm. Bodies of regular troops and militia were posted along the coast of Ireland and Scotland; and besides the squadron of commodore Boys, who sailed to the northward on purpose to pursue the enemy, other ships of war were ordered to scour the British channel, and cruise between Scotland and Ireland. The weather no sooner permitted Thurot to pursue his destination, than he sailed from Islay to the bay of Carrickfergus, in Ireland, and made all the necessary preparations for a descent; which was accordingly effected with six hundred men, on the twenty-first day of February. Lieutenant-colonel Jennings, who commanded four companies of raw undisciplined men at Carrickfergus, having received information that three ships had anchored about two miles and a half from the castle, which was ruinous and defenceless, immediately detached a party to make observations, and ordered the French prisoners there confined to be removed to Belfast. Meanwhile, the enemy landing without opposition, advanced towards the town, which they found as well guarded as the nature of the place, which was entirely open, and the circumstances of the English commander, would allow. A regular attack was carried on, and a spirited defence made,* until the ammunition of the English failed; then colonel Jennings retired in order to the castle, which, however, was in all respects untenable; for, besides a breach in the wall, near fifty feet wide, they found themselves destitute of provisions and ammunition.