REGULATION OF WEIGHTS AND MEASURES.
Exclusive of the bills that were actually prepared, though they did not pass in the course of the session, the commons deliberated on other important subjects, which, however, were not finally discussed. In the beginning of the session, a committee being appointed to resume the inquiry touching the regulation of weights and measures, a subject we have mentioned in the history of the preceding session, the box which contained a troy pound weight, locked up by order of the house, was again produced by the clerk in whose custody it had been deposited. This affair being carefully investigated, the committee agreed to fourteen resolutions. 490 [See note 3 T, at the end of this Vol.] In the meantime, it was ordered that all the weights referred to in the report, should be delivered to the clerk of the house, to be locked up and brought forth occasionally.
THE FOUNDLING HOSPITAL.
The house of commons, among other articles of domestic economy, bestowed some attention on the hospital for foundlings, which was now, more than ever, become a matter of national consideration. The accounts relating to this charity having been demanded, and subjected to the inspection of the members, were, together with the king’s recommendation, referred to the committee of supply, where they produced the resolutions which we have already specified among the other grants of the year. The house afterwards resolved itself into a committee to deliberate on the state of the hospital, and examine its accounts. On the third day of May, their resolutions were reported to the following effect: that the appointing, by the governors and guardians of the said hospital, places in the several counties, ridings, or divisions in this kingdom, for the first reception of exposed and deserted young children, would be attended with many evil consequences; and that the conveying of children from the country to the said hospital is attended with many evil consequences, and ought to be prevented. A bill was ordered to be brought in, founded upon this last resolution, but never presented; therefore the inquiry produced no effect. Notwithstanding the institution of this charity, for the support of which great sums are yearly levied on the public, it does not appear that the bills of mortality, respecting new-born children, are decreased, nor the shocking crime of infant-murder rendered less frequent than heretofore. It may, therefore, not be improperly styled a heavy additional tax for the propagation of bastardy, and the encouragement of idleness among the common people; besides the tendency it has to extinguish the feelings of the heart, and dissolve those family ties of blood by which the charities are connected. In the month of March, leave was given to bring in a bill for the more effectual preventing of the melting down and exporting the gold and silver coin of the kingdom, and the persons were nominated to prepare it; but the bill never appeared, and no further inquiry was made about the matter. Perhaps it was supposed that such a measure might be thought an encroachment on the prerogative of the crown, which hath always exercised the power of fixing the standard, and regulating the currency of the coin. Perhaps such a step was deferred on account of the war, during which a great quantity of gold and silver was necessarily exported to the continent, for the support of the allies and armies in the pay of Great Britain. The legislature, however, would do well to consider this eternal maxim in computation, that when a greater quantity of bullion is exported, in waste, than can be replaced by commerce, the nation must be hastening to a state of insolvency. Over and above these proceedings in this session of parliament, it may not be unnecessary to mention several messages which were sent by the king to the house of commons. That relating to the vote of credit we have already specified in our account of the supply. On the twenty-sixth day of April, the chancellor of the exchequer presented to the house two messages signed by his majesty, one in favour of his subjects in North America, and the other in behalf of the East India company: the former recommending to their consideration the zeal and vigour with which his faithful subjects in North America had exerted themselves in defence of his just rights and possessions; desiring he might be enabled to give them a proper compensation for the expenses incurred by the respective provinces in levying, clothing, and paying the troops raised in that country, according as the active vigour and strenuous efforts of the several colonies should appear to merit: in the latter, he desired the house would empower him to assist the East India company in defraying the expense of a military force in the East Indies, to be maintained by them, in lieu of a battalion of regular troops withdrawn from thence, and returned to Ireland. Both these messages were referred to the committee of supply, and produced the resolutions upon each subject which we have already explained. The message relating to a projected invasion by the enemies of Great Britain, we shall particularize in its proper place, when we come to record the circumstances and miscarriage of that design. In the meantime, it may not be improper to observe, that the thanks of the house of commons were voted and given to admiral Boscawen and major-general Amherst, for the services they had done their king and country in North America; and the same compliment was paid to admiral Osborne, for the success of his cruise in the Mediterranean.
The session was closed on the second day of June, with a speech to both houses from the commissioners appointed by his majesty for that purpose. In this harangue the parliament was given to understand, that the king approved of their conduct, and returned them his thanks for their condescension; that the hopes he had conceived of their surmounting the difficulties which lay in the way, were founded on the wisdom, zeal, and affection of so good a parliament, and that his expectations were fully answered; that they had considered the war in all its parts, and notwithstanding its long continuance, through the obstinacy of the enemy, had made such provision for the many different operations as ought to convince the adversaries of Great Britain, that it would be for their interest, as well as for the ease and relief of all Europe, to embrace equitable and honourable terms of accommodation. They were told that, by their assistance, the combined army in Germany had been completed; powerful squadrons, as well as numerous bodies of land-forces, were employed in America, in order to maintain the British rights and possessions, and annoy the enemy in the most sensible maimer in that country: that, as France was making considerable preparations in her different ports, he had taken care to put his fleet at home in the best condition, both of strength and situation, to guard against and repel any attempts that might be meditated against his kingdoms: that all his measures had been directed to assert the honour of his crown; to preserve the essential interests of his faithful subjects; to support the cause of the protestant religion, and public liberty: he therefore trusted that the uprightness of his intentions would draw down the blessing of heaven upon his endeavours. He expressed his hope, that the precautions they had taken to prevent and correct the excesses of the privateers would produce the desired effect: a consideration which the king had much at heart; for, though sensible of the utility of that service, when under proper regulations, he was determined to do his utmost to prevent any injuries or hardships which might be sustained by the subjects of neutral powers, as far as might be practicable and consistent with his majesty’s just right to hinder the trade of his enemies from being collusively and fraudulently covered. He not only thanked the commons, but applauded the firmness and vigour with which they had acted, as well as their prudence in judging, that notwithstanding the present burdens, the making ample provision for carrying on the war was the most probable means to bring it to an honourable and happy conclusion. He assured them that no attention should be wanting, on his part, for the faithful application of what had been granted. They were informed he had nothing further to desire, but that they would carry down the same good dispositions, and propagate them in their several counties, which they had shown in their proceedings during the session. These declarations being pronounced, the parliament was prorogued.
GEORGE II. 1727-1760
PREPARATIONS FOR WAR.
The people of England, provoked on one hand by the intrigues, the hostilities and menaces of France, and animated on the other by the pride and triumph of success, which never fails to reconcile them to difficulties, howsoever great, and expense, however enormous, at this period breathed nothing but war, and discoursed about nothing but new plans of conquest. We have seen how liberally the parliament bestowed the nation’s money; and the acquiescence of the subjects in general under the additional burdens which had been imposed, appeared in the remarkable eagerness with which they embarked in the subscription planned by the legislature; in the vigorous assistance they contributed towards manning the navy, recruiting the army, and levying additional forces; and the warlike spirit which began to diffuse itself through all ranks of the people, This was a spirit which the ministry carefully cherished and cultivated, for the support of the war, which, it must be owned, was prosecuted with an ardour and efficacy peculiar to the present administration. True it is, the German war had been for some time adopted as an object of importance by the British councils, and a resolution was taken to maintain it without flinching: at the same time, it must be allowed, that this consideration had not hitherto weakened the attention of the ministry to the operations in America, where alone the war may be said to have been carried on and prosecuted on British principles, so as to distress the enemy in their most tender part, and at the same time, acquire the most substantial advantages to the subjects of Britain. For these two purposes, every preparation was made that sagacity could suggest, or vigour execute. The navy was repaired and augmented; and, in order to man the different squadrons, the expedient of pressing, that disgrace to a British administration, was practised both by land and water with extraordinary rigour and vivacity. A proclamation was issued, offering a considerable bounty for every seaman and every landman that should by a certain day enter voluntarily into the service. As an additional encouragement to this class of people, the king promised his pardon to all seamen who had deserted from their respective ships to which they belonged, provided they should return to their duty by the third day of July; but at the same time he declared, that those who should neglect this opportunity, at a time when their country so much required their service, would, upon being apprehended, incur the penalty of a court-martial, and if convicted, be deemed unfit objects of the royal mercy. All justices of the peace, mayors, and magistrates of corporations throughout Great Britain, were commanded to make particular search for straggling seamen fit for the service, and to send all that should be found to the nearest sea-port, that they might be sent on board by the sea-officer there commanding. Other methods, more gentle and effectual, were taken to levy and recruit the land-forces. New regiments were raised, on his majesty’s promise that every man should be entitled to his discharge at the end of three years, and the premiums for enlisting were increased. Over and above these indulgences, considerable bounties were offered and given by cities, towns, corporations, and even by individuals, so universally were the people possessed with a spirit of chivalry and adventure. The example was set by the metropolis, where the common-council resolved, that voluntary subscriptions should be received in the chamber of London, to be appropriated as bounty-money to such persons as should engage in his majesty’s service. The city subscribed a considerable sum for that purpose; and a committee of aldermen and commoners was appointed to attend at Guildhall, to receive and apply the subscriptions. Asa further encouragement to volunteers, they moreover resolved, that every person so entering should be entitled to the freedom of the city, at the expiration of three years, or sooner if the war should be brought to a conclusion. These resolutions being communicated to the king, he was pleased to signify his approbation, and return his thanks to the city, in a letter from the secretary of state to the lord-mayor. Large sums were immediately subscribed by different companies, and some private persons; and, in imitation of the capital, bounties were offered by many different communities in every quarter of the United Kingdom. At the same time, such care and diligence were used in disciplining the militia, that, before the close of the year, the greater part of those truly constitutional battalions rivalled the regular troops in the perfection of their exercise, and seemed to be, in all respects, as fit for actual service.
DEATH OF THE PRINCESS OF ORANGE, &c.
Before we proceed to record the transactions of the campaign that succeeded these preparations, we shall take notice of some domestic events, which, though not very important in themselves, may nevertheless claim a place in the History of England. In the beginning of the year, the court of London was overwhelmed with affliction at the death of the princess dowager of Orange and Nassau, governante of the United Provinces in the minority of her son, the present stadtholder. She was the eldest daughter of his Britannic majesty, possessed of many personal accomplishments and exemplary virtues; pious, moderate, sensible, and circumspect. She had exercised her authority with equal sagacity and resolution, respected even by those who were no friends to the house of Orange, and died with great fortitude and resignation.*
* Feeling her end approaching, she delivered a key to one of her attendants, directing him to fetch two papers, which she signed with her own hand. One was a contract of marriage between her daughter and the prince of Nassau Weilburgh; the other was a letter to the states-general, beseeching them to consent to this marriage, and preserve inviolate the regulations she had made touching the education and tutelage of the young stadtholder. These two papers being signed and sealed, she sent for her children, exhorted them to make proper improvements on the education they had received, and to live in harmony with each other. Then she implored Heaven to shower its blessings on them both, and embraced them with the most affecting marks of maternal tenderness. She afterwards continued to converse calmly and deliberately with her friends, and in a few hours expired.
In her will she appointed the king her father, and the princess dowager of Orange her mother-in-law, honorary tutors, and prince Louis of Brunswick acting tutor to her children. In the morning after her decease, the states-general and the states of Holland were extraordinarily assembled, and having received notice of this event, proceeded to confirm the regulations which had been made for the minority of the stadtholder. Prince Louis of Brunswick was invited to assist in the assembly of Holland, where he took the oaths, as representing the captain-general of the union. Then he communicated to the assembly the act by which the princess had appointed him guardian of her children. He was afterwards invited to the assembly of the states-general, who agreed to the resolution of Holland, with respect to his guardianship; and in the evening the different colleges of the government sent formal deputations to the young stadtholder, and the princess Caroline, his sister, in whose names and presence they were received, and answered by their guardian and representative. A formal intimation of the death of the princess was communicated to the king her father, in a pathetic letter, by the states-general; who condoled with him on the irreparable loss which he as well as they had sustained by this melancholy event, and assured him they would employ all their care and attention in securing and defending the rights and interest of the young stadtholder and the princess his sister, whom they considered as the children of the republic. The royal family of England suffered another disaster in the course of this year, by the decease of the princess Elizabeth-Caroline, second daughter of his late royal highness Frederick prince of Wales, a lady of the most amiable character, who died at Kew in the month of September, before she had attained the eighteenth year of her age.
EXAMPLES MADE OF PIRATES.
Certain privateers continuing their excesses at sea, and rifling neutral ships without distinction or authority, the government resolved to vindicate the honour of the nation, by making examples of those pirates, who, as fast as they could be detected and secured, were brought to trial, and upon conviction sacrificed to justice. While these steps were taken to rescue the nation from the reproach of violence and rapacity, which her neighbours had urged with such eagerness, equal spirit was exerted in convincing neutral powers that they should not with impunity contravene the law of nations, in favouring the enemies of Great Britain. A great number of causes were tried relating to disputed captures, and many Dutch vessels, with their cargoes, were condemned, after a fair hearing, notwithstanding the loud clamours of that people, and the repeated remonstrances of the states-general.
The reputation of the English was not so much affected by the irregularities of her privateers, armed for rapine, as by the neglect of internal police, and an ingredient of savage ferocity mingled in the national character; an ingredient that appeared but too conspicuous in the particulars of several shocking murders brought to light about this period.—One Halsey, who commanded a merchant ship in the voyage from Jamaica to England, having conceived some personal dislike to a poor sailor, insulted him with such abuse, exposed him to such hardships, and punished him with such wantonness of barbarity, that the poor wretch leaped overboard in despair. His inhuman tyrant envying him that death, which would have rescued a miserable object from his brutality, plunged into the sea after him, and brought him on board, declaring, he should not escape so while there were any torments left to inflict. Accordingly, he exercised his tyranny upon him with redoubled rigour, until the poor creature expired, in consequence of the inhuman treatment he had sustained. This savage ruffian was likewise indicted for the murder of another mariner, but being convicted on the first trial, the second was found unnecessary, and the criminal suffered death according to the law, which is perhaps too mild to malefactors convicted of such aggravated cruelty.—Another barbarous murder was perpetrated in the country, near Birmingham, upon a sheriff’s officer, by the sons of one Darby, whose effects the bailiff had seized, on a distress for rent. The two young assassins, encouraged by the father, attacked the unhappy wretch with clubs, and mangled him in a terrible manner, so that he hardly retained any signs of life. Not contented with this cruel execution, they stripped him naked, and dragging him out of the house, scourged him with a waggoner’s whip, until the flesh was cut from the bones. In this miserable condition he was found weltering in his blood, and conveyed to a neighbouring house, where he immediately expired. The three barbarians were apprehended, after having made a desperate resistance. They were tried, convicted, and executed; the sons were hung in chains, and the body of the father dissected.—The widow of a timber-merchant in Rotherhithe being cruelly murdered in her own house, Mary Edmonson, a young woman, her niece, ran out into the street with her arms cut across, and gave the alarm, declaring her aunt had been assassinated by four men, who forced their way into the house, and that she (the niece) had received those wounds in attempting to defend her relation. According to the circumstances that appeared, this unnatural wretch had cut the throat of her aunt and benefactress with a case-knife, then dragged the body from the wash-house to the parlour; that she had stolen a watch and some silver spoons, and concealed them, together with the knife and her own apron, which was soaked with the blood of her parent. After having acted this horrid tragedy, the bare recital of which the humane reader will not peruse without horror, she put on another apron, and wounded her own flesh, the better to conceal her guilt. Notwithstanding these precautions she was suspected, and committed to prison. Being brought to trial, she was convicted and condemned upon circumstantial evidence, and finally executed on Kennington-common, though she denied the fact to the last moment of her life. At the place of execution she behaved with great composure, and, after having spent some minutes in devotion, protested she was innocent of the crime laid to her charge. What seemed to corroborate this protestation, was the condition and character of the young woman, who had been educated in a sphere above the vulgar, and maintained a reputation without reproach in the country, where she was actually betrothed to a clergyman. On the other hand, the circumstances that appeared against her almost amounted to a certainty; though nothing weaker than proof positive ought to determine a jury in capital cases to give a verdict against the person accused. After all, this is one of those problematic events which elude the force of all evidence, and serve to confound the pride of Iranian reason.—A miscreant, whose name was Haines, having espoused the daughter of a farmer in the neighbourhood of Gloucester, who possessed a small estate, which he intended to divide among seven children, was so abandoned as to form the design of poisoning the whole family, that by virtue of his wife he might enjoy the whole inheritance. For the execution of this infernal scheme, he employed his own father to purchase a quantity of arsenic; part of which he administered to three of the children, who were immediately seized with the dreadful symptoms produced by this mineral, and the eldest expired. He afterwards mixed it with three apple-cakes, which he bought for the purpose, and presented to the three other children, who underwent the same violence of operation which had proved fatal to the eldest brother. The instantaneous effects of the poison created a suspicion of Haines, who, being examined, the whole scene of villany stood disclosed. Nevertheless, the villain found means to escape.—The uncommon spirit of assassination which raged at this period, seemed to communicate itself even to foreigners who breathed English air. Five French prisoners confined on board the king’s ship the Royal Oak, were convicted of having murdered one Jean de Manaux, their countryman and fellow-prisoner, in revenge for his having discovered that they had forged passes to facilitate their escape. Exasperated at this detection, they seized this unfortunate informer in the place of their confinement, gagged his mouth, stripped him naked, tied him with a strong cord to a ring-bolt, and scourged his body with the most brutal perseverance. By dint of struggling, the poor wretch disengaged himself from the cord with which he had been tied: then they finished the tragedy, by leaping and stamping on his breast, till the chest was broke, and he expired. They afterwards severed the body into small pieces, and these they conveyed at different times into the sea, through the funnel of a convenience to which they had access: but one of the other prisoners gave information of the murder; in consequence of which they were secured, brought to trial, condemned, and punished with death.—Nor were the instances of cruel assassination which prevailed at this juncture confined to Great Britain. At the latter end of the foregoing year, an atrocious massacre was perpetrated by two Genoese mariners upon the master and crew of an English vessel, among whom they were enrolled. These monsters of cruelty were in different watches, a circumstance that favoured the execution of the horrid plan they had concerted. When one of them retired to rest with his fellows of the watch, consisting of the mate and two seamen, he waited till they were fast asleep, and then butchered them all with a knife. Having so far succeeded without discovery, he returned to the deck, and communicated the exploit to his associate: then they suddenly attacked the master of the vessel, and cleft his head with a hatchet, which they likewise used in murdering the man that stood at the helm; a third was likewise despatched, and no Englishman remained alive but the master’s son, a boy, who lamented his father’s death with incessant tears and cries for three days, at the expiration of which he was likewise sacrificed, because the assassins were disturbed by his clamour. This barbarous scene was acted within sixty leagues of the rock of Lisbon; but the vessel was taken within the capes Ortugal and Finisterre, by the captain of the French privateer called La Favourite, who seeing the deck stained with blood, and finding all the papers of the ship destroyed, began to suspect that the master and crew had been murdered. He accordingly taxed them with the murder, and they confessed the particulars. The privateer touched at Vigo, where the captain imparted this detail to the English consul; but the prize, with the two villains on board, was sent to Bayonne in France, where they were brought to condign punishment.
MURDER OF DANIEL CLARKE.
We shall close this register of blood with the account of a murder remarkable in all its circumstances, for which a person, called Eugene Aram, suffered at York, in the course of this year. This man, who exercised the profession of a schoolmaster at Knaresborough, had, as far back as the year one thousand seven hundred and forty-five, been concerned with one Houseman, in robbing and murdering Daniel Clarke, whom they had previously persuaded to borrow a considerable quantity of valuable effects from different persons in the neighbourhood, on false pretences, that he might retire with the booty. He had accordingly filled a sack with these particulars, and began his retreat with his two perfidious associates, who suddenly fell upon him, deprived him of life, and, having buried the body in a cave, took possession of the plunder. Though Clarke disappeared at once in such a mysterious manner, no suspicion fell on the assassins; and Aram, who was the chief contriver and agent in the murder, moved his habitation to another part of the country. In the summer of the present year, Houseman being employed, among other labourers, in repairing the public highway, they, in digging for gravel by the road side, discovered the skeleton of a human creature, which the majority supposed to be the bones of Daniel Clarke. This opinion was no sooner broached, than Houseman, as it were by some supernatural impulse which he could not resist, declared that it was not the skeleton of Clarke, inasmuch as his body had been interred at a place called St. Robert’s Cave, where they would find it, with the head turned to a certain corner. He was immediately apprehended, examined, admitted as evidence for the crown, and discovered the particulars of the murder. The skeleton of Clarke being found exactly in the place and manner he had described, Eugene Aram, who now acted as usher to a grammar-school in the county of Norfolk, was secured, and brought to trial at the York assizes. There, his own wife corroborating the testimony of Houseman, he was found guilty, and received sentence of death; notwithstanding a very artful and learned defence, in which he proved, from argument and example, the danger of convicting a man upon circumstantial evidence. Finding all his remonstrances ineffectual, he recommended himself in pathetic terms to the king’s mercy; and if ever murder was entitled to indulgence, perhaps it might have been extended not improperly to this man, whose genius, in itself prodigious, might have exerted itself in works of general utility. He had, in spite of all the disadvantages attending low birth and straitened circumstances, by the dint of his own capacity and inclination, made considerable progress in mathematics and philosophy, acquired all the languages ancient and modern, and executed part of a Celtic dictionary, which, had he lived to finish it, might have thrown some essential light upon the origin and obscurities of the European history. Convinced, at last, that he had nothing to hope from the clemency of the government, he wrote a short poem in defence of suicide; and, on the day fixed for his execution, opened the veins of his left arm with a razor, which he had concealed for that purpose. Though he was much weakened by the effusion of blood, before this attempt was discovered, yet, as the instrument had missed the artery, he did not expire until he was carried to the gibbet, and underwent the sentence of the law. His body was conveyed to Knaresborough-forest, and hung in chains, near the place where the murder was perpetrated.—These are some of the most remarkable that appeared amongst many other instances of homicide: a crime that prevails to a degree alike deplorable and surprising, even in a nation renowned for compassion and placability. But this will generally be the case among people whose passions, naturally impetuous, are ill restrained by laws, and the regulations of civil society; which the licentious do not fear, and the wicked hope to evade.
MAJORITY OF THE PRINCE OF WALES.
The prince of Wales having, in the beginning of June, entered the two-and-twentieth year of his age, the anniversary of his birth was celebrated with great rejoicings at court, and the king received compliments of congratulation on the majority of a prince, who seemed born to fulfil the hopes, and complete the happiness, of Great Britain. The city of London presented an address to the king on this occasion, replete with expressions of loyalty and affection, assuring his majesty, that no hostile threats could intimidate a people animated by the love of liberty, who, confiding in the Divine Providence, and in his majesty’s experienced wisdom and vigorous councils, were resolved to exert their utmost efforts towards enabling their sovereign to repel the insults and defeat the attempts made by the ancient enemies of his crown and kingdom. Congratulations of the same kind were offered by other cities, towns, corporations, and communities, who vied with each other in professions of attachment; and, indeed, there was not the least trace of disaffection perceivable at this juncture in any part of the island.
A NEW BRIDGE AT BLACKFRIARS.
So little were the citizens of London distressed by the expense, or incommoded by the operations of the war, that they found leisure to plan, and funds to execute, magnificent works of art, for the ornament of the metropolis, and the convenience of commerce. They had obtained an act of parliament, empowering them to build a new bridge over the Thames, from Blackfriars to the opposite shore, about midway between those of London and Westminster. Commissioners were appointed to put this act in execution; and, at a court of common-council, it was resolved that a sum not exceeding one hundred and forty-four thousand pounds should be forthwith raised, within the space of eight years, by instalments, not exceeding thirty thousand pounds in one year, to be paid into the chamber of London; that the persons advancing the money should have an interest at the rate of four pounds per cent, per annum, to be paid half-yearly by the chamberlain, yet redeemable at the expiration of the first ten years; and that the chamberlain should affix the city’s seal to such instruments as the committee might think fit to give for securing the payment of the said annuities. Such were the first effectual steps taken towards the execution of a laudable measure, which met with the most obstinate opposition in the sequel, from the narrow views of particular people, as well as from the prejudice of party.
FIRE IN CORNHILL.
The spirit that now animated the citizens of London was such as small difficulties did not retard, and even considerable losses could not discourage. In the month of November the city was exposed to a dangerous conflagration, kindled in the night by accident in the neighbourhood of the Royal Exchange, which burned with great fury, and, notwithstanding the assistance of the firemen and engines, employed under the personal direction of the magistracy, consumed a great number of houses, and damaged many more. That whole quarter of the town was filled with consternation: some individuals were beggared; one or two perished in the flames, and some were buried in the ruins of the houses that sunk under the disaster.
METHOD CONTRIVED TO FIND OUT THE LONGITUDE.
The ferment of mind so peculiar to the natives of Great Britain, excited by a strange mixture of genius and caprice, passion and philosophy, study and conjecture, produced at this period some flowers of improvement, in different arts and sciences, that seemed to promise fruit of public utility. Several persons invented methods for discovering the longitude at sea, that great desideratum in navigation, for the ascertainment of which so many nations have offered a public recompense, and in the investigation of which so many mathematical heads have been disordered. Some of those who now appeared candidates for the prize deserved encouragement for the ingenuity of their several systems; but he who seemed to enjoy’ the pre-eminence in the opinion and favour of the public was Mr. Irwin, a native of Ireland, who contrived a chair so artfully poised, that a person sitting in it on board a ship, even in a rough sea, can, through a telescope, observe the immersion and emersion of Jupiter’s satellites, without being interrupted or incommoded by the motion of the vessel. This gentleman was favoured with the assistance and protection of commodore lord Howe, in whose presence the experiment was tried in several ships at sea with such success, that he granted a certificate, signifying his approbation; and in consequence of this, Mr. Irwin is said to have obtained a considerable reward from the board of admiralty.
GEORGE II. 1727-1760
INSTALLATION AT OXFORD.
The people of England, happy in their situation, felt none of the storms of war and desolation which ravaged the neighbouring countries; but, enriched by a surprising augmentation of commerce, enjoyed all the security of peace, and all the pleasures of taste and affluence. The university of Oxford having conferred the office of their chancellor, vacant by the death of the earl of Arran, upon another nobleman of equal honour and integrity, namely, the earl of Westmoreland, he made a public entrance into that celebrated seat of learning with great magnificence, and was installed amidst the Encaenia, which were celebrated with such classical elegance of pomp, as might have rivalled the chief Roman festival of the Augustan age. The chancellor elect was attended by a splendid train of the nobility and persons of distinction. The city of Oxford was filled with a vast concourse of strangers. The processions were contrived with taste, and conducted with decorum. The installation was performed with the most striking solemnity. The congratulatory verses and public speeches breathed the spirit of old Rome; and the ceremony was closed by Dr. King, that venerable sage of St. Mary Hall, who pronounced an oration in praise of the new chancellor with all the flow of Tully, animated by the fire of Demosthenes.
We shall conclude the remarkable incidents of this year:*
* In the spring of the year the liberal arts sustained a lamentable loss in the death of George Frederick Handel, the most celebrated master in music which this age had produced. He was by birth a German; but had studied in Italy, and afterwards settled in England, where he met with the most favourable reception, and resided above half a century, universally admired for his stupendous genius in the sublime parts of musical composition. One would be apt to imagine, that there was something in the constitution of the air at this period, which was particularly unfavourable to old age; inasmuch as, in the compass of a few months, the following persons, remarkable for their longevity, died in the kingdom of Scotland. William Barnes, who had been above seventy years a servant in the family of Brodie, died there, at the age of one hundred and nine. Catherine Mackenzie died in Ross-shire, at the age of one hundred and eighteen. Janet Blair, deceased at Monemusk, in the shire of Aberdeen, turned of one hundred and twelve. Alexander Stephens, in Banffshire, at the age of one hundred and eight. Janet Harper, of Bainsholes, at the age of one hundred and seven. Daniel Cameron, in Rannaeh, married when he was turned of one hundred, and survived his marriage thirty years.
These are detached from the prosecution of the war, with the detail of an event equally surprising and deplorable:—A sloop called the Dolphin, bound from the Canaries to New York, met with such unfavourable weather, that she was detained one hundred and sixty-five days in the passage, and the provision of the ship was altogether expended before the first fifty days were elapsed. The wretched crew had devoured their dog, cat, and all their shoes on board: at length, being reduced to the utmost extremity, they agreed to cast lots for their lives, that the body of him upon whom the lot should fall might serve for some time to support the survivors. The wretched victim was one Antoni Ga-latia, a Spanish gentleman and passenger. Him they shot with a musket; and having cut off his head, threw it overboard; but the entrails and the rest of the carcase they greedily devoured. This horrid banquet having, as it were, fleshed the famished crew, they began to talk of another sacrifice, from which, however, they were diverted by the influence and remonstrances of their captain, who prevailed upon them to be satisfied with a miserable allowance to each per diem, cut from a pair of leather breeches found in the cabin. Upon this calamitous pittance, reinforced with the grass which grew plentifully upon the deck, these poor objects made shift to subsist for twenty days, at the expiration of which they were relieved, and taken on board by one captain Bradshaw, who chanced to fall in with them at sea. By this time the whole crew, consisting of seven men, were so squalid and emaciated, as to exhibit an appearance at once piteous and terrible; and so reduced in point of strength, that it was found necessary to use ropes and tackle for hoisting them from one ship to the other. The circumstance of the lot falling upon the Spaniard, who was the only foreigner on board, encourages a suspicion that foul play was offered to this unfortunate stranger; but the most remarkable part of this whole incident is, that the master and crew could not contrive some sort of tackle to catch fish, with which the sea every where abounds, and which, no doubt, might be caught with the help of a little ingenuity. If implements of this kind were provided in every ship, they would probably prevent all those tragical events at sea that are occasioned by famine.
CAPTURES MADE BY CRUISERS.
Previous to the more capital operations in war, we shall particularize the most remarkable captures that were made upon the enemy by single ships of war, during the course of this summer and autumn. In the month of February, a French privateer belonging to Granville, called the Marquis de Marigny, having on board near two hundred men, and mounted with twenty cannon, was taken by captain Parker, commander of his majesty’s ship the Montague; who likewise made prize of a smaller armed vessel, from Dunkirk, of eight cannon and sixty men. About the same period, captain Graves, of the Unicorn, brought in the Moras privateer, of St. Maloes, carrying two hundred men, and two-and-twenty cannon. Two large merchant-ships, laden on the French king’s account for Martinique, with provisions, clothing, and arms, for the troops on that island, were taken by captain Lendrick, commander of the Brilliant; and an English transport from St. John’s, having four hundred French prisoners on board, perished near the Western islands. Within the circle of the same month, a large French ship from St. Domingo, richly laden, fell in with the Favourite ship of war, and was carried into Gibraltar.
In the month of February, captain Hood, of his majesty’s frigate the Vestal, belonging to a small squadron commanded by admiral Holmes, who had sailed for the West Indies in January, being advanced a considerable way ahead of the fleet, descried and gave chase to a sail, which proved to be a French frigate called the Bellona, of two hundred and twenty men, and two-and-thirty great guns, commanded by the count de Beauhonoire. Captain Hood, having made a signal to the admiral, continued the chase until he advanced within half musket-shot of the enemy, and then poured in a broadside, which was immediately retorted. The engagement thus begun was maintained with great vigour on both sides for the space of four hours; at the expiration of which the Bellona struck, after having lost all her masts and rigging, together with about forty men killed in the action. Nor was the victor in a much better condition. Thirty men were killed and wounded on board the Vestal. Immediately after the enemy submitted, all her rigging being destroyed by the shot, the topmasts fell overboard; and she was otherwise so much damaged, that she could not proceed on her voyage. Captain Hood, therefore, returned with his prize to Spithead; and afterwards met with a gracious reception from his majesty, on account of the valour and conduct he had displayed on this occasion. The Bellona had sailed in January from the island of Martinique, along with the Florissant, and another French frigate, from which she had been separated in the passage. Immediately after this exploit, captain Elliot, of the AEolus frigate, accompanied by the Isis, made prize of a French ship, the Mignonne, of twenty guns, and one hundred and forty men, one of four frigates employed as convoy to a large fleet of merchant-ships, near the island of Rhé.
In the month of March, the English frigates the Southampton and Melampe, commanded by the captains Gilchrist and Hotham, being at sea to the northward on a cruise, fell in with the Danaë, a French ship of forty cannon, and three hundred and thirty men, which was engaged by captain Hotham in a ship of half the force, who maintained the battle a considerable time with admirable gallantry, before his consort could come to his assistance. As they fought in the dark, captain Gilchrist was obliged to lie by for some time, because he could not distinguish the one from the other; but no sooner did the day appear, than he bore down upon the Danaë with his usual impetuosity, and soon compelled her to surrender: she did not strike, however, until thirty or forty of her men were slain; and the gallant captain Gilchrist received a grape-shot in his shoulder, which, though it did not deprive him of life, yet rendered him incapable of future service: a misfortune the more to be lamented, as it happened to a brave officer in the vigour of his age, and in the midst of a sanguinary war, which might have afforded him many other opportunities of signalizing his courage for the honour and advantage of his country. Another remarkable exploit was achieved about the same juncture by captain Barrington, commander of the ship Achilles, mounted with sixty cannon; who, to the westward of Cape Finisterre, encountered a French ship of equal force, called the Count de Saint Florintin, bound from Cape François, on the island of Hispaniola, to Rochefort, under the command of the sieur de Montay, who was obliged to strike, after a close and obstinate engagement, in which he himself was mortally wounded, a great number of his men slain, and his ship so damaged, that she was with difficulty brought into Falmouth. Captain Barrington obtained the victory at the expense of about five-and-twenty men killed and wounded, and all his rigging, which the enemy’s shot rendered useless. Two small privateers from Dunkirk were also taken: one called the Marquis de Bareil, by the Brilliant, which carried her into Kin-sale in Ireland; the other called the Carrilloneur, which struck to the Grace cutter, assisted by the boats of the ship Rochester, commanded by captain Duff, who sent her into the Downs.
About the latter end of March, captain Samuel Falkner, in the ship Windsor, of sixty guns, cruising to the westward, discovered four large ships to leeward, which, when he approached them, formed the line of battle ahead, in order to give him a warm reception. He accordingly closed with the sternmost ship, which sustained his fire about an hour: then the other three bearing away with all the sail they could carry, she struck her colours, and was conducted to Lisbon. She proved to be the Duc de Chartres, pierced for sixty cannon, though at that time carrying no more than four-and-twenty, with a complement of three hundred men, about thirty of whom were killed in the action. She belonged, with the other three that escaped, to the French East India company, was laden with gunpowder and naval stores, and bound for Pondicherry. Two privateers, called Le Chasseur and Le Conquérant, the one from Dunkirk, and the other from Cherbourg, were taken and carried into Plymouth by captain Hughes, of his majesty’s frigate the Tamer. A third, called the Despatch, from Morlaix, was brought into Penzance by the Diligence sloop, under the command of captain Eastwood. A fourth, called the Basque, from Bayonne, furnished with two-and-twenty guns, and above two hundred men, fell into the hands of captain Parker of the Brilliant, who conveyed her into Plymouth. Captain Antrobus of the Surprise, took the Vieux, a privateer of Bourdeaux; and a fifth, from Dunkirk, struck to captain Knight of the Liverpool, off Yarmouth. In the month of May, a French frigate called the Arethusa, mounted with two-and-thirty cannon, manned with a large complement of hands under the command of the marquis de Vaudreuil, submitted to two British frigates, the Venus and the Thames, commanded by the captains Harrison and Colby, after a warm engagement, in which sixty men were killed and wounded on the side of the enemy. In the beginning of June, an armed ship belonging to Dunkirk was brought into the Downs by captain Angel, of the Stag; and a privateer of force, called the Countess de la Serre, was subdued and taken, after an obstinate action, by captain Moore, of his majesty’s ship the Adventure.