While the arms of Great Britain still prospered in every effort tending to the real interest of the nation, an event happened which for a moment obscured the splendour of her triumphs, and could not but be very alarming to those German allies, whom her liberality had enabled to maintain an expensive and sanguinary war of humour and ambition. On the twenty-fifth day of October, George II. king of Great Britain, without any previous disorder, was in the morning suddenly seized with the agony of death, at the palace at Kensington. He had risen at the usual hour, drank his chocolate, and inquired, about the wind, as anxious for the arrival of the foreign mails; then he opened a window of his apartment, and perceiving the weather was serene, declared he would walk in the garden. In a few minutes after this declaration, while he remained alone in his chamber, he fell down upon the floor; the noise of his fall brought his attendants into the room, who lifted him on the bed, where he desired, in a faint voice, that the princess Amelia might be called; but before she could reach the apartments he had expired. An attempt was made to bleed him, but without effect: and indeed his malady was far beyond the reach of art; for when the cavity of the thorax or chest was opened, and inspected by the sergeant-surgeons, they found the right ventricle of the heart actually ruptured, and a great quantity of blood discharged through the aperture into the surrounding pericardium; so that he must have died instantaneously, in consequence of the effusion. The case, however, was so extraordinary, that we question whether there is such another instance upon record. A rupture of this nature appears the more remarkable, as it happened to a prince of a healthy constitution, unaccustomed to excess, and far advanced beyond that period of life, when the blood might be supposed to flow with a dangerous impetuosity.
Thus died George II. at the age of seventy-seven, after a long reign of thirty-four years, distinguished by a variety of important events, and chequered with a vicissittide of character and fortune. He was in his person rather lower than the middle size, well shaped, erect, with eyes remarkably prominent, a high nose, and fair complexion. In his disposition he is said to have been hasty, prone to anger, especially in his youth, yet soon appeased; otherwise mild, moderate, and humane; in his way of living temperate, regular, and so methodical in every branch of private economy, that his attention descended to objects which a great king, perhaps, had better overlook. He was fond of military pomp and parade; and personally brave. He loved war as a soldier—he studied it as a science; and corresponded on this subject with some of the greatest officers whom Germany has produced. The extent of his understanding, and the splendour of his virtue, we shall not presume to ascertain, or attempt to display; we rather wish for opportunities to expatiate on his munificence and liberality—his generous regard to genius and learning—his royal encouragement and protection of those arts by which a nation is at once benefited and adorned. With respect to his government, it very seldom deviated from the institutions of law, or encroached upon private property, or interfered with the common administration of justice. The circumstances that chiefly marked his public character, were a predilection for his native country, and a close attention to the political interests of the Germanic body; points and principles to which he adhered with the most invincible fortitude: and if ever the blood and treasure of Great Britain were sacrificed to these considerations, we ought not so much to blame the prince, who acted from the dictates of natural affection, as we should detest a succession of venal ministers, all of whom in their turns devoted themselves, soul and body, to the gratification of his passion, or partiality, so prejudicial to the true interest of their country.
GEORGE II., 1727-1760
The reign of George II. produced many revolutions, as well in the internal schemes of economy and administration, as in the external projects of political connexions; revolutions that exposed the frailties of human nature, and demonstrated the instability of systems founded upon convenience. In the course of this reign, a standing army was, by dint of ministerial influence, engrafted on the constitution of Great Britain. A fatal stroke was given to the liberty of the press, by the act subjecting all dramatic writings to the inspection of a licenser. The great machine of corruption, contrived to secure a constant majority in parliament, was overturned, and the inventor of it obliged to quit the reins of government. Professed patriots resigned the principles they had long endeavoured to establish, and listed themselves for the defence of that fortress against which their zeal and talents had been levelled. The management of a mighty kingdom was consigned into the hands of a motley administration—ministers without knowledge, and men without integrity, whose councils were timid, weak, and wavering; whose folly and extravagance exposed the nation to ridicule and contempt; by whose ignorance and presumption it was reduced to the verge of ruin. The kingdom was engaged in a quarrel truly national, and commenced a necessary war on national principles: but that war was starved; and the chief strength of the nation transferred to the continent of Europe, in order to maintain an unnecessary war, in favour of a family whose pride and ambition can be equalled by nothing but its insolence and ingratitude. While the strength of the nation was thus exerted abroad for the support of worthless allies, and a dangerous rebellion raged in the bowels of the kingdom, the sovereign was insulted by his ministers, who deserted his service at this critical juncture, and refused to resume their functions, until he had truckled to their petulant humour, and dismissed a favourite servant, of whose superior talents they were meanly jealous. Such an unprecedented secession at any time would have merited the imputation of insolence; but at that period, when the sovereign was perplexed and embarrassed by a variety of dangers and difficulties; when his crown, and even his life, were at stake; to throw up their places, abandon his councils, and, as far as in them lay, detach themselves from his fortune, was a step so likely to aggravate the disorder of the nation, so big with cruelty, ingratitude, and sedition, that it seems to deserve an appellation which, however, we do not think proper to bestow. An inglorious war was succeeded by an ignominious peace, which proved of short duration; yet in this interval the English nation exhibited such a proof of commercial opulence as astonished all Europe. At the close of a war which had drained it of so much treasure, and increased the public debt to an enormous burden, it acquiesced under such a reduction of interest as one would hardly think the ministry durst have proposed, even before one-half of the national debt was contracted. A much more unpopular step was a law that passed for natural-izing the Jews—a law so odious to the people in general, that it was soon repealed, at the request of that minister by whom it had been chiefly patronized. An ill-concerted peace was in a little time productive of fresh hostilities, and another war with France, which Britain began to prosecute under favourable auspices. Then the whole political system of Germany was inverted. The king of England abandoned the interest of that house which he had in the former war so warmly espoused, and took into his bosom a prince whom he had formerly considered as his inveterate enemy. The unpropitious beginning of this war against France being imputed to the misconduct of the administration, excited such a ferment among the people, as seemed to threaten a dangerous insurrection. Every part of the kingdom resounded with the voice of dissatisfaction, which did not even respect the throne. The king found himself obliged to accept of a minister presented by the people; and this measure was attended with consequences as favourable as his wish could form. From that instant all clamour was hushed—all opposition ceased. The enterprising spirit of the new minister seemed to diffuse itself through all the operations of the war, and conquest everywhere attended the efforts of the British arms. Now appeared the fallacy of those maxims, and the falsehood of those assertions, by which former ministers had established, and endeavoured to excuse, the practices of corruption. The supposed disaffection, which had been insisted on as the source of parliamentary opposition, now entirely vanished; nor was it found necessary to use any sinister means for securing a majority, in order to answer the purposes of the administration. England for the first time saw a minister of state in full possession of popularity. Under the auspices of this minister, it saw a national militia formed, and trained to discipline by the invincible spirit of a few patriots, who pursued this salutary measure in the face of unwearied opposition, discouraged by the jealousy of a court, and ridiculed by all the venal retainers to a standing army. Under his ministry it saw the military genius of Great Britain revive, and shine with redoubled lustre; it saw her interest and glory coincide, and an immense extent of country added by conquest to her dominions. The people, confiding in the integrity and abilities of their own minister, and elevated by the repeated sounds of triumph, became enamoured of the war, and granted such liberal subsidies for its support, as no other minister would have presumed to ask, as no other nation believed they could afford. Nor did they murmur at seeing great part of their treasure diverted into foreign channels; nor did they seem to bestow a serious thought on the accumulating load of the national debt, which already exceeded the immense sum of one hundred millions.
In a word, they were intoxicated with victory; and as the king happened to die in the midst of their transports, occasioned by the final conquest of Canada, their good humour garnished his character with a prodigality of encomiums. A thousand pens were drawn to paint the beauties and sublimity of his character, in poetry as well as prose. They extolled him above Alexander in courage and heroism, above Augustus in liberality, Titus in clemency, Antoninus in piety and benevolence, Solomon in wisdom, and Saint Edward in devotion. Such hyperbolical eulogiums served only to throw a ridicule upon a character which was otherwise respectable. The two universities vied with each other in lamenting his death; and each published a huge collection of elegies on the subject: nor did they fail to exalt his praise, with the warmest expressions of affection and regret, in the compliments of condolence and congratulation which they presented to his successor. The same panegyric and pathos appeared in all the addresses with which every other community in the kingdom approached the throne of our present sovereign: insomuch that we may venture to say, no prince was ever more popular at the time of his decease. The English are naturally warm and impetuous; and in generous natures, affection is as apt as any other passion to run riot. The sudden death of the king was lamented as a national misfortune by many, who felt a truly filial affection for their country; not that they implicitly subscribed to all the exaggerated praise which had been so liberally poured forth on his character, but because the nation was deprived of him at a critical juncture, while involved in a dangerous and expensive war, of which he had been personally the chief mover and support. They knew the burden of royalty devolved upon a young prince, who, though heir-apparent to the crown, and already arrived at years of maturity, had never been admitted to any share of the administration, nor made acquainted with any schemes or secrets of state. The real character of the new king was very little known to the generality of the nation. They dreaded an abrupt change of measures, which might have rendered useless all the advantages obtained in the course of the war. As they were ignorant of his connexions, they dreaded a revolution in the ministry, which might fill the kingdom with clamour and confusion. But the greatest shock occasioned by his decease was undoubtedly among our allies and fellow-subjects in Germany, who saw themselves suddenly deprived of their sole prop and patron, at a time when they could not pretend of themselves to make head against the numerous enemies by whom they were surrounded. But all these doubts and apprehensions vanished like mists before the rising sun; and the people of Great Britain enjoyed the inexpressible pleasure of seeing their loss repaired in such a manner, as must have amply fulfilled the most sanguine wish of every friend to his country.
The commerce of Great Britain continued to increase during the whole course of this reign; but this increase was not the effect of extraordinary encouragement. On the contrary, the necessities of government, the growing expenses of the nation, and the continual augmentation of the public debt, obliged the legislature to hamper trade with manifold and grievous impositions; its increase, therefore, must have been owing to the natural progress of industry and adventure extending themselves to that farthest line or limit beyond which they will not be able to advance: when the tide of traffic has flowed to its highest mark, it will then begin to recede in a gradual ebb, until it is shrunk within the narrow limits of its original channel. War, which naturally impedes the traffic of other nations, had opened new sources to the merchants of Great Britain. The superiority of her naval power had crushed the navigation of France, her great rival in commerce; so that she now supplied, on her own terms, all those foreign markets, at which, in time of peace, she was undersold by that dangerous competitor. Thus her trade was augmented to a surprising pitch; and this great augmentation alone enabled her to maintain the war at such an enormous expense. As this advantage will cease when the French are at liberty to re-establish their commerce, and prosecute it without molestation, it would be for the interest of Great Britain to be at continual variance with that restless neighbour, provided the contest could be limited to the operations of a sea-war, in which England would be always invincible and victorious.
The powers of the human mind were freely and fully exercised in this reign. Considerable progress was made in mathematics and astronomy by divers individuals; among whom we number Sanderson, Bradley, Maclaurin, Smith, and the two Simpsons. Natural philosophy became a general study; and the new doctrine of electricity grew into fashion. Different methods were discovered for rendering sea-water potable and sweet; and divers useful hints were communicated to the public by the learned doctor Stephen Hales, who directed all his researches and experiments to the benefit of society. The study of alchemy no longer prevailed; but the art of chemistry was perfectly understood, and assiduously applied to the purposes of sophistication. The clergy of Great Britain were generally learned, pious, and exemplary. Sherlock, Hoad-ley, Seeker, and Conybeare, were promoted to the first dignities of the church. Warburton, who had long signalized himself by the strength and boldness of his genius, his extensive capacity and profound erudition, at length obtained the mitre. But these promotions were granted to reasons ef state convenience and personal interest, rather than as rewards of extraordinary merit. Many other ecclesiastics of worth and learning were totally overlooked. Nor was ecclesiastical merit confined to the established church. Many instances of extraordinary genius, unaffected piety, and universal moderation, appeared among the dissenting ministers of Great Britain and Ireland; among these we particularize the elegant, the primitive Foster; the learned, ingenious, and penetrating Leland.
The progress of reason, and free cultivation of the human mind, had not, however, entirely banished those ridiculous sects and schisms of which the kingdom had been formerly so productive. Imposture and fanaticism still hung upon the skirts of religion. Weak minds were seduced by the delusion of a superstition styled Methodism, raised upon the affectation of superior sanctity, and maintained by pretensions to divine illumination. Many thousands in the lower ranks of life were infected with this species of enthusiasm, by the unwearied endeavours of a few obscure preachers, such as Whitfield and the two Wesleys, who propagated their doctrine to the most remote corners of the British dominions, and found means to lay the whole kingdom under contribution. Fanaticism also formed a league with false philosophy. One Hutchinson, a visionary, intoxicated with the fumes of rabbinical learning, pretended to deduce all demonstration from Hebrew roots, and to confine all human knowledge to the five books of Moses. His disciples became numerous after his death. With the methodists, they denied the merit of good-works, and bitterly inveighed against Newton as an ignorant pretender, who had presumed to set up his own ridiculous chimeras in opposition to the sacred philosophy of the Pentateuch. But the most extraordinary sect which distinguished this reign was that of the Moravians, or Hernhutters, imported from Germany by count Zinzendorf, who might have been termed the Melchisedec of his followers, inasmuch as he assumed among them the threefold character of prophet, priest, and king. They could not be so properly styled a sect, as the disciples of an original, who had invented a new system of religion. Their chief adoration was paid to the second person in the Trinity; the first they treated with the most shocking neglect. Some of their tenets were blasphemous, some indecent, and others ridiculously absurd. Their discipline was a strange mixture of devotion and impurity. Their exterior worship consisted of hymns, prayers, and sermons; the hymns extremely ludicrous, and often indecent, alluding to the side-hole or wound which Christ received from a spear in his side while he remained upon the cross. Their sermons frequently contained very gross incentives to the work of propagation. Their private exercises are said to have abounded with such rites and mysteries, as we cannot explain with any regard to decorum. They professed a community of goods, and were governed as one family, in temporals as well as spirituals, by a council or kind of presbytery, in which the count, as their ordinary, presided. In cases of doubt, or great consequence, these pretended to consult the Saviour, and to decide from immediate inspiration; so that they boasted of being under the immediate direction of a theocracy, though in fact they were slaves to the most dangerous kind of despotism; for as often as any individual of the community pretended to think for himself, or differ in opinion from the ordinary and his band of associates, the oracle decreed that he should be instantly sent upon the mission which they had fixed in Greenland, or to the colony they had established in Pennsylvania. As these religionists consisted chiefly of manufacturers who appeared very sober, orderly, and industrious; and their chief declared his intention of prosecuting works of public emolument; they obtained a settlement under a parliamentary sanction in England, where they soon made a considerable number of proselytes, before their principles were fully discovered and explained.
Many ingenious treatises on metaphysics and morality appeared in the course of this reign, and a philosophical spirit of inquiry diffused itself to the farthest extremities of the united kingdom. Though few discoveries of importance were made in medicine, yet that art was well understood in all its different branches, and many of its professors distinguished themselves in other provinces of literature. Besides the medical essays of London and Edinburgh, the physician’s library was enriched with many useful modern productions; with the works of the classical Freind, the elegant Mead, the accurate Huxham, and the philosophical Pringle. The art of midwifery was elucidated by science, reduced to fixed principles, and almost wholly consigned into the hands of men practitioners. The researches of anatomy were prosecuted to some curious discoveries, by the ingenuity and dexterity of a Hunter and a Monro. The numerous hospitals in London contributed to the improvement of surgery, which was brought to perfection under the auspices of a Cheselden and a Sharpe. The advantages of agriculture, which had long flourished in England, extended themselves gradually to the most remote and barren provinces of the island.
The mechanic powers were well understood, and judiciously applied to many useful machines of necessity and convenience. The mechanical arts had attained to all that perfection which they were capable of acquiring; but the avarice and oppressions of contractors obliged the handicraftsman to exert his ingenuity, not in finishing his work well, but in affording it cheap; in purchasing bad materials, and performing his task in a hurry; in concealing flaws, substituting show for solidity, and sacrificing reputation to the thirst of lucre. Thus, many of the English manufactures, being found slight and unserviceable, grew into discredit abroad; thus the art of producing them more perfect may in time be totally lost at home. The cloths now made in England are inferior in texture and fabric to those which were manufactured in the beginning of the century; and the same judgment may be pronounced upon almost every article of hardware. The razors, knives, scissors, hatchets, swords, and other edge-utensils, prepared for exportation, are generally ill-tempered, half finished, flawed, or brittle; and the muskets, which are sold for seven or eight shillings a-piece to the exporter, so carelessly and unconscientiously prepared, that they cannot be used without imminent danger of mutilation: accordingly, one hardly meets with a negro man upon the coast of Guinea, in the neighbourhood of the British settlements, who has not been wounded or maimed in some member by the bursting of the English fire-arms. The advantages of this traffic, carried on at the expense of character and humanity, will naturally cease, whenever those Africans can be supplied more honestly by the traders of any other nation.
Genius in writing spontaneously arose; and, though neglected by the great, flourished under the culture of a public which had pretensions to taste, and piqued itself on encouraging literary merit. Swift and Pope we have mentioned on another occasion. Young still survived, a venerable monument of poetical talents. Thomson, the poet of the Seasons, displayed a luxuriancy of genius in describing the beauties of nature. Akenside and Armstrong excelled in didactic poetry. Even the Epopoea did not disdain an English dress; but appeared to advantage in the Leonidas of Glover, and the Epigoniad of Wilkie. The public acknowledged a considerable share of dramatic merit in the tragedies of Young, Mallet, Home, and some other less distinguished authors. Very few regular comedies, during this period, were exhibited on the English theatre; which, however, produced many less laboured pieces, abounding with satire, wit, and humour. The Careless Husband of Gibber, and Suspicious Husband of Hoadley, are the only comedies of this age that bid fair for reaching posterity. The exhibitions of the stage were improved to the most exquisite entertainment by the talents and management of Garrick, who greatly surpassed all his predecessors of this and perhaps every other nation, in his genius for acting; in the sweetness and variety of his tones, the irresistible magic of his eye, the fire and vivacity of his action, the elegance of attitude, and the whole pathos of expression. Quin excelled in dignity and declamation, as well as exhibiting some characters of humour, equally exquisite and peculiar. Mrs. Cibber breathed the whole soul of female tenderness and passion; and Mrs. Pritchard displayed all the dignity of distress. That Great Britain was not barren of poets at this period, appears from the detached performances of Johnson, Mason, Gray, the two Whiteheads, and the two Whartons; besides a great number of other bards, who have sported in lyric poetry, and acquired the applause of their fellow-citizens. Candidates for literary fame appeared even in the higher sphere of life, embellished by the nervous style, superior sense, and extensive erudition of a Corke; by the delicate taste, the polished muse, and tender feelings of a Lyttleton. King shone unrivalled in Roman eloquence. Even the female sex distinguished themselves by their taste and ingenuity. Miss Carter rivalled the celebrated Dacier in learning and critical knowledge; Mrs. Lennox signalized herself by many successful efforts of genius, both in poetry and prose; and Miss Reid excelled the celebrated Rosalba in portrait painting, both in miniature and at large, in oil as well as in crayons. The genius of Cervantes was transfused into the novels of Fielding, who painted the characters, and ridiculed the follies of life, with equal strength, humour, and propriety. The field of history and biography was cultivated by many writers of ability: among whom we distinguish the copious Guthrie, the circumstantial Ralph, the laborious Carte, the learned and elegant Robertson, and above all, the ingenious, penetrating, and comprehensive Hume, whom we rank among the first writers of the age, both as an historian and philosopher. Nor let us forget the merit conspicuous in the works of Campbell, remarkable for candour, intelligence, and precision. Johnson, inferior to none in philosophy, philology, poetry, and classical learning, stands foremost as an essayist, justly admired for the dignity, strength, and variety of his style, as well as for the agreeable manner in which he investigates the human heart, tracing every interesting emotion, and opening all the sources of morality. The laudable aim of enlisting the passions on the side of virtue, was successfully pursued by Richardson, in his Pamella, Clarissa, and Grandison; a species of writing equally new and extraordinary, where, mingled with much superfluity, we find a sublime system of ethics, an amazing knowledge and command of human nature. Many of the Greek and Roman classics made their appearance in English translations, which were favourably received as works of merit; among these we place, after Pope’s Homer, Virgil by Pitt and Wharton, Horace by Francis, Polybius by Hampton, and Sophocles by Franklin. The war introduced a variety of military treatises, chiefly translated from the French language; and a free country, like Great Britain, will always abound with political tracts and lucubrations. Every literary production of merit, calculated for amusement or instruction, that appeared in any country or language of Christendom, was immediately imported and naturalized among the English people. Never was the pursuit after knowledge so universal, or literary merit more regarded, than at this juncture, by the body of the British nation; but it was honoured by no attention from the throne, and little indulgence from particular patrons. The reign of Queen Anne was propitious to the fortunes of Swift and Pope, who lived in all the happy pride of independence. Young, sequestered from courts and preferment, possessed a moderate benefice in the country, and employed his time in a conscientious discharge of his ecclesiastical functions. Thomson, with the most benevolent heart that ever warmed the human breast, maintained a perpetual war with the difficulties of a narrow fortune. He enjoyed a place in chancery by the bounty of lord Talbot, of which he was divested by the succeeding chancellor. He afterwards enjoyed a small pension from Frederick prince of Wales, which was withdrawn in the sequel. About two years before his death, he obtained, by the interest of his friend lord Lyttleton, a comfortable place; but he did not live to taste the blessing of easy circumstances, and died in debt.*
* However he was neglected when living, his memory has been honoured with peculiar marks of regard, in an ample subscription for a new edition of his works. The profits were employed in erecting a monument to his fame in Westminster Abbey, a subscription to which his present majesty king George III. has liberally subscribed. The remaining surplus was distributed among his poor relations.
None of the rest whom we have named enjoyed any share of the royal bounty, except W. Whitehead, who succeeded to the place of laureate at the death of Cibber; and some of them whose merit was the most universally acknowledged, remained exposed to all the storms of indigence, and all the stings of mortification. While the queen lived, some countenance was given to learning. She conversed with Newton, and corresponded with Leibnitz. She took pains to acquire popularity; the royal family on certain days dined in public, for the satisfaction of the people: the court was animated with a freedom of spirit and vivacity, which rendered it at once brilliant and agreeable. At her death that spirit began to languish, and a total stagnation of gaiety and good humour ensued. It was succeeded by a sudden calm, an ungracious reserve, and a still rotation of insipid forms. *
* George II. by his queen Caroline, had two sons and five daughters, who attained the age of maturity. Frederick, prince of Wales, father to his present majesty George III.; William duke of Cumberland; Anne, the princess royal, married to the late prince of Orange, and mother to the present stadtholder; Mary, landgraviate of Hesse-Cassel; Louisa, late queen of Denmark; Amelia and Carolina, who were never married.
GEORGE II. 1727-1760
England was not defective in other arts that embellish and amuse. Music became a fashionable study, and its professors were generally caressed by the public. An Italian opera was maintained at a great expense, and well supplied with foreign performers. Private concerts were instituted in every corner of the metropolis. The compositions of Handel were universally admired, and he himself lived in affluence. It must be owned at the same time, that Geminiani was neglected, though his genius commanded esteem and veneration. Among the few natives of England who distinguished themselves by their talents in this art, Green, Howard, Arne, and Boyce, were the most remarkable.
The British soil, which had hitherto been barren in the article of painting, now produced some artists of extraordinary merit. Hogarth excelled all the world in exhibiting the scenes of ordinary life; in humour, character, and expression. Hayman became eminent for historical designs and conversation pieces. Reynolds and Ramsay distinguished themselves by their superior merit in portraits; a branch that was successfully cultivated by many other English painters. Wootton was famous for representing live animals in general; Seymour for race-horses; Lambert and the Smiths for landscapes; and Scot for sea-pieces. Several spirited attempts were made on historical subjects, but little progress was made in the sublime parts of painting. Essays of this kind were discouraged by a false taste, founded upon a reprobation of British genius. The art of engraving was brought to perfection by Strange, and laudably practised by Grignon, Baron, Ravenet, and several other masters; great improvements were made in mezzotinto, miniature, and enamel. Many fair monuments of sculpture or statuary were raised by Rysbrach, Roubilliac, and Wilton. Architecture, which had been cherished by the elegant taste of Burlington, soon became a favourite study; and many magnificent edifices were reared in different parts of the kingdom. Ornaments were carved in wood, and moulded in stucco, with all the delicacy of execution; but a passion for novelty had introduced into gardening, building, and furniture, an absurd Chinese taste, equally void of beauty and convenience. Improvements in the liberal and useful arts will doubtless be the consequence of that encouragement given to merit by the society instituted for these purposes, which we have described on another occasion. As for the Royal Society, it seems to have degenerated in its researches, and to have had very little share, for half a century at least, in extending the influence of true philosophy.
We shall conclude this reign with a detail of the forces and fleets of Great Britain, from whence the reader will conceive a just idea of her opulence and power.
Forces and Fleets of Great Britain
GEORGE II. 1727-1760
237 (return)
[ Note 2 K, p.237 Nothing
was heard within doors in parliament, but sarcastic repartee and violent
declamation between the two parties, who did not confine their altercation
to these debates, but took the field against each other in periodical
papers and occasional pamphlets. The paper called The Craftsman, had
already risen into high reputation all over England, for the wit, humour,
and solid reasoning it contained. Some of the best writers in the
opposition, including lord Bolingbroke and Mr. P. made use of this vehicle
to convey their animadversions upon the minister, who, on his side,
employed the most wretched scribblers to defend his conduct. It was in
consequence of two political pamphlets, written in opposition to each
other, by “lord Hervey and Mr. P., and some recrimination they produced in
the house of commons, that his lordship challenged the other to single
combat, and had well nigh lost his life in the duel, which was fought in
Hyde Park.]
260 (return)
[ Note 2. L, p. 260.
Captain Jenkins was master of a Scottish merchant-ship. He was boarded by
the captain of a Spanish guardacosta, who treated him in the most
barbarous manner. The Spaniards, after having rummaged his vessel for what
they called contraband commodities, without finding anything to justify
their search, insulted him with the most opprobrious invectives. They tore
off one of his ears, bidding him carry it to his king, and tell him they
would serve him in the same manner should an opportunity offer: they
tortured him with the most shocking cruelty, and threatened him with
immediate death. This man was examined at the bar of the house of commons,
and being asked by a member, what he thought when he found himself in the
hands of such barbarians? “I recommended my soul to God,” said he, “and my
cause to my country.” The behaviour of this brave seaman, the sight of his
ear, which was produced, with his account of the indignities which had
been offered to the nation and sovereign of Great Britain, filled the
whole house with indignation. Jenkins was afterwards employed in the
service of the East India company; he approved himself worthy of his good
fortune, in a long engagement with the pirate Angria, during which he
behaved with extraordinary courage and conduct; and saved his own ship,
with three others that were under his convoy.]
262 (return)
[ Note 2 M, p. 262. Among
the laws enacted in the course of this session was an act against gaming,
which had become universal through all ranks of people, and likely to
prove destructive to all morals, industry, and sentiment. Another bill
passed, for granting a reward to Joanna Stevens, on her discovering, for
the benefit of the public, a nostrum for the cure of persons afflicted
with the stone—a medicine which has by no means answered the
expectations of the legislature.
In the house of lords,
complaint was made by lord Delaware of a satire, entitled Manners, written
by Mr. Whitehead, in which some characters of distinction were severely
lashed in the true spirit of poetry. It was voted a libel: a motion was
made to take the author into custody; but he having withdrawn himself, the
resentment of the house fell upon E. Dodsley, the publisher of the work,
who was committed to the usher of the black rod, though lord Carteret, the
earl of Abingdon, and lord Talbot, spoke in his behalf.]
283 (return)
[ Note 2 N, p.283. In
May, a dreadful plague broke out at Messina in Sicily. It was imported in
cotton and other commodities brought from the Morea; and swept off such a
multitude of people, that the city was almost depopulated: all the galley
slaves who were employed in burying the dead, perished by the contagion;
and this was the fate of many priests and monks who administered to those
who were infected. The dead bodies lay in heaps in the streets, corrupting
the air, and adding fresh fuel to the rage of the pestilence. Numbers died
miserably, for want of proper attendance and necessaries; and all was
horror and desolation. At the beginning of winter it ceased, after having
destroyed near fifty thousand inhabitants of Messina, and of the garrisons
in the citadel and castle. It was prevented from spreading in Sicily by a
strong barricado drawn from Melazzo to Taormina; but it was conveyed to
Reggio in Calabria by the avarice of a broker of that place, who bought
some goods at Messina. The king of Naples immediately ordered lines to be
formed, together with a chain of troops, which cut off all communication
between that place and the rest of the continent.]
301 (return)
[ Note 2 O, p. 301. This
nobleman, so remarkable for his courage and thirst of glory, exhibited a
very extraordinary instance of presence of mind on the morning that
preceded this battle. He and some volunteers, accompanied by his aidecamp,
and attended by two orderly dragoons, the rode out before day to
reconnoitre the situation of the enemy; and fell in with one of their
advanced guards. The sergeant who commanded it immediately turned out his
men, and their pieces were presented when the earl first perceived them.
Without betraying the least mark of disorder, he rode up to the sergeant,
and assuming the character of a French general, told him, in that
language, that there was no occasion for such ceremony. Then he asked, if
they had perceived any of the enemy’s parties; and being answered in the
negative, “Very well,” said he, “be upon your guard; and if you should be
attacked, I will take care that you shall be sustained.” So saying, he and
his company retired, before the sergeant could recollect himself from the
surprise occasioned by this unexpected address. In all probability he was
sensible of his mistake; for the incident was that very day publicly
mentioned in the French army. The prince of Tingray, an officer in the
Austrian service, having been taken prisoner in the battle that ensued,
dined with mares-chal count Saxe, who dismissed him on his parole, and
desired he would charge himself with a facetious compliment to his old
friend, the earl of Crawford. He wished his lordship joy of being a French
general, and said he could not help being displeased with the sergeant, as
he had not procured him the honour of his lordship’s company at dinner.]
310 (return)
[ Note 2 P, p. 310. Such
an expensive war could not be maintained without a very extraordinary
exertion of a commercial spirit: accordingly we find that Great Britain,
since the death of king William, has risen under our pressures with
increased vigour and perseverance. Whether it be owing to the natural
progression of trade extending itself from its origin to its acme,
or ne plus ultra, or to the encouragement given by the
administration to monied men of all denominations; or to necessity,
impelling those who can no longer live on small incomes to risk their
capitals in traffic, that they may have a chance for bettering their
fortunes; or lastly, to a concurrence of all these causes; certain it is,
the national exports and imports have been sensibly increasing for these
forty years: the yearly medium of woollen exports, from the year 1738 to
1743 inclusive, amounted to about three millions and a half, which was a
yearly increase, on the medium, of five hundred thousand pounds above the
medium from 1718 to 1724. From this article, the reader will conceive the
prodigious extent, and importance of the British commerce.]
321 (return)
[ Note 2 Q, p. 321. The
resolutions of the commons on this head were printed by authority in the
London Gazette, signifying, that those who were, or should be, proprietors
of any part of the public debt, redeemable by law, incurred before
Michaelmas, in the year one thousand seven hundred and forty-nine,
carrying an interest of four per centum per annum, who should, on or
before the twenty-eighth day of February in that year, subscribe their
names, signifying their consent to accept of an interest of three pounds
per centum, to commence from the twenty-fifth day of December, in the year
one thousand seven hundred and fifty-seven, subject to the same
provisions, notices, and classes of redemption, to which their respective
sums at four per centum were then liable, should, in lieu of their present
interest, be entitled to four per centum till the twenty-fifth day of
December, in the year one thousand seven hundred and fifty; and after that
day, to three pounds ten shillings per centum per annum, till the
twenty-fifth day of December, one thousand seven hundred and fifty-seven;
and no part of that debt, except what was due to the East India company,
should be redeemable to this period. That if any part of the national
debt, incurred before last Michaelmas, redeemable by law, and carrying an
interest of four per centum, should remain unsubscribed on or before the
thirtieth day of May, the government should pay off the principal. For
this purpose Ins majesty was enabled to borrow of any person or persons,
bodies politic or corporate, any sum or sums of money not exceeding that
part of the national debt which might remain unsubscribed, to be charged
on the sinking fund, upon any terms not exceeding the rate of interest in
the foregoing proposal.
All the duties appropriated to the
payment of the interest were still continued, and the surplus of these
incorporated with the sinking fund for the discharge of the principal.
Books were opened for the subscription at the Exchequer, the Bank of
England, and the South Sea house; and copies of these resolutions
transmitted to the directors of all the monied corporations.]
322 (return)
[ Note 2 R, p. 322. The
most remarkable circumstance attending the progress of this bill, which
made its way through both houses, and obtained the royal assent, was the
number of contradictory petitions in favour and in prejudice of it, while
it remained under consideration. The tanners of leather in and about the
town of Sheffield in Yorkshire, represented, That if the bill should pass,
the English iron would be undersold; consequently, a great number of
furnaces and forges would be discontinued; in that case the woods used for
fuel would stand uncut, and the tanners be deprived of oak bark sufficient
for the continuance and support of their occupation. They nevertheless
owned, that should the duty be removed from pig iron only, no such
consequence could be apprehended; because, should the number of furnaces
be lessened, that of forges would be increased. This was likewise the plea
urged in divers remonstrances by masters of iron-works, gentlemen, and
freeholders, who had tracts of wood-land in their possession. The owners,
proprietors, and farmers of furnaces and iron forges, belonging to
Sheffield and its neighbourhood, enlarged upon the great expense they had
incurred in erecting and supporting iron-works, by means of which great
numbers of his majesty’s subjects were comfortably supported. They
expressed their apprehension, that should the bill pass into a law, it
could not in any degree lessen the consumption of Swedish iron, which was
used for purposes which neither the American nor British iron would
answer; but that the proposed encouragement, considering the plenty and
cheapness of wood in America, would enable the colonies to undersell the
British iron, a branch of traffic which would be totally destroyed, to the
ruin of many thousand labourers, who would be compelled to seek their
livelihood in foreign countries. They likewise suggested, that if all the
iron manufacturers of Great Britain should be obliged to depend upon a
supply of iron from the plantations, which must ever be rendered
precarious by the hazard of the seas and the enemy, the manufactures would
probably decay for want of materials, and many thousand families be
reduced to want and misery. On the other hand, the ironmongers and smiths
belonging to the flourishing town of Birmingham in Warwickshire, presented
a petition, declaring, That the bill would be of great benefit to the
trade of the nation, as it would enable the colonists to make larger
returns of their own produce, and encourage them to take a greater
quantity of the British manufactures. They affirmed, that all the
iron-works in the island of Great Britain did not supply half the quantity
of that metal sufficient to carry on the manufacture; that if this
deficiency could be supplied from the colonies in America, the importation
would cease, and considerable sums of money be saved to the nation. They
observed, that the importation of iron from America could no more affect
the iron-works and freeholders of the kingdom, than the like quantity
imported from any other country; but they prayed that the people of
America might be restrained from erecting slitting or rolling-mills, or
forges for plating iron, as they would interfere with the manufacturers of
Great Britain.
Many remonstrances to the same effect were
presented from different parts of the kingdom, and it appeared, upon the
most exact inquiry, that the encouragement of American iron would prove
extremely beneficial to the kingdom, as it had been found, upon trial,
applicable to all the uses of Swedish iron, and as good in every respect
as the produce of that country.]
330 (return)
[ Note 2 S, p. 330. One
of the most remarkable acts which passed in the course of this session,
was that for regulating the commencement of the year, and correcting the
calendar, according to the Gregorian computation, which had been adopted
by all other nations in Europe. By this new law it was decreed that the
new year should begin on the 1st day of January, and that eleven
intermediate nominal days, between the second and fourteenth days of
September, 1752, should for that time be omitted; so that the day
succeeding the second should be denominated the fourteenth of that month.
By this establishment of the new style, the equinoxes and solstices will
happen nearly on the same nominal days on which they fell in the year 325,
at the council of Nice; and the correspondence between the English
merchants and those of foreign countries will be greatly facilitated, with
respect to the dates of letters and accounts.]
331 (return)
[ Note 2 T, p. 330. An
indulgent parent was poisoned by his only daughter, on whom, besides other
marks of tenderness and paternal affection, he had bestowed a liberal
education, which greatly aggravated her guilt and ingratitude. Another
young woman was concerned in the assassination of her own uncle, who had
been her constant benefactor and sole guardian. A poor old woman, having,
from the ignorance and superstition of her neighbours, incurred the
suspicion of sorcery and witchcraft, was murdered in Hertfordshire by the
populace, with all the wantonness of barbarity. Rape and murder were
perpetrated upon an unfortunate woman in the neighbourhood of London, and
an innocent man suffered death for this complicated outrage, while the
real criminals assisted at his execution, heard him appeal to heaven for
his innocence, and, in the character of friends, embraced him, while he
stood on the brink of eternity.]
348 (return)
[ Note 2 U, p. 348.
Several European nations had settlements at Surat, which was one of the
most frequented cities of the East, from the great concourse of Mahometan
pilgrims, who make it their road from India, in their visits to the tomb
of their prophet at Mecca. In order to keep the seas clear of pirates
between Surat and the gulf of Arabia and Persia, the mogul had been at the
annual expense of a large ship, fitted out on purpose to carry the
pilgrims to Judda, which is within a small distance of Mecca. For the
security of this ship, as well as to protect the trade of Surat, he
granted to his admiral, the fiddee, chief of a colony of caffrees,
or blacks, a revenue called the tanka, to the value of three lacks of
rupees, amounting to above thirty-seven thousand pounds, arising partly
from the adjacent lands, and partly from the revenues of Surat, which were
paid him yearly by the governor of the castle, who is appointed by the
mogul to keep the city under proper subjection, without, however,
interfering with the government of it.]
357 (return)
[ Note 2 X, p. 357. The
ministry having resolved to send a body of forces to America, to act in
conjunction with the provincial troops raised on that continent, it became
necessary that the mutiny act should be rendered more clear and extensive.
When this bill, therefore, fell under consideration, it was improved with
a new clause, providing, “That all officers and soldiers of any troops
being mustered and in pay, which are or shall be raised in any of the
British provinces in America, by authority of the respective governors or
governments thereof, shall at all times, and in all places, when they
happen to join or act in conjunction with his majesty’s British forces, be
liable to martial law and discipline, in like manner, to all intents and
purposes, as the British forces are; and shall be subject to the same
trial, penalties, and punishment.”]
364 (return)
[ Note 2 Y, p. 364. The
king, on his side, promised to pay to the landgrave, for these succours,
eighty crowns banco, by way of levy-money, for every trooper or dragoon
duly armed and mounted, and thirty crowns banco for every foot soldier;
the crown to be reckoned at fifty-three sols of Holland, or at four
shillings and ninepence three farthings English money; and also to pay to
his serene highness, for the eight thousand men, an annual subsidy of an
hundred and fifty thousand crowns banco, during the four years, to
commence from the day of signing the treaty; which subsidy was to be
increased to three hundred thousand crowns yearly, from the time of
requiring the troops, to the time of their entering into British pay; and
in case of their being dismissed, the said subsidy of three hundred
thousand crowns was then to revive and be continued during the residue of
the term: but, if twelve thousand men were demanded and furnished, the
subsidy was then to be increased in proportion; and in case the king of
Great Britain should at any time think fit to send back these troops
before the expiration of the treaty, notice thereof was to be given to his
serene highness three months beforehand: one month’s pay was to be allowed
them for their return, and they were to be furnished gratis with the
necessary transport vessels.]
372 (return)
[ Note 2 Z, p. 372. It is
with pleasure we seize this opportunity of recording an instance of
gallantry and patriotism in a British officer, which would have done
honour to the character of a Roman tribune. Captain Cunningham, an
accomplished young gentleman, who acted as engineer in second at Minorca,
being preferred to a majority at home, and recalled to his regiment by an
express order, had repaired with his family to Nice in Italy, where he
waited for the opportunity of a ship bound for England, when he received
certain intelligence that the French armament was destined for the place
he had quitted. His lady, whom he tenderly loved, was just delivered, and
two of his children were dangerously ill of the small-pox. He recollected
that the chief engineer at Minorca was infirm, and indeed disabled by the
gout, and that many things were wanting for the defence of the fortress.
His zeal for the honour and service of his country immediately triumphed
over the calls of tenderness and of nature. He expended a considerable sum
of money in purchasing timber for the platforms, and other necessaries for
the garrison; hired a ship for transporting them thither; and tearing
himself from his wife and children, thus left among strangers in a foreign
country, embarked again for Minorca, where he knew he should be in a
peculiar manner exposed to all the dangers of a furious siege. In the
course of this desperate service he acquitted himself with that vigilance,
skill, and active courage, which he had on divers former occasions
displayed, until the assault was given to the queen’s bastion; when,
mixing with the enemy, sword in hand, he was disabled in his right arm by
the shot of a musket and the thrust of a bayonet. His behaviour was so
acceptable to his sovereign, that when he returned to England he was
preferred to the rank of colonel in the Guards. He afterwards acted as
chief engineer in the attempts and descents which were made on the French
coast. Though grievously maimed, he accepted the same office in the
expedition to Guadaloupe, where he died universally regretted.]
378 (return)
[ Note 3 A, p. 378. When
the French ambassador returned to London, he proposed that orders should
be immediately despatched to the English governors in America, with
express orders to desist from any new undertaking, and all acts of
hostility; but with regard to the lands on the Ohio, to put, without
delay, matters on the same footing in which they stood before the late
war, that the respective claims of both nations might be amicably referred
to the commissaries at Paris. The British court agreed to the cessation of
hostilities, and the discussion of the disputes by the ministers of the
two crowns, on condition that all the possessions in America should be
previously put in the situation prescribed by the treaty of Utrecht,
confirmed by that of Aix-la-Chapelle. The French ministry, instead of
complying with this condition, produced an evasive draft of a preliminary
convention, and this was answered by a counter-proposal. At length the
ambassador of France demanded, as preliminary conditions, that Great
Britain would renounce all claim to the south coast of the river St.
Laurence, and the lakes that discharge themselves into that river; cede to
the French twenty leagues of country lying along the river of Fundy, which
discovers Acadia, or Nova Scotia; and all the land between the rivers Ohio
and Ouabache. A memorial was afterwards presented on the same subject,
including the affairs of the neutral islands in the West Indies; but this
was amply refuted in another piece, in which the British ministry
observed, that even at this very opening of the commission established in
Paris, for terminating amicably the disputes in North America, the French
invaded Nova Scotia, erected three forts in the heart of that province,
and would have destroyed the English settlement at Halifax, had they not
been prevented: that the like hostilities were committed upon his
Britannic majesty’s subjects on the Ohio and Indian lakes, where the
governors appointed by the French king, without any shadow of right,
prohibited the English from trading; seized their traders by force, and
sent them prisoners to France; invaded the territories of Virginia,
attacked a fort that covered its frontier, and, to secure their
usurpations, erected, with an armed force, a chain of forts on the lands
which they had invaded; that his Britannic majesty had complained of these
hostilities to the court of Versailles, but without effect; so that he
found himself obliged to provide for the security of his subjects; and as
the encroachments made by France were hostile, it could never be unlawful,
or irreconcile-able with the assurance of his majesty’s peaceable
disposition, to repel an aggressor; and that the same motive of
self-defence had forced him to seize the French ships and sailors, in
order to deprive that court of the means of making an invasion, with which
their ministers in all the courts of Europe had menaced England.]
379 (return)
[ Note 3B, p. 379. To
Lieut. Gen. Fowke, or, in his absence, to the Commander-in-Chief in his
Majesty’s garrison of Gibraltar. War-office, March 21, 1756. “Sir,—I
am commanded to acquaint you, that it is his majesty’s pleasure that you
receive into your garrison lord Robert Bertie’s regiment to do duty there;
and in case you should apprehend that the French intend to make any
attempt upon his majesty’s island of Minorca, it is his majesty’s pleasure
that you make a detachment out of the troops of your garrison equal to a
battalion, to be commanded by a lieutenant-colonel and major; such
lieutenant-colonel and major to be the eldest in your garrison, to be put
on board the fleet for the relief of Minorca, as the admiral shall think
expedient, who is to carry them to the said island. I am, your humble
servant, B.”
To Lieut. Gen. Fowke, or, in his absence, to
the Commander-in-Chief at Gibraltar. War-office, March 26,1756. “Sir,—I
am commanded to acquaint you, that it is his majesty’s pleasure, in case
the island of Minorca should be in any likelihood of being attacked, that
you make a detachment from the troops in your garrison equal to a
battalion, commanded by a lieutenant-colonel and major, for the relief of
that place, to be put on board the fleet, at the disposition of the
admiral: such lieutenant-colonel and major to be the eldest in your
garrison.”
To Lieut. Gen. Fowke, or, in his absence, to the
Commander-in-chief in his Majesty’s garrison of Gibraltar. War-office,
April 1, 1756. “Sir,—It is his majesty’s pleasure, that you receive
into your garrrison the women and children belonging to lord Robert
Bertie’s regiment.”
To Lieut. Gen. Fowke, or the
Commander-in-Chief at Gibraltar. War-office, May 12, 1756. “Sir,—I
wrote to you by general Steward: if that order is not complied with, then
you are now to make a detachment of seven hundred men out of your own
regiment and Guise’s; and also another detachment out of Pulteney’s and
Panmure’s regiments, and send them on board the fleet for the relief of
Mahon. But if that order has been complied with, then you are to make only
one detachment of seven hundred men, to be commanded by another
lieutenant-colonel and major, and to send it to Mahon; and you are also to
detain all such empty vessels as shall come into your harbour, and keep
them in readiness for any further transportation of troops. I have also
his royal highness the duke of Cumberland’s commands, to desire that you
will keep your garrison as alert as possible during this critical time,
and give such other assistance as may be in your power for the relief of
Minorca; taking care, however, not to fatigue or endanger your own
garrison.”]
387 (return)
[ Note 3 C, p. 387. His
majesty seems to have abated of this respect in the sequel, if we may
believe the assertions of his Polish majesty’s queen and the court of
Vienna, who affirmed, that sentinels were posted within the palace where
the queen and royal family resided; as also at the door of the secret
cabinet, where the papers relating to foreign transactions were deposited.
The keys of this cabinet were seized, and all the writings demanded. The
whole Saxon ministry were discharged from their respective employments,
and a new commission was established by the king of Prussia for the
administration of affairs in general. When the queen entreated this prince
to remove the sentinels posted within the palace and contiguous passages,
agreeably to his assurances that all due respect should be observed
towards the royal family, the king ordered the guards to be doubled, and
sent an officer to demand of her majesty the keys of the secret cabinet.
The queen obtained this officer’s consent that the doors should be sealed
up, but afterwards he returned with orders to break them open: then her
majesty, placing herself before the door, said, she trusted so much to the
promise of the king of Prussia, that she could not believe he had given
such orders. The officer declaring that his orders were positive, and that
he durst not disobey them, she continued in the same place, declaring,
that if violence was to be used, he must begin with her. The officer
returning to acquaint the king with what had passed, her majesty conjured
the ministers of Prussia and England to remind his majesty of his promise;
but her representations had no effect: the officer returned with fresh
orders to use force, in spite of the opposition she might make against it
in person. The queen, finding herself in danger of her life, at length
withdrew: the doors were forced, the chests broke open, and all the papers
seized.]
388 (return)
[ Note 3 D, p. 388. The
letter was to the following effect:—“Veldt-Mareschal Count Rutowski,
It is not without extreme sorrow I understand the deplorable situation,
which a chain of misfortunes has reserved for you, the rest of my
generals, and my whole army; but we must acquiesce in the dispensations of
Providence, and console ourselves with the rectitude of our sentiments and
intentions. They would force me, it seems, as you gave me to understand by
major-general the baron de Dyherrn, to submit to conditions the more
severe, in proportion as the circumstances become more necessitous. I
cannot hear them mentioned. I am a free monarch: such I will live; such I
will die; and I will both live and die with honour. The fate of my army I
leave wholly to your discretion. Let your council of war determine whether
you must surrender prisoners of war, fall by the sword, or die by famine.
May your resolutions, if possible, be conducted by humanity: whatever they
may be, I have no longer any share in them; and I declare you shall not be
answerable for aught but one thing, namely, not to carry arms against me
or my allies. I pray God may have you, Mr. Mareschal, in his holy keeping.—Given
at Koningstein, the 14th of October, 1756. “AUGUSTUS, Kex.” “To the
Veldt-Mareschal the Count Rutowski.”
392 (return)
[ Note 3 E, p. 392.
Rear-admiral Knowles being, in the month of December, one thousand seven
hundred and forty-nine, tried at Deptford, before a court-martial, for his
behaviour in and relating to an action which happened on the first day of
October in the preceding year, between a British squadron under his
command, and a squadron of Spain, the court was unanimously of opinion,
that the said Knowles, while he was standing for the enemy, might, by a
different disposition of his squadron, have begun the attack with six
ships as early in the day as four of them were engaged; and that,
therefore, by his neglecting so to do, he gave the enemy a manifest
advantage; that the said Knowles remained on board the ship Cornwall with
his flag, after she was disabled from continuing the action, though he
might, upon her being disabled, have shifted his flag on board another
ship; and the court were unanimously of opinion he ought to have done so,
in order to have conducted and directed, during the whole action, the
motions of the squadron intrusted to his care and conduct. Upon
consideration of the whole conduct of the said Knowles, relating to that
action, the court did unanimously agree that he fell under part of the
fourteenth article of the articles of war, namely, the word negligence,
and no other; and also under the twenty-third article.—The court,
therefore, unanimously adjudged, that he should be reprimanded for not
bringing up the squadron in closer order than he did, and not beginning
the attack with as great force as he might have done; and also for not
shifting his flag, upon the Cornwall’s being disabled.]
395 (return)
[ Note 3 F, p. 395. It
was enacted, that persons pawning, exchanging, or disposing of goods,
without leave of the owner, should suffer in the penalty of twenty
shillings; and, on non-payment, be committed for fourteen days to hard
labour; afterwards, if the money could not be then paid, to be whipped
publicly in the house of correction, or such other place as the justice of
the peace should appoint, on publication of the prosecutor; that every
pawnbroker should make entry of the person’s name and place of abode who
pledges any goods with him; and the pledger, if he require it, should have
a duplicate of that entry; that a pawnbroker receiving linen or apparel
intrusted to others to be washed or mended, should forfeit double the sum
lent upon it, and restore the goods; that upon oath of any person whose
goods are unlawfully pawned or exchanged, the justice should issue a
warrant to search the suspected person’s house; and upon refusal of
admittance the officer might break open the door; that goods pawned for
any sum not exceeding ten pounds might be recovered within two years, the
owner making oath of the pawning, and tendering the principal, interest,
and charges; that goods remaining unredeemed for two years should be
forfeited and sold, the overplus to be accounted for to the owner on
demand.]
396 (return)
[ Note 3 G, p. 395. It
likewise imported, that all contracts or agreements made between clothiers
and weavers in respect to wages, should, from and after the first of May,
in the year one thousand seven hundred and fifty-seven, be valid,
notwithstanding any rate established, or to be established; but that these
contracts or agreements should extend only to the actual prices or rates
of workmanship or wages, and not to the payment thereof in any other
manner than in money; and that if any clothier should refuse or neglect to
pay the weaver the wages or price agreed on, in money, within two days
after the work should be performed and delivered, the same being demanded,
he should forfeit forty shillings for every such offence.]
401 (return)
[ Note 3 H, p. 401.
Admiral F..... s’s reasons for not signing the warrant for admiral
Byng’s execution.
“It may be thought great presumption in
me to differ from so great authority as that of the twelve judges; but
when a man is called upon to sign his name to an act which is to give
authority to the shedding of blood, he ought to be guided by his own
conscience, and not by the opinions of other men.
“In the case
before us, it is not the merit of admiral Byng that I consider; whether he
deserves death or not, is not a question for me to decide; but whether or
not his life can be taken away by the sentence pronounced on him by the
court-martial, and after having so clearly explained their motives for
pronouncing such a sentence, is the point which alone has employed my
serious consideration.
“The twelfth article of war, on which
admiral Byng’s sentence is grounded, says (according to my understanding
of its meaning), ‘That every person, who, in time of action, shall
withdraw, keep back, or not come into fight, or do his utmost, &c.
through motives of cowardice, negligence, or disaffection, shall suffer
death.’ The court-martial does, in express words, acquit admiral Byng of
cowardice and disaffection, and does not name the word negligence. Admiral
Byng does not, as I conceive, fall under the letter or description of the
twelfth article of war. It may be said that negligence is implied, though
the word is not mentioned, otherwise the court-martial would not have
brought his offence under the twelfth article, having acquitted him of
cowardice and disaffection. But it must be acknowledged that the
negligence implied cannot be wilful negligence; for wilful negligence in
admiral Byng’s situation, must have proceeded either from cowardice or
disaffection, and he is expressly acquitted of both these crimes; besides,
these crimes, which are implied only and not named, may indeed justify
suspicion and private opinion, but cannot satisfy the conscience in case
of blood.
“Admiral Byng’s fate was referred to a court-martial,
his life and death were left to their opinions. The court-martial condemn
him to death, because, as they expressly say, they were under a necessity
of doing so by reason of the letter of the law, the severity of which they
complained of, because it admits of no mitigation. The court-martial
expressly say, that for the sake of their consciences, as well as in
justice to the prisoner, they most earnestly recommend him to his majesty
for mercy; it is evident, then, that in the opinions and consciences of
the judges he was not deserving of death.
“The question then
is, shall the opinions or necessities of the court-martial determine
admiral Byng’s fate? If it should be the latter, he will be executed
contrary to the intentions and meaning of his judges; if the former, his
life is not forfeited. His judges declare him not deserving of death; but,
mistaking either the meaning of the law, or the nature of his offence,
they bring him under an article of war, which, according to their own
description of his offence, he does not, I conceive, fall under; and then
they condemn him to death, because, as they say, the law admits of no
mitigation. Can a man’s life be taken away by such a sentence? I would not
willingly be misunderstood, and have it believed that I judge admiral
Byng’s deserts; that was the business of a court-martial, and it is my
duty only to act according to my conscience; which, after deliberate
consideration, assisted by the best light a poor understanding can afford
it, remains still in doubt, and therefore I cannot consent to sign a
warrant whereby the sentence of the court-martial may be carried into
execution; for I cannot help thinking, that however criminal admiral Byng
may be, his life is not forfeited by that sentence. I do not mean to find
fault with other men’s opinions; all I endeavour at is, to give reasons
for my own; and all I desire or wish is, that I may not be misunderstood;
I do not pretend to judge admiral Byng’s deserts, nor to give any opinion
on the propriety of the act. “Signed, 6th Feb. 1757, at the Admiralty, ”
J. F..... S.”]
419 (return)
[ Note 3 I, p. 419. “The
Imperial grenadiers (says he) are an admirable corps; one hundred
companies defended a rising ground, which my best infantry could not
carry. Ferdinand, who commanded them, returned seven times to the charge;
but to no purpose. At first he mastered a battery, but could not hold it.
The enemy had the advantage of a numerous and well-served artillery. It
did honour to Lichtenstein, who had the direction. Only the Prussian army
can dispute it with him. My infantry were too few. All my cavalry were
present, and idle spectators, excepting a bold push by my household
troops, and some dragoons. Ferdinand attacked without powder; the enemy,
in return, were not sparing of theirs. They had the advantage of a rising
ground, of intrenchments, and of a prodigious artillery. Several of my
regiments were repulsed by their musketry. Henry performed wonders. I
tremble for my worthy brothers; they are too brave. Fortune turned her
back on me this day. I ought to have expected it; she is a female, and I
am no gallant. In fact, I ought to have had more infantry. Success, my
dear lord, often occasions destructive confidence. Twenty-four battalions
were not sufficient to dislodge sixty thousand men from an advantageous
post. Another time we will do better. What say you of this league, which
has only the marquis of Brandenburgh for its object? The great elector
would be surprised to see his grandson at war with the Russians, the
Austrians, almost all Germany, and an hundred thousand French auxiliaries.
I know not whether it would be disgrace in me to submit, but I am sure
there will be no glory in vanquishing me.”]