422 (return)
[ Note 3 K, p. 422. This
remarkable capitulation, which we shall give here at full length, on
account of the disputes that rose shortly after, concerning what the
French called an infraction of it, was to the following effect:—
His majesty, the king of Denmark—touched with the
distresses of the countries of Bremen and Verden, to which he has always
granted his special protection; and being desirous, by preventing those
countries from being any longer the theatre of war, to spare also the
effusion of blood in the armies which are ready to dispute the possession
thereof—hath employed his mediation by the ministry of the count de
Lynar. His royal highness the duke of Cumberland, general of the army of
the allies, on the one part, and his excellency the mareschal duke de
Richelieu, general of the king of France’s forces in Germany, on the
other, have, in consideration of the intervention of his Danish majesty,
respectively engaged their word of honour to the count de Lynar, to abide
by the convention hereafter stipulated; and he, the count de Lynar,
correspondently to the magnanimity of the king his master’s intention,
obliges himself to procure the guarantee mentioned in the present
convention; so that it shall be sent to him, with his full powers, which
there was no time to make out in the circumstances which hurried his
departure.
Article I. Hostilities shall cease on both sides
within twenty-four hours, or sooner, if possible. Orders for this purpose
shall be immediately sent to the detached corps.
II. The
auxiliary troops of the army of the duke of Cumberland, namely, those of
Hesse, Brunswick, Saxe-Gotha, and even those of the count de la Lippe
Bucke-bourg, shall be sent home; and as it is necessary to settle
particularly their march to their respective countries, a general officer
of each nation shall be sent from the army of the allies, with whom shall
be settled the route of those troops, the divisions they shall march in,
their subsistence on their march, and their passports to be granted them
by his excellency the duke de Richelieu to go to their own countries,
where they shall be placed and distributed as shall be agreed upon between
the court of France and their respective sovereigns.
III. His
royal highness the duke of Cumberland obliges himself to pass the Elbe,
with such part of his army as he shall not be able to place in the city of
Stade; that the part of his forces which shall enter into garrison in the
said city, and which it is supposed may amount to between four and six
thousand men, shall remain there under the guarantee of his majesty the
king of Denmark, without committing any act of hostility; nor, on the
other hand, shall they be exposed to any of the French troops. In
consequence thereof, commissaries, named on each side, shall agree upon
the limits to be fixed round that place, for the convenieucy of the
garrison; which limits shall not extend beyond half a league or a league
from the place, according to the nature of the ground or circumstances,
which shall be fairly settled by the commissaries. The rest of the
Hanoverian army shall go and take quarters in the country beyond the Elbe;
and, to facilitate the march of those troops, his excellency the duke de
Richelieu shall concert with a general officer, sent from the Hanoverian
army, the route they shall take; obliging himself to give the necessary
passports and security for the free passage of them and their baggage, to
the places of their destination; his royal highness the duke of Cumberland
reserving to himself the liberty of negotiating between the two courts for
an extension of those quarters. As to the French troops, they shall remain
in the rest of the duchies of Bremen and Verden, till the definitive
reconciliation of the two sovereigns.
IV.. As the aforesaid
articles are to be executed as soon as possible, the Hanoverian army, and
the corps which are detached from it, particularly that which is at Buck
Schantz and the neighbourhood, shall retire under Stade in the space of
eight-and-forty hours. The French army shall not pass the river Oste, in
the duchy of Bremen, till the limits be regulated. It shall, besides, keep
all the posts and countries of which it is in possession; and, not to
retard the regulation of the limits between the armies, commissaries shall
be nominated and sent on the 10th instant to Bremen-worden by his royal
highness the duke of Cumberland, and his excellency the mareschal duke de
Richelieu, to regulate, as well the limits to be assigned to the French
army, as those that are to be observed by the garrison at Stade, according
to Art. III.
V. All the aforesaid articles shall be faithfully
executed, according to their form and tenor, and under the faith of his
majesty the king of Denmark’s guarantee, which the count de Lynar, his
minister, engages to procure.
Done at the camp at
Closter-Seven, 8th Sept. 1757. (Signed) WILLIAM.
SEPARATE
ARTICLES. Upon the representation made by the count de Lynar, with a view
to explain some dispositions made by the present convention, the following
articles have been added:—
I. It is the intention of his
excellency the mareschal duke de Richelieu, that the allied troops of his
royal highness the duke of Cumberland shall be sent back to their
respective countries, according to the form mentioned in the second
article; and that, as to their separation and distribution in the country,
it shall be regulated between the courts, those troops not being
considered as prisoners of war.
II. It having been represented
that the country of Lunenberg cannot accommodate more than fifteen
battalions and six squadrons, and that the city of Stade cannot absolutely
contain the garrison of six thousand men allotted to it, his excellency
the mareschal duke de Richelieu, being pressed by M. de Lynar, who
supported this representation by the guarantee of his Danish majesty,
gives his consent; and his royal highness the duke of Cumberland engages
to cause fifteen battalions and six squadrons to pass the Elbe, and the
whole body of hunters, and the remaining ten battalions and twenty-eight
squadrons shall be placed in the town of Stade, and the places nearest to
it that are within the line, which shall be marked by posts from the mouth
of the Liche in the Elbe, to the mouth of the Elmerbeck in the river Oste;
provided always, that the said ten battalions and twenty-eight squadrons
shall be quartered there as they are at the time of signing this
convention, and shall not be recruited under any pretext, or augmented in
any case; and this clause is particularly guaranteed by the count de Lynar
in the name of his Danish majesty.
III. Upon the representation
of his royal highness the duke of Cumberland, that the army and the
detached corps cannot both retire under Stade in eight-and-forty hours,
agreeable to the convention, his excellency the mareschal duke de
Richelieu hath signified, that he will grant them proper time, provided
the corps encamped at Buck Schantz, as well as the army encamped at
Bremen-worden, begin their inarch to retire in four-and-twenty hours after
signing the convention. The time necessary for other arrangements, and the
execution of the articles concerning the respective limits, shall be
settled between lieutenant-general Sporcken, and the marquis de Villemar,
first lieutenant-general of the king’s army. Done, &c]
433 (return)
[ Note 3 L, p. 433. The
letter, which was written in French, we have translated for the reader’s
satisfaction:—“I am informed that the design of a treaty of
neutrality for the electorate of Hanover is not yet laid aside. Is it
possible that your majesty can have so little fortitude and constancy, as
to be dispirited by a small reverse of fortune? Are affairs so ruinous
that they cannot be repaired? I hope your majesty will consider the step
you have made me hazard, and remember that you are the sole cause of these
misfortunes that now impend over my head. I should never have abandoned
the alliance of France, but for your flattering assurances. I do not now
repent of the treaty I have concluded with your majesty: but I expect you
will not ingloriously leave me at the mercy of my enemies, after having
brought upon me all the force of Europe. I depend upon your adhering to
your repeated engagements of the twenty-sixth of last month, and that you
will listen to no treaty in which I am not comprehended.”]
438 (return)
[ Note 3 M, p. 438. It
was enacted, That every person subscribing for five hundred pounds, should
be entitled to four hundred and fifty in annuities, and fifty pounds in
lottery tickets, and so in proportion for a greater or lesser sum; that
the lottery should consist of tickets of the value of ten pounds each, in
a proportion not exceeding eight blanks to a prize; the blanks to be of
the value of six pounds each; the blanks and prizes to bear an interest
after the rate of three pounds per cent., to commence from the first day
of January, in the year one thousand seven hundred and fifty-nine; and
that the sum of four millions five hundred thousand pounds, to be raised
by annuities, should bear an interest after the rate of three pounds ten
shillings percent, from the fifth day of July in the present year; which
annuities should stand reduced to three pounds per cent, after the
expiration of twenty-four years, and afterwards he redeemable in the
whole, or in part, by sums not less than five hundred thousand pounds, at
one time: six months’ notice having been first given of such payments
respectively; that any subscriber might, on or before the twenty-ninth day
of April, make a deposit of ten pounds per cent, on such sums as he should
choose to subscribe towards raising these five millions, with the cashiers
of the bank, as a security for his future payments on the days appointed
for that purpose; that the several sums so received by the cashiers should
be paid into the receipt of the exchequer, to be applied from time to time
to such services as should then have been voted by the house of commons in
this session of parliament, and not otherwise; that any subscriber, paying
the whole or any part of his subscription previous to the clays appointed
for the respective payments, should be allowed a discount at the rate of
three per cent, from the days of such respective payments to the
respective times on which such payments were directed to be made, and that
all persons who should make their full payments on the said lottery,
should receive their tickets as soon as they could be conveniently made
out.]
440 (return)
[ Note 3 N, p. 440. Among
those rendered perpetual, we find an act of the 13th and 14th of Charles
II. for preventing theft and rapine. An act of the 9th of George I. for
punishing persons going armed in disguise. A clause in the act of the 6th
of George II. to prevent the breaking down the bank of any river; and
another clause in the said act, to prevent the treacherous cutting of
hop-binds. Several clauses in an act of the 10th of George II. for
punishing persons setting on fire any mine, &c. The temporary part of
the act of the 20th of George II. for taking away the hereditary
jurisdictions of Scotland, relating to the power of appealing to circuit
courts. Those continued were,—1. An act of the 12th of George II.
for granting liberty to carry sugar, &c, until the twenty-ninth of
September, in the year one thousand seven hundred and sixty-four, and to
the end of next session of parliament. 2. An act of the 5th of George II.
to prevent frauds by bankrupts, &c., for the same period. 3. An act of
the 8th of George II. for encouraging the importation of naval stores,
&c, for the same period. 4. An act of the 19th of George II. for
preventing frauds in the admeasurement of coals, &c. until June 24,
1759; and to this was added a perpetual clause for preventing the stealing
or destroying of madder roots. 5. An act of the 9th George II. for
encouraging the manufacture of British sail-cloth until the twenty-ninth
of September, one thousand seven hundred and sixty-four. 6. An act of the
4th of George II. for granting an allowance upon British-made gunpowder,
for the same period. 7, An act of the 4th of George II. for encouraging
the trade of the sugar colonies, until the twenty-ninth of September, one
thousand seven hundred and sixty-one. And 8, so much of the act of the
15th and 16th of George II. to empower the importers of rum, &c, as
relates to landing it before the payment of duties, until the 29th of
September, one thousand seven hundred and sixty-four.]
461 (return)
[ Note 3 O, p. 461. Translation
of the Letter written by the Duke of Brunswick to his brother Prince
Ferdinand. “Sir,—I know you too well to doubt that the situation
in which we stand at present, with respect to each other, gives you
abundance of uneasiness; nor will you doubt that it gives me equal
concern. Indeed, it afflicts me greatly. Meanwhile I could never, my
dearest brother, have believed that you would be the person who should
carry away from me my eldest son. I am exceedingly mortified to find
myself under the hard necessity of telling you that this step is contrary
to the law of nations, and the constitution of the empire; and that, if
you persist in it, you will disgrace your family, and bring a stain upon
your country, which you pretend to serve. The hereditary prince, my son,
was at Hamburgh by my order, and you have carried him to Stade. Could he
distrust his uncle,—an uncle who hath done so much honour to his
family? Could he believe that this uncle would deprive him of liberty, a
liberty never refused to the lowest officer? I ordered him to make a tour
to Holland: could not the lowest officer have done as much? Let us suppose
for a moment that my troops, among whom he served, were to have staid with
the Hanoverians, would it not have been still in my power to give an
officer leave of absence, or even leave to resign his commission? And
would you hinder your brother, the head of your family, and of such a
family as ours, to exercise this right with regard to a son, who is the
hereditary prince, of whose rights and prerogatives you cannot be
ignorant? It is impossible you could have conceived such designs, without
the suggestion of others. Those who did suggest them have trampled on the
rights of nature, of nations, and of the princes of Germany; they have
induced you to add to all these the most cruel insult on a brother whom
you love, and who always loved you with the warmest affection. Would you
have your brother lay his just complaints against you before the whole
empire, and all Europe? Are not your proceedings without example? What is
Germany become? What are its princes become, and our house in particular?
Is it the interest of the two kings, the cause of your country, and my
cause that you pretend to support?—I repeat it, brother, that this
design could not have been framed by you. I again command my son to pursue
his journey and I cannot conceive you will give the least obstruction; if
you should (which I pray God avert), I solemnly declare that I will not be
constrained by such measures, nor shall I ever forget what I owe to
myself. As to my troops, you may see what I have written on that head to
the Hanoverian ministry. The duke of Cumberland, by the convention of
Closter-Seven, dismissed them, and sent them home; the said ministry gave
me notice of this convention, as a treaty by which I was bound. The march
of the troops was settled; and an incident happening, they halted: that
obstacle being removed, they were to have continued their march. The court
of Hanover will be no longer bound by the convention, while I not only
accepted it upon their word, but have also, in conformity with their
instructions, negotiated at Versailles, and at Vienna. After all these
steps, they would have me contradict myself, break my word, and entirely
ruin my estate, as well as my honour. Did you ever know your brother
guilty of such things? True it is, I have, as you say, sacrificed my all;
or rather, I have been sacrificed. The only thing left me is my honour;
and in the unhappy contrast of our situations, I lament both you and
myself, that it should be from you, my dear brother, I should receive the
cruel advice to give up my honour. I cannot listen to it: I cannot recede
from my promise. My troops, therefore, must return home, agreeably to what
the duke of Cumberland and the Hanoverian ministry stipulated with regard
to me in the strongest manner. I am afraid that the true circumstances of
things are concealed from you. Not to detain your express too long, I
shall send you, by the post, copies of all I have written to the
Hanoverian ministry. It will grieve your honest heart to read it. I am,
with a heart almost broken, yet full of tenderness for you, your, &c.
“Blanckenbourg, Nov. 27,1757.”]
467 (return)
[ Note 3 P, p. 467. A
detail of the cruelties committed by those barbarians cannot be read
without horror. They not only burned a great number of villages, but they
ravished, rifled, murdered, and mutilated the inhabitants, without
distinction of age or sex, without any other provocation or incitement
than brutal lust and wantonness of barbarity. They even violated the
sepulchres of the dead, which have been held sacred among the most savage
nations. At Camin and Breckholtz they forced open the graves and
sepulchral vaults, and stripped the bodies of generals Schlaberndorf and
Ruitz, which had been deposited there. But the collected force of their
vengeance was discharged against Custrin, the capital of the New Marche of
Brandenburgh, situated at the conflux of the Warta and the Oder, about
fifteen English miles from Franckfort. The particulars of the disaster
that befel this city, are particularly related in the following extracts
from a letter written by an inhabitant and eye-witness.
“On the
thirteenth of August, about three o’clock in the afternoon, a sudden
report was spread that a body of Russian hussars and cossacks appeared in
sight of the little suburb. All the people were immediately in motion, and
the whole city was filled with terror, especially as we were certainly
informed that the whole Russian army was advancing from Meseric and
Konigswalda, by the way of Landsberg. A reinforcement was immediately sent
to our piquet-guard, in the suburb, amounting, by this junction, to three
hundred men, who were soon attacked by the enemy, and the skirmish lasted
from four till seven o’clock in the evening. During this dispute, we could
plainly perceive, from our ramparts and church-steeple, several persons of
distinction mounted on English horses, reconnoitring our fortification
through perspective glasses. They retired, however, when our cannon began
to fire: then our piquet took possession of their former post in the
suburb; and the reinforcement we had sent from the city returned, after
having broken down the bridge over the Oder. Next day count Dohna, who
commanded the army near Franckfort, sent in a reinforcement of four
battalions, ten squadrons, and a small body of hussars, under the command
of lieutenant-general Scherlemmer. The hussars and a body of dragoons were
added to the piquet of the little suburb; the four battalions pitched
their tents on the Anger, between the suburbs and the fortification; and
the rest of the dragoons remained in the field to cover the long suburb.
General Scherlemmer, attended by our governor, colonel Schuck, went with a
small party to observe the enemy; but were obliged to retire, and were
pursued by the cossacks to the walls of the city. Between four and five
o’clock next morning the poor inhabitants were roused from their sleep by
the noise of the cannon, intermingled with the dismal shrieks and hideous
yellings of the cossacks belonging to the Russian army. Alarmed at this
horrid noise, I ascended the church-steeple, from whence I beheld the
whole plain, extending from the little suburb to the forest, covered with
the enemy’s troops, and our light horse, supported by the infantry,
engaged in different places with their irregulars. At eight I descried a
body of the enemy’s infantry, whose van consisted of four or five thousand
men, advancing towards the vineyard, in the neighbourhood of which they
had raised occasional batteries in the preceding-evening; from these they
now played on our piquet-guard and hussars, who were obliged to retire.
They then fired, en ricochet, on the tents and baggage of the four
battalions encamped on the Anger, who were also compelled to retreat.
Having thus cleared the environs, they threw into the city such a number
of bombs and red-hot bullets, that by nine in the morning it was set on
fire in three different places; and, the streets being-narrow, it burned
with such fury that all our endeavours to extinguish it proved
ineffectual. At this time the whole atmosphere appeared like a shower of
fiery rain and hail; and the miserable inhabitants thought of nothing but
saving their lives by running into the open fields. The whole place was
filled with terror and consternation, and resounded with the shrieks of
women and children, who ran about in the utmost distraction, exposed to
the shot and bomb-shells, which, bursting, tore in pieces every thing that
stood in their way. As I led my wife, with a young child in her arms, and
drove the rest of my children and servants half naked before me, those
instruments of death and devastation fell about us like hail; but, by the
mercy of God, we all escaped unhurt. Nothing could be more melancholy and
affecting than a sight of the wretched people flying in crowds, and
leaving their all behind, while they rent the sky with their lamentations.
Many women of distinction I saw without shoes and stockings, and almost
without clothes, who had been roused from their beds, and ran out naked
into the streets. When my family had reached the open plain, I endeavoured
to return, and save some of my effects; but I could not force my way
through a multitude of people, thronging out at the gate, some sick and
bed-ridden persons being carried on horseback and in carriages, and others
conveyed on the backs of their friends, through a most dreadful scene of
horror and desolation. A great number of families from the open country,
and the defenceless towns in Prussia and Pomerania, had come hither for
shelter with their most valuable effects, when the Russians first entered
the king’s territories. These, as well as the inhabitants, are all ruined;
and many, who a few days ago possessed considerable wealth, are now
reduced to the utmost indigence. The neighbouring-towns and villages were
soon crowded with the people of Custrin; the roads were filled with
objects of misery; and nothing was seen but nakedness and despair; nothing
heard but the cries of hunger, fear, and distraction. For my own part, I
stayed all night at Goitz, and then proceeded for Berlin. Custrin is now a
heap of ruins. The great magazine, the governor’s house, the church, the
palace, the store and artillery-houses; in a word, the old and new towns,
the suburbs, and all the bridges, were reduced to ashes; nay, after the
ashes were destroyed, the piles and sterlings were burned to the water’s
edge. The writings of all the colleges, together with the archives of the
country, were totally consumed, together with a prodigious magazine of
corn and flour, valued at four millions of crowns. The cannon in the
arsenal were all melted; and the loaded bombs and cartridges, with a large
quantity of gunpowder, went off at once with a most horrid explosion. A
great number of the inhabitants are missing, supposed to have perished in
the flames, or under the ruins of the houses, or to have been suffocated
in the subterraneous vaults and caverns, to which they had fled for
safety.
Nothing could be more inhuman, or contrary to the
practice of a generous enemy, than such vengeance wreaked upon the
innocent inhabitants; for the Russians did not begin to batter the
fortifications until all the rest of the place was destroyed. In the
course of this campaign, the Russian cossacks are said to have plundered
and burned fourteen large towns and two hundred villages, and wantonly
butchered above two thousand defenceless women and children. Such monsters
of barbarity ought to be excluded from all the privileges of human nature,
and hunted down as wild beasts without pity or cessation. What infamy
ought these powers to incur, who employ and encourage such ruthless
barbarians?]
468 (return)
[ Note 3 Q, p. 468. As
very little notice was taken, in the detail published by authority, of any
part which this great man acted in the battle of Hochkirchen, and a report
was industriously circulated in this kingdom, that he was surprised in his
tent, naked, and half asleep,—we think it the duty of a candid
historian to vindicate his memory and reputation from the foul aspersion
thrown by the perfidious and illiberal hand of envious malice, or else
contrived to screen some other character from the imputation of
misconduct. The task we are enabled to perform by a gentleman of candour
and undoubted credit, who learned the following particulars at Berlin from
a person that was eye-witness of the whole transaction. Field-mareschal
Keith, who arrived in the camp the very day that preceded the battle,
disapproved of the situation of the Prussian army, and remonstrated to the
king on that subject. In consequence of his advice, a certain general was
sent with a detachment to take possession of the heights that commanded
the village of Hochkirchcn; but by some fatality he miscarried. Mareschal
Keith was not in any tent, but lodged with prince Francis of Brunswick, in
a house belonging to a Saxon major. When the first alarm was given in the
night, he instantly mounted his horse, assembled a body of the nearest
troops, and marched directly to the place that was attacked. The Austrians
had taken possession of the hill which the Prussian officer was sent to
occupy, and this they fortified with cannon; then they made themselves
masters of the village in which the free companies of Auginelli had been
posted. Mareschal Keith immediately conceived the design of the Austrian
general, and knowing the importance of this place, thither directed all
his efforts. He in person led on the troops to the attack of the village,
from whence he drove the enemy; but being overpowered by numbers
continually pouring down from the hills, he was obliged to retire in his
turn. He rallied his men, returned to the charge, and regained possession
of the place; being again repulsed by fresh reinforcements of the enemy,
he made another effort, entered the village a third time, and finding it
untenable, ordered it to be set on fire. Thus he kept the Austrians at
bay, and maintained a desperate conflict against the flower of the
Austrian army, from four in the morning till nine, when the Prussians were
formed, and began to file off in their retreat. During the whole dispute
he rallied the troops in person, charged at their head, and exposed his
life in the hottest of a dreadful fire, like a private captain of
grenadiers. He found it necessary to exert himself in this manner, the
better to remove the bad effects of the confusion that prevailed, and in
order to inspirit the troops to their utmost exertion by his voice,
presence, and example. Even when dangerously wounded, at eight in the
morning, he refused to quit the field; but continued to signalize himself
in the midst of the carnage until nine, when he received a second shot in
his breast, and fell speechless into the arms of Mr. Tibay, an English
volunteer, who had attended him during the whole campaign. This gentleman,
who was likewise wounded, applied to a Prussian officer for a file of men
to remove the mareschal, being uncertain whether he was entirely deprived
of life. His request was granted; but the soldiers, in advancing to the
spot, were countermanded by another officer. He afterwards spoke on the
same subject to one of the Prussian generals, a German prince, as he
chanced to pass on horseback: when Mr. Tibay told him the field-mareschal
was lying wounded on the field, he asked if his wounds were mortal; and
the other answering he was afraid they were, the prince shrugged up his
shoulders, and rode off without further question. The body of this great
officer, being thus shamefully abandoned, was soon stripped by the
Austrian stragglers, and lay exposed and undistinguished on the field of
battle. In this situation it was perceived by count Lasci, son of the
general of that name, with whom mareschal Keith had served in Russia. This
young count had been the mareschal’s pupil, and revered him as his
military father, though employed in the Austrian service. He recognised
the body by the large scar of a dangerous wound, which general Keith had
received in his thigh at the siege of Oczakow, and could not help bursting
into tears to see his honoured master thus extended at his feet, a naked,
lifeless, and deserted corpse. He forthwith caused his body to be covered
and interred. It was afterwards taken up, and decently buried by the
curate of Hochkirchen; and finally removed to Berlin, by order of the king
of Prussia, who bestowed upon it those funeral honours that were due to
the dignified rank and transcendent merit of the deceased; merit so
universally acknowledged, that even the Saxons lamented him as their best
friend and patron, who protected them from violence and outrage, even
while he acted a principal part in subjecting them to the dominion of his
sovereign.
479 (return)
[ Note 3 R, p. 479. Among
other transactions that distinguish the history of Great Britain, scarce a
year glides away without producing some incident that strongly marks the
singular character of the English nation. A very extraordinary instance of
this nature, relating to the late duke of Marlborough, we shall record
among the events of this year, although it derived its origin from the
latter end of the last, and cannot be properly enumerated among those
occurrences that appertain to general history. Towards the end of
November, in the preceding year, the above-mentioned nobleman received, by
the post, a letter directed “To his Grace the duke of Marlborough, with
care and speed,” and containing this address:
“My Lord,—As
ceremony is an idle thing upon most occasions, more especially to persons
in my state of mind, I shall proceed immediately to acquaint you with the
motive and end of addressing this epistle to you, which is equally
interesting to us both. You are to know, then, that my present situation
in life is such, that I should prefer annihilation to a continuance in it.
Desperate diseases require desperate remedies; and you are the man I have
pitched upon, either to make me or unmake yourself. As I never had the
honour to live among the great, the tenor of my proposals will not be very
courtly; but let that be an argument to enforce a belief of what I am now
going to write. It has employed my invention for some time, to find out a
method of destroying another without exposing my own life: that I have
accomplished, and defy the law. Now, for the application of it. I am
desperate, and must be provided for. You have it in your power: it is my
business to make it your inclination to serve me, which you must determine
to comply with, by procuring me a genteel support for my life, or your own
will be at a period before this session of parliament is over. I have more
motives than one for singling you out upon this occasion; and I give you
this fair warning, because the means I shall make use of are too fatal to
be eluded by the power of physic. If you think this of any consequence,
you will not fail to meet the author on Sunday next, at ten in the
morning, or on Monday (if the weather should be rainy on Sunday), near the
first tree beyond the stile in Hyde-Park, in the foot-walk to Kensington.
Secrecy and compliance may preserve you from a double danger of this sort,
as there is a certain part of the world where your death has more than
been wished for upon other motives. I know the world too well to trust
this secret in any breast but my own. A few days determine me your friend
or enemy. “FELTON.
“You will apprehend that I mean you should
be alone; and depend upon it, that a discovery of any artifice in this
affair will be fatal to you. My safety is insured by my silence, for
confession only can condemn me.”
The duke, in compliance with
this strange remonstrance, appeared at the time and place appointed, on
horseback and alone, with pistols before him, and the star of his order
displayed, that he might be the more easily known. He had likewise taken
the precaution of engaging a friend to attend in the Park, at such a
distance, however, as scarce to be observable. He continued some time on
the spot without seeing any person he could suspect of having wrote the
letter, and then rode away: but chancing to turn his head when he reached
Hyde-Park-Corner, he perceived a man standing at the bridge, and looking
at the water, within twenty yards of the tree which was described in the
letter. He forthwith rode back at a gentle pace, and, passing by the
person, expected to be addressed: but as no advance of this kind was made,
he, in repassing, bowed to the stranger, and asked if he had not something
to communicate? The man replying, “No, I don’t know you;” the duke told
him his name, adding, “Now you know me, I imagine you have something to
say to me.” But he still answered in the negative, and the duke rode home.
In a day or two after this transaction, another letter was brought to him,
couched in the following terms:
“My Lord,—You receive
this as an acknowledgment of your punctuality as to the time and place of
meeting on Sunday last, though it was owing to you it answered no purpose.
The pageantry of being armed, and the ensign of your order, were useless
and too conspicuous. You needed no attendant, the place was not calculated
for mischief, nor was any intended. If you walk in the west aisle of
Westminster Abbey, towards eleven o’clock on Sunday next, your sagacity
will point the person whom you will address, by asking his company to take
a turn or two with you. You will not fail, on inquiry, to be acquainted
with the name and place of abode. According to which direction you will
please to send two or three hundred pound bank-notes the next day by the
penny post. Exert not your curiosity too early; it is in your power to
make me grateful on certain terms. I have friends who are faithful, but
they do not bark before they bite.—“I am, &c, F.”
The
duke, determining if possible to unveil this mystery, repaired to the
Abbey at the time prescribed; and, after having walked up and down for
five or six minutes, saw the very same person to whom he had spoken in
Hyde-Park, enter the Abbey with another man of a creditable appearance.
This last, after they had viewed some of the monuments, went into the
choir, and the other turning back advanced towards the duke, who,
accosting him, asked him if he had anything to say to him,” or any
commands for him? He replied, “No, my lord. I have not.”—“Sure you
have,” said the duke; but he persisted in his denial. Then the duke,
leaving him, took several turns in the aisle, while the stranger walked on
the other side. But nothing further passed between them; and although the
duke had provided several persons in disguise to apprehend the delinquent,
he forebore giving the signal, that, notwithstanding appearances, he might
run no risk of injuring an innocent person. Not long after this second
disappointment he received a third letter, to the following effect:
“My Lord,—I am fully convinced you had a companion on Sunday: I
interpret it as owing to the weakness of human nature; but such proceeding
is far from being ingenuous, and may produce bad effects, whilst it is
impossible to answer the end proposed. You will see me again soon, as it
were by accident, and may easily find where I go to; in consequence of
which, by being sent to, I shall wait on your grace, but expect to be
quite alone, and to converse in whispers; you will likewise give your
honour, upon meeting, that no part of the conversation shall transpire.
These and the former terms complied with ensure your safety; my revenge,
in case of non-compliance (or any scheme to expose me), will be slower,
but not less sure; and strong suspicion the utmost that can possibly ensue
upon it, while the chances would be tenfold against you. You will possibly
be in doubt after the meeting, but it is quite necessary the outside
should be a mask to the in. The family of the Bloods is not extinct,
though they are not in my scheme.”
The expression, “You will
see me again soon, as it were by accident,” plainly pointed at the person
to whom he had spoke in the park and in the Abbey; nevertheless, he saw
him not again, nor did he hear anything further of the affair for two
months, at the expiration of which the post brought him the following
letter:
“May it please your Grace,—I have reason to
believe, that the son of one Barnard, a surveyor, in Abingdon-buildings,
Westminster, is acquainted with some secrets that nearly concern your
safety: his father is now out of town, which will give you an opportunity
of questioning him more privately; it would be useless to your grace, as
well as dangerous to me, to appear more publicly in this affair. “Your
sincere friend, “ANONYMOUS. “He frequently goes to Storey’s-gate
coffee-house.”
In about a week after this intimation was
received, the duke sent a person to the coffee-house, to inquire for Mr.
Barnard, and tell him he would be glad to speak to him. The message was
delivered, and Barnard declared he would wait upon his grace next
Thursday, at half an hour after ten in the morning. He was punctual to his
appointment, and no sooner appeared than the duke recognised him to be the
person to whom he had spoke in the Park and the Abbey. Having conducted
him into an apartment, and shut the door, he asked, as before, if he had
anything to communicate: and was answered, as formerly, in the negative.
Then the duke repeated every circumstance of this strange transaction; to
which Barnard listened with attention and surprise, yet without exhibiting
any marks of conscious guilt or confusion. The duke observing that it was
matter of astonishment to see letters of such import written with the
correctness of a scholar; the other replied, that a man might be very poor
and very learned at the same time. When he saw the fourth letter, in which
his name was mentioned, with the circumstance of his father’s absence, he
said, “If is very odd, my father was then out of town.” An expression the
more remarkable, as the letter was without date, and he could not, as an
innocent man, be supposed to know at what time it was written. The duke
having made him acquainted with the particulars, told him, that if he was
innocent he ought to use his endeavours-to detect the writer of the
letters, especially of the last, in which he was expressely named. To this
admonition he returned no other answer but a smile, and then withdrew.—He
was afterwards taken into custody, and tried at the Old Bailey,for sending
a threatening letter, contrary to the statute; but no evidence could be
found to prove the letters were of his handwriting: nor did any
presumption appear against him, except his being in Hyde-Park, and in
Westminster Abbey, at the time and place appointed in the first two
letters. On the other hand, Mr. Barnard proved, that, on the Sunday when
he saw the duke in Hyde-Park, he was on his way to Kensington on
particular business, by his father’s order, signified to him that very
morning: that he accordingly went thither, and dined with his uncle, in
company with several other persons, to whom he related what had passed
between the duke of Marlborough and him in the Park: that his being
afterwards in Westminster Abbey was the effect of mere accident: that Mr.
James Greenwood, his kinsman, who had lain that preceding night at his
father’s house, desired him to dress himself, that they might walk
together in the Park; and he did not comply with his request till after
much solicitation: that he proposed to enter the Park without passing
through the Abbey, but was prevailed upon by Mr. Greenwood, who expressed
a desire of seeing the newly-erected monument of general Hardgrave: that
as he had formerly communicated to his friend the strange circumstance of
the duke’s speaking to him in Hyde-park, Mr. Greenwood no sooner saw that
nobleman in the Abbey, than he gave notice to Mr. Barnard, who was very
short-sighted; and that from his passing them several times, concluding he
wanted to speak with Mr. Barnard alone, he quitted him and retired into
the choir, that they might commune together without interruption. It
likewise appeared, from undoubted evidence, that Barnard had often
mentioned openly to his friends and acquaintance, the circumstance of what
passed between him and the duke in the Park and in the Abbey; that his
father was a man of unblemished reputation, and in affluent circumstances;
that he himself was never reduced to any want, or such exigence as might
impel him to any desperate methods of obtaining money; that his fidelity
had been often tried, and his life always irreproachable. For these
reasons he was acquitted of the crime laid to his charge, and the mystery
remains to this day undiscovered.
After all, the author of the
letters does not seem to have had any real design to extort money, because
the scheme was very ill calculated for that purpose; and indeed could not
possibly take effect without the most imminent risk of detection. Perhaps
his aim was nothing more than to gratify a petulance and peculiarity of
humour, by alarming the duke, exciting the curiosity of the public,
puzzling the multitude, and giving rise to a thousand ridiculous
conjectures. If anything more was intended, and the duke earnestly desired
to know the extent of the scheme, he might, when he closeted the person
suspected, have encouraged him to a declaration, by promising inviolable
secrecy on his word and honour, in which any man would have confided as a
sacred obligation. On the whole, it is surprising that the death of the
duke, which happened in the course of this year, was never attributed to
the secret practices of this incendiary correspondent, who had given him
to understand that his vengeance, though slow, would not be the less
certain.]
485 (return)
[Note 3 S, p. 485. The
next bill that fell under the cognizance of the house, related to a law
transaction, and was suggested by a petition presented in the name of the
sheriffs, and grantees of post-fines under the crown of England. They
enumerated and explained the difficulties under which they laboured, in
raising and collecting these fines within the respective counties;
particularly when the estate conveyed by fine was no more than a right of
reversion, in which case they could not possibly levy the post-fine,
unless the purchaser should obtain possession within the term of the
sheriffalty, or pay it of his own free will, as they could not distrain
while the lands were in possession of the donee. They therefore proposed a
method for raising these post-fines, by a proper officer to be appointed
for that purpose; and prayed that leave might be given to bring in a bill
accordingly. This petition was seconded by a message from the king,
importing, that his majesty, as far as his interest was concerned, gave
his consent that the house might act in this affair as they should think
propel.
The commons, in a committee of the whole house, having
taken into consideration the merits of the petition, formed several
resolutions; upon which a bill was founded for the more regular and easy
collecting, accounting for, and paying of post-fines, which should be due
to the crown, or to the grantees thereof under the crown, and for the ease
of sheriffs in respect to the same. Before it passed into a law, however,
it was opposed by a petition in favour of one William Daw, a lunatic,
clerk of the king’s silver office, alleging, that should the bill pass, it
would deprive the said Daw and his successors of an ancient fee belonging
to his office, on searches made for post-fines by the under sheriffs of
the several counties; therefore, praying that such provision might be made
for the said lunatic as to the house should seem just and reasonable.
This, and divers other petitions respecting the bill being discussed in
the committee, it underwent several amendments, and was enacted into a
law; the particulars of which cannot be properly understood without a
previous explanation of this method of conveying estates; a subject
obscure in itself, founded upon a seeming subterfuge of law, scarce
reconcileable with the dictates of common sense, and consequently improper
for the pen of an historian.]
490 (return)
[ Note 3 T, p. 490. As
the curiosity of the reader may be interested in these resolutions, we
shall here insert them for his satisfaction. The committee resolved, that
the ell ought to contain one yard and one quarter, according to the yard
mentioned in the third resolution of the former committee upon the subject
of weights and measures; that the pole, or perch, should contain in length
five such yards and a half; the furlong two hundred and twenty; and the
mile one thousand seven hundred and sixty: that the superficial perch
should contain thirty square yards and a quarter; the rood one thousand
two hundred and ten; and the acre four thousand eight hundred and forty:
that according to the fourth, fifth, and sixth resolutions of the former
committee, upon the subject of weights and measures, agreed to by the
house on the second day of June in the preceding year, the quart ought to
contain seventy cubical inches and one half; the pint thirty-five and one
quarter; the peck five hundred and sixty-four; and the bushel two thousand
two hundred and fifty-six. That the several parts of the pound, mentioned
in the eighth resolution of the former committee, examined and adjusted in
presence of this committee,—viz. the half pound or six ounces,
quarter of a pound or three ounces, two ounces, one ounce, two half
ounces, the five-penny weight, three-penny weight, two-penny weight, and
one-penny weight, the twelve grains, six grains, three grains, two grains,
and two of one grain each,—ought to be the models of the several
parts of the said pound, and to be used for sizing or adjusting weights
for the future. That all weights exceeding a pound should be of brass,
copper, bell-metal, or cast-iron; and all those of cast-iron should be
made in the form, and with a handle of hammered iron, such as the pattern
herewith produced, having the mark of the weight cast in the iron; and all
the weights of a pound, or under, should be of gold, silver, brass,
copper, or bell-metal. That all weights of cast-iron should have the
initial letters of the name of the maker upon the upper bar of the handle;
and all other weights should have the same, together with the mark of the
weight, according to this standard, upon some convenient part thereof.
That the yard, mentioned in the second resolution of the former committee
upon the subject of weights and measures, agreed to by the house in the
last session, being the standard of length, and the pound mentioned in the
eighth resolution, being the standard of weight, ought to be deposited in
the court of the receipt of the exchequer, and the chief baron, and the
seal of office of the chamberlain of the exchequer, and not to be opened
but by the order and in the presence of the chancellor of the exchequer
and chief baron for the time being. That the most effectual means to
ascertain uniformity in measures of length and weight, to be used
throughout the realm, would he to appoint certain persons, at one
particular office, with clerks and workmen under them, for the purpose
only of fixing and adjusting, for the use of the subjects, all measures of
length, and all weights, being parts, multiples, or certain proportions of
the standards to be used for the future. That a model or pattern of the
said standard yard, mentioned in the second resolution of the former
committee, and now in the custody of the clerk of the house, and a model
or pattern of the standard pound, mentioned in the eighth resolution of
that committee, together with models or patterns of the parts of the said
pound now presented to the house, and also of the multiples of the said
pound, mentioned in this report (when the same are adjusted), should be
kept in the said office, in custody of the said persons to be appointed
for sizing weights and measures, under the seal of the chief baron of the
exchequer for the time being; to be opened only by order of the said chief
baron, in his presence, or the presence of one of the barons of the
exchequer, on the application of the said persons, for the purpose of
correcting and adjusting, as occasion should require, the patterns or
models used at the said office, for sizing measures of length and weight
delivered out to the subjects. That models or patterns of the said
standard yard and standard pound aforesaid, and also models or patterns of
the parts and multiples aforesaid of the said pound, should be lodged in
the said office for the sizing of such measures of length or weight, as,
being parts, multiples, or proportions of the said standards, should
hereafter he required by any of his majesty’s subjects. That all measures
of length and weight, sized at the said office, should be marked in some
convenient part thereof, with such marks as should be thought expedient,
to show the identity of the measures and weights sized at the said office,
and to discover any frauds that may be committed therein. That the said
office should he kept within a convenient distance of the court of
exchequer at Westminster; and all the measures of length and weight,
within a certain distance of London, should be corrected and re-assized,
as occasion should require, at the said office. That, in order to enforce
the uniformity in weights and measures to be used for the future, all
persons appointed by the crown to act as justices of the peace in any
county, city, or town corporate, being respectively counties within
themselves, throughout the realm, should be empowered to hear and
determine, and put the law in execution, in respect to weights and
measures only, without any of them being obliged to sue out a dedimus,
or to act in any other matter; and the said commissioners should be
empowered to sue, imprison, inflict, or mitigate such penalties as should
be thought proper; and have such other authorities as should be necessary
for compelling the use of weights and measures, agreeably to the aforesaid
standards. The models or patterns of the said standard yard and pound, and
of the parts and multiples thereof, before-mentioned, should be
distributed in each county, in such a manner as to be readily used for
evidence in all eases where measures and weights should be questioned
before the said commissioners, and for adjusting the same in a proper
manner.]
504 (return)
[ Note 3 U, p. 504. The
letter was to this effect: To their excellencies Messrs. Hopson and
Moore, general officers of his Britannic Majesty at Basseterre.
“Gentlemen—I have received the letter which your excellencies have
done me the honour to write, of the twenty-fifth. You make me proposals
which could arise from nothing but the facility with which you have got
possession of the little town and citadel of Basseterre; for otherwise you
ought to do me the justice to believe they could not be received. You have
strength sufficient to subdue the exteriors of the island; but with
respect to the interiors, the match between us is equal. As to the
consequences that may attend my refusal, I am persuaded they will be no
other than such as are prescribed by the laws of war. Should we be
disappointed in this particular, we have a master powerful enough to
revenge any injury we may sustain. “I am, with respect, “Gentlemen, “Your
most obedient servant, “Nadau D’Etreil.” It is pretty remarkable, that the
apprehension of cruel usage from the English, who are undoubtedly the most
generous and humane enemies under the sun, not only prevailed among the
common French soldiery throughout this whole war, but even infected
officers of distinction, who ought to have been exempted from these
prejudices, by a better acquaintance with life, and more liberal turn of
thinking.]
505 (return)
[ Note 3 X, p. 505. The
reasons assigned by the commodore for his conduct in this particular are
these:—The bay of Dominique was the only place in which he could
rendezvous and unite his squadron. Here he refreshed his men, who were
grown sickly in consequence of subsisting on salt provisions. Here he
supplied his ships with plenty of fresh water. Here he had intercourse
once or twice every day with general Barrington, by means of small vessels
which passed and repassed from one island to the other. By remaining in
this situation, he likewise maintained a communication with the English
Leeward Islands, which being in a defenceless condition, their inhabitants
were constantly soliciting the commodore’s protection; and here he
supported the army, the commander of which was unwilling that he should
remove to a greater distance. Had he sailed to Port-Royal, he would have
found the enemy’s squadron so disposed, that he could not have attacked
them, unless M. de Bompart had been inclined to hazard an action. Had he
anchored in the bay, all his cruisers must have been employed in conveying
provisions and stores to the squadron. There he could not have procured
either fresh provisions or water; nor could he have had any communication
with, or intelligence from, the army in the Leeward Islands, in less than
eight or ten days.]
511 (return)
[ Note 3 Y, p. 511. The
following anecdote is so remarkable, and tends so much to the honour of
the British soldiery, that we insert it without fear of the reader’s
disapprobation:—Captain Ochterlony and ensign Peyton belonged to the
regiment of brigadier-general Mouckton. They were nearly of an age, which
did not exceed thirty: the first was a North Briton, the other a native of
Ireland. Both were agreeable in person, and unblemished in character, and
connected together by the ties of mutual friendship and esteem. On the day
that preceded the battle, captain Ochterlony had been obliged to fight a
duel with a German officer, in which, though he wounded and disarmed his
antagonist, yet he himself received a dangerous hurt under the right arm,
in consequence of which his friends insisted on his remaining in camp
during the action of the next day, but his spirit was too great to comply
with this remonstrance. He declared it should never be said that a
scratch, received in a private rencounter, had prevented him from doing
his duty, when his country required his service; and he took the field
with a fusil in his hand, though he was hardly able to carry his arms. In
leading up his men to the enemy’s intrenchment, he was shot through the
lungs with a musquet ball, an accident which obliged him to part with his
fusil: but he still continued advancing; until, by the loss of blood, he
became too weak to proceed farther. About the same time Mr. Peyton was
lamed by a shot, which shattered the small hone of his left leg. The
soldiers, in their retreat, earnestly begged, with tears in their eyes,
that captain Ochterlony would allow them to carry him and the ensign off
the field. But he was so bigoted to a severe point of honour, that he
would not quit the ground, though he desired they would take care of his
ensign. Mr. Peyton, with a generous disdain, rejected their good offices,
declaring, that he would not leave his captain in such a situation; and in
a little time they remained the sole survivors of that part of the field.
Captain Ochterlony sat down by his friend; and, as they
expected nothing but immediate death, they took leave of each other. Yet
they were not altogether abandoned by the hope of being protected as
prisoners: for the captain, seeing a French soldier with two Indians
approach, started up, and accosting them in the French language, which he
spoke perfectly well, expressed his expectation that they would treat him
and his companion as officers, prisoners, and gentlemen. The two Indians
seemed to be entirely under the conduct of the Frenchman, who coming up to
Mr. Peyton, as he sat on the ground, snatched his laced hat from his head,
and robbed the captain of his watch and money. This outrage was a signal
to the Indians for murder and pillage. One of them, clubbing his firelock,
struck at him behind, with a view to knock him down; but the blow missing
his head, took place upon his shoulder. At the same instant the other
Indian poured his shot into the breast of this unfortunate young
gentleman; who cried out, “Oh, Peyton, the villain has shot me.” Not yet
satisfied with cruelty, the barbarian sprung upon him, and stabbed him in
the belly with his scalping-knife. The captain having parted with his
fusil, had no weapon for his defence, as none of the officers wore swords
in the action. The three ruffians, finding him still alive, endeavoured to
strangle him with his own sash; and he was now upon his knees, struggling
against them with surprising exertion. Mr. Peyton, at this juncture,
having a double-barrelled musket in his hand, and seeing the distress of
his friend, fired at one of the Indians, who dropped dead upon the spot.
The other thinking the ensign would now be an easy prey, advanced towards
him; and Mr. Peyton, having taken good aim at the distance of four yards,
discharged his piece the second time, but it seemed to take no effect. The
savage fired in his turn, and wounded the ensign in his shoulder; then,
rushing upon him, thrust his bayonet through his body. He repeated the
blow, which Mr. Peyton attempting to parry, received another wound in his
left hand: nevertheless, he seized the Indian’s musket with the same hand,
pulled him forwards, and with his right drawing a dagger which hung by his
side, plunged it in the barbarian’s side. A violent struggle ensued: but
at length Mr. Peyton was uppermost; and, with repeated strokes of his
dagger, killed his antagonist outright. Here he was seized with an
unaccountable emotion of curiosity, to know whether his shot had taken
place on the body of the Indian: he accordingly turned him up; and,
stripping off his blanket, perceived that the ball had penetrated quite
through the cavity of the breast. Having thus obtained a dear-bought
victory, he started up on one leg; and saw captain Ochterlony standing at
the distance of sixty yards, close by the enemy’s breastwork, with the
French soldier attending him. Mr. Peyton then called aloud,—“Captain
Ochterlony, I am glad to see you have at last got under protection. Beware
of that villain, who is more barbarous than the savages. God bless you, my
dear captain! I see a party of Indians coming this way, and expect to be
murdered immediately.” A number of those barbarians had for some time been
employed on the left, in scalping and pillaging the dying and the dead
that were left upon the field of battle; and above thirty of them were in
full march to destroy Mr. Peyton. This gentleman knew he had no mercy to
expect; for, should his life be spared for the present, they would have
afterwards insisted upon sacrificing him to the manes of their brethren
whom he had slain; and in that case he would have been put to death by the
most excruciating tortures. Full of this idea, he snatched up his musket,
and, notwithstanding his broken leg, ran about forty yards without
halting: feeling himself now totally disabled, and incapable of proceeding
one step farther, he loaded his piece, and presented it to the two
foremost Indians, who stood aloof, waiting to be joined by their fellows;
while the French, from their breastworks, kept up a continual fire of
cannon and small arms upon this poor solitary and maimed gentleman. In
this uncomfortable situation he stood, when he discerned at a distance a
Highland officer, with a party of his men, skirting the plain towards the
field of battle. He forthwith waved his hand in signal of distress, and
being perceived by the officer, he detached three of his men to his
assistance. These brave fellows hastened to him through the midst of a
terrible fire, and one of them bore him off on his shoulders. The Highland
officer was captain Macdonald of colonel Frasor’s battalion; who,
understanding that a young gentleman, his kinsman, had dropped on the
field of battle, had put himself at the head of this party, with which he
penetrated to the middle of the field, drove a considerable number of the
French and Indians before him, and finding his relation still unscalped,
carried him off in triumph. Poor captain Ochterlony was conveyed to
Quebec, where in a few days he died of his wounds. After the reduction of
that place, the French surgeons who attended him declared, that in all
probability he would have recovered of the two shots he had received in
his breast, had he not been mortally wounded in the belly by the Indian’s
scalping-knife.
As this very remarkable scene was acted in
sight of both armies, general Townshend, in the sequel, expostulated with
the French officers upon the inhumanity of keeping up such a severe fire
against two wounded gentlemen who were disabled, and destitute of all hope
of escaping. They answered that the fire was not made by the regulars, but
by the Canadians and savages, whom it was not in the power of discipline
to restrain.]
513 (return)
[ Note 3 Z, p. 513. How
far the success of this attempt depended upon accident, may be conceived
from the following particulars:—In the twilight, two French
deserters were carried on board a ship of war, commanded by captain Smith,
and lying at anchor near the north shore. They told him that the garrison
of Quebec expected that night to receive a convoy of provisions, sent down
the river in boats from the detachment above, commanded by M. de
Bouganville. These deserters, standing upon deck, and perceiving the
English boats with the troops gliding down the river in the dark, began to
shout and make a noise, declaring they were part of the expected convoy,
captain Smith, who was ignorant of general Wolfe’s design, believing their
affirmation, had actually given orders to point the guns at the British
troops; when the general, perceiving a commotion on board, rowed alongside
in person and prevented the discharge, which would have alarmed the town,
and entirely frustrated the attempt.
The French had posted
sentries along shore, to challenge boats and vessels, and give the alarm
occasionally. The first boat that contained the English troops being
questioned accordingly, a captain of Eraser’s regiment, who had served in
Holland, and who was perfectly well acquainted with the French language
and customs, answered without hesitation to Qui vit? which is their
challenging word, La France: nor was he at a loss to answer the
second question, which was much more particular and difficult. When the
sentinel demanded a quell regiment? to what regiment? the captain
replied, De la Reine; which he knew, by accident, to be one of
those that composed the body commanded by Bougainville. The soldier took
it for granted this was the expected convoy; and saying Passe,
allowed all the boats to proceed without further question. In the same
manner the other sentries were deceived; though one, more wary than the
rest, came running down to the water’s edge, and called, “Pourquoi est
ce que vous ne parlez plus haut? Why don’t you speak with an audible
voice?” To this interrogation, which implied doubt, the captain answered,
with admirable presence of mind, in a soft tone of voice, “Tai toi!
nous serons entendues!Hush! we shall be overheard and discovered!”
Thus cautioned, the sentry retired without further altercation. The
midshipman who piloted the first boat, passing by the landing place in the
dark, the same captain, who knew it from his having been posted formerly
with his company on the other side of the river, insisted on the pilot’s
being mistaken; and commanded the rowers to put ashore in the proper
place, or at least very near it.
When general Wolfe landed, and
saw the difficulty of ascending the precipice, he said to the same officer
in a familiar strain, “I don’t believe there is any possibility of getting
up; but you must do your endeavour.” The narrow path that slanted up the
hill from the landing place the enemy had broken up, and rendered
impassible by cross ditches, besides the intrenchment at the top: in every
other part the hill was so steep and dangerous, that the soldiers were
obliged to pull themselves up by the roots and boughs of trees growing on
both sides of the path.]
515 (return)
[ Note 4 A, p. 515 The
chagrin and mortification of Lally are strongly marked in the following
intercepted letter to M. de Legret, dated from the camp before Madras:—
“A good blow might be struck here: there is a ship in the road,
of twenty guns, laden with all the riches of Madras, which it is said will
remain there till the 20th. The expedition is just arrived, but M. Gerlin
is not a man to attack her; for she has made him run away once before. The
Bristol, on the other hand, did but just make her appearance before St.
Thomas; and, on the vague report of thirteen ships coming from Porto-Novo,
she took fright; and, after landing the provisions with which she was
laden, she would not stay long enough even to take on board twelve of her
own guns, which she had lent us for the siege.
“If I was the
judge of the point of honour of the company’s officers, I would break him
like glass, as well as some others of them.
“The Fidelle, or
the Harlem, or even the aforesaid Bristol, with her twelve guns restored
to her, would be sufficient to make themselves masters of the English
ship, if they could manage so as to get to windward of her in the night.
Maugendre and Tremillier are said to be good men; and were they employed
only to transport two hundred wounded men that we have here, their service
would be of importance.
“We remain still in the same position:
the breach made these fifteen clays, all the time within fifty toises of
the wall of the place, and never holding up our heads to look at it.
“I reckon we shall, on our arrival at Pondieherry, endeavour to learn some
other trade, for this of war requires too much patience.
“Of
one thousand five hundred sepoys which attended our army, I reckon near
eight hundred are employed upon the road to Pondieherry, laden with sugar,
pepper, and other goods; and as for the coulis, they are all employed for
the same purpose, from the first day we came here.
“I am taking
my measures from this day to set fire to the Black-town, and to blow up
the powder-mills.
“You will never imagine that fifty French
deserters, and one hundred Swiss, are actually stopping the progress of
two thousand men of the king and company’s troops, which are still here
existing, notwithstanding the exaggerated accounts that every one makes
here according to his own fancy, of the slaughter that has been made of
them; and you will be still more surprised if I tell you, that, were it
not lor the combats and four battles we sustained, and for the batteries
which failed, or, to speak more properly, which were unskilfully made, we
should not have lost fifty men, from the commencement of the siege to this
day. I have written to M. de Larche, that if he persists in not coming
here, let who will raise money upon the Poleagers for me, I will not do
it; and I renounce (as I informed you a month ago I would do) meddling
directly or indirectly with any thing whatever that may have relation to
your administration, whether civil or military. For I had rather go and
command the Caffrees of Madagascar than remain in this Sodom, which it is
impossible but the fire of the English must destroy sooner or later, even
though that from heaven should not. “I have the honour to be, &c.
&c. (Signed) “LALLY.”
“P. S.—I think it necessary to
apprize you, that as M. de Soupire has refused to take upon him the
command of this army, which I have offered to him, and which he is
empowered to accept, by having received from the court a duplicate of my
commission, you must of necessity, together with the council, take it upon
you. For my part, I undertake only to bring it back either to Arcot or
Sadraste. Send, therefore, your orders, or come yourselves to command it;
for I shall quit it upon my arrival there.”]
521 (return)
[ Note 4 B, p. 521. That
the general was not pleased with the behaviour of lord George Sackville,
may be gathered from the following compliment to the marquis of Granby,
implying a severe reflection upon his superior in command.
Orders
of his serene highness prince Ferdinand of Brunswick, relative to the
behaviour of the troops under him, at the famous battle near Minden, on
the first of August, 1759.
“His serene highness ordered his
greatest thanks to be given to the whole army, for their bravery and good
behaviour yesterday, particularly to the English infantry, and the two
battalions of Hanoverian guards; to all the cavalry of the left wing; and
to general Wan-genheim’s corps, particularly the regiment of Holstein, the
Hessian cavalry, the Hanoverian regiment du corps, and Hammerstin’s; the
same to all the brigades of heavy artillery. His serene highness declares
publicly, that, next to God, he attributes the glory of the day to the
intrepidity and extraordinary good behaviour of these troops, which he
assures them he shall retain the strongest sense of as long as he lives;
and if ever, upon any occasion, he shall be able to serve these brave
troops, or any of them in particular, it will give him the utmost
pleasure. His serene highness orders his particular thanks to be likewise
given to general Sporeken, the duke of Holstein, lieutenant-generals
Imhoff and Urf. His serene highness is extremely obliged to the count de
Buckebourg, for his extraordinary care and trouble in the management of
the artillery, which was served with great effect: likewise to the
commanding officers of the several brigades of artillery, viz. colonel
Browne, lieutenant-colonel Hutte, Major Hasse, and the three English
captains, Philips, Drummond, and Foy. His serene highness thinks himself
infinitely obliged to major-generals Waldegrave and Kingsley, for their
great courage, and the good order in which they conducted their brigades.
His serene highness further orders it to be declared to lieutenant-general
the marquis of Grandby, that he is persuaded that, if he had had the good
fortune to have had him at the head of the cavalry of the right wing, his
presence would have greatly contributed to make the decision of that day
more complete and more brilliant. In short, his serene highness orders
that those of his suite whose behaviour he most admired be named, as the
duke of Richmond, colonel Fitzroy, captain Ligonier, colonel Watson,
captain Wilson, aidecamp to major-general Waldegrave, adjutant, generals
Erstorff, Bulow, Durendolle, the counts Tobe and Malerti; his serene
highness having much reason tobe satisfied with their conduct. And his
serene highness desires and orders the generals of the army, that upon all
occasions when orders are brought to them by his aids-de-camp, that they
may be obeyed punctually, and without delay.”]
522 (return)
[ Note 4 C, p. 522. The
following extracts of letters from the duke de Belleisle to the mareschal
de Contades, will convey some idea of the virtue, policy, and necessities
of the French ministry:—
“I am still afraid that Fischer
sets out too late: it is, however, very important, and very essential,
that we should raise large contributions. I see no other resource for our
most urgent expenses, and for refitting the troops, but in the money we
may draw from the enemy’s country, from whence we must likewise procure
subsistence of all kinds (independently of the money), that is to say,
hay, straw, oats for the winter, bread, corn, cattle, horses, even men to
recruit our foreign troops. The war must not be prolonged; and perhaps it
may be necessary, according to the events which may happen between this
time and the end of September, to make a downright desert before the line
of the quarters which it may be thought proper to keep during the winter,
in order that the enemy may be under a real impossibility of approaching
us: at the same time reserving for ourselves a bare subsistence on the
route which may be the most convenient for us to take, in the middle of
winter, to beat up or seize upon the enemy’s quarters. That this object
may be fulfilled, I cause the greatest assiduity to be used in preparing
what is necessary for having all your troops, without exception, well
clothed, well armed, well equipped, and well refitted, in every respect,
before the end of November, with new tents; in order that, if it should be
advisable for the king’s political and military affairs, you may be able
to assemble the whole or part of your army, to act offensively and with
vigour, from the beginning of January; and that you may have the
satisfaction to show your enemies and all Europe, that the French know how
to act and carry on war in all seasons, when they have such a general as
you are, and a minister of the department of war that can foresee and
concert matters with the general.
“You must be sensible, sir,
that what I say to you may become not only useful and honourable, but
perhaps even necessary, with respect to what you know, and of which I
shall say no more in a private letter.
“M. duc de BELLEISLE.”
“After observing all the formalities due to the magistrates of
Cologne, you must seize on their great artillery by force, telling them
that you do so for their own defence against the common enemy of the
empire; that you will restore them when their city has nothing further to
fear, &c. After all, you must take everything you have occasion for,
and give them receipts for it.—
“You must, at any rate,
consume all sorts of subsistence on the higher Lippe, Paderborn, and
Warsburg; you must destroy everything which you cannot consume, so as to
make a desert of all Westphalia, from Lipstadt and Munster, as far as the
Rhine, on one hand: and on the other, from the higher Lippe and Paderborn,
as far as Cassel; that the enemy may find it quite impracticable to direct
their march to the Rhine, or the lower Roer; and this with regard to your
army, and with regard to the army under M. de Soubise, that they may not
have it in their power to take possession of Cassel, and much less to
march to Marburg, or to the quarters which he will have along the Lahn, or
to those which you will occupy, from the lower part of the left side of
the Roer, and on the right side of the Rhine, as far as Dusseldorp, and at
Cologne.”—
“You know the necessity of consuming or
destroying, as far as is possible, all the subsistence, especially the
forage betwixt the Weser and the Rhine on the one hand, and on the other
betwixt the Lippe, the bishopric of Paderborn, the Dymel, the Fulda, and
the Nerra; and so to make a desert of Westphalia and Hesse.”—
“Although the prince of Waldeck appears outwardly neutral, he is very
ill-disposed, and deserves very little favour. You ought, therefore, to
make no scruple of taking all you find in that territory: but this must be
done in an orderly manner, giving receipts, and observing the most exact
discipline. All the subsistence you leave in this country will fall to the
enemy’s share, who will, by that means, be enabled to advance to the Lahn,
and towards the quarters which you are to occupy on the left side of the
Roer. It is therefore a precaution become in a manner indispensably
necessary, to carry it all away from thence.”—
“The
question now is, what plan you shall think most proper for accomplishing,
in the quickest and surest manner, our great purpose: which must be to
consume, carry off, or destroy, all the forage and subsistence of the
country which we cannot keep possession of.”—
“The upper
part of the Lippe, and the country of Paderborn, are the most plentiful;
they must therefore be eat to the very roots.”.....
“You did
mighty well to talk in the most absolute tone with regard to the
necessaries Racroth and Duysbourg must furnish our troops: it is necessary
to speak in that tone to Germans; and you will find your account in using
the same to the regencies of the elector of Cologne, and still more to
that of the palatine.
“After using all becoming ceremony, as we
have the power in our hands, we must make use of it, and draw from the
country of Bergue what shall be necessary for the subsistence of the
garrison of Dusseldorp, and of the light troops, and reserve what may be
brought thither from Alsace and the bishoprics for a case of necessity.”]