CHAPTER III. CHAP. ALTHOUGH the scope of this work does not lead III. me to notice, in detail, the merely local affairs 1714. of Scotland or Ireland, I must not omit that both the sister countries were then in a state of extraordinary ferment. In both, the Jacobite leaven was working far more strongly than in England; and it can scarcely be doubted, but that in Scotland that party comprised a majority, not only as to numbers, but also as to property. The Whig ministers had constantly kept a very apprehensive eye upon the Highland chiefs, whom they knew to have generally most disaffected principles and always most devoted followers. I may even assert, that the fierce and nearly fatal struggle which finally took place in 1745 had been clearly foreseen and anticipated, even in the reign of Queen Anne; and it has been a matter of just reproach to Walpole, that, preferring present ease to future safety, he did not, during his twenty years of peace and power, bring forward any measures to break the discipline and avert the danger of these military bodies. So early as 1708, Stanhope had introduced * See some judicious observations, ascribed to Mr. Macaulay, Edin. Review, No. 117. p. 245. III. 1714. a bill for that object, but had not been able to CHAP. carry it through. The administration which came to the helm in 1710 was, as may well be supposed, by no means inclined to destroy these useful and ever ready weapons of the Jacobites; on the contrary, it even secretly assisted them with money. Their own Solicitor-General for Scotland, Sir James Steuart, declared in the House of Commons that, to his certain knowledge, 3000l. or 40007. had been yearly remitted to the most decided of the Highland clans. For this discovery Steuart was dismissed from office, but it formed the subject of a keen attack from the Duke of Argyle in the House of Lords. Oxford admitted the fact; but said in his defence that he had only followed the example of King William, who, after reducing the Highland clans, had allowed still more considerable pensions as hush-money.t Nothing was alleged against this apology, and the Lord Treasurer's conduct was approved by the House. It may be observed, however, that if the payments of King William had been suspended during several years, there was required a reason as well as a precedent before they were renewed. * Parl. Hist. vol. vi. p. 1275., and Lockhart's Comment. p. 459. + Ibid. p. 1339. The payments of King William were made through the Earl of Breadalbane. It is said that on being asked by the minister for a particular account of his disbursements, Breadalbane replied, "Why, my Lord, the money is spent-the "Highlanders are quiet and that is the only way of account"ing among friends!" Chambers' Rebellions of 1689 and 1715, p. 325. III. CHAP. On the whole, it must be admitted that to rule Scotland at this period was a task of no ordinary 1714. difficulty. Its system of administration was, no doubt, fraught with gross and manifold abuses; but I believe that even the highest degree of perfection would not have secured it against the animosity and accusation of the Scotch. That high-spirited people bore with impatience any government from London the ideas of subjugation and dependence were constantly floating before their eyes, and lending a distorted medium to every object they surveyed. In no part of their dominions had the Stuarts been urged to exercise such arbitrary and grinding power; in none had William the Third encountered more harassing and vexatious opposition. Even his practised patience had become at length exhausted. On one occasion, when the Duke of Hamilton was extolling Scotland to him, "My Lord," exclaimed his Majesty, "I "only wish that it was a hundred thousand miles "off, and that you were King of it!" The Union, which was designed as a remedy to these heartburnings, proved at first only their aggravation. Never did a treaty produce more ultimate advantage to a nation; never was any received with such general and thorough hatred. I have already had to detail the violent attempt made in Swift calls it with his usual felicitous expression, "Divided hearts, united States!" Works, vol. xiv. p. 69. III. 1714. the House of Lords for its repeal; but that repeal CHAP. was constantly held out as a bait by the Scotch Jacobites; and some even went so far as to declare that if they failed in regaining their freedom, they hoped at least to be able to deprive us of ours! * Ireland, at this period, was scarcely in a more tranquil situation. The ministers had sent in the autumn, as Lord Lieutenant, one of the most prominent characters of the age, the Duke of Shrewsbury. After having been connected in turn with almost every party, Shrewsbury's views as to the great point of the succession might at this time be considered doubtful. During his administration in the reign of William, he had stooped to a treasonable correspondence with St. Germains. On the other hand, when passing through Paris, on his way to Italy, he had, if indeed we may trust his own account in his journal t, skilfully parried an indirect proposal from that quarter. On the other hand, again, decided Jacobite partialities might be presumed from the part he had As a remarkable instance of this bitter feeling, see the conversation between Stanhope and Lockhart, as reported by the latter. (Comment. p. 479.) "As you Englishmen," said Lockhart, "have made slaves of us Scotchmen, I should be glad to "see you reduced to the same state!" + "My old acquaintance, the Duke of Lauzun, one day took " occasion to commend the Prince of Wales, and wished that by "any means I might have an opportunity of seeing so fine a "youth. I told him I questioned not his merit, but had no great "curiosity. But if I must see him, I would much rather it were “here than in England. This reply dashed all further discourse " of this kind." Corresp. p. 185. CHAP. taken in tripping up the Whig administration of III. 1710, and from the trust reposed in him by the 1714. opposite party. Had he not been expected to come into the secret views of Bolingbroke and Ormond, he would surely never have been stationed at such confidential posts as Paris and Dublin. Yet, as will appear in the sequel, he deceived these ministers as he had their predecessors; his old principles triumphed, and, at the last crisis, he came forth a most timely and useful assertor of the Protestant cause. The Duke arrived at Dublin on the 27th of October. His instructions were to take the same line as the Government in England; to profess unabated zeal for the House of Hanover, and thus lull the public apprehensions, and prevent a Protestant cry at the elections. Accordingly, he seized the first opportunity, at a public entertainment, to declare that he was still the same as in 1688," and to drink to the " pious and glorious memory of King "William;" which, in Ireland, has always been a favourite party symbol. Soon afterwards, a riot having taken place in the Dublin election, and being, of course, like every other mischief, imputed to the Roman Catholics, the Duke ordered several of their chapels to be closed. Yet, with all his pains and professions, the Irish elections turned for the most part in favour of the Opposition. Scarcely had Parliament met before a struggle ensued in the Commons as to the choice of Speaker; and Sir Alan Brodrick, the Whig can |