Books: The Letters of Horace Walpole, Volume 1

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(1144) Sir John Willes, knight, chief justice of the common
pleas from 1737 to 1762.-D.

(1145) In the beginning of the year 1755, on rumours of a
great armament at Brest, one Virette, a Swiss, who had been a
kind of toad-eater to this St. Germain, was denounced to Lord
Holderness for a spy; but Mr. Stanley going pretty surlily to
his lordship, on his suspecting a friend of his, Virette was
declared innocent, and the penitent secretary of state made
him the honourable amends of a dinner in form. About the same
time, a spy of ours was seized at Brest, but not happening to
be acquainted with Mr. Stanley, was broken upon the wheel.

457 Letter 190
To Sir Horace Mann.
Arlington street, Dec. 20, 1745.

I have at last got your great letter by Mr. Gambier, and the
views of the villas,(1146) for which I thank you much. I
can't say I think them too well done. nor the villas
themselves pretty; but the prospects are charming. I have
since received two more letters from you, of November 30th and
December 7th. You seem to receive mine at last, though very
slowly.

We have at last got a spring-tide of good luck. The rebels
turned back from Derby, and have ever since been flying with
the greatest precipitation.(1147) The Duke, with all his
horse, and a thousand foot mounted, has pursued them with
astonishing rapidity; and General Oglethorpe, with part of
Wade's horse, has crossed over upon them. There has been
little prospect of coming up with their entire body, but it
dismayed them; their stragglers were picked up, and the towns
in their way preserved from plunder, by their not having time
to do mischief. This morning an express is arrived from Lord
Malton(1148) in Yorkshire, who has had an account of
Oglethorpe's cutting a part of them to pieces, and of the
Duke's overtaking their rear and entirely demolishing it. We
believe all this; but, as it is not yet confirmed, don't
depend upon it too much. The fat East India ships are arrived
safe from Ireland--I mean the prizes; and yesterday a letter
arrived from Admiral Townshend in the West Indies, where he
has fallen in with the Martinico fleet (each ship valued at
eight thousand pounds), taken twenty, sunk ten, and driven
ashore two men-of-war, their convoy, and battered them to
pieces. All this will raise the pulse Of the stocks, which
have been exceedingly low this week, and the Bank itself in
danger. The private rich are making immense fortunes out of
the public distress: the dread of the French invasion has
occasioned this. They have a vast embarkation at Dunkirk; the
Duc de Richelieu, Marquis Fimarcon, and other general
officers, are named in form to command. Nay, it has been
notified in form by the insolent Lord John Drummond,(1149) who
has got to Scotland, and sent a drum to Marshal Wade, to
announce himself commander for the French King in the war he
designs to wage in England, and to propose a cartel for the
exchange of prisoners. No answer has been made to this rebel;
but the King has acquainted the Parliament with this audacious
message. We have a vast fleet at sea; and the main body of
the Duke's army is coming down to the coast to prevent their
landing, if they should slip our ships. Indeed, I can't
believe they will attempt coming hither, as they must hear of
the destruction of the rebels in England; but they will
probably, dribble away to Scotland, where the war may last
considerably. Into England, I scarce believe the Highlanders
will be drawn again:--to have come as far as Derby--to have
found no rising in their favour, and to find themselves not
strong enough to fight either army, will make lasting
impressions!

Vernon, I hear, is recalled for his absurdities, and at his
own request, and Martin named for his successor.(1150) We had
yesterday a very remarkable day in the House: the King
notified his having sent for six thousand Hessians into
Scotland. Mr. Pelham, for an address of thanks. Lord
Cornbury (indeed, an exceedingly honest man(1151)) was for
thanking for the notice, not for the sending for the troops;
and proposed to add a representation of the national being the
only constitutional troops, and to hope we should be
exonerated of these foreigners as soon as possible. Pitt, and
that clan, joined him; but the voice of the House, and the
desires of the whole kingdom for all the troops we can get,
were so strong, that, on the division, we were 190 to 44: I
think and hope this will produce some Hanoverians too. That it
will produce a dismission of the Cobhamites is pretty certain;
the Duke of Bedford and Lord Gower arc warm for both points.
The latter has certainly renounced Jacobitism.

Boetslaar is come again from Holland, but his errand not yet
known. You will have heard of another victory,(1152) which
the Prussian has gained over the Saxons; very bloody on both
sides--but now he is master of Dresden.

We again think that we have got the second son,(1153) under
the name of Macdonald. Nobody is permitted to see any of the
prisoners.

In the midst of our political distresses, which, I assure you,
have reduced the town to a state of Presbyterian dulness, we
have been entertained with the marriage of the Duchess of
Bridgewater(1154) and Dick Lyttelton - she, forty, plain, very
rich, and with five children; he, six-and-twenty, handsome,
poor, and proper to get her five more. I saw, the other day,
a very good Irish letter. A gentleman in Dublin, full of the
great qualities of my Lord Chesterfield, has written a
panegyric on them, particularly on his affability and
humility; with a comparison between him and the hauteur of all
other lord-lieutenants. As an instance, he says, the earl was
invited to a great dinner, whither he went, by mistake, at
one, instead of three. The master was not at home, the lady
not dressed, every thing in confusion. My lord was so humble
as to dismiss his train and take a hackney-chair, and went and
stayed with Mrs. Phipps till dinner-time--la belle humilit`e!

I am not at all surprised to hear of my cousin Don Sebastian's
stupidity. Why, child, he cannot articulate; how would you
have had him educated? Cape Breton, Bastia, Martinico! if we
are undone this year, at least we go out with `eclat. Good
night.

1146) Villas of the Florentine nobility.

(1147) "Now few there were," says Captain Daniel, in his MS.
Memoirs, " who would go on foot if they could ride; and mighty
taking, stealing, and pressing of horses there was amongst us!
Diverting it was to see the Highlanders mounted, without
either breeches, saddle, or any thing else but the bare back
of the horses to ride on; and for their bridle, only a straw
rope! in this manner do we march out of England." See Lord
Mahon's Hist. vol. iii. p. 449.-E.

(1148) Sir Thomas Watson Wentworth, Knight of the Bath and
Earl of Malton. [In April 1746, he was advanced to the dignity
of Marquis of Rockingham. He died in 1750, was succeeded by
his second son, Charles Watson Wentworth, second marquis; on
whose death, in 1782, all the titles became extinct.]

(1149) Brother of the titular Duke of Perth. [And a general
officer in the French army. "The amount of supplies brought
by him reminds us," says Sir Walter Scott, "of those
administered to a man perishing of famine, by a comrade, who
dropped into his mouth, from time to time, a small shelfish,
affording nutriment enough to keep the sufferer from dying,
but not sufficient to restore him to active exertion."]

(1150) On the 2d of January, Admiral Vernon, having arrived in
the Downs from a cruise, struck his flag; upon which, Admiral
Martin took the command, in his room.-E.

(1151) Henry Hyde, only son of Henry, the last Earl of
Clarendon. He was called up to the House of Peers, by the
style of Lord Hyde, and died unmarried, before his father, at
Paris, 1753. (When Lord Cornbury returned from his travels,
Lord Essex, his brother-in-law, told him, with a great deal of
pleasure, that he had got a handsome pension for him, All Lord
Cornbury's answer was, "How could you tell, my Lord, that I
was to be sold? or, at least, how came you to know my price so
exactly?"--"It was on this account," says Spence, "that Pope
complimented him with this passage-

"Would you be bless't? despise low joys, low gains;
Disdain whatever Cornbury disdains;
Be virtuous, and be happy for your pains."

On the death of the earl, a few months after his son, the
viscounty of Cornbury and earldom of Clarendon became
extinct.-E.]

(1152) The battle of Kesselsdorf, gained by Prince Leopold of
Anhalt Dessau over the Saxon army, commanded by Count
Rutowsky. This event took place on the 15th of December, and
was followed by the taking of Dresden by the King of
Prussia.-D.

(1153) Henry Stuart, afterwards Cardinal of York. This
intelligence did not prove true.-D.

(1154) lady Rachel Russel, eldest sister of John, Duke of
Bedford, and widow of Scrope Egerton, Duke of Bridgewator;
married to her second husband, Colonel Richard Lyttelton,
brother of Sir George Lyttelton, and afterwards Knight of the
Bath.

460 Letter 191
To Sir Horace Mann.
Arlington Street, Jan, 3, 1746.

I deferred writing to you till I could tell you that the
rebellion was at an end in England. The Duke has taken
Carlisle, but was long enough before it to prove how basely or
cowardly it was yielded to the rebel: you will see the
particulars' in the Gazette. His Royal Highness is expected
in town every day; but I still think it probable that he will
go to Scotland.(1155) That country is very clamorous for it.
If the King does send him, it should not be with that sword of
mercy with which the present family have governed those
people. All the world agrees in the fitness of severity to
highwaymen, for the sake of the innocent who suffer; then can
rigour be ill-placed against banditti. who have so terrified,
pillaged, and injured the poor people in Cumberland,
Lancashire, Derbyshire, and the counties through which this
rebellion has stalked? There is a military magistrate of some
fierceness sent into Scotland with Wade's army, who is coming
to town; it is General Hawley.(1156) He will not sow the
seeds of future disloyalty by too easily pardoning the
present.

The French still go on with their preparations at Dunkirk and
their sea-ports; but I think, few people believe now that they
will be exerted against us: we have a numerous fleet in the
Channel, and a large army on the shores opposite to France.
The Dutch fear that all this storm is to burst on them. Since
the Queen's making peace with Prussia, the Dutch are applying
to him for protection; and I am told, wake from their neutral
lethargy.

We are in a good quiet state here in town; the Parliament is
reposing itself for the holidays; the ministry is in private
agitation; the Cobham part of the coalition is going to be
disbanded; Pitt's wild ambition cannot content itself with
what he had asked, and had granted: and he has driven
Lyttelton and the Grenvilles to adopt all his extravagances.
But then, they are at 'variance again within themselves:
Lyttelton's wife(1157) hates Pitt, and does not approve his
governing her husband and hurting their family; so that, at
present, it seems, he does not care to be a martyr to Pitt's
caprices, which are in excellent training; for he is governed
by her mad Grace of Queensberry. All this makes foul weather;
but, to me, it is only a cloudy landscape.

The Prince has dismissed Hume Campbell(1158) who was his
solicitor, for attacking Lord Tweedale(1159) on the Scotch
affairs: the latter has resigned the seals of secretary of
state for Scotland to-day. I conclude, when the holidays are
over, and the rebellion travelled so far back, we shall have
warm inquiries in Parliament. This is a short letter, I
perceive; but I know nothing more; and the Carlisle part of it
will make you wear, your beaver more erect than I believe you
have of late. Adieu!

(1155) The Duke of Cumberland entered Carlisle on the 31 st of
December; but his pursuit of the Highlanders in person was
interrupted by despatches, which called him to London, to be
ready to take command against the projected invasion from
France.-E.

(1156) "Hawley," says Lord Mahon, "was an officer of some
experience,
but destitute of capacity, and hated, not merely by his
enemies, but by his own soldiers, for a most violent and
vindictive temper. One of his first measures, on arriving at
Edinburgh, to take the chief command, was to order two gibbets
to be erected, ready for the rebels who might fall into his
hands; and, with a similar view, he bid several executioners
attend his army on his march." Vol. ii. p. 357.

(1157) Lucy Fortescue, sister of Lord Clinton, first wife of
Sir George, afterwards Lord Lyttelton. [She died in January
1747, at the age of twenty-nine.

(1158) twin-brother to the Earl of Marchmont; who, in his
Diary .of the 2d of January, says, "My brother told me he had
been, last night, with Mr. Drax, the Prince's secretary, when
he had notified to him that the Prince expected all his family
to go together to support the measures of the administration,
and that, as Mr. Hume did not act so, he was to write him a
letter, discharging him, In the conversation, Mr. Drax said,
that the Prince was to support the Pelhams, and that his
dismission was to be ascribed to Lord Granville. My brother
said, that he had nothing to say to the Prince, other than
that he would support all the measures he thought conducive to
the King's interests, but no others."-E.

(1159) The Marquis of Tweedale was one of the discontented
Whigs, during the administration of Sir Robert Walpole; on
whose removal he came to court, and was made secretary of
state, attaching himself to Lord Granville's faction, whose
youngest daughter, Frances, he afterwards married, He was
reckoned a good civilian, but was a very dull man.

461 Letter 192
To Sir Horace Mann.
Arlington Street, Jan. 17,1746.,

It is a very good symptom, I can tell you, that I write to you
seldom -. it is a fortnight since my last; and nothing
material has happened in this interval. The rebels are
intrenching and fortifying themselves in Scotland; and what a
despicable affair is a rebellion upon the defensive! General
Hawley is marched from Edinburgh, to put it quite out. I must
give you some idea of this man, who will give a mortal blow to
the pride of the Scotch nobility. He is called Lord chief
Justice; frequent and sudden executions are his passion. Last
winter he had intelligence of a spy to come from the French
army: the first notice our army had of his arrival, was by
seeing him dangle on a gallows in his mufti and boots. One of
the surgeons of the army begged the body of a soldier who was
hanged for desertion, to dissect: "Well," said Hawley, "but
then you shall give me the skeleton to hang up in the
guard-room." He is very brave and able; with no small bias to
the brutal. Two years ago, when he arrived at Ghent, the
magistrates, according to customs sent a gentleman, with the
offer of a sum Of money to engage his favour. He told the
gentleman, in great wrath, that the King his master paid him,
and that he should go tell the magistrates so; at the same
time dragging him to the head of the stairs, and kicking him
down. He then went to the town-hall; on their refusing him
entrance, he burst open the door with his foot, and seated
himself abruptly: told them how he had been affronted, was
persuaded they had no hand in it, and demanded to have the
gentleman given up to him, who never dared to appear in the
town while he stayed in it. Now I am telling you anecdotes of
him, you shall hear two more. When the Prince of Hesse, our
son-in-law, arrived at Brussels, and found Hawley did not wait
on him, the Prince sent to know if he expected the first
visit? He replied, "He always expected that inferior officers
should wait on their commanders; and not only that, but he
gave his Highness but half an hour to consider of it." The
Prince went to him. I believe I told you of Lord John
Drummond sending a drum to Wade to propose a cartel. Wade
returned a civil answer, which had the King's and council's
approbation. When the drummer arrived with it at Edinburgh,
Hawley opened it and threw it into the fire, would not let the
drummer go back, but made him write to Lord J. "That rebels
were not to be treated with." If you don't think that spirit
like this will do-do you see, I would not give a farthing for
your presumption.(1160)

The French invasion is laid aside; we are turning our hands to
war again upon the continent. The House of Commons is
something of which I can give YOU no description: Mr. Pitt,
the meteor of it, Is neither yet in place, nor his friends
out. Some Tories oppose: Mr. Pelham is distressed, and has
vast majorities. When the scene clears a little, I will tell
you more of it.

The two last letters I have had from you, are of December 21
and January 4. You was then still in uneasiness; by this time
I hope you have no other distresses than are naturally
incident to your miny-ness.

I never hear any thing of the Countess(1161) except just now,
that she is grown tired of sublunary affairs, and willing to
come to a composition with her lord: I believe that the price
will be two thousand a-year. The other day, his and her
lawyers were talking over the affair before her and several
other people: her counsel, in the heat of the dispute, said to
my lord's lawyers, "Sir, Sir, we shall be able to prove that
her ladyship was denied nuptial rights and conjugal enjoyments
for seven years." It was excellent! My lord must have had
matrimonial talents indeed, to have reached to Italy; besides,
you know, she made it a point after her son was born, not to
sleep with her husband.

Thank you for the little medal. I am glad I have nothing more
to tell you-you little expected that we should so soon recover
our tranquility. Adieu!

(1160) Glover, in his Memoirs, speaks of Hawley with great
contempt, and talks of "his beastly ignorance and negligence,"
which occasioned the loss of the battle of Falkirk.-D.

(1161) Lady Orford.

463 Letter 193
To Sir Horace Mann.
Arlington Street, Jan. 28, 1746.

Do they send you the gazettes as they used to do? If you have
them, you will find there an account of another battle lost in
Scotland. Our arms cannot succeed there. Hawley, of whom I
said so much to you in my last, has been as unsuccessful as
Cope, and by almost every circumstance the same, except that
Hawley had less want of skill and much more presumption. The
very same dragoons ran away at Falkirk, that ran away at
Preston Pans.(1162) Though we had seven thousand men, and the
rebels but five, we had scarce three regiments that behaved
well. General Huske and Brigadier Cholmondeley,(1163) my
lord's brother, shone extremely - the former beat the enemy's.
right wing; and the latter, by rallying two regiments,
prevented the pursuit. Our loss is trifling: for many of the
rebels fled as fast as the glorious dragoons- but we have lost
some good officers, particularly Sir Robert Monroe; and seven
pieces of cannon. A worse loss is apprehended, Stirling
Castle, which could hold out but ten days; and that term
expires to-morrow. The Duke is gone post to Edinburgh, where
he hoped to arrive to-night; if possible, to relieve Stirling.
Another battle will certainly be fought before you receive
this; I hope with the Hessians in it, who are every hour
expected to land in Scotland. With many other glories, the
English courage seems gone too! The great dependence is upon
the Duke; the soldiers adore him, and with reason: he has a
lion's courage, vast vigilance and activity, and, I am told,
great military genius. For my own particular, I am uneasy
that he is gone: Lord Bury and Mr. Conway, two of his
aides-de-camp, and brave as he, are gone with him. The ill
behaviour of the soldiers lays a double obligation on the
officers to set them examples of running on danger. The
ministry would have kept back Mr. Conway, as being in
Parliament; which when the Duke told him, he burst into tears,
and said nothing should hinder his going--and he is gone!
Judge, if I have not reason to be alarmed!

Some Of our prisoners in Scotland (the former Prisoners) are
returned. They had the Privilege of walking about the town,
where they were confined, upon their parole: the militia of
the country rose and set them at liberty. General Hawley is
so strict as to think they should be sent back; but nobody
here comprehends such refinement: they could not give their
word that the town should not be taken. There are two or
three others, who will lay the government under difficulties,
when we have got over the rebellion. They were come to
England on their parole; and when the executions begin, they
must in honour be given up--the question indeed will be, to
whom?

Adieu! my dear sir! I write you this short letter, rather
than be taxed with negligence on such an event; though, YOU
perceive, I know nothing but what you will se in the printed
papers.

P.S. The Hessians would not act, because we would not settle a
cartel with rebels!

(1162) "Hawley was never seen in the field during the battle;
and every thing would have gone to wreck, in a worse manner
than at Preston, if General Huske had not acted with judgment
and courage, and appeared every where." Culloden Papers, p.
267.-E.

(1163) The Hon. James Cholmondeley, second son of George,
second Earl of Cholmondeley. He served with distinction both
in Flanders and Scotland. In 1750, he became colonel of the
Inniskillen regiment of dragoons; and died in 1775.-D.

464 Letter 194
To Sir Horace MANN.
Arlington Street Feb. 7, 1746.

Till yesterday that I received your last of January 27, I was
very uneasy at finding you still remained under the same
anxiety about the rebellion, when it had so long ceased to be
formidable with us: but you have got all my letters, and are
out of your pain. Hawley's defeat (or at least what was
called so, for I am persuaded that the victory was ours as far
as there was any fighting, which indeed lay in a very small
compass, the great body of each army running away) will have
thrown you back into your terrors; but here is a letter to
calm you again. All Monday and Tuesday we were concluding
that the battle between the Duke and the rebels must be
fought, and nothing was talked of but the expectation of the
courier. He did arrive indeed on Wednesday morning, but with
no battle; for the moment the rebel army saw the Duke's, they
turned back with the utmost precipitation; spiked their
cannon, blew up their magazine, and left behind them their
wounded and our prisoners. They crossed the Forth, and in one
day fled four-and-thirty miles to Perth, where, as they have
strong intrenchments, some imagine they will wait to fight;
but their desertion is too great; the whole clan of the
macdonalds, one of their best has retired on the accidental
death of their chief. In short, it looks exceedingly like the
conclusion of this business, though the French have embarked
Fitzjames's regiment at Ostend for Scotland. The Duke's name
disperses armies, as the Pretender's raised them.

The French seem to be at the eve of taking Antwerp and
Brussels, the latter of which is actually besieged. In this
case I don't see how we can send an army abroad this summer,
for there will be no considerable towns in Flanders left in
the possession of the Empress-Queen.

The new regiments, of which I told you so much, have again
been in dispute: as their term was near expired, the ministry
proposed to continue them for four months longer. This was
last Friday, when, as we every hour expected the news of a
conclusive battle, which, if favourable, would render them
useless, Mr. Fox, the general against the new regiments,
begged it might only be postponed till the following
Wednesday, but 170 against 89 voted them that very day. On
the very Wednesday came the news of the flight of the rebels;
and two days before that, news from Chester of Lord Gower's
new regiment having mutinied, on hearing that they were to be
continued beyond the term for which they had listed.

At court all is confusion-. the King, at Lord Bath's
instigation, has absolutely refused to make Pitt secretary at
war.(1164) How this will end, I don't know, but I don't
believe in bloodshed: neither side is famous for being
incapable of yielding.

I wish you joy of having the Chutes again, though I am a
little sorry that their bravery was not rewarded by staying at
Rome till they could triumph in their turn: however, I don't
believe that at Florence you want opportunities of exulting.
That Monro you mention was made travelling physician by my
father's interest, who had great regard for the old
doctor.(1165) if he has any skill in quacking madmen, his art
may perhaps be of service now in the Pretender's court.

I beg my eagle may not come till it has the opportunity of a
man-of-war: we have lost so many merchantmen lately, that I
should never expect to receive it that way.