CHAP. X. 22. Marlborough's suc measures favouring der, May 24, 1715. Although Marlborough took no active part in general politics after his restoration to the office of Commander1715. in-Chief, yet occasions were not awanting on which to evince, in a very effective way, his opposition to measures cessful op- proposed by the Jacobite party in Parliament, with a position to view to pave the way for a restoration of the Stuart the Preten- family. One of them was a clause proposed by the Duke of Buckingham, to be inserted in the Military Bill, confining the military to their fixed stations in every part of Great Britain. As this, in effect, took from the Crown the direction of the armed force, and exposed the nation to the danger of rebellion or invasion in one quarter where there were no troops, while a superfluity chained to their garrisons remained inactive in another, Marlborough combated the proposal with such energy and vigour that it was rejected without a division. The other was a still more insidious attempt to paralyse the Crown, by excluding all foreign officers from the British service. Marlborough combated this proposal with peculiar animation. "Thus to cashier," said he, "officers whose intrepidity and skill I have often experienced— many of whom have served, during twenty-five years, with disinterested zeal and unblemished fidelity-would be the height of ingratitude, and an act of injustice vi. 1291- unparalleled even among the most barbarous nations." vi. 315, 316. The justice of these observations was so apparent that this clause too was rejected without a division.1 1 Parl. Hist. 1293. Coxe, 23. Marlbo rough's A more serious movement soon after took place in the metropolis, which became the more alarming from its prompt sup- spreading to the Foot Guards, and even the regiment of disaffection which Marlborough was the colonel. A large mob, instigated by the Jacobite leaders, collected in different parts of the town, shouting, " Ormond and High Church pression of among the Guards. for ever!-Down with the Hanover rats!" The contagion soon spread to the Guards, who had good cause of complaint on account of the ill-gotten gains of the contractors who furnished them with clothing and shirts. A detachment of Marlborough's own regiment, on their way to the town, publicly exposed their scanty garments, exclaiming, "These are Hanover shirts!" Marlborough was well aware of the danger of all tumults, from beginnings how small soever, in an excited state of the public mind the Civil War, which brought Charles I. to the block, began with an old woman throwing a stool, in the High Church of Edinburgh, at the head of a clergyman officiating in the surplice. He immediately, therefore, repaired to the spot, and instituted a rigid inquiry into the alleged grievances. Finding that they were too well founded, he ordered the jackets and shirts complained of to be publicly burnt, and a double supply of each, on an improved model, to be served out to the soldiers. At the same time, he assembled his regiment, and addressed them in one of those speeches so well known in antiquity, which are so powerful in moving the soldier's heart :— 66 Gentlemen, I am much concerned to find your complaints so just about the ill state of your clothes. I take this opportunity to tell you that I am wholly innocent of this grievance; and, depend upon it, no application shall be wanting on my part to trace out the measures that have been taken to abuse you and me. I am resolved nothing shall divert me from demanding forthwith satisfaction (wherever it may happen to fall), and shall think nothing too much, on my part, for your great services. I have ordered you a new set of clothing, such as will be every way becoming his Majesty's first regiment of Foot Guards. I desire you will return, then, and take your СНАР. X. 1715. X. 1715. CHAP. old, till such time as the new can be completed, which, I give you my word, shall be as soon as possible. I have had the honour to serve with some of you a great many campaigns, and believe you will do me the justice to tell the world that I never willingly wronged any of you; and if I can be serviceable to any (the least) of you, you may readily command it; and I shall be glad of any opportunity for that purpose. I hope I shall now leave you good subjects to the best of kings, and every way entirely satisfied." These measures, accompanied by a liberal donation of beer, had the desired effect; and an 318, 319. Hist. de 1 Coxe, vi. armed tumult, which had commenced with seditious cries in the Jacobite interest against the Hanoverian family, ended with shouts of " Long live George I. !-Long live the Duke of Marlborough!"1 Marlb, iii. 476, 477. 24. These events were straws only, but they were straws Commence- which showed how the wind set; and it soon appeared Rebellion that a pretty stiff breeze was to blow from the North. ment of the in Scotland in 1715. Notwithstanding the evident peril to the religion and liberties of this country, which was threatened from the unhappy adherence of the Stuart family to the Romish faith, a very considerable party in the western counties of England, and by far the greater part of the nobility and gentry in Scotland, adhered, with a fidelity which must command the respect of the brave and the generous to the end of the world, to the standard of their ancient kings. Some of their leaders, as is usual in all civil conflicts, doubtless had objects of personal ambition in view, and were attracted by the titles and offices in perspective, which, with liberal profusion, were scattered among them by the court of St Germains. But the great majority of their followers were actuated by no such motives, and yielded only to a brave and disinterested, X. 1715. and therefore noble, feeling in favour of their sovereign CHAP. in misfortune. In vain does worldly prudence condemn, political wisdom lament, convulsions originating in such a feeling; in vain does history point, with real truth, to the ruin which would have overtaken the British empire had the Stuart family, and with it the sway of Romish despotism, been restored in this island. There are impulses in the human heart superior to those of wisdomthere is an interest in a suffering, which is often not to be found in a ruling cause. Success is not always the measure of renown in after times. Leonidas, slain with his three hundred followers, has riveted the attention of the world more than all the annals of Persian conquests; and among the many scenes of interest which the British Islands will present to future days, it may already be foreseen that none will be viewed with greater emotion than the green mounds, amidst the dusky heath, which mark the graves of the Highlanders who fell at Culloden. 25. of Mar standard of Braemar, The rigid exclusion of the Tories from all offices under Government, which has always been the ruling principle The Earl of Whig administration in civil affairs, augmented the raises the discontent felt by this party upon the accession of the rebellion at Hanoverian family. The Earl of Mar, who had been Sept. 8. the Secretary of State for Scotland under Oxford's administration, and was loud in his professions of loyalty to the new sovereign on his first accession, was so alienated by his exclusion from office that he lent a willing ear to the suggestions of the agents of the Pretender, and raised the standard of rebellion at Castleton of Braemar on the 6th September. So general was the feeling in favour of the exiled family in all the north and east of Scotland, that, though he hoisted his standard with sixty followers only, he was, before the end of the month, at the head CHAP. X. 1715. of ten thousand men. James was solemnly proclaimed at Castleton on the 8th; while the English Jacobites, at the head of whom was the Earl of Derwentwater, proclaimed him at Warkworth, Alnwick, and Morpeth. It is a curious coincidence that this formidable rebellion, which threatened to desolate the kingdom with civil war, and possibly change the dynasty on the throne, began within a few miles of the spot where our present gracious Sovereign, who, by her virtues and graces, has united towards her person the affections of the Red and White 1 Mahon's Roses, the assent of the understanding, and the loyalty of the heart, now has found a charming retreat, where she dwells in privacy and happiness, surrounded by no other guards but the love of her subjects. Hist. i. 104-112. Coxe, vi. 321-323. 26. Marlbo rough's firm conduct on This rebellion was a sore trial to Marlborough-more severe than any he had experienced since James II. and prudent had been precipitated from the throne, for here was the this crisis. son of his early patron and benefactor asserting in arms his right to the throne of his fathers. But he was not wanting on this occasion to his principles or his character; he did not deviate from the line which he had irrevocably taken at the Revolution. The Whig Government acted with that vigour and unanimity which in civil conflicts so often commands success; and Marlborough ably and energetically seconded their efforts. Parliament voted liberal supplies; a reward of £100,000 was offered for the seizure of the Pretender, dead or alive; considerable additions were voted to the land and sea forces; General Cadogan was sent to demand from the government of the Hague the six thousand men stipulated in the Barrier Treaty for upholding the Protestant succession. Marlborough himself also raised, in a few hours, a large sum of money on his private credit, which he |