CHAP. 1740. In little more than two months after Colonel Brett's return, Lord Barrymore undertook a Jacobite mission from London to Paris, and was admitted, together with Lord Sempill, to an audience of Cardinal Fleury. The Minister gave them a gracious reception, listened with pleasure to their account of affairs at home, and promised to send a friend of his own to England, in order to obtain still fuller and more authentic information for his Court.* In a few days more we find Lord Barrymore about to return, and the Marquis de Clermont, the person selected by the Cardinal for the secret English mission. It also appears that Sir John Hinde Cotton was to remain in London throughout the summer, as the channel of communication with James's friends, and that Shippen, whom the public voice still proclaimed as the great leader of the Jacobites, was thought by them so weak as to be left out of all their consultations.† Shippen, at this time, was sixty-eight, and his energy, perhaps, much impaired. But as it seems to me, even his earlier reputation grew much more from his courage, his incorruptibility, his good humoured frankness of purpose, than from any superior eloquence or talent. Horace Walpole, the younger, describes his speeches as spirited in sentiment, but generally this, and the following extracts or summaries, which he made at *Letter of Lord Sempill, June 6. 1740. Stuart Papers. XXI. 1740. uttered in a low tone of voice, with too great rapi- CHAP. dity and with his glove held before his mouth*-certainly not the portrait of a great orator! It is said that he had some skill in poetry, yet, it does not seem that he was known or prized by any eminent men without the House of Commons. His father was rector of Stockport, and his paternal inheritance had been small; he acquired, however, an ample fortune by marriage. His wife was extremely penurious, and as a relation gently expressed it," with a peculiarity in tempert," and unwilling to mix in society; she was much noticed by Queen Caroline, but steadily declined all connection with the Court. Shippen, himself, like Pulteney, was not free from the odious taint of avarice; when not attending Parliament, he lived chiefly in a hired house on Richmond Hill; and it is remarkable that neither of these distinguished politicians, though each wealthy, possessed that chief pride and delight of an English gentleman-a country seat.‡ In September, this year, it appears that the Marquis de Clermont had returned from his secret mission, and that his reports were favourable to the * Communicated to Archdeacon Coxe. Memoirs of Walpole, vol. i. p. 672. From her grand-nephew, Judge Willes. Coxe's Walpole, vol. i. p. 673. Shippen survived her several years in full possession of her fortune. This fact, as regards Shippen, is stated in Coxe's Walpole, ut supra. As regards Pulteney, I find it in a letter from Pope to Swift, of May 17. 1739. (Swift's Works, vol. xix. p. 291.) XXI. CHAP. Jacobite designs; and in December, after the Emperor's death had given new ground and proba1740. bility of war, Cardinal Fleury was so far wrought upon as to promise positively, that if Bohaldie could bring full assurances from those who managed the Clans, the Irish brigade in France should be forthwith transported to Scotland, with the arms and ammunition required. In that case he also undertook to use endeavours with the Government of Spain, to send another body of troops from thence, with the Earl Marischal.† Such a project was indeed already entertained by the Spanish, or at least apprehended by the British, Court.+ Even from this outline it will be perceived how unwearied, how extensive, and how formidable was the Jacobite conspiracy. Yet, at that moment, and for years before, the existence of any such conspiracy was stubbornly denied by the " Patriots," in Opposition; they maintaining that it was a mere chimera and device of ministers to justify military prepa rations, a standing army, and the final establishment *Letter of Lord Sempill, Sept. 5. 1740. Stuart Papers. + Letter of Lord Sempill, December 19. 1740. Papers. Stuart キ "The troops in Gallicia publicly declared they were to be "employed under the Duke of Ormond, who was then in Spain, "in a descent upon England." (Tindal's Hist. vol. viii. p. 459.) Sir John Norris was sent out with a squadron to defeat this design, and the Duke of Cumberland sailed with him as a volunteer: however, the Spaniards found ample employment for their force in South America. a brother of CHA P. XXI. of despotic power. Daniel Pulteney William, of the same principles, and prevented only by his early death from attaining similar political 1740. distinction-used to say that the Pretender would never subdue us, but his name would!* These mock-patriots, so jealous, as they seemed, of British liberties, were undoubtedly in effect- - perhaps sometimes in intention-the best allies and patrons of the Jacobites. - For the Jacobites themselves, their course though far more direct and manly, was still less reasonable. Considering the mildness and moderation of the reigning family, we may wonder at their irreconcilable resentment; and our surprise will augment, if we reflect on the feeble and bigot character of the Prince whom they were so eager to enthrone. To place at the head of the Church of England one of its most bitter and unchanging adversaries — such was the aim of men who believed or boasted themselves the best, nay, the only real friends of that Church! Every successive year, as it increased the difficulty of a Revolution—as it heightened the necessity to wade at this object through torrents of blood, and that blood our fellow countrymen'sadded, as I conceive, to the responsibility and moral guilt of the attempt. And while I revere and wish to do justice to the high motives of many Jacobites, I cannot but strongly condemn the false political idolatry of all. * Lord Bolingbroke to Sir William Wyndham, November 18. 1739. CHAPTER XXII. XXII. CHAP. As the South American Colonies had given the first impulse to the war with Spain, so was it 1740. against them that its chief exertions were directed. Their weakness, it was thought, would afford an easy conquest, and their wealth a rich booty. Two squadrons were accordingly equipped: the one under Commodore Anson, to sail round Cape Horn and rifle the shores of Peru; the other under Admiral Vernon, to attack Porto Bello and the Eastern coast. Each of these expeditions will demand and reward a particular detail. George Anson, commander of the first, and afterwards Lord Anson, deserves to be held forth as a model to British seamen of what may be accomplished, by industry, by courage, by love of their profession. He was born of a family at that period new and obscure, nor had he the advantage of distinguished talents. After his expedition, it used to be said of him that he had been round the world but never in it; he was dull and unready on land; |