"The rebels have fled before us in the utmost In less than thirty minutes the rebel army consternation thus far, & I am convinced in my was totally defeated, and the field covered with the own mind 24 hours more wod have decided this slain. The road as far as Inverness was strewed affair. Their horses are fatigued that they can do with dead bodies; and numbers of people who no more, our men in high spirits, & the country had come out of mere motives of curiosity to see all up ready to join us, and assist us against the the battle, were sacrificed to the undistinguishing rebels, now they see themselves supported by the vengeance of the victorious army. Twelve hunking's troops, What the consequences of our re- dred rebels were killed on the field and in the purturning may be God only knows. The spirits of suit. Lord Kilmarnock, as mentioned by Col. the soldiery and ye poor country must be de- | Yorke, was taken; and Lord Balmerino surrenpressed. They may wait quietly at Carlisle for dered himself. Great barbarity was exercised by their reinforcements, refresh their people, put new the soldiers on the wounded and dying who were life into 'em, ruin the bordering, counties, & in a left on the field. Some of the soldiers attired little while advance with fresh vigor & fury into themselves in the dresses and laced hats of the ye bowels of the land, in spite of all that M. chieftains who were slain. Wade's army can do agst 'em; whereas, had we pushed on our advantages, & put an end to this body, the French would never have returned into this island, or, if they did, we should have had more than sufficient force to withstand 'em. This may appear foolish talk to people not upon the spot; but I am thoroughly convinced if your lordship was here you could not help seeing it in as strong light as I do. We have lost an opportunity, & I dread only to think of the consequences." -p. 205. The young Prince Pretender wandered about after the battle which ruined all his hopes, a solitary fugitive among the isles and mountains for five months, sometimes in female attire, and going under various disguises and names, until he at length escaped to France. "The news of this great and decisive victory, which at once restored tranquillity to the kingdom, and inspired confidence among all classes, was received in London on the 24th of April, with great demonstrations of joy. At night were the most extraordinary illuminations ever known, with bonCol. Yorke also tells his father that fires, a continual firing of guns, and ringing of "there are great dissensions among the houses of Parliament congratulated the King on bells, throughout this extensive metropolis.' Both rebel chiefs, wch goes almost to the point of the event; voted their thanks to the Duke of fighting with one another;" thus confirming Cumberland; and the Commons added £25,000 what Sir Walter Scott has said on the same per annum to his income."-p. 230. subject in his novel of "Waverley." And With the trial and execution of the rebel in a subsequent letter he gives the particu- lords in the following years, terminated this lars of the conflict at Clifton Moor. On critical period of English history. Horace the 17th of January, 1746, an encounter Walpole has made the proceedings against between a considerable body of the King's these men the occasion for venting his troops and the rebels took place at Falkirk, spleen against Lord Hardwicke (who prewhich terminated in the entire rout of the sided as Lord High Steward), which informer, who retired to Edinburgh. But whilst these affairs were being trans- other cases, as in this, he has only exhibitdeed he was ever too ready to do; but in acted in the North, a revolution in the cd his own petty feelings against a man ministry was well nigh effected at home, whose conduct here, as in other instances, arising from the temporizing conduct of the has been properly appreciated by parties King, which led to a resolution on the part more capable of forming a correct judgment of the ministers to resign. But the affair than himself. ended, as Mr. C. Yorke says, " in a three days' bustle and wonder," and all things were placed in statu quo. The orders for the recall of the troops from the North having been countermandcd, the Duke of Cumberland proceeded to Nairn in pursuit of the rebel army, who, as he there learned, had advanced to Culloden. On the 16th of April was fought the battle of Culloden, a very minute and interesting account of which is given by Col. Yorke, in a letter to his father, written immediately after the event, which we would gladly quote, only that it is too long. But we may extract Mr. Harris's summary: reported at great length, and are very inThe proceedings against Lord Lovat are old Highlander, who, however, with all his teresting as exhibiting the wiliness of the cunning and double-dealing, was inextricably caught in a trap of his own preparing. trial is worth quoting, as an illustration of A curious paragraph in reference to this the fact, that "the liberty of the press" had not at that period been recognized. "On the 3d of April, 1747, complaint was made T. Astley, for printing the trial of Lord Lovat, in the House of Lords against Edward Cave and Lord Chancellor Hardwicke's speech on that occasion, and the debates of the House, in the 'Gentleman's' and London Magazines.' On the 7th of April, Astley petitioned the House for his release, promising not to offend in future. They were both brought to the bar and examined. On a subsequent day, Cave and Astley were discharged, after a severe reprimand by the Lord Chancellor."-p. 316. Among other matters relating to the dissensions in the Royal Family, the dissolution of Parliament, and the new elections, connected with the year 1747, we find one little modest fact which entirely refutes the commonly received opinion of Lady Hardwicke's stinginess. In writing to her son, Col. Yorke, after the battle of Laffeldt, in which the British army under the Duke of Cumberland was compelled to retreat to Maestricht, her Ladyship says:— "If any compassionate case amongst the wounded men shoud engage yor concern in seeing them in distress for want of some little helps, I allow you to give 20 guins for me amongst them, as from yourself. But say nothing of it where you are, nor when you write home. A mite was once accepted. Once more, God bless you!"p. 339. In a letter from Miss Yorke to her brother the Colonel, occurs the following amusing paragraph relating to an illustrious patient whose health has certainly not improved since the bulletin was issued:: any account, or on any consideration; & I beg it of your l'p, as ye most material piece of friendship yet to be exerted by you, to prevent ye offer of Canterbury if possible, or to support me in ye refusal, if ye other cannot be prevented. "The honor of Canterbury is a thing of glare & school-boys to industry; but I have considered all splendor, and ye hopes of it a proper incentive to its inward parts, & examined all its duties; and if I should quit my present station to take it, I will not answer for it, that in less than a twelvemonth I did not sink and dye wth regret and envy at the man who shod succeed me here, and quit the place & better than myself."—p. 346. in my possession, as I ought to do, to one wiser Whether the good Archbishop did regret the step we are not told; but the primacy was in a manner forced upon him by the King. In the letter signifying his acceptance, which he did only on Lord Hardwicke's assurance that he himself would be compromised by the Archbishop of York's refusal, he says, "And now, my lord, after having said so much, & wh a little spirit, give me leave to say, that if his Majesty coud be prevailed on to alter his arrangement by keeping me where I am, & let Hutton take ye chair pontifical, I will still leap for joy, & send you ten thousand thanks.”—p. 349. On the death of the Duke of Somerset, "The newspapers you receive from this side of the water, if you have leisure to attend to them, in June, 1749, the Duke of Newcastle was have long since told you the accident that has hap- elected Chancellor of the University of pened to the Westminster bridge. Our advices from London of this day inform us that the pier has sunk in the whole 23 inches, which is a great deal. There are watchmen now appointed to sit up with it, & we hear it is a question among the wits in London, How the bridge has passed the night?"-p. 344. Cambridge; and in the July following Lord "The selection of Lord Hardwicke to fill the On the decease of the Archbishop of above important office was highly honorable to Canterbury, in 1747, the Primacy went a- him, independent of the distinction itself, as a begging; the Bishops of London and Salis-mark of the opinion entertained of him by that learned and intellectual body, who were induced bury successively refused it, and it was to deviate from their ordinary course in electing only after much persuasion that the Lord one who was not a member of that or of any Chancellor's friend, the martial Archbishop other university, to that elevated station. This of Yorke agreed to accept the post. His letter in reply to Lord Hardwicke's intimation that it was the King's intention to translate him to the see of Canterbury, bears all the marks of sincerity; and as we have already quoted his Grace's military epistles, we may now make one or two extracts from those relating to the primacy. proves that he was regarded for something more than his mere professional and political reputation; and that his classical acquirements and mental endowments were appreciated by those best able to distinguish rightly as to the respect and veneration to which these were entitled. "Nor was it for want of other fit objects, that their choice fell upon Lord Hardwicke, as at that time there were many men of eminence, and of distinguished learning and talents among the no"I have considered the thing, my best friend, & bility, and of the same party with the Lord Chanmy most honored lord, with all the coolness, & cellor, who would have added lustre to the office deliberation, & compass of thought, that I am itself; and several of the members of that unimaster of; & I am come to a very firm & most re-versity would have filled that station with the solved determination not to quit ye see of York, on highest honor."-p. 393. On the 20th of March, 1751, the violent and unseemly dissensions which had so long prevailed in the royal family were terminated by the sudden death of Frederick, Prince of Wales; of which event several minute particulars are given in the second volume of Mr. Harris's work. The death of the prince rendered it necessary that some steps should be taken to provide for the government in case of the death of the king before the young Prince George, then but thirteen years old, should be of age. A regency was accordingly determined on, and the Lord Chancellor, with the assistance of the crown lawyers, was directed to prepare the bill. It was introduced into the House of Lords by the Duke of Newcastle, on the 7th of May, read a second time, and committed on the 10th; and after a somewhat stormy discussion was finally passed unanimously. In the Commons the measure was also fully discussed, and on the 22d of May became the law of the land. Horace Walpole, with his usual feeling of malice against Lord Hardwicke, abuses the measure, and the persons selected to act as regents; but the futility of his attacks may be assumed from the fact, that throughout the debate on the bill, none of the parties named as the council of regency were objected to. The abrogation of the Julian or old style was another important proceeding of the same session. scripts and papers, and his library besides, a loss which was perfectly irreparable,all the state papers of his great uncle, Lord Somers, in upwards of sixty volumes in quarto," and which, Lord Hardwicke says, "did not contain a paper from Lord Somers' pen which the most intimate friend would have wished to secrete, or the bitterest enemy could fairly have turned to his prejudice." This loss accounts for the paucity of existing materials for a life of Lord Somers mentioned by Lord Campbell. On the 2nd of April, 1754, Lord Hardwicke was elevated to an earldom, after he had held the high office of Chancellor for seventeen years. This honor seems to have been several times before offered to him, but always declined. Lord Campbell repeats, without a doubt, Cooksey's story of the delay being attributable to Lady Hardwicke's desire to get their two daughters married off before the acquisition of a higher rank by their father, lest they should be rendered undutiful by the elevation, and more especially because the marriage portion of an earl's daughters must necessarily be double what would suffice for a baron's. Mr. Harris, with more apparent probability, refers the delay to Lord Hardwicke's indifference to worldly honors; and remarks that The advancement of Lord Hardwicke to this high rank in the peerage was but a fair and due reward for his long and great servises, rendered to "Lord Chesterfield was the main mover in the his country in so many ways. Never, indeed, was undertaking, having while abroad noticed the nu- this title bestowed in a case where it was more nerous inconveniences in diplomatic affairs result-worthily earned by substantial merit ; and never was ng from the confusion of dates. Some opposi-a dignity of this kind granted which brought more tion among members of the government was mani. honor to the possessor, or added more lustre to the fested to the plan. The Duke of Newcastle en-order itself. The degree to which he was thus treated Lord Chesterfield not to stir matters that promoted raised him only to an equal rank with had long been quiet, and added that he did not the other great law lords who had preceded him love new-fangled things. Lord Hardwicke and in the exalted offices which he had held, and Mr. Pelham, however, approved of it, and sup-whom he had more than rivalled as regards the ported the measure. The Earl of Macclesfield, efficient mode in which he had discharged those son of the deceased Chancellor, and President of important duties."-p. 521. the Royal Society, who was one of the ablest mathematicians of the age, supplied the requisite scientific demonstrations. A good deal of strong feeling and prejudice were exhibited against the bill, and loud clamors raised against it; but it passed into a law.”—p. 448. No additional influence, either in the House of Lords or on the bench, was acquired by Lord Hardwicke from this elevation in rank; but in consequence of the death of Mr. Pelham, which occurred In a letter to the Duke of Newcastle, shortly before, the task of re-constructing Lord Hardwicke gives the particulars of a the ministry had devolved upon him, and ire which occurred at the chambers of his for a while the Chancellor was the only reon, Mr. Charles Yorke, in Lincoln's Inn. sponsible adviser of the crown. During the Mr. Yorke escaped "with nothing on but negotiations then pending, Mr. Pitt exhis shirt and breeches, and a frock thrown pressed his high opinion of Lord Hardover his shoulders, without shoes or stock-wicke's wisdom and abilities in letters to ings;" but he lost everything-his manu-Sir George Lyttleton. A rather lengthened 1848.] THE LIFE OF LORD CHANCELLOR HARDWICKE. 66 correspondence between Mr. Pitt and the ray, on the 25th of October, was promoted Chancellor ensued, and some letters which to the Chief Justiceship, and created, a passed between them are given in full. peer by the title of Baron Mansfield. Lord These nogotiations led to no result at the Hardwicke wrote to inform him of the good time, and were renewed in September, when news, and the following is his reply:several interviews took place between Mr. Pitt, the Lord Chancellor, and the Duke. of Newcastle; but the conferences all failed in their object, and Mr. Fox ultimately became Secretary of State. The descriptions of what took place at these various interviews, as given, by the Chancellor and Mr. Charles Yorke, are very interesting. The once celebrated "Orator Henley" writes to the Chancellor ostensibly to request that his " should not oratory be interfered with, or himself injured on account thereof, though probably in the hope of getting some additional "guineas" for what he is pleased to consider his services to the king and ministry. He says, Sunday Night, 24th Oct., 1756. "MY LORD,-I am just come to town, and found yr l'ps. letter. It is impossible to say how much I feel yr l'ps. great goodness & attention to me, throughout this whole affair, The business of my life, at all times, and on all occasions, shall be to show the gratitude with which I have the Yr Lp's. most obliged honor to be & obdt, hum. servt., In reference to this promotion, Lord Campbell states, that sensible as the Duke of Newcastle was that the removal of the Attorney-General, Murray, from the Lower to the Upper House would be fatal to the ministry, he, in order "to retain him in "I most humbly ask pardon for informing your the House of Commons, as a forlorn: hope, lordship that one proof of my serving his majesty & the ministry in my advertisements and dis- plied him with various proposals-a Fellowcourses, tho' seemingly against them, is that I gain ship of the Exchequer or the Duchy of intelligence by them of the reel enemies of the Lancaster for life, or a pension of £2,000 court; and tho' the late Right Hon. Mr. Pelham a-year for life, in addition to his profits of engaged it should not be known but to ye royal his office as Attorney-General. Nay, the family, first ministers, and ye judges; & Mr. bidding rose to £6,000 a-year of pension; Pelham, some months before his death, gave me but Murray was inexorable." ten guineas for one piece of intelligence, about cer"The most extravagant offers are tain electors, which, with others, I could not have says: obtained but by such advertisements & discourses; said to have been made to the AttorneyI received sixty guineas from him in the whole, General to induce him to continue in for various services of that kind, on severall occa- his office, though on what authority these sions; & I allways invariably devoted my oratory statements were originally put forth, I have & do, to ye like intention, in several shapes; and shall always be proud of every opportunity to be of any use or service to your lordship, and your noble family."-vol. iii. p. 16. We have no means of learning the effect of the worthy "orator's" appeal to the head of the law. Mr. Harris been unable to ascertain; and there is no allusion to any such offers among the papers of Lord Hardwicke, who would surely on such an occasion have been consulted." It is certain, from a letter to Lord Hardwicke from the Duke of Newcastle, that the latter would have preferred that Murray should remain in the House of Commons; From a letter dated Dublin, May 6, 1755, we learn that Lord Hardwicke had yet that rather than lose his services altosent a donation of £50 to Dr. Leland, the gether, he consented to join Lord Hardwicke in recommending him for the Chief author of 'Deistical Writers," " a token of approbation of his book;" a fact which Justiceship. After alluding to the death of his sister, he says:-bears testimony to his lordship's liberality, as well as his zeal for religion. "Your lordship will see that I shall be neces In the month of June, 1756, died Sir sarily prevented from paying my duty to the king Dudley Ryder, who succeeded Lee as Lord for some days, & consequently from joining toChief Justice on the death of the latter two morrow with your lordship in recommending the years before. The offer of the Chief Jus- Attorney-General to His Majesty's favor to suc ceed my Lord Chief Justice Ryder, & to be created ticeship was made to Mr. Murray, who rea peer. I must therefore beg, that you would add fused to accept the post without a peerage. my most humble request upon this occasion to The king seems to have felt great reluctance your own. Was I singly to consult my own inin acceding to his wishes, but his objec- terest, your lordship knows what my thoughts tions were ultimately overruled, and Mur-are; but when I consider that the present quesVOL. XV. No. I. 2 tion is, whether Mr. Attorney-General shall re-ed to Lord Mansfield among others, but by main in the House of Commons, out of the king's him declined. The only alternative was to service, or be Ch. Justice, & a peer, I own I think put the Great Seal in commission; the comthe first would be attended with great incon- missioners being Lord Chief Justice Willes, veniences to the king's service, & I should hope Mr. Justice Wilmot, and Mr. Baron that His Majesty would be graciously pleased to grant his request, in consideration of the zeal & ability, which he has showed for a considerable number of years, in the employments with which His Majesty has honored him."-p. 62. On the 13th of November, 1756, Mr. Fox wrote to the Duke of Newcastle, intimating his wish to resign the scals of office; in consequence of which negotiations were again opened with Mr. Pitt, but with a different result; for, having expressed to Lord' Hardwicke, in one of his conferences, his surprise "that it should be thought possible for him to come into an employment to serve with the Duke of Newcastle," the Duke determined to resign, which resolution was also expressed by Lord Hardwicke. Accordingly, "On the 11th of November the Duke of New. castle quitted office; and on the 19th of the same month Lord Chancellor Hardwicke resigned the Great Seal. Mr. Pitt was appointed Secretary of State; the Duke of Newcastle was succeeded at the Treasury by the Duke of Devonshire, and Lord Anson at the Admiralty by Earl Temple. Mr. Legge became Chancellor of the Exchequer in the room of Sir George Lyttleton, who was elevated to the peerage by the title of Baron Lyttleton; and Mr. George Grenville was inade Treasurer of the Navy in the place of Mr. George Bubb Dodington." Lord Hardwicke thus records the event in his diary as concerning himself: 19 Nov. 1756. Resigned the Great Seal, voluntarily, into His Majesty's hands, at St. James's, after I had held it 19 years, 8 months, and 16 days." Smythe, and it was left in commission till the death of George the Second, which took place four years after. On the formation of the new ministry, the king spontaneously and unsolicited promoted Mr. Charles Yorke to the office of Solicitor-General, "as a testimony to the joint merit of both father and son," a mark of approbation which to the retiring statesman could not be otherwise than gratifying. A The first public business in which Lord Hardwicke took any part after his resignation, was the debate in the House of Lords upon a bill connected with the trial of Admiral Byng. It will be recollected, that Byng had the command of a squadron destined for the relief of Minorca, when menaced by the French. He neglected to bring the French fleet to a decisive action, and was consequently accused of cowardice, and brought to trial before a court-martial, and by it condemned to be shot for neglect of duty, though unanimously recommended to mercy by the members of the court. bill was accordingly brought into the House of Commons to release the members of the court-martial who had sentenced Admiral Byng to death, from their oath of secresy, so that they might disclose the consultations which took place among themselves when deliberating upon his sentence. Lord Campbell says that the fate of the bill in the House of Lords "depended entirely upon Lord Hardwicke, and he opposed it." It is true that his lordship took an active part in the investigation and decision, after devoting "considerable time and labor to an examination of the whole transaction :" but the rejection of the bill was first moved by Lord Marchmont, who was followed by Lord Hardwicke; and after examining such of the members of the House of Commons as were members also of the court-martial, the Lords unanimously rejected the bill. In reference to the sentence, Lord Campbell blames the court for passing it, and the government for allowing it to be carried into effect; but he generously adds: Such a step as the retirement of a man who had held an important office for so long a time, and that, too, during some of the most eventful periods of our history, could not occur without calling forth various surmises as to the causes which led to it. Advanced age, with the accompanying decline of faculties, either real or apprehended, broken health, and many other reasons were surmised; but, as Lord Campbell observes, "he more probably resigned because he knew the ministry was very weak, and must be short-lived." Whatever the cause for principle, and that Lord Hardwicke would have Lord Hardwicke's resignation, none of the establishing a dangerous precedent by sanctioning great lawyers of the day would consent to it. In the course he took, he was warmly supsucceed him. The chancellorship was offer-ported by Lord Mansfield, who now began to "Nevertheless, I think that the bill rested on no been liable to severe censure if he had assisted in |