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All opposition being thus withdrawn, Forster entered Lancaster on Monday the 7th of November. Here he seized some new arms which were left at the custom-house, and also six pieces of cannon. He, moreover, took possession of the money belonging to the revenue, and of a quantity of brandy, which, Mr. Patten informs us," was given to the Highlanders to oblige them." And here we cannot refrain from obliging our readers, by transcribing the Rev. historian's description of the HighChurch Tories of the reign of George the first.

"While we were in this town, our number increased considerably; and had we staid here, or kept garrison here, they would have continued so to do. For in that time a great many Lancashire gentlemen joined us, with their servants and friends. It is true, they were most of them Papists; which made the Scots' gentlemen and the Highlanders mighty uneasy, very much suspecting the cause; for they expected all the High-Church party to have joined them. Indeed, that party, who never are right hearty for the cause, till they are mellow, as they call it, over a bottle or two, began now to show us their blind-side; and that it is their just character, that they do not care for venturing their carcasses any farther than the tavern. There indeed, with their High-Church and Ormond, they would make men believe, who do not know them, that they would encounter the greatest opposition in the world; but after having consulted their pillows, and the fume a little evaporated, it is to be observed of them, that they generally become mighty tame, and are apt to look before they leap, and with the snail, if you touch their houses, they hide their heads, shrink back, and pull in their horns. I have heard Mr. Forster say, he was blustered into this business by such people as these, but that, for the time to come, he would never again believe a drunken Tory.”

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Deluded by the professions of these ignorant boasters, who assured him, amongst other things, that the King's troops could not come within forty miles of his without their giving him due notice of their approach, Mr. Forster hastened his march southwards, and on Thursday the 10th of November his whole army was mustered at Preston, where his rash expedition was destined to terminate. As he was anxious to press forward to Manchester, where he expected to be joined by a large reinforcement of the disaffected, he had determined to advance in the direction of that town on the Saturday. Whilst, however, he was making preparations for this movement, he was astonished and perplexed by the receipt of intelligence that General Wills, at the head of a considerable force, was advancing from Wigan to attack him. The alarm being thus given, a body of the rebels marched out of the town and took post at Ribble-bridge, whilst Mr. Forster advanced to reconnoitre. The rebel general soon met the vanguard of the King's army, and immediately returned to Preston by Penwar

than, having given orders that the guard should be withdrawn from Ribble-bridge into the town. Here the rebels with great activity formed four main barriers, to close the principal entrances into the place. The first of these was a little below the church, and was commanded by Brigadier Mackintosh. The second, under the orders of Lord Charles Murray, was established at the extremity of the town, on the road to Poulton. The third, under the direction of Col. Mackintosh, was opposed to any attack which might be made from the Lancaster road, and the fourth was formed in Fisher-gate, the street which leads to Liverpool, and was commanded by Major Miller and Mr. Douglas. The three former were attacked with great fury by his Majesty's forces. At first, the advantage was on the side of the rebels, who fought with determined fury; and they maintained their posts with little loss and with much confidence, till the Sunday morning, when they were thrown into consternation by the arrival of General Carpenter, who had brought his army from the eastward by long and toilsome marches. Carpenter, being the senior officer, now took the command of the whole of the besieging forces, and making some alterations in the disposition of the troops, prepared to make a new and vigorous assault. Forster now saw that his situation was desperate, and endeavoured to make a capitulation; but on the annunciation of his proposals he received the usual answer, that no terms could be granted to rebels in arms, except protection from military execution; and, after some hesitation, he surrendered at discretion. The victorious generals now marched into the town at the head of their respective forces, and took possession of their prisoners, of whom the men of rank were confined in the principal inns of the town, whilst the common soldiers were shut up in the church. On the 21st of November, the chief officers and all the captured lords set off under a strong escort on their way to London. At Highgate, they were met by a strong detachment of horse grenadiers and foot guards, by whom they were conducted in a kind of triumph, which might have been well spared, to the metropolis, where they were distributed in different prisons to await the period of their several trials, the issues of which are recorded in the bloody page of our general history.

We shall close our analysis of this volume with the following account given by Mr. Patten of the reception which he and his associates met with from the London populace.

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Setting forward from Highgate, we were met by such numbers of people, that it is scarce conceivable to express, who, with Long live King George! and Down with the Pretender! ushered us throughout to our several apartments. On the road, a Quaker fixed his eyes upon me, and, distinguishing what I was, said, Friend! verily thou hast

been the trumpeter of rebellion to these men ; thou must answer for them. Upon this, my grenadier gave him a push with the butt-end of his musket, so that the spirit fell into the ditch. Whilst sprawling on his back, he told the soldier, thou hast not used me civilly; I doubt, thou art not a real friend to King George."

We honour the grenadier for protecting his prisoner from insult-but we cannot, at the same time, help thinking that there is some justice in the Quaker's observation.

When the Earl of Mar sent so large a detachment of his forces across the Frith, he appears not to have contemplated the probability of their marching into England. On the contrary, it was his wish that, after uniting themselves to the Lowland rebels and the English insurgents who might cross the border, they should proceed to the west of Scotland and embarrass the movements of the Earl of Argyle. Mr. Forster, then, by persuading the Highlanders to accompany him into Northumberland, materially deranged his plans. He, however, found himself strong enough to make head against the king's forces, and on Sunday the 13th of November he gave them battle at Sheriff-Moor, near Dumblain. The result of this engagement was indecisive. Both generals claimed the victory; but neither retained his ground, Mar retiring to Perth, and Argyle to Stirling. The latter, however, received at his headquarters daily reinforcements, while the numbers of the former decreased.

Whilst affairs were in this posture, the Pretender landed in Scotland, and immediately repaired to Scone, whence he issued several Royal proclamations. During his residence in Scone, he received a loyal address from the Episcopal clergy of the diocese of Aberdeen. The mention of this circumstance gives occasion to Mr. Patten to record the remarkable fact, that, during the continuance of the Rebellion, "only two Presbyterian ministers in all Scotland complied to pray for the Pretender, and were afterwards turned out by the General As sembly; whilst only two Episcopal ministers prayed for his Majesty King George.'

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The ill-fated Stuart was not long permitted to play the King in his hereditary dominions. Being pressed by the ap proach of the Duke of Argyle, he hastened to Aberdeen, where, accompanied by the Earl of Mar and a few others of his principal friends, he embarked on board a small vessel, and sailed for France, leaving the general body of his adherents to make the best terms they could with the conqueror.

Thus terminated the Rebellion of 1715; an enterprise which originated in false political principles, which was supported by the spirit of clanship, and fostered by the intemperance of High-Church bigotry-but was happily defeated by

the steadiness of the Whigs, backed by the plain good sense of the Scotch Presbyterians, and of that truly valuable portion of the community, the middle class of the English nation.

ART. III.-Siris: a chain of philosophical Reflexions and Enquiries concerning the Virtues of the Tar Water, and divers other subjects connected together, and arising one from another. By the Right Rev. Doctor George Berkeley, Lord Bishop of Cloyne. 8vo. 1744.

In whatever estimation the philosophical opinions of Bishop Berkeley may be held by the metaphysicians of the present day, it will be admitted, by all who are conversant with his writings, that he was a profound scholar, eminently skilled in logic and physiology, and deeply read in the ancient systems of those sciences. He has a higher claim than this to the veneration of posterity. He was a singularly good man, in whom a warm benevolence to his fellow creatures, and a zealous piety to God, were not merely the enthusiasms of his heart, but the presiding rules of his life. It is well known, that he conceived the project of converting the American savages to Christianity, by establishing a college in the island of Bermuda; and at a period, when the highest preferments were within his reach, offered, for the trifling stipend of one hundred pounds a year, to go out himself and devote the residue of his days to the furtherance of that pious object. His Minute Philosopher is an argumentative dialogue, containing a powerful refutation of the doctrines of atheism, fatalism, and the disbelief of revelation. The divine and the moralist may have recourse to it, as to an armoury of bright but vigorous weapons in defence of the sublime truths of Christianity, and the primary maxims of natural theology. No one in his generation ever laboured with greater zeal in his writings, or with a more wholesome example in his conduct, to uphold those true interests of man. He was the friend and companion of Swift and Pope, and, indeed, of all the eminent lights of his age. In conversation, he was airy, cheerful, and rapid, running with the ease and swiftness, which mark the man of the world from the mere man of letters, over a great variety of subjects. When grave and philosophical topics arose, he reasoned with strength and perspicuity, and, what is rare in colloquial discussion, with the utmost power of condensation. It is said, that his visit to Mallebranche was fatal to that philosopher, who, being at that time affected with a disease of the lungs, was roused to exer

tions on the occasion, which not long afterwards terminated in his death.

Warburton did justice to the virtue and genius of Berkeley, but was infected with the notion, which has been so generally current, that his philosophical system was visionary. In a letter to a friend,* he remarks of him, "he is, indeed, a great man, and the only visionary, I ever knew, that was." Such estimates are rashly adopted, and inconsiderately received. They soon become traditionary, and by being handed from one person to another, acquire the authority of indisputable axioms. This indolent acquiescence saves, it is true, a world of inquiry, and is admirably suited to the superficial thinking of an age, when so much more is said and written, than is known, of the literature or philosophy of the last century. It is quite enough, therefore, for those who think by rote or fashion, that Berkeley held the non-existence of matter. The tenet strikes vulgar and unlearned apprehensions, as a palpable absurdity, and is immediately classed with those abuses of reason and aberrations of genius, so common both in letters and philosophy. Johnson himself was not exempt from the common prejudice against the supposed theory of Berkeley. His summary refutation of it, by striking his foot with great force against a stone, and exclaiming, "I refute it thus," is recorded by Boswell. But he did not refute it, nor did he precisely understand Berkeley's argument. The bishop never denied all that Johnson proved, namely, the sensation of solidity. He admitted that we had those sensations or ideas, which are commonly called sensible qualities, such as solidity, extension, &c. &c.; and he only denied the existence of that matter, or inert senseless substance, in which they are supposed to reside. Johnson's argument, if it deserves the name, was founded on the erroneous assumption, that solidity is matter. With equal justice might it be said, that when Jack Lizard, on his return from Oxford, with his smattering of philosophy, pinched his sister's lap-dogs, to prove that they could not feel it,--the Aristotelian philosophy was confuted, when the animals howled under the operation;for neither Aristotle, nor the schoolmen, ever maintained the opinion which Addison ridicules, that lap-dogs, when pinched, could not feel the pain.

However inadequate Berkeley's tenet may be to solve the problem, to which he applied it, it is by no means deserving of contemptuous treatment. He first advanced it in his Principles of Human Knowledge, a truly original and masterly work, in which, by several distinct gradations of proof, he arrives at

* Letters from a late eminent Prelate, &c. &c. &c. London, 1809.

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