The Revolution-house at Whittington, Derbyshire.

To eternize the delegated band,
That seal’d their great forefathers’ fields their own,
Rais’d ev’ry art that decks a smiling land,
And laws that guard the cottage as the throne.

Rev. P. Cunningham

This edifice obtained its name from the meeting of Thomas Osborne earl of Danby, and William Cavendish earl of Devonshire, with Mr. John D’Arcy, privately one morning, in 1688, upon Whittington Moor, as a middle place between Chatsworth, Kniveton, and Aston, their respective residences, to consult about the revolution, then in agitation.[390] A shower of rain happening to fall, they removed to the village for shelter, and finished their conversation at a public-house there, the sign of “The Cock and Pynot.”[391]

The part assigned to the earl of Danby was, to surprise York; in which he succeeded. After which, the earl of Devonshire was to take measures at Nottingham, where the declaration for a free parliament, which he, at the head of a number of gentlemen of Derbyshire, had signed Nov. 28, 1688,[392] was adopted by the nobility, gentry, and commonalty of the northern counties, there assembled.[393] To the concurrence of these patriots with the proceedings in favour of the prince of Orange in the west, the nation is indebted for the establishment of its rights and liberties.

The cottage here represented stands at the point where the road from Chesterfield divides into two branches, to Sheffield and Rotherham. The room where the noblemen sat is fifteen feet by twelve feet ten, and is to this day called “The Plotting Parlour.” The old armed-chair, still remaining in it, is shown by the landlord with particular satisfaction, as that in which it is said the earl of Devonshire sat; and he tells with equal pleasure, how it was visited by his descendants, and the descendants of his associates, in the year 1788. Some new rooms, for the better accommodation of customers, were added several years ago.

The duke of Leeds’ own account of his meeting the earl of Devonshire and Mr. John D’Arcy[394] at Whittington, in the county of Derby, A. D. 1688.

The earl of Danby, afterwards duke of Leeds, was impeached, A. D. 1678, of high treason by the house of commons, on a charge of being in the French interest, and, in particular, of being popishly affected: many, both peers and commoners, were misled, and had conceived an erroneous opinion concerning him and his political conduct. This he has stated himself, in the introduction to his letters, printed in 1710, where he says, “The malice of my accusation did so manifestly appear in that article wherein I was charged to be popishly affected, that I dare swear there was not one of my accusers that did then believe that article against me.”

The duke then proceeds, for the further clearing of himself, in these memorable words, relative to the meeting at Whittington:—

“The duke of Devonshire also, when we were partners in the secret trust about the revolution, and who did meet me and Mr. John D’Arcy, for that purpose, at a town called Whittington, in Derbyshire, did, in the presence of the said Mr. D’Arcy, make a voluntary acknowledgment of the great mistakes he had been led into about me; and said, that both he, and most others, were entirely convinced of their error. And he came to sir Henry Goodrick’s house in Yorkshire purposely to meet me there again, in order to concert the times and methods by which he should act at Nottingham, (which was to be his post,) and one at York, (which was to be mine;) and we agreed, that I should first attempt to surprise York, because there was a small garrison with a governor there; whereas Nottingham was but an open town, and might give an alarm to York, if he should appear in arms before I had made my attempt upon York; which was done accordingly;[395] but is mistaken in divers relations of it. And I am confident that the duke (had he been now alive) would have thanked nobody for putting his prosecution of me amongst the glorious actions of his life.”

On the 4th and 5th of November 1788, the centenary of the landing of king William, the Revolution Jubilee was celebrated at Whittington and Chesterfield, as appears by the following letter from the venerable rector of the parish:—

To Mr. Gough.

Whittington, Oct. 11, 1788.

Dear sir,—We are to have most grand doings at this place, 5th of November next, at the Revolution-house, which I believe you saw when you was here. The resolutions of the committee were ordered to be inserted in the London prints, so I presume you may have seen them. I am desired to preach the sermon.

I remain, your much obliged, &c.
S. Pegge.

Resolutions.

The committee appointed by the lords and gentlemen at the last Chesterfield races, to conduct and manage the celebration of the intended jubilee, on the hundredth anniversary of the glorious revolution, at the Revolution-house in Whittington, in the county of Derby, where measures were first concerted for the promotion of that grand constitutional event, in these midland parts, have this day met, and upon consideration come to the following resolutions:—

That general Gladwin do take the chair at this meeting. That the Rev. Samuel Pegge be requested to preach a sermon on the occasion at Whittington church, on the 5th day of November next. That the gentlemen who intend to honour the meeting with their company do assemble at Whittington church, exactly at eleven o’clock in the forenoon of that day, to attend divine service. That immediately after service they meet at the Revolution-house, where a cold collation will be provided. That they go in procession from thence to Chesterfield, where ordinaries will be provided at the Angel, Castle, and Falcon inns. That the meeting be open to all friends of the revolution. That letters be written to the dukes of Devonshire and Leeds, and the earl of Stamford, to request the honour of their attendance at that meeting. That there be a ball for the ladies in the evening at the assembly-room in Chesterfield. That a subscription of one guinea each be entered into for defraying the extraordinary expenses on the occasion, and that the same be paid into the hands of Messrs. Wilkinson’s, in Chesterfield. That the committee do meet again on Wednesday, the 8th of October next, at the Angel inn, in Chesterfield, at one o’clock. That these resolutions be published in the Derby and Nottingham newspapers, and in the St. James’s, Whitehall, and Lloyd’s Evening Posts, and the London and English Chronicles.

Henry Gladwin, Chairman.

Chesterfield, Sept. 27, 1788.

According to these resolutions, on Tuesday the 4th of November, the committee appointed to conduct the jubilee had a previous meeting, and dined together at the “Revolution-house” in Whittington. The duke of Devonshire, lord Stamford, lord George and lord John Cavendish, with several neighbouring gentlemen, were present. After dinner a subscription was opened for the erecting of a monumental column, in commemoration of the glorious revolution, on that spot where the earls of Devonshire and Danby, lord Delamere, and Mr. John D’Arcy, met to concert measures which were eminently instrumental in rescuing the liberties of their country from perdition. As this monument was intended to be not less a mark of public gratitude, than the memorial of an important event, it was requested, that the representatives of the above-mentioned families would excuse their not being permitted to join in the expense.

On the 5th, at eleven in the morning, the commemoration commenced with divine service at Whittington church. The Rev. Mr. Pegge, the rector of the parish, delivered an excellent sermon from the words “This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.” Though of a great age, having that very morning entered his eighty-fifth year, he spoke with a spirit which seemed to have been derived from the occasion; his sentiments were pertinent, well arranged, and his expression animated.

The descendants of the illustrious houses of Cavendish, Osborne, Boothe, and D’Arcy, (for the venerable duke of Leeds, whose age would not allow him to attend, had sent his two grandsons, in whom the blood of Osborne and D’Arcy united;) a numerous and powerful gentry; a wealthy and respectable yeomanry; a hardy, yet decent and attentive peasantry; whose intelligent countenances showed that they understood, and would be firm to preserve, that blessing, for which they were assembled to return thanks to Almighty God, presented a truly solemn spectacle, and, to the eye of a philosopher, the most interesting that can be imagined.

After service the company went in succession to view the “Revolution-house,” and the room called “The Plotting Parlour,” with the old armed-chair in which the earl of Devonshire is said to have sitten; and every one partook of an elegant cold collation, which was prepared in the new rooms annexed to the cottage. Some time being spent in this, then began

The Procession.

Constables with long staves, two and two.

The eight clubs, four and four, with flags inscribed “The Protestant Religion, and the Liberties of England, we will maintain,”—“Libertas; quæ sera, tamen respexit inertem.” “Liberty secured.”—“The Glorious Revolution 1688.”—“Liberty, Property, Trade, Manufactures.”—“In Memory of the Glorious Assertors of British Freedom 1688.”—“Revolted from Tyranny at Whittington 1688.”—“Bill of Rights.” “Willielmus Dux Devon. Bonorum Principum Fidelis Subditus; Immicus et Invisus Tyrannis.”

[The members of the eight clubs were estimated at two thousand persons, each having a white wand in his hand, with blue and orange tops and favours, with the word “Revolution” stamped upon them.]

The Derbyshire militia’s band of music.
The corporation of Chesterfield in their formalities, who joined the procession on entering the town.
The duke of Devonshire in his coach and six.
Attendants on horseback with four led horses.
The earl of Stamford in his post-chaise and four.
Attendants on horseback.
The earl of Danby and lord Francis Osborne in their post-chaise and four.
Attendants on horseback.
Lord George Cavendish in his post-chaise and four.
Attendants on horseback.
Lord John Cavendish in his post-chaise and four.
Attendants on horseback.
Sir Francis Molyneux and sir Henry Hunloke, barts. in sir Henry’s coach and six.
Attendants on horseback.
And upwards of forty other carriages of the neighbouring gentry, with their attendants.
Gentlemen on horseback, three and three.
Servants on horseback, ditto.

The procession paraded different parts of the town of Chesterfield to the Castle, where the Derbyshire band of music formed in the centre, and played “Rule Britannia,” “God save the King,” &c. The clubs and corporation still proceeded in the same order to the mayor’s, and then dispersed.

The whole was conducted with order and regularity. Notwithstanding there were fifty carriages, four hundred gentlemen on horseback, two thousand on foot, and an astonishing throng of spectators, not an accident happened. All was joy and gladness, without a single burst of unruly tumult and uproar. The sun shed auspicious beams, and blessed the happy day with unusual splendour.

The company was so numerous as scarcely to be accommodated at the three principal inns. The dinner at the Castle was served in a style of unusual elegance. The first five toasts after the repast were:—

1. The king.

2. The glorious and immortal memory of king William III.

3. The memory of the Glorious Revolution.

4. The memory of those Friends to their Country, who, at the risk of their lives and fortunes, were instrumental in effecting the Glorious Revolution in 1688.

5. The Law of the Land.

In the evening a brilliant exhibition of fireworks was played off, under the direction of signior Pietro; during which the populace were regaled with a proper distribution of liquor. The day concluded with a ball, at which were present near three hundred gentlemen and ladies. The late duchess of Devonshire, surrounded by the bloom of the Derbyshire hills, presented a picture scarcely to be portrayed. Nearly two hundred and fifty ball-tickets were received at the door.

The warm expression of gratitude and affection sparkling in every eye must have excited in the breasts of those noble personages, whose ancestors were the source of this felicity, a sensation which monarchs in all their glory might envy. The utmost harmony and felicity prevailed throughout the whole meeting. A hogshead of ale was distributed to the populace at Whittington, and three hogsheads at Chesterfield; where the duke of Devonshire gave also three guineas to each of the eight clubs.

At this meeting party distinctions were forgotten. Persons of all ranks and denominations wore orange and blue in memory of the great event; and the most respectable Roman Catholic families vied in their endeavours to show how just a sense they had of the value of civil liberty.[396]

The Rev. P. Cunningham, of Eyam, a place which readers of the [last sheet] can scarcely have forgotten, addressed some stanzas to the Rev. Samuel Pegge, the rector of Whittington, on occasion of the festivity, together with the following

Ode
For the Revolution Jubilee, 1788.

When lawless power his iron hand,
When blinded zeal her flaming brand
O’er Albion’s island wav’d;
Indignant freedom veil’d the sight;
Eclips’d her son of glory’s light;
Her fav’rite realm enslav’d.

Distrest she wander’d:—when afar
She saw her Nassau’s friendly star
Stream through the stormy air:
She call’d around a patriot band;
She bade them save a sinking land;
And deathless glory share.

Her cause their dauntless hearts inspir’d,
With ancient Roman virtue fir’d,
They plough’d the surging main;
With fav’ring gales from Belgia’s shore
Her heaven-directed hero bore,
And freedom crown’d his reign.

With equal warmth her spirit glows,
Though hoary Time’s centennial snows
New silver o’er her fame.
For hark, what songs of triumph tell,
Still grateful Britons love to dwell
On William’s glorious name.

[390] Kennett.

[391] A provincial name for a Magpie.

[392] Rapin, xv. 199.

[393] Deering’s Nottingham, p. 258.

[394] Son and heir of Conyers earl of Holderness.

[395] For the earl of Devonshire’s proceedings at Derby and Whittington, see Mr. Deering’s History of Nottingham, p. 260. Mr. Drake, p. 177 of his Eboracum, just mentions the earl of Danby’s appearance at York.

[396] Pegge’s Anecdotes of Old Times, p. lxiii, &c.

VIRTUOUS DESPOTISM.
Character of Alia Bhye.

One of the purest and most exemplary monarchs that ever existed, a female without vanity, a bigot without intolerance, possessed of a mind imbued with the deepest superstition, yet receiving no impressions except what promoted the happiness of those under its influence; a being exercising in the most active and able manner despotic power, not merely with sincere humility, but under the severest moral restraint that a strict conscience can impose upon human action. And all this combined with the greatest indulgence for the weakness and faults of others.[397]

[397] Sir John Malcolm’s Central India.

UXBRIDGE
AND
THE TREATY HOUSE.

Remarkable Cooking Fountain, &c.

For the Table Book.

Uxbridge, the most considerable market town in the county of Middlesex, is distant from London about fifteen miles on the north-west. It consists of one long street, which is neatly paved, and its situation on the road to Oxford, Gloucester, and Milford Haven, is productive of much benefit to the inhabitants, while it imparts a constant air of bustle and vivacity to the main thoroughfare.[398] The name of this place was anciently spelt Oxebruge; and in more modern records Woxebrugge, or Woxebruge.[399] The derivation seems easily discovered:—the place was noted in distant ages for the passage of oxen from the adjacent fields in Buckinghamshire, and a bridge was constructed over the river Colne, which flows near the town.

Speed asserts that a monastery was founded here, dedicated to St. Mary; but it is neither mentioned by any other writer, nor is any trace of it now to be met with.

Uxbridge has been celebrated in history, for the treaty which took place there between commissioners appointed respectively by the king and the parliament, during the disturbances of the seventeenth century.

The commissioners met in January 1645; the numbers were sixteen on the part of the king, and twelve on behalf of the parliament, together with the Scottish commissioners. It was agreed, that the Scottish and parliamentary commissioners should give in their demands with regard to three important articles, viz. religion, the militia, and Ireland; and that these should be successively discussed in conference with the king’s commissioners.[400]

It was soon discovered that no rational discussion could be expected. The demands made by the parliament were so great, that, had they been granted, the crown would have been divested of its due weight and dignity in the state; and been rendered unable to protect those who had so faithfully adhered to the royal cause during its troubles.

The mansion in which the commissioners met is thus described by lord Clarendon:—“There was a good house at the end of the town, which was provided for the treaty, where was a fair room in the middle of the house, handsomely dressed up for the commissioners to sit in; a large square table being placed in the middle with seats for the commissioners, one side being sufficient for those of either party; and a rail for others who should be thought necessary to be present, which went round. There were many other rooms on either side of this great room, for the commissioners on either side to retire to, when they thought fit to consult by themselves, and to return again to the public debate; and there being good stairs at either end of the house, they never went through each other’s quarters, nor met but in the great room.”

This mansion, which is situated at the western extremity of the town of Uxbridge, (was formerly a seat of the Bennet family, and at the time of the treaty, the residence of Mr. Carr,) is still standing, and was a few years since converted into an inn, bearing the sign of the Crown, and has since undergone considerable repairs. The part towards the high road has been newly fronted, but one entire end, and some inferior portions of the outside, still retain their original appearance. Two principal rooms likewise remain untouched by modern innovations; one of these is the room in which Charles I. slept; the other in which he signed the treaty with the parliament, and in which the commissioners afterwards met. The treaty room, as it is called, is a spacious apartment, and is lined with panelled oak wainscotting: it contains an original portrait of Mary queen of Scots, taken a short time previous to her execution, which is greatly admired; a copy from Vandyke of Charles I.; and some excellent portraits engraved by Bartolozzi from paintings in Windsor castle, among whom are sir Thomas More, his father, (judge More,) and his son; and two females who I believe were governesses to part of the family of Charles I. The room in which the king slept is more handsomely wainscotted than the former, being in many parts curiously and laboriously carved, and has a circular oak pillar on each side of the fire-place, which is ornamented with tasteful and elaborate workmanship.

Another curiosity at this house, though not of so ancient a date, or possessing equal charms for the antiquarian, deserves a slight notice. In the garden is a fountain supplied with water, which has been obtained by boring, and which falls into a reservoir containing perch, tench, and a considerable quantity of eels;[401] at the top of the fountain is an appropriate weathercock—an angler, with his landing-net resting against his shoulder, his rod in his hand, and his line and float moving on the surface of the water, according as the figure is turned by the wind. On the water attaining a certain height it is carried off by a pipe, and falls on an overshot wheel about three feet in circumference; the use to which this is applied is very remarkable—that of turning four spits at once before the kitchen fire! I am informed that a similar plan to this is adopted in Cheshire, but I am unable to ascertain the place.

J. R. J.

[In the “Gentleman’s Magazine” for August, 1789, there is an engraving, described as “a view of the house where the unfortunate Charles I. signed the treaty of Uxbridge, Jan. 30, 1644.” The writer of the account annexed to that print says, “The house has been pulled down within these few years: it stood at the end of Uxbridge town, in the road to Beaconsfield.” Ed.]

[398] Beauties of England and Wales.

[399] I believe I am right in stating (I do it from memory) that on the town measures it is spelt “Wexbrige.” J. R. J.

[400] Whitelock, p. 121. Dugdale, p. 755.

[401] At the time of my visit I was informed there were nearly two hundred weight. J. R. J.