While the embarkation was going on, Mr. Fleming and a gentleman of the name of Arnott were separately despatched for Scotland from Dunkirk, on the evening of the 6th of March, 1708, in two frigates, with instructions from the Chevalier to the Jacobite chiefs. Fleming arrived on the northern coast on the 13th, and, when about two leagues off the land, entered a fishing boat which landed him at Slains castle, where he met the Earl of Errol, who received the intelligence of the expedition with great pleasure. On perusing the Chevalier’s instructions, he immediately despatched a messenger to Mr. Malcolm of Grange, in Fife, with orders to have a boat and pilots in readiness at the mouth of the Frith of Forth to go on board the first vessel that should give the signal agreed on.
In the mean time, the British fleet having been forced, by stress of weather, off their station on the 14th of March, the expedition sailed on the 17th from the road of Dunkirk; but it was detained in Newport-pits in consequence of a change in the wind, till the 19th, when it again set sail with a fair breeze for Scotland. The expedition consisted of seven men-of-war, two of which were fitted up as transports, and twenty-one frigates, having on board 5,100 troops, under the command of Monsieur le Comte de Gassé, who, on the last-mentioned day, received from the French king the patent of a Marshal of France, and assumed the name of Mantignon. While at Newport, three of the frigates, which had received some damage, returned to Dunkirk; but, at a council of war, held in the apartment of the Chevalier, it was resolved, at his desire, to proceed without them, although these vessels had 800 troops on board, and a considerable quantity of arms and provisions. At the same council it was also determined to sail directly to the Frith of Forth, and to disembark the troops at Burnt-island, whence it was proposed to send a detachment to take possession of Stirling.[670]
The French fleet having been observed in Newport-pits from the steeples of Ostend, a vessel was immediately despatched thence by Major-general Cadogan to inform Sir George Byng of their having left Dunkirk: Sir George went immediately in quest of the enemy. The French fleet, favoured by a strong and fair wind, reached the Frith on the evening of the 23d, without seeing any of the English squadron, and anchored off Crail, the commander intending to proceed up the Frith the following morning; but he had been anticipated by the Proteus, one of the three vessels which had returned to Dunkirk, and which, being a superior sailer, had reached the Frith before him, and had given notice of the approach of the French fleet to the friends of the Chevalier, who lived on the coast, by firing five guns, the concerted signal by which the friends of the prince along that coast were to be apprized of his arrival. Malcolm of Grange, who had been for some days anxiously looking out for the fleet, went immediately on board this vessel with a pilot.
The resolution of M. de Forbin to proceed up the Frith next morning, was, however, put an end to, by the appearance, at day-break, of the English fleet, consisting of 28 sail, standing in for the Frith. Alarmed for the safety of his ships, the French commander immediately cut his cables, and by favour of a strong land breeze which fortunately sprung up, stood out to sea under full sail, having previously given orders to the different ships, in case of separation, to rendezvous at Cromarty or Inverness. The French vessels being lighter and cleaner, outstripped the English in sailing, and all of them escaped, with the exception of the Salisbury, a ship formerly captured from the English, which was taken. On board of this vessel were Lord Griffin, the Earl of Middleton’s two sons, M. La Vie, a Major-general, Colonel Francis Wauchope, some other officers, and between 300 and 400 soldiers. On the following day, the French commander finding himself out of sight of the enemy, and all his vessels together, with the exception of the Salisbury, consulted with the Marshal de Mantignon, on the expediency of landing at some place in the north of Scotland, and proposed Inverness. The Chevalier, who was so desirous of landing, that he had, though in vain, entreated M. de Forbin, the preceding day, to put him ashore, though his domestics alone should accompany him, received this proposal with great satisfaction. The fleet accordingly, aided by a favourable wind, steered to the north during the whole of the 25th; but at ten o’clock at night, the wind suddenly changed to the north, and blew directly in their teeth with considerable violence. As the storm continued the whole of the following day, and as M. de Forbin was afraid that the fleet would be dispersed, and might, when separated, fall into the hands of the enemy, a council was held, at which it was unanimously resolved, with the entire concurrence of the Chevalier, to return to Dunkirk, where the expedition arrived on the 7th of April.
Such was the result of an enterprise, which, but for the merest accidental circumstance, might have been crowned with the most complete success; for had the expedition arrived only a few hours earlier in the Frith of Forth, the whole troops, arms and ammunition, would have been landed without opposition. Such were the dispositions of the people of Scotland in favour of “the Pretender,” and so disaffected had they become towards the government, that a universal rising would undoubtedly have taken place in his support had he set his foot in Scotland. No effectual resistance could have been offered to him by the regular troops, which did not exceed 2,500 men; and as little reliance could be placed in them, from their participating generally in the national feeling, the Earl of Leven, the commander-in-chief, had determined to retire to Carlisle or Berwick, with such forces as would accompany him.[671] The news of the sailing of the expedition created a panic in England, was followed by a run upon the bank, which would have been obliged to suspend its payments had not the most extraordinary exertions been made to support its credit.
The principal friends of the Chevalier de St. George, and every person of any distinction in Scotland, suspected of favouring his pretensions, were, upon the failure of the expedition, immediately seized and committed to the castles of Edinburgh and Stirling, and the common jails, whence many of them were transmitted to England, and imprisoned in the Tower of London, or in Newgate. Among those who were carried to London, was the Duke of Hamilton, who, taking advantage of a quarrel between the Lord-treasurer Godolphin and the Whigs, obtained, by offering his support to the latter in the election of the Scottish representative peers, not only his own liberation, but also that of all the other prisoners, with the exception of Stirling of Kier. Seaton of Touch, Stirling of Carden, and other gentlemen of Stirlingshire, who, on receiving intelligence that the Chevalier had landed, had mounted their horses and advanced in a body towards Edinburgh, to support him. These last were brought to trial for high treason, as having appeared in arms against the government; but as no proof was brought against them, they were acquitted.[672] The fact is, that the queen’s advisers, fully aware of the great danger which the government had escaped, and the risks to which it was still exposed, were disposed to act a very lenient part, and were afraid, under existing circumstances, to commit themselves by sacrificing any of the disaffected to a doubtful, and, as it must have appeared to them, a precarious expediency.
For a time, the idea of a restoration seems to have been abandoned; but the systematic attacks made by the High Church party in England, upon the principles of the revolution, and the popular excitement raised against the Whig ministry in consequence of Dr. Sacheverel’s trial, raised anew the expectations of the Jacobites, which were still farther elevated by the expulsion of the Whigs from office in 1710, by the intrigues of the Tories. Although the queen on opening the new parliament, which met on the 25th of November, declared to both houses that she would employ such persons only as were warmly attached to the Protestant succession in the House of Hanover; yet it was generally understood that she was inclined to favour the pretensions of her brother, the Chevalier de St. George. As his religion was, in fact, the only bar in the way of his succession, she endeavoured, but without success, to induce him to abandon it. “You see,” she observed to the Duke of Buckingham, when speaking of her brother, “he does not take the least step to oblige me. I have no reason to think he values me or my kingdom, therefore I shall give it to the Elector of Hanover.” On another occasion, when warmly pressed by the duke, she replied, “What would you have me to do? You know, as the law stands, a Papist cannot inherit the crown, and, therefore, any will I may make will be to no purpose; the law gives all to Hanover; and therefore I had better do that with a good grace which I cannot help. He may thank himself for it. He knows I always loved him better than the Elector.”[673] The Tories were by no means averse to her majesty’s views of a successor, but afraid of a reaction in public opinion in favour of the Whigs, who were endeavouring to excite the fears of the nation by raising a no-popery cry, they not only carefully abstained from any act which might be considered as favouring the claims of “the Pretender;” but even appeared as if hostile to them. Indeed, so desirous were some of the Tory members of the House of Commons to settle the crown upon his head, that they required a mere profession of Protestantism from him, till he should be firmly seated on the throne, after which he might, they said, again resume the exercise and profession of his religion. But the prince refused to comply.
In Scotland, however, little reserve was shown, a remarkable instance of which occurred in the Faculty of Advocates, which body accepted from the Duchess of Gordon a silver medal, having on one side an impression of the head of the Chevalier de St. George, and on the reverse a representation of the British islands, with the motto, “Reddite.” At the presentation of this treasonable device, a motion thanking her grace for her gift was carried, after a warm debate, by a majority of sixty-three voices against twelve. Dundas of Arniston, to whom the task of conveying the vote was intrusted, thanked her grace for having presented the Faculty with a medal of their sovereign, and stated a hope that she would very soon be enabled to present them with a second medal struck upon the restoration of the king and royal family, and the finishing of usurpation, rebellion, and whiggery. This proceeding created an extraordinary sensation, and Sir David Dalrymple, the Lord Advocate, was directed by the ministry to inquire into the matter. The Faculty grew alarmed, disclaimed the conduct of Dundas and of Horne, another member with whom they alleged the transaction originated, and by a solemn resolution declared their attachment to the queen and the Protestant succession. To satisfy, in some measure, the court of Hanover, the resident of which at the British court had presented a memorial to the queen desiring that Dundas and his party might be prosecuted, the Lord Advocate was dismissed from office, because he had been remiss in bringing the delinquents to justice; but no instructions were given to his successor to prosecute them.
The remaining years of Queen Anne’s reign were chiefly occupied with party struggles, which embittered her existence and impaired her constitution. The Tories disunited among themselves, split latterly into two factions, which were respectively headed by Harley, Earl of Oxford, and Henry St. John, Lord Viscount Bolingbroke. The Whigs, on the other hand, united, active and vigorous, pressed hard upon them, and employed every art to inflame the people against the authors of their disgrace. Popery and the Pretender were the never-ceasing topics with which they endeavoured to enlist the feelings of the nation in their favour, and the Duke of Argyle, in a warm debate which took place in the House of Peers on a question proposed by the Earl of Wharton, “Whether the Protestant succession was in danger under the present administration?” offered to prove that the lord-treasurer had remitted a sum of money annually to the Highland Jacobite chiefs. Oxford did not deny the charge, but defended himself by saying, that he had only adopted the policy of King William, who had granted yearly pensions to the heads of the clans, the better to secure their obedience to the government. The fate of the Tory ministry was at length sealed by the removal of Oxford and the death of the queen, who survived that event only a few days. Fatigued by a long attendance at a cabinet council held immediately after the dismissal of the lord-treasurer, she was thrown into a lethargic disorder, which terminated her existence on the morning of the 1st of August, 1714, in the fiftieth year of her age, and in the thirteenth of her reign. With the exception of her dereliction of duty towards her father, which, from the circumstances in which she was placed, may admit of considerable palliation, she left behind her an unblemished reputation; and though not possessed of much genius or vigour of mind, she wielded the sceptre with greater skill than is usually to be found in sovereigns, who, like her, have allowed themselves to be controlled by favourites.