The dismissal of the Earl of Oxford from the office of lord-high-treasurer was gratifying to the Jacobites, whose expectations he had disappointed, and they naturally waited with anxiety for the appointment of his successor, whom they confidently imagined would be Bolingbroke, his rival, who was supposed, on juster grounds, to favour their views, and to whom they had transferred their confidence. But all their hopes were disappointed by the promotion of the Duke of Shrewsbury to the treasury, a nobleman distinguished for modesty and disinterestedness, and a devoted attachment to his country.
To counteract still farther the schemes of Bolingbroke, all the members of the privy council in London, or the neighbourhood, had been invited, on the proposal of Somerset and Argyle, to attend the council without distinction of party, in consequence of which Lord Somers, and many other Whig noblemen, repaired to Kensington. The presence of such a number of the Whigs completely overawed the Tories, who, confused, distracted, and disunited, were either unable or afraid to oppose the measures proposed by the former for effectually securing the Protestant succession, and gave a tacit acquiescence to them. Every precaution, in short, had been taken to prevent any movement of the Jacobite party in favour of the Chevalier, and an express was sent to the Elector of Hanover, informing him that the physicians despaired of the queen’s life, and desiring him to repair to England with all convenient speed.
As soon as the death of the queen was announced, the lords of the privy council met, and drew up and issued a proclamation the same day, declaring that by the death of Queen Anne, the imperial crowns of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, had “solely and rightfully come to the High and Mighty Prince George, Elector of Brunswick, Lunenburg,” in consequence of which, the prince was immediately proclaimed in London, by the heralds at arms, with the usual solemnities, and on Thursday the 5th of August, the same ceremony was repeated at the market cross of Edinburgh, by the deputy-lord-lyon, king at arms, in presence of the magistrates and town council of the city, the judges of the supreme courts, a considerable number of the nobility, and a large assemblage of the inhabitants. The Jacobites preserved a prudent silence on this occasion, but the supporters of the government at Edinburgh took care, notwithstanding, to provide against any contingency. They, accordingly, cut off a part of the wooden bridge before the castle gate, and drew up the remaining part to cover the gate itself. They also threw up an intrenchment between the gate and the castle wall, on which they posted a party of soldiers. In addition to these precautions, Major-general Wightman, the commander of the forces, ordered the different detachments quartered at Dundee, and other places, to join his camp in the vicinity of Edinburgh, with which order they immediately complied.[674]
Pursuant to an act of the late reign, the parliament met on the day the queen died. The first four days were occupied in swearing in the members, and on the 5th of August, the parliament was opened by the Lord Chancellor, in name of the lords justices, on whom the interim administration of the government had devolved by an act of the 4th and 5th of Queen Anne. Both houses thereafter voted loyal addresses to his majesty, in which, after congratulating him upon his accession to the throne, they expressed their anxiety for his safe and speedy arrival in Great Britain. To these addresses his majesty returned most gracious answers, which were reported to both houses on the 25th of August, on which day the parliament was prorogued till the 23d of September.
When the Chevalier de St. George heard of the death of his sister, Queen Anne, he set off from his residence in Lorraine, to Paris, to crave the aid of the King of France, in vindication of his hereditary rights; but Louis declined to interfere, on the ground that he had, by the treaty of Utrecht, acknowledged the Protestant succession. Disappointed in his application, he retired first to Luneville, and afterwards to Plombieres, whence, on the 29th of August, he issued a declaration as King James III., asserting his indefeasible right to the crowns of Great Britain and Ireland, and solemnly protesting against every act that had been already done, or that should thereafter be done to the prejudice of his hereditary rights. He says, that although he had been obliged by the treaty to remove from France, that he had still continued to have his kingdoms and his people in view, and that he had never ceased to hope, that God would in time open his people’s eyes, and convince them not only of the notorious injustice done to the crown and him, but of the dangerous consequences thereof for themselves; and that as he could not see, without grief and sorrow, their blood and treasure lavished in the late war, in opposition to his rights, so he could not now with less sorrow, see them exposed to be subjected to an arbitrary power, and become a prey to foreigners—that the settlement of the succession upon one who was so far removed from the regular line, was opposed to the maxims of the English constitution—that the Elector of Brunswick was, besides, a foreigner, a powerful prince, and absolute in his own country—that he was ignorant of the laws, manners, customs, and language, and supported by a good many of his own people—that there had been many thousands of aliens domiciled in England, for the last thirty years, who would be ready to stand by him upon all occasions—that the subversion of such a sacred and fundamental principle as hereditary right, would lead to endless wars and divisions, and that as there were many other princes, who had better pretensions to the crown than the Elector of Brunswick, the nation could never enjoy any lasting peace or happiness, till the succession was again settled “in the rightful line.”[675]
Meanwhile, certain movements in Scotland, among the friends of the Chevalier, indicated to the government that an insurrection was intended. Bodies of armed men were seen marching towards the Highlands, and a party of Highlanders appeared in arms near Inverlochy, which was, however, soon dispersed by a detachment from the garrison. In this situation of matters, the lords justices sent down to Scotland a considerable number of half-pay officers, chiefly of the Scots regiments, to officer the militia of the country, under the direction of Major-general Whitham, then commander-in-chief in Scotland. These prompt measures taken by the government, alarmed the Jacobites, who, after several consultations, retired to their homes. The Duke of Gordon was, by order of the justices, confined in the city of Edinburgh, and the Marquis of Huntly, and Lord Drummond, in their respective residences of Brahan, and castle Drummond. The last, on hearing that an order for his seizure had arrived, fled to the Highlands, but offered bail for his good behaviour. At the same time, Captain Campbell, of Glendaruel, who had obtained a commission from the late Tory administration, to raise an independent company in the Highlands, was apprehended at Inverlochy, and carried prisoner to the capital, and Sir Donald M’Donald of Slait, was also seized and committed to the castle of Edinburgh.[676] As the lords justices had received information that the Chevalier intended to land in the kingdom, they, on the 15th of September, issued a proclamation, in terms of an act passed in the last session of parliament, offering a reward of £100,000 sterling for his apprehension, should he land or attempt to land in Great Britain.[677]
King George, after vesting the government of his German dominions in a council, embarked for England on the 16th of September, and landed at Greenwich on the 18th, where he was received by the Duke of Northumberland, captain of the life-guards, and by the lords justices, and a large number of the nobility and other persons of distinction. Among those who presented themselves on this occasion was the Earl of Mar, one of the secretaries of state, but the king had been so prepossessed against this nobleman, and indeed against all the heads of the Tory party, that he did not vouchsafe even to notice him. The earl suspecting that means had been used to prejudice his majesty against him, had, in order to take off any unfavourable impression which these might have produced upon the king’s mind, written a letter to George when in Holland on his way to England, congratulating him upon his accession to the throne, stating the services which he had rendered to the government, and assuring his majesty that he should find him as faithful and dutiful a subject and servant as ever any of his family, which had been always loyal, had been to the crown, or as he had been to his late mistress, the queen. With the same view, it is supposed, or to throw the government off its guard, Mar caused a letter to be addressed to him by some of the heads and branches of the Jacobite clans expressive of their loyalty to King George, and declaring, that as they had been always ready to follow his lordship’s directions in serving Queen Anne, they were equally ready to concur with him in faithfully serving his majesty.[678] But the prejudices of the king against Mar were too deeply rooted to be overcome, and within eight days after the king’s arrival in England, Mar was dismissed from office, and the Duke of Montrose appointed in his stead. It was very natural for the king to prefer the Whig party, by whose influence he had been raised to the throne; but unfortunately for the nation, he carried this predilection too far. A wise and prudent prince would have endeavoured to conciliate the adverse faction by acts of kindness, but George turned his back upon the entire body of the Tories, and threw himself completely into the arms of the Whigs, who alone shared in the royal favour, and who used every art to confirm their own interest, and extend their connexions. The consequence was, that a spirit of the most violent discontent was excited throughout the whole kingdom, and the populace, led on by the Tories or Jacobites, raised tumults in different parts of the kingdom. The Chevalier de St. George availing himself of this excitement, transmitted by the French mail copies of the manifesto, or declaration, which he had issued from Plombieres to the chief nobility, particularly the Dukes of Shrewsbury, Marlborough, and Argyle, who delivered them to the secretaries of state. The king, imagining that the Duke of Lorraine was privy to the preparation and transmission of the manifesto, refused an audience to the Marquis de Lamberti, minister from the duke; but although the duke, on being informed by his minister of the circumstance, denied most pointedly that he was accessory to the affair, and declared that the Chevalier took up his residence in Lorraine by the directions of the king of France, the king persisted in refusing an audience to De Lamberti till his master should remove the Chevalier from his dominions.
The parliament having been dissolved, the king, in the month of January, 1715, issued an extraordinary proclamation, calling a new parliament. In this proclamation he complained of the evil designs of the disaffected, and of the misrepresentation of his principles and conduct which had been industriously circulated throughout the kingdom, expressing his hopes that his loving subjects would send up to parliament the fittest persons to redress the present disorders, and to provide for the peace and happiness of the kingdoms. In order to secure the interest of those in civil and military employments in the elections, a proclamation was issued on the same day, continuing all persons who had been duly invested in their offices, civil or military, before the demise of the queen, and who had not been since removed therefrom, for the space of six months from the date of the proclamation, unless his majesty should see cause to remove them sooner. A warmly contested election followed in England, but although the Tories made every exertion, and set up the usual shout of the church in danger, a cry which was responded to by the populace in many places, a majority of Whigs was returned. The Whigs were still more successful in Scotland, where a majority of the sixteen peers, and forty out of forty-five members returned to the commons, were in the interest of the government. The principal struggle in Scotland was in Inverness-shire, between M’Kenzie of Preston-hall, who was supported by Glengarry and the other Jacobite chiefs, and Forbes of Culloden, brother of the celebrated President Forbes, who carried the election by the interest of Brigadier-general Grant, and the friends of Lord Lovat.
The new parliament assembled on the 19th of March at Westminster, and was for some time chiefly occupied in investigating the conduct of the late ministers, against some of whom measures of extreme rigour were resolved upon. But these proceedings were interrupted by the necessity of devising means for the suppression of a growing spirit of discontent and disaffection, which seemed to gain ground daily in England, of which an insurrection in Scotland, and an invasion from abroad, seemed about to ensue as inevitable results. To put an end to future rioting, a bill was passed, by which it was declared, that if any persons, to the number of twelve, riotously, tumultuously, and unlawfully assembled, should continue together for an hour after having been required to disperse by a justice of peace or other officer, by proclamation publicly read,—and of which a form was given in the act, they should be guilty of felony, without benefit of clergy. When the king attended in the House of Lords on the 13th of July, to give his assent to this and other bills, he informed both houses that a rebellion had actually begun at home, and that an invasion was threatened from abroad, and he, therefore, solicited the commons to enable him to provide for the defence of the kingdom. The preparations of the Chevalier de St. George for a descent upon Great Britain were indeed already far advanced. Elated by the intelligence which had been sent him from England by the Tories, of the disaffection of the people to the government, and by the promises of support which he had received from them, should he land in Great Britain, the prince had applied a second time for succour to Louis, who, notwithstanding the treaty of Utrecht, supplied him privately with money, and allowed a ship to be fitted out for him, at his own expense, in the port of Havre. The cause of the Chevalier had now been openly espoused by the Duke of Ormond and Lord Bolingbroke, both of whom having retired to France, had been attainted by the British parliament without a hearing, and were busily employed corresponding with the Tories of England. These intrigues and preparations were early discovered by the Earl of Stair, the British ambassador at Paris, and communicated by him to the ministry. Proceeding upon this information, the parliament suspended the Habeas Corpus act, and renewed the offer of one hundred thousand pounds to any person or persons who should seize the Pretender, dead or alive. Great naval and military preparations were made, and the trained bands were kept in readiness to suppress tumults.
As early as May, a report was current among the Jacobites of Scotland of the Chevalier’s design to make a descent, in consequence of which they began to bestir themselves, by providing arms, horses, &c. Lockhart of Carnwath, a very warm partisan of the Chevalier, while “solacing” himself, as he says, with the expectation of hearing “great and good news,” had his house surrounded by a strong detachment of Lord Shannon’s regiment of foot, which carried him prisoner to the castle of Edinburgh, by virtue of a warrant “under the Elector of Hanover’s own hand.” The apprehension of Lockhart served as a signal to the other Jacobites in Scotland, against whom warrants were issued, all of whom escaped, with the exception of the Earls of Home and Wigton, who were taken up, and also committed prisoners to the castle.[680]