during his confinement in the Tower, the sentinels had become so well acquainted with her figure, that, at length, they suffered her to pass to and from his apartment without challenge or inquiry. On the evening before the day appointed for his execution, she went to the Tower, in a hackney coach, accompanied by a lady, whom she had previously made acquainted with the particulars of her project. As they passed the sentinels, the countess dowager held a handkerchief to her face, and sobbed audibly. On entering her son's apartment, she proposed that he should disguise himself in a portion of her dress, and endeavour to quit the Tower. The earl, however, refused to do so, alleging, that he would rather die than expose her to the slightest danger. But she charged him on his duty to obey her; and urging that the government would be ashamed to keep her in confinement longer than a few days, he, at length, consented to make the proposed attempt. Accordingly, putting on the hat, long mourning cloak, and deep black veil, which his mother had worn, and taking the arm of her confederate, he knocked to apprise the guard outside that the dowager wished to withdraw. On the door being opened, the earl came forth with his companion, and, keeping a handkerchief close to his face, proceeded along the passages, towards the outer entrance, at a slow and tottering pace, and seeming to sob incessantly; the confederate, during their progress, repeatedly adjuring "her ladyship, to make haste and quit that horrid place!" They passed the whole of the sentinels without exciting suspicion, and in a few minutes reached the hackney coach, which had been ordered to wait for the countess dowager. The earl succeeded in making his escape beyond seas, and died at Rome, in 1744. His mother was closely confined for several months, but, at length, government thought fit to set her at liberty. Suspicions have been entertained that the sentinels on duty were bribed to connive at the earl's escape; but no proof has been adduced that such was the fact. WILLIAM BOYD, EARL OF KILMARNOCH. THIS nobleman was born in 1702. rebellion of 1745. While the insurgents His person is described as having been were successful, he displayed much galremarkably fine; his manners engag-lantry and confidence; but after their ing; but his intellect feeble rather than otherwise. In 1725, he married Lady Anne Livingstone, daughter of the Earl of Linlithgow, by whom he had several children. Brought up, as he had been, in the strong Whig principles of his family, and having no settled income to depend on for the support of his large family, but a pension from government, it was, for a long time, supposed that the house of Hanover did not possess a more staunch adherent in Scotland than Kilmarnoch. Temptations, however, which he had not sufficient energy to resist, involved him with the Jacobite party: his pension was consequently stopped; and, with a view, perhaps, to obtain, under a new order of things, at least that decent competence which he had lost, rather than from any sincere devotion to the Stuarts, he joined in the retrograde movement from Derby, he became inactive and desponding. Being captured after the battle of Culloden, in which, although present, he had taken no part, he was sent to London, for trial, with other prisoners of quality. On the 23d of June, 1746, a true bill for high treason was found against him by the grand jury of Surrey, and his trial was appointed to take place before the lords, in Westminster hall, on the 28th of July. When placed at the bar, he pleaded guilty to his indictment, and on being brought up to receive sentence of death, pathetically entreated, on account of his children, and because he had never entertained, as he protested, the slightest malice against the existing government, that he might be recommended as a proper object of clemency to the king. "I am assured," observes Horace Walpole, "that the old Countess of Errol made her son, Lord Kilmarnoch, go into the rebellion on pain of disinheriting him. The man at the tennis court protests that he has known him dine with the man that sells pamphlets at Storey's gate; and,' says he, 'he would often have been glad if I would have taken him home to dinner.' He was certainly so poor, that in one of his wife's intercepted letters, she tells him she has plagued their steward for a fortnight for money, and can get but three shillings!" "The Duke of Cumberland," says the same writer, in another part of his correspondence," declared publicly, at his levee, that Lord Kilmarnoch proposed murdering the English prisoners; and when Duke Hamilton begged his intercession for the earl, he coldly replied, that the affair was in the king's hands, and that he had nothing to do with it." Various applications were made to obtain a remission of his sentence, but they proved ineffectual, and he was ordered for execution with Lord Balmerino, on the 18th of August. He was attended, in his last moments, by the Rev. Mr. Hume, and a dissenting clergyman. With the latter he spent an hour in devotion, at the house on Tower hill, which had been prepared for the reception of Balmerino and himself, on the morning of their execution. After refreshing himself with a morsel of bread and a glass of wine, he expressed a desire that Balmerino, with whom he had a short interview, should precede him to the scaffold; but on being told that his request could not be complied with, his own name being mentioned first in the warrant, he prepared, with more calmness and courage than he had been expected to display, for his immediate execution. On mounting the scaffold, and beholding the immense multitude of spectators, the executioner, the block, and his own coffin, his spirits failed him for a moment, and he said to one of the ministers who attended him, "Hume, this is dreadful!" Having taken off his coat, and the bag from his hair, which was then tucked up under a napkin-cap, he knelt down, and, after a short delay, dropped his handkerchief as a signal to the executioner, who performed the duty assigned to him with merciful despatch. The earl's remains were buried at St. Peter's church in the Tower. LORD GEORGE THE father of this celebrated nobleman was rewarded, by William the Third, with the dukedom of Athol, for the distinguished part which he had taken in the revolution of 1668. Lord George was the duke's fourth son. His birth took place in 1705. He entered the army at an early age, and served with the British forces in Flanders. In 1727, he married Lady Jane Murray, by whom he had several children, the eldest of whom eventually became third Duke of Athol. On the 5th of September, 1745, Lord George joined the young Pretender's army, at Perth, with a number of men from the estates of his brother, the Duke of Athol, and was almost immediately nominated lieutenant-general of the insurgent forces. At the battle of Preston Pans, which was fought on the 21st of September, (1745,) Lord George MURRAY. displayed considerable military skill and great personal intrepidity. The royal troops, under the command of Cope, occupied so strong a position, that for some time it was difficult to discover in what manner they could be attacked with any probability of success. Lord George at length determined, if possible, to lead his troops across a marsh, on the left of the royal camp, which he found totally unprotected, in consequence of its being considered impassable. He carried his project into effect without much difficulty, during the night; and early on the morning of the battle, to the astonishment and dismay of the royal forces, drew up his army within a short distance of their camp. "Lord George," says Johnstone," at the head of the first line, did not give the enemy time to recover from their panic. He advanced with such rapidity, that General Cope had hardly time to form his troops in order of battle, when the Highlanders rushed upon them sword in hand. They had frequently been enjoined to aim at the noses of the horses with their swords, without minding the riders; as the natural movement of a horse, wounded in the face, is to wheel round: and a few horses wounded in that manner, are sufficient to throw a whole squadron into disorder, without the possibility of their being afterwards rallied. They followed this advice most implicitly, and the English cavalry was instantly thrown into confusion." The rebel forces achieved a complete victory over their opponents, in less than five minutes, entirely without the aid of their second line, which came up only in time to join in the pursuit. of the royal cavalry, under the immediate command of the duke, endeavoured to prevent the artillery from passing the bridge of Clifton; but Lord George attacked them with such spirit, that they were compelled to abandon their object, and effect a precipitate retreat. On this occasion, he fought sword in hand, and on foot, at the head of the Macphersons. At the battle of Falkirk, which took place in January, 1746, Lord George, according to Home, marched at the head of the Macdonalds of Keppoch, with his drawn sword in his hand, and his target on his arm. He let the English dragoons come within ten or twelve paces of him, and then gave orders to fire. "The cavalry closing their ranks, which were opened by this discharge," says Johnstone," put spurs to their horses, and rushed upon the Highlanders at a hard trot, breaking their ranks, and throwing down everything before them. A most extraordinary combat followed. The Highlanders, stretched on the ground, thrust their dirks into the bellies of the horses: some seized the riders by their clothes, dragged them down, and stabbed them with their dirks; several of them again used pistols; but few of them had sufficient space to handle their swords." Lord George is said to have distinguished himself, so far as circumstances would permit, during the march to Derby; where, in opposition to Charles Edward, and many of the chiefs, he strenuously recommended a retrograde movement. With much difficulty, the prince was brought to adopt his advice: and the insurgents immediately began to retrace their steps towards the north. On reaching Kendal, Lord George, with a detachment of horse, personally reconnoitred the position of Marshal With the victory of Falkirk termiWade, who was encamped in the neigh-nated the successes of the insurgents; bourhood. On his return, he said to Charles Edward, who had often reproached him, for avoiding the enemy, "As your royal highness is always for battles, be the circumstances what they may, I now offer you one, in three hours from this time, with the army of Marshal Wade, which is only about two miles distant from us." The prince made no reply: and the rebels continued their retreat; during the whole of which, Lord George, as it appears, cheerfully undertook the command of the rear, a post of extraordinary difficulty and danger. In consequence of the badness of the roads, and the slow progress made by the artillery, he was frequently compelled to march for several hours after dark, in order to keep up with the main body of the insurgents. The Duke of Cumberland's advanced parties of horse repeatedly annoyed him; and, at length, on the 29th of December, the whole who were soon afterwards compelled, by the near approach of the Duke of Cumberland, to retreat into the Highlands. At Inverness, where the prince eventually fixed his head-quarters, Lord George was informed that a party of the king's troops had, by the command of their vindictive and blood-thirsty general, committed the most wanton barbarities on the families of his own immediate followers. "As all the male vassals of the Duke of Athol were with us," says Johnstone," the Duke of Cumberland sent a detachment of his troops into their country, who committed the most savage cruelties: burning the houses, turning out the women and children in the midst of winter, to perish on the mountains with cold and hunger; after subjecting them to every species of brutal and infamous treatment. These proceedings being known at Inverness, Lord George set off instantly, with the clan of Athol, to take vengeance for these outrages, and he conducted his march so well, passing through bye-ways across the mountains, that the enemy had no information of his approach. Having planned his march so as to arrive at Athol in the beginning of the night, the detachment separated, dividing itself into small parties, every gentleman taking the shortest road to his own house, and in this way all the English were surprised in their sleep. Those who found their wives and daughters violated by the brutality of these monsters, and their families dying from hunger and the inclemency of the season, made no prisoners. They received, while they slept, the punishment which their inhumanity merited. All were put to the sword or made prisoners, except two or three hundred men, who shut themselves up in the castle of Athol." Meantime, the Duke of Cumberland's forces had approached Inverness, from which the insurgents set out, on the 13th of April, for the purpose of surprising the royal troops in their camp. After a fatiguing march, during the night of the 15th, a considerable portion of the insurgents were within a mile of the English camp; but the remainder having been dispersed, on account of the darkness of the night, Lord George at first determined to wait for their arrival; but, at length, finding that it would probably be day-break before his troops could reach the position occupied by the royal army, when their repulse would be an easy task to their opponents, Lord George, contrary to the wishes of the prince, gave orders for a retreat. For this, Charles Edward absurdly accused him of treachery; and taking the sole command of his forces, halted at Culloden, where, in opposition to Lord George's advice, notwithstanding the fatigues which his men had undergone, and although they might have been marched to a secure post, on the high ground beyond the plain, he obstinately insisted on waiting until the royal troops (who were rapidly approaching) should come up, and on hazarding a battle. Hopeless, as he must have been, as to its result, Lord George displayed the most heroic courage in the contest that ensued:-although severely wounded, and thrown from his horse, he refused to quit the field; and would, in all probability, have perished, had not some of the insurgents removed him by force to a place of safety. The king's troops achieved a complete victory over the insurgents; great numbers of whom, however, escaped to the Highlands, and, in two days after the battle, Lord George was already at the head of five thousand men. "We might," he observes to a correspondent, "have set the English at nought for years; and as to provisions, had I been allowed to have any direction, we would not have wanted as long as there was cattle in the Highlands, or meal in the lowlands." The prince, however, refused to join the still formidable remnant of his army, and the insurgents speedily dispersed. Lord George withdrew to the continent, and, after having passed some years in France and Italy, died in North Holland, on the 8th of July, 1760. His character is thus sketched, apparently, with much truth, by the Chevalier Johnstone :-" Lord George Murray, who had the charge of all the details of our army, and who had the sole direction of it, possessed a natural genius for military operations; and was a man of surprising talents, which, had they been cultivated by the study of military tactics, would unquestionably have rendered him one of the greatest generals of his age. He was tall and robust, and brave in the highest degree; conducting the Highlanders in the most heroic manner, and always the first to rush, sword in hand, into the midst of the enemy. He used to say, when we advanced to the charge, I do not ask you, my lads, to go before, but merely to follow me.' He slept little, was continually occupied with all manner of details; and was, altogether, most indefatigable, combining and directing alone all our operations:-in a word, he was the only person capable of conducting our army. He was vigilant, active, and diligent; his plans were always judiciously formed, and he carried them promptly and vigorously into execution. However, with an infinity of good qualities, he was not without his defects:-proud, haughty, blunt, and imperious; he wished to have the exclusive ordering of every thing, and, feeling his superiority, he would listen to no advice. Still, it must be owned, that he had no coadjutor capable of advising him, and his having so completely the confidence of his soldiers enabled him to perform wonders. He possessed the art of employing men to advantage, without having had time to discipline them; but taking them merely as they came from the plough, he made them defeat some of the best disciplined troops in the world. Nature had formed him for a great warrior, he did not require the accidental advantage of birth." JAMES DRUMMOND, EARL OF PERTH. JAMES, the sixth earl, and, nominally, third Duke of Perth, was born in August, 1706. His father, the fifth earl, commonly called the Marquess of Drummond, attended James the Second to Ireland: he also joined the Jacobites of 1715, with all the force he could raise; and, at the close of the insurrection, escaped to France, where he died. His son, the sixth earl, imbibed the unfortunate predilections of his race in favour of the Stuarts, and was proud of nothing so much as the personal regard evinced towards him by Charles Edward; in whose army he acted as first lieutenant-general at the battle of Preston-Pans. He appears to have united considerable military skill with the most heroic courage. "In spite of a very delicate constitution," says Douglas, "he underwent the greatest fatigues, and was the first on every occasion of duty, where his head or hands could be of use; bold as a lion in the field, but ever merciful in the hour of victory." After the battle of Culloden, he escaped to the coast, and embarked for France; but his health being quite ruined by long continued fatigue, and his spirit broken by misfortune, he expired on the passage, on the 13th of May, 1746. GEORGE MACKENZIE, THIS nobleman was born in 1710. When about nineteen years of age, he married his first cousin, Lady Castlehaven, by whom he had a large family. On the arrival of Charles Edward in Scotland, he joined the insurgents, with his eldest son, Lord Macleod, and four hundred of his clan. He fought on foot, at the battle of Falkirk, among the Highlanders; to whom he greatly endeared himself, by sharing in all their perils and privations. On the final retreat of the rebel army towards the north, he took refuge with his son, at Dunrobin castle, where Lord Sutherland's militia surprised them, on the 15th of April, 1746. They were soon afterwards sent to London, and, on the 28th of July, pleaded guilty to a charge of high treason. When brought up to receive sentence, the earl most abjectly implored the peers to procure his pardon. EARL OF CROMARTIE. His wife also presented a petition for The earl's estates were sold by order of government: he was allowed £500 per annum out of the proceeds, the residue of which was settled on his children. Lord Macleod entered the Swedish service, and subsequently served with the English army in the East Indies. The earl died in 1759. |