417 MAJOR GENERAL THOMAS DUNDAS. THE pretensions of this work are truly humble: the writer of it has proposed to himself nothing more than to condense those facts which have been already given in standard volumes respecting the subjects of whom he has to treat; and to recommend the relation with what little effect of style he may be master of, and the few opinions of literature and morality which immature years and only desultory reading have enabled him to form. No uncommon resources are within his reach; no ample means are in his possession; no very deep or varied research can be spared to a weekly periodical; and perhaps a greater labour might prove beyond his capacity. Such is the apology he has to submit before stating, that of the officer whose name heads this page, he has no account whatever to offer. In those publications which are ordinarily devoted to biographical information, no particulars of General Dundas are preserved; and as the author of this book, one of the most private of individuals, is destitute of the fortune and influence which might enable him to step beyond the common path, and effect what no one before him has executed, he can produce nothing from a theme which he has found singularly barren. It does certainly appear somewhat inconsistent, that the most public honours should be lavished upon a man, respecting whom no public record, generally accessible, affords intelligence. Such, however, in the present instance appears to be the fact: and should this casually meet the eye of one who, resting on the lap of ease and plenty, has also availed himself of those opportunities of knowledge which a state so happy must command, and who may thus be competent to correct the ignorance here lamented-let him not be too severe on another, who feels all the passion to please, and would prove all those labours to succeed, which humility can inspire, and misfortune excite. The monument which occasioned this, perhaps misplaced, confession, stands in the north transept of St. Paul's Cathedral, and is the work of Bacon, junior. The design is thus explained :-An excellent statue of Britannia attended by a figure of Sensibility, who does not, however, appear equally engaging, is introduced in the act of crowning an expressive bust of the deceased with a wreath of laurel. Upon the pedestal there is a representation of Britannia defending Liberty from the violence of Fraud and Rebellion. Of all this labour it can only be observed, that it is neatly executed, but most insipidly allegorical. An inelegant inscription throws no light upon the darkness which envelopes the subject it affects to commemorate. Major General THOMAS DUNDAS, Died June 3, 1794, aged 44 years: The best tribute to whose merit and public services June 5th, 1795. Resolved Nemine Contradicente, To the Memory of Major General Dundas, as a Testimony of the grateful sense entertained by this House of The eminent services which he rendered to his country, Particularly in the reduction of The French West India Islands. 419 DEVEREUX, EARL OF ESSEX. ROBERT DEVEREUX, Earl of Essex, and the first general of the parliamentary forces, during the civil war, was born in London, during the year 1592. His father was the rash but generous Earl of the same title, who lost his head under the reign of the passionate Elizabeth, and his mother the widow of the accomplished Sir Philip Sydney. In 1603 an act of grateful conciliation on the part of James I. reversed the attainder, and restored the estates of young Devereux, who was so precocious a scholar as to be admitted into Merton College, Cambridge, where he studied under Archbishop Whitfield, when only in his tenth year. The better to evince the feelings which the new monarch retained for all those offenders against the severe policy of his predecessor, whose fates were generally thought to have been precipitated by their partiality for his unhappy mother, a match between Essex and the Lady Elizabeth Howard, daughter of the Earl of Suffolk, was soon after proposed by the Earl of Salisbury; and the parties were actually contracted when the bride was no more than thirteen, and the bridegroom fourteen years old. Cohabitation at such an age was out of the question, and the immature husband was therefore sent to travel on the continent, where he remained for four years, and then returned to assume a character which he never after held with satisfaction or decency. Of the events which now took place, it cannot be necessary to speak at any length: they founded one of the most curious incidents of domestic tragedy which diversify the pages of our history, and as such must be currently known. It may be enough, therefore, to repeat that Essex found his wife full of beauty and passion, and likewise full of aversion for his love. At first she flatly objected to live with him: being constrained, however, by her relations to accompany him into the country, she pertinaciously refused to admit his embraces, though forced to share his bed. This extraordinary conduct was persisted in for some time; the husband continued all vain solicitation, and the wife all rigid obstinacy, until Essex became disgusted with a suit so offensive. Yet he had no sooner abandoned the lady to her own sullenness, than it was discovered that her heart was pre possessed with an affection for Carr, Earl of Somerset, the vicious minion of the puerile James. A criminal intercourse between the lovers quickly succeeded; and ere long all parties, weary with shame, concurred in desiring a divorce. The proceedings by which this alternative was obtained are as strange and disgraceful as any others upon our judicial records. The alleged ground for the measure was impotency; and Essex admitted, that he felt such an infirmity with the Countess, though unconscious of it with any other woman. To remedy the defects of this equivocation, evidence of fascination and sorcery was adduced; and finally, a young girl, with her features veiled, was submitted before a jury of matrons, who returned a verdict of virginity. Thus far the credulity of the age respecting witchcraft effected something; the influence of the court supplied the rest; a sentence of divorce was passed, and the guilty lovers were married under the special patronage of the monarch.-The reader will not fail to remember the full measure of crime that attended this alliance: Carr enjoyed the friendship of Sir Thomas Overbury, a man of high character and learning, who had remonstrated against the infamy of such a step from the beginning. The nature of this counsel Carr was so weak as to communicate to the Countess. She, fired with indignation and revenge, goaded him on to importune the King with misrepresentations of Overbury's public conduct, until at last the honest friend was committed to the Tower. This stratagem ensured his neutrality while the divorce was pending, but even after that point had been gained the Countess remained still unappeased. While Overbury lived, she could not rest, and when a woman is thus vindictive, what horrors may not be feared? Overbury was poisoned; but nearly two years passed away before the murder was detected and punished. Somerset, his wife, and four others, were then tried and convicted: the meaner culprits were executed, but the partiality of the king spared the lives of the great offenders. They dragged on an existence of remorse and obscurity, and if the common report of history be correct, their days entailed no ordinary weight of retribution. The love that had made them guilty corroded into a deadly hatred, and they spent years under the same roof without sharing a familiarity, or exchanging a word. From the scandalous notoriety of these unhappy incidents Essex retreated into the country, and passed some years in the amusements of rural life. Finding the inactivity of such habits uncongenial to his spirit, he afterwards went into Holland, which was at that time the first seat of European arms; and upon the equipment of an expedition into the Palatinate, in 1620, formed a junction with the Earl of Southampton, Lord Willoughby, and the Earl of Oxford, and took the command of a regiment. From an undertaking producing no consequence, there are no laurels to be won the English troops were discomfited, and Essex withdrew to the United Provinces, where he led a regiment with some repute in 1624. The accession of Charles I. was distinguished by a sudden descent upon Cadiz, under the direction of Viscount Wimbledon and Essex. This was another disastrous affair: the fleet had scarcely put to sea ere it was heavily damaged by a storm; and, although upon reaching its destination, the admirals succeeded in firing some ships, and capturing a fort; yet the men plundered and drank wine to an excess which brought on a pestilence, and wholly unnerved them for duty. To escape the butchery which must ensue if the enemy sallied forth upon an army in this condition, Wimbledon set sail again, and proposed to intercept the Plate-fleet upon its return from the Indies. But in this achievement he was also disappointed: the pestilence under which the troops already suffered raged into a plague, and he was forced to ply a passage home to England with precipitate dispatch, and scarcely hands enough to navigate the ships. The expedition had no sooner returned than a violent outcry was raised amongst the people, and the conduct of the command |