ation of affairs in these kingdoms, by reason of the unnatural rebellion raised against his majesty king George, in favour of a popish pretender, supported by France, the avowed enemy of this country;" they "recommend it to the body of dissenters to express their utmost zeal and readiness to join with any of his majesty's subjects to support his majesty's person and government in the present time of danger, in any legal way that shall be thought most effectual." And even some Roman catholics, though from their principles they must have approved the pretender's claims, and of course wished him success, were so sensible that his attempt was foolish and could not possibly succeed, that they utterly disclaimed it. Among these were the duke and dutchess of Norfolk, who waited personally at court upon his majesty, and assured him that they neither had, nor would have, any hand in the rebellion that had been raised to disturb the peace of his government. Sir William Gage also, and several other catholics in the county of Suffolk, waited upon the duke of Grafton, lord lieutenant of the county, and made similar declarations.

But it was not merely by addresses, which indeed sometimes are very equivocal manifestations of the real state of public feeling, that the aversion of the nation to Charles was declared; associations were formed in every quarter of the country for raising money and men for the service of the government, to an extent altogether unprecedented. The gentlemen of the county of York alone, under the auspices of the spirited and patriotic archbishop Herring, who, to encourage his neighbours, put on a lay military habit on the occasion, subscribed ninety thousand pounds sterling, to be laid out in arming, clothing, and maintaining four thousand men to be employed in the defence of his majesty's person and government. Three hundred gentlemen of the county at the same time enrolled themselves as volunteers to serve against the rebels, whereever his majesty's interests might require. These served without pay, and were mounted on fine hunting horses richly caparisoned. Their dress was blue trimmed with scarlet, and gold buttons, gold laced hats, and light boots. They wore short bullet guns, pistols of a moderate size, and strong plain swords. Each gentleman was attended by his servant, dressed

also in blue, but with brass buttons, armed with a short gun, pistols, and a pole-axe. The name by which this splendid corps chose to be distinguished was, The King's Royal Hunt

ers.

The example of the county of York was followed by many other counties, and most of the nobility raised companies, some of them regiments, which they clothed, armed, and maintained at their own expense. So general was the spirit of liberal and disinterested patriotism, that it reached characters who might have been supposed the most sordid and selfish. Two privateers, the Prince Frederick and the Duke, had been fortunate enough, in the month of July, to capture two Spanish ships laden with specie, amounting to upwards of seventy-eight tons, which, upon Tuesday and Wednesday the first and second of October, was brought to the Tower in forty-five waggons, and, on the sixteenth, the proprietors of the vessels waited on his majesty and offered their share, seven hundred thousand pounds, to be immediately applied for his service. The offer was graciously accepted, on the understanding that the money was to be repaid by the parliament. Such a number of men were in a short time raised by these means alone, as would in the end have been far too formidable for Charles, though a single regiment had not been recalled from the continent.

It was soon, however, discovered that there was not any want of men, and the national generosity was turned rather to render more effective and more comfortable, amid the difficulties of a severe winter campaign, those who were already in the field, and sufficiently numerous for restoring the national tranquillity. A subscription for this purpose was opened at Guildhall, on the twenty-seventh of November. The lord chief justice, Lee, the master of the rolls, and the judges subscribed twelve hundred pounds; the chamber of the city of London, one thousand; the civilians at Doctors' Commons, five hundred; the gentlemen volunteers, five hundred and twenty-three pounds nineteen shillings; the goldsmiths' company, five hundred; the drapers and fishmongers, three hun

• Marchant's History of the Rebellion, pp. 59, 60.

+ Marchant's History of the Rebellion, pp. 59, 60. London Magazine for 1745. Scots Magazine for 1745.

dred; the cloth-workers, two hundred and twelve pounds fourteen shillings; the skinners, one hundred and five pounds; the eoopers and stationers, one hundred each; Mr. Rich, the proceeds of three nights' acting the Beggar's Opera, all the actors giving their service gratis, and the chandlers furnishing candle, six hundred pounds. To this fund the prince of Wales sent five hundred pounds; the society of Friends furnished among themselves ten thousand woollen waistcoats; and his majesty, from the privy purse, as many shoes. From this fund the acting committee, besides reserving five thousand pounds to reward such as should be maimed or particularly distinguish themselves in the service, and three hundred pounds to be applied for the more speedy recovery of the sick, furnished twelve thousand pair of breeches, twelve thousand shirts, ten thousand woollen caps, ten thousand pair of woollen stockings, twelve thousand pair of knit woollen gloves, nine thousand pair of woollen spatterdashes, and one thousand pair of blankets, for the use of the army, to which was to be added the ten thousand woollen waistcoats furnished by the Friends, and the shoes by his majesty, from the privy purse, a generous provision unprecedented in the history of the country, which must have contributed in a high degree to the health and comfort of the troops during the long and severe winter campaign they had to undergo.

In the meantime, the constituted authorities were providing in the best manner they could for the trying crisis that was before them. The parliament was assembled on the seventeenth of October, when his majesty made the following speech:"My lords and gentlemen,-The open and unnatural rebellion which has broke out, and is still continuing in Scotland, has obliged me to call you together sooner than I intended, and I shall bring nothing before you at present but what relates immediately to our security at home, reserving all other considerations to another opportunity. So wicked and daring an attempt in favour of a popish pretender to my crown, headed by his eldest son, carried on by numbers of traitorous and desperate persons within the kingdom, and encouraged by my

enemies abroad, requires the immediate advice and assistance of my parliament to suppress and extinguish it. The duty and affection for me and my government, and the vigilant and zealous care for the safety of the nation, which have, with so much unanimity been shown by my faithful subjects, give me the firmest assurance that you are met together resolved to act with a spirit becoming a time of common danger, and with such vigour, as will end in the confusion of all those who have engaged in or fomented this rebellion.

"I have, through the whole course of my reign, made the laws of the land the rule of my government, and the preservation of the constitution in church and state, and the rights of my people, the main end and aim of all my actions. It is therefore the more astonishing, that any of my protestant subjects, who have known and enjoyed the benefits resulting from thence, and have heard of the imminent dangers these kingdoms were wonderfully delivered from by the happy revolution, should, by any arts and management, be deluded into measures that must at once destroy their religion and liberties, introduce popery and arbitrary power, and subject them to a foreign yoke.

"Gentlemen of the house of commons,-I rely on your affection to me, and your care and concern for our common safety, to grant me such a supply as may enable me entirely to crush this rebellion, effectually to discourage any foreign power from assisting the rebels, and to restore the peace of the kingdom, for which purpose I will order the proper estimates to be laid before you. Amongst the many ill consequences of this wicked attempt, the extraordinary burden which it must bring upon my faithful subjects, very sensibly affects me; but let those answer for it, whose treason has occasioned it, and my people be convinced what they owe to those disturbers of our peace, who are endeavouring to make this kingdom a scene of blood and confusion.

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My lords and gentlemen,-The many evident proofs this parliament has given of their duty, fidelity, and affection to me, and of their steady adherence to the present happy establishment, and the true interest of their country, make me repose myself entirely on the zeal and vigour of your proceedings and resolu

tions. I am confident you will act like men who consider that every thing dear and valuable to them is attacked, and I question not, but, by the blessing of God, we shall in a short time see this rebellion end not only in restoring the tranquillity of my government, but in procuring greater strength to that excellent constitution which it was designed to subvert. The maxims of this constitution shall ever be the rules of my conduct; the interest of me and my people is always the same and inseparable. In this common interest let us unite; and all those who shall heartily and vigorously exert themselves in this just and national cause, may always depend upon my protection and favour."

This truly patriotic, and, in some respects prophetic speech, every way worthy of a constitutional king, was most cordially re-echoed by both houses. "The many evident proofs," say the lords, " of true loyalty and affection to your majesty, and zeal for your government, which have been already shown by your faithful subjects, with an union and cheerfulness never known before, unless at the happy revolution wrought by our great deliverer king William III., are clear demonstrations that this nation is determined to preserve the structure built upon that glorious foundation. Vain indeed must be the expectations of those who can imagine we would part with it. As your majesty has been pleased graciously to accept and approve those beginnings, we beseech you to look upon them as an earnest of the united zeal and vigour of your parliament in the cause of your majesty and their country."-" Permit us," say the commons, "to give your majesty the strongest assurances of our duty and affection to your person and government, and to declare that we will with vigilance, zeal, and unanimity, show a spirit and vigour becoming this time of danger. In order to make these sentiments effectual, your faithful commons will grant such supplies, and put such strength into your majesty's hands, as we trust in God, and hope from your majesty's wisdom, cannot fail to defeat the attempts of those who have already made one part of the united kingdom, and would make the other a scene of blood, rapine, and confusion."

A bill was the same day brought into the house of commons for suspending the habeas corpus for six months, read twice,