his friends entertained a hope that he would be pardoned. But, notwithstanding several peers and commoners of distinction endeavoured to procure a remission of his sentence, it was carried into effect.

His execution took place on the 24th of February. After devotion, he advanced to the rails of the scaffold and read an address, in which he eulogised the pretender, and asked pardon of those whom he had scandalized by his plea of guilty, which, he stated, was a breach of loyalty to his lawful and rightful sovereign, King James the Third. He concluded by saying, that, had his life been spared, he should have considered himself bound in honour never again to take up arms against the reigning prince.

The earl appears to have been possessed of many good qualities. "He was formed by nature," says Patten, "to be universally beloved; for his benevolence was so unbounded, that he seemed only to live for others. He resided among his own people, spent his estate among them, and continually did them kindnesses. His hospitality was princely, and none in that country came up to it. He was very charitable to the poor, whether known to him or not, and whether papists or protestants. His fate was a misfortune to many who had no kindness for the cause in which he died."

Charles Ratcliffe, a brother of the earl of Derwentwater, was born in 1693, and evinced from his boyhood a most enthusiastic attachment to the exiled Stuarts. He acted with Forster throughout the whole of that inefficient leader's campaign, displaying a total disregard of personal danger, and a sincere devotion to the cause he had espoused, which threw a lustre over his rashness. Having surrendered with his confederates at Preston, he was arraigned for high treason in May, 1716, and was soon afterwards found guilty. He disdained to petition for mercy, but soon after the earl of Derwentwater had been executed, a free pardon was granted to Ratcliffe, which, however, he obstinately refused to accept. He was consequently detained in Newgate until the 11th of December, 1716, when he contrived to effect his escape. Patten, speaking of him about this period, says, "He is young and bold, but too forward: he has a great deal of courage, which wants a few more years and a better cause to improve it. There is room to hope he will never employ it in such an adventure again." Unfortunately, however, for himself, he continued to be an active partisan of the exiled prince.

In 1746 he received a naval commission from the king of France, and took the command of a vessel laden with arms for the use of the Jacobites in Scotland, which, however, never reached its destination, being captured at sea by an English cruizer. Ratcliffe was brought a prisoner to London, and arraigned on his previous conviction, which had never been reversed. He boldly denied the authority of the court, avowed himself to be a subject of the king of France, produced his commission, and declared that he was not Charles Ratcliffe, but the earl of Derwentwater. After some further quibbling on this and other points, his identity being satisfactorily proved, the attorney-general moved for the execution of his former sentence. The prisoner now attempted to set up his pardon in bar, but the judges being of opinion that such a plea could not, under the circumstances, be legally received, a writ was issued for his decapitation. His person and appearance on this occa

sion are thus described in the British Chronologist "He was about five feet ten inches high, upwards of fifty, dressed in scarlet faced with black velvet, and gold buttons,-a gold-laced waistcoat,-bag-wig, and had a hat with a white feather." He wore precisely the same dress on the scaffold, where he conducted himself with great fortitude. He was beheaded on Tower-hill on the 8th of December, 1746.

Thomas, Marquess of Wharton.

BORN A. D. 1640.-DIED A. D. 1715,

THOMAS WHARTON, marquess of Wharton, eldest son of Philip, the fourth lord of that name, who distinguished himself on the parliamentarian side during the civil wars, was born about the year 1640. Having in early life made the tour of the continent, he returned home and threw himself into public life; and in the year 1678 was chosen one of the representatives for Buckinghamshire, his colleague being Richard Hampden, son of the celebrated patriot.

It does not appear that he took any active part in the debates on the bill of exclusion, although he opposed the court-party during the reigns of Charles II. and James II., and joined in the presentment against the duke of York, before the grand-jury of Middlesex, in 1680. During James's reign he lived retired at Winchendon, not very happy, it was said by the gossips of the day, in the society of his wife, the daughter of Sir Henry Lee of Dichley. This lady was a rigid presbyterian, and much devoted to literary society; she versified a good deal herself, and Waller has eulogised her "divine compositions;" but the match had, unfortunately perhaps for the peace of both, been arranged wholly by the fathers of the parties. An anonymous writer seems to hint that the marquess displayed not a little self-command in living the domestic life he did with her; but the weight of evidence strongly inclines against his lordship's alleged superiority as a domestic character. Be this as it may, Lord Wharton found ample employment in secretly supporting the measures of his party. He kept up a correspondence with the court of the Hague, and is supposed to have drawn the first draught of the invitation which was despatched to the prince of Orange from the peers and commoners of England; he is also said to have originated the address which was presented by Sir Edward Seymour, Sir William Portman, and other knights of the western shires, to his royal highness on his arrival at Torbay. On the accession of William and Mary, his lordship was made comptroller of the household, and member of the privy-council. In 1697 he was made chief-justice in Eyre on this side of the Trent, and lord-lieutenant of Oxfordshire. These appointments were highly agreeable to the majority of the nation. In a debate of considerable warmth in the house of peers, on an address respecting the partition-treaty, the marquess moved, in addition, "That whereas the French king had broken that treaty, they should advise his majesty to treat no more with him, nor rely upon his word without security;" and this, though much opposed by such of their lordships as were against engaging in a new war, was agreed to by a majority of the house. His lordship was also one of those who stood up for the association upon Sir

John Fenwick's plot, and distinguished himself by the eloquence and vigour with which he defended his party against the tories. That faction, who had always found a determined and powerful opponent in the marquess, made a miserable attempt to implicate his lordship in Monmouth's rebellion, but were utterly foiled in their purpose.

In

On the accession of Queen Anne, his lordship was removed from his employments. In 1702 he was one of the managers for the lords in the conference with the commons on the bill against occasional conformity, which he opposed on all occasions with great vigour and address. the latter end of the year 1705, his lordship opened the debate in the house of lords on the question of providing a regency against the contingency of the queen's death. His speech and general management on this occasion were much admired. He said, that although he had not been present at the former debate upon the proposition to invite the Princess Sophia to England, yet he heartily concurred in the views then adopted, and that he had ever regarded the securing of a protestant succession to the crown as identical with the interests and happiness of the nation. The proposition for the regency contained these particulars: that the regents should be fully empowered to act in the name of the successor to the crown of Great Britain, until he might communicate with the government; and that, besides those whom the parliament should now appoint, the next successor should send over a nomination of regency, sealed up, and to be opened only on the contingency contemplated. This motion was supported by all the whig lords, and a bill founded upon it was ordered to be brought into the house.

In 1706 he was appointed one of the commissioners for negotiating the union with Scotland. The same year, he was created earl of Wharton in Westmoreland. In the latter end of 1708 he was appointed lordlieutenant of Ireland. This appointment was intended to conciliate and unite the protestant party in that country, and to check the increasing influence of the catholics. On this occasion his lordship was accompanied by Addison, then one of the under-secretaries of state, in the capacity of secretary, and a lasting friendship, equally honourable to both parties, was formed between them. His lordship held the lieutenancy of Ireland until the month of May, 1710, when he resigned office, and was succeeded by the duke of Ormond. Soon after this the earl was fiercely attacked by various political writers, and by none more bitterly than by Swift. The origin of the reverend penman's rancour is thus accounted for by Wharton. Lord Somers had recommended Swift, at his own very earnest request, to the Irish viceroy, but without success. Wharton disliked the man, and is reported to have replied to the application in his favour in early these terms:-" My lord, we must not give these fellows any countenance or show them any favour; we have not characters enough ourselves to trade upon." The reader will be amused by comparing the sketch which Swift has drawn of Lord Wharton in the character of Verres, with the compliments paid to his lordship by Addison in his dedication of the fifth volume of the Spectator' to him. It does appear that his lordship led a very gay, if not licentious life, during his viceroyalty. Conceiving that the best way of promoting the concord of Irishmen was to keep them amused and ever on the qui vive, he flung open the castle to all who were ambitious of sharing in its festivities, and made it his study to provide a perpetual round of amuse

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ments for the citizens of Dublin. In this plan of government he was well-supported by his second wife, who, unlike her predecessor, "was all courtliness and vivacity," though a scribbler of verses too. Swift has not hesitated to assail her ladyship also with his coarse and calumnious invective.

During the last four years of Queen Anne's reign the earl vigorously opposed almost all the measures emanating from the court, particularly the infamous schism bill. In 1714, soon after the arrival of George I. in England, his lordship was appointed lord-privy-seal and in the beginning of next year was created marquess of Wharton and Malmesbury in England, and marquess of Catherlough in Ireland. But he did not long enjoy his new honours. He died in the month of April, 1715.

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The marquess of Wharton was a man of very considerable ability. His political life, if not brilliant, had the merit of consistency, and he freely sacrificed both his time and money to the objects of the liberal party. There was about him a rugged force of character which enabled him to surmount many difficulties which to minds of less energy and endurance would have often proved insurmountable. His lordship was in high repute among the gentlemen of the turf. Macky says of him, "He is certainly one of the completest gentlemen in England, hath a very clear understanding and manly expression, with abundance of wit. He is brave in person, something of a libertine, of a middle stature, and fair complexion." He is reported to have been the author of the celebrated song, entitled, Lilliburlero,' which had the effect, to use the expression of a popish pamphleteer, of "singing a prince out of three kingdoms." Dr Percy, in his Reliques of Poetry,' informs us that nothing could equal the extraordinary effect of this doggerel ballad, which made its appearance when the earl of Tyrconnel was sent a second time to Ireland in 1688. Burnet says, "A foolish ballad was made at that time, treating the papists, and chiefly the Irish, in a very ridiculous manner, which had a burden, said to be Irish words, Lero, lero, lilliburlero,' that made an impression on the (king's) army, that cannot be conceived by those who saw it not. The whole army, and at last the people, both in city and country, were singing it perpetually; and perhaps never had so slight a thing so great an effect." His lordship was also the reputed author of a letter purporting to have been written by Machiavelli to Zenobius Buendelmontius, in vindication of himself and his writings, which is printed at the end of the English translation of Machiavelli's works, edition 1680.

Charles, Earl of Halifax.

BORN A. D. 1661.-DIED A. D. 1715.

CHARLES, earl of Halifax, a native of Horton, in Northamptonshire, was born on the 16th of April, 1661, and educated at Westminster school and Trinity college, Cambridge. Some verses, which he wrote on the death of Charles II., having attracted the favourable notice of Lord Dorset, that nobleman invited him to London, where, in 1687, he wrote, in conjunction with Prior, The City Mouse and Country Mouse a parody on Dryden's Hind and Panther.' Hav.