Page:A biographical dictionary of eminent Scotsmen, vol 6.djvu/87

Rh own grooms, his face deadly pale, his head uncovered, and himself holding fast by the horse's mane with both hands to prevent his falling off.

He was now immediately carried to Belgrade, where surgical assistance was obtained. On examination of the wound it was at first deemed mortal; but although it certainly shortened his days, it was not immediately fatal. After making some progress towards recovery, his lordship left Belgrade on the 26th of September, being carried on board a vessel on the Danube, with which he proceeded to Comorra, where he arrived on the 27th of December. This place he left on the 28th of April, 1740, and sailed up the Danube to Vienna, which he reached on the 7th May. During all this time his lordship was confined to a recumbent posture by the state of his wounded limb, which still subjected him to the most excruciating agony, and continued constantly emitting splinters from the fractured bone. So desperate and severe was this wound, that his lordship walked for the first time, and even then with the assistance of crutches, only in the beginning of September, 1740; about a year and a half after he had received it.

In Vienna he remained till the 20th of September, when, being advised to try the effects of the baths of Baden, he proceeded to that quarter, and remained there till the 11th of August, 1741. His lordship, still suffering from his wound, which no expedient had yet been able to heal, now proceeded by Presburg, Vienna, and Leipsic, to Hamelen, where he arrived on the 3rd October, and had an interview with George II., who happened to be there at the time. His majesty received the earl with much kindness, and entered into a long conversation with him. On the 23rd of October he took leave of his majesty, and embarked for England. Notwithstanding his absence, the earl's interest had not been neglected at home. In July, 1739, he was made a colonel of horse and adjutant-general, and on the 25th October of the same year, was appointed colonel of the 42nd regiment of foot, or Royal Scots Highlanders. The same inclination to forward his military views marked his return. On the 25th of December, 1741, the year in which he came to England, he was appointed colonel of the second troop of horse grenadier guards.

His lordship's wound still annoying him, he was now advised to try the bath of Bareges in France, and having obtained, for this purpose, a pass from the French king, the Lynx British man-of-war was ordered to carry him out. With this vessel he sailed from Portsmouth on the 23rd of May, 1742, and arrived at Bourdeaux on the 30th of the same month.

Soon after landing he proceeded to Bareges, which he reached on the 12th June, and commenced a regular system of bathing, but without much effect; being still able to walk only with the assistance of a crutch and high-heeled shoe. From Bareges he went on the 16th October to Aix in Provence, where he again used the bath, and with much more benefit than he had derived from the same remedy in the former place. Leaving Aix his lordship arrived at Chambery on the 2nd of November, where he waited on the king of Sardinia, with whom he remained till the 18th, when he proceeded to Geneva. In this city he remained till the 1st of January, 1743. He then visited Milan, Genoa, Modena, Verona, and Venice, and from thence proceeded by Trieste, Gatz, Lintz, and through Bohemia and Saxony, and finally joined the British army, of which field-marshal Stair was commander, at Hochstet, on the 24th of May, where George II. happened to be at the time. At the battle of Dettingen, which took place on the 16th of ftie following month, the earl commanded a brigade of life-guards, and conducted himself throughout that conflict with a coolness and intrepidity which greatly enhanced his reputation for courage and military skill. During the action, his lordship, on one occasion, ordered the