Page:Cassell's Illustrated History of England vol 3.djvu/530

516 was let loose upon the unfortunate clan Campbell. The marquis of Athol, the hereditary enemy of Argyll, was only restrained by the privy council, powerful intercession being made, from hanging Charles Campbell, the earl's son, whilst suffering from a raging fever, at the door of his father's castle of Inverary. He did hang numbers of the Campbells, and laid waste the country for thirty miles round, cutting down the fruit trees, treading down the green corn, burning the houses, and destroying the boats and fishing nets of the people, their chief means of livelihood. More than three hundred wretched Highlanders were handed over to Scott of Pitlochy and other planters as slaves in New Jersey and the West Indies. Thirty-five prisoners had each an ear cut off by the hangman in one day, and numbers of women were burnt on the cheek or the shoulder, for refusing to admit James to be the rightful king, and were shipped across the Atlantic.

On the 30th of May, nearly a month after the sailing of Argyll, Monmouth left the Texel. His squadron consisted of a frigate of thirty-two guns, called the Helderenbergh, and three small tenders, a fourth tender having been declined by the Dutch. He was attended by about eighty officers, and a hundred and fifty men of different degrees, fugitives from England and Scotland. With such a force he proposed to conquer the crown of England. All the fine promises of money by Wildman and Danvers had ended in smoke, and he had only been able, chiefly through the revenues of lady Henrietta Wentworth, to supply himself with arms and stores for a small body of cavalry and infantry. The voyage was long and tedious, the weather was stormy, and the channel abounded with the royal cruisers. On the morning of the 11th of June his little fleet appeared off the port of Lyme, in Dorsetshire. It was a beautiful day, and the little town lay in a profound summer repose, the inhabitants watching in wonder the approach of the four foreign-looking vessels, and little dreaming what freight of calamity they were bringing them. The custom house officers went on board, and to the alarm of the people did not return; but after a time a number of boats were seen putting off from the ships, and a little band of men in military costume landed from them. They were Monmouth, the lord Grey, Fletcher of Saltoun, Ferguson, Wade, and Buyse, an officer who had served in the army of the elector of Brandenburg. Monmouth, on setting his foot on shore, kneeled down and returned thanks to God for having brought them through the perils of the sea, and prayed for His blessing on their enterprise. He then led his little knot of followers into the town, where he set up his standard in the market-place, and issued a proclamation which had been drawn up by Ferguson in his most fiery and acrimonious terms.

In this proclamation James was declared to be a tyrant and usurper, the whole bent of whose life had been and was to destroy the constitution and the protestant religion. He was declared to have barbarously poisoned the late king, who had perilled his very crown in his defence, and therefore Monmouth, as the son of the murdered king, vowed to pursue the fratricide to the death. On James was still further heaped the burning of London, the origin of the popish plot, the confederacy with France against the protestant states of Holland, the murder of Sir Edmondbury Godfrey, of lord Essex in the Tower, and the subornation of witnesses to swear away the lives of the patriots. In fact, almost every crime which had or had not been committed during the late reign was charged to the account of this monster prince. Monmouth, on his part, did not pretend to lay claim to the crown, but to leave that to the decision of a free parliament; but he engaged that all penal laws on account of religion should be abolished; the violated charters should be restored; parliaments should be held annually, and no longer be dissolvable at the will of a tyrannic prince. The only army should be the militia, which should be commanded by the sheriffs, who, in their turn, should be elected by the freeholders of the county. In short, the whole constitution should be so established in its freedom, that it should never more be in the power of a single man to subvert the rights of the people.

Monmouth was extremely popular with the people, and on discovering that it was their favourite hero come to put down the popish tyrant, he was received with loud acclamations. "Monmouth and the protestant religion" was the cry. There was a rush to enlist beneath his banners, and within four-and-twenty hours he was at the head of fifteen hundred men. Dare, one of the adventurers, had been put ashore as they came along the coast, to ride across the country and rouse the people of Taunton, and he now came in at the head of about forty horsemen, and with the news that the people of Somersetshire were in favour of his cause. But with this arrival came the tidings that the Dorsetshire and Somersetshire people were mustering at Bridport to attack them, and Monmouth ordered lord Grey, who was the commander of the cavalry, to march there at once, and disperse them before they had collected in strength. But here an incident occurred which showed the unruly materials that he had to work with. Dare had mounted himself on a fine horse in his expedition to Taunton, and Fletcher of Saltoun, who was second in command of the cavalry under Grey, without asking leave of Dare, as superior officer, and being himself badly mounted, took possession of his horse. Dare refused to let him have it, they came to high words. Dare shook his whip at Fletcher, and the proud Scot drew his pistol and shot Dare dead on the spot. This summary proceeding, which might have passed in the ruder country of Scotland, created a violent outburst amongst the soldiers of Monmouth. They demanded of the duke instant execution of the murderer, and it was only by getting on board the Helderenbergh that Fletcher escaped with his life. He returned to Holland, and thus was lost to the expedition almost its only man of any talent and experience.

The next morning Grey, accompanied by Wade, led forth his untrained cavalry to attack the militia at Bridport. There was a smart brush with the militia, in which Monmouth's raw soldiers fought bravely, and would have driven the enemy from the place, but Grey, who was an arrant coward in the field, turned his horse and fled, never drawing bit till he reached Lyme. The men were indignant, and Monmouth was confounded with this conduct of his chief officer; but nevertheless he had not moral firmness to put some more trusty officer in his place. Four days after his landing, the 15th of June, Monmouth marched forward to