Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 18.djvu/733

 T P E T 701 censure of the House of Commons for the part which he took in the attempt to secure the return of his nominee for the borough of Malmesbury.- In the same year he was appointed governor of Jamaica, but he never visited the island over which he ruled, preferring to remain in a part of the world where he could play a more active part in the government of affairs. Through the fear of the ministry that his restless spirit would drive him into opposition to its measures if he stayed at home, he was appointed early in 1 705 to command an expedition of English and Dutch troops in Spain. He was created sole commander of the land-forces and joint-commander with Sir Cloudesley Shovel of the fleet, and at the same time was reinstated a member of the privy council. His first exploit was to seize Denia in Valencia ; then, with all the impetuosity of his char acter, he urged upon the Austrian claimant to the throne the expediency of dashing for Madrid, less than 250 miles distant, only to find that he was overruled by his col leagues in council. After this repulse he sailed for Bar celona (August 1705) and commenced to besiege that town. For three weeks the siege languished, until, by a sudden night- attack on 14th September, Peterborough seized the outworks of Montjuich, and three nights later captured the citadel itself. On 14th October the city was his. This was his greatest feat, and in this enterprise he showed, what was usually wanting in his character, both tact and conciliation. After this victory Catalonia declared for the Austrian prince, and Peterborough advanced into Valencia with the object of reducing it to subjection. By threats, cajolements, intrigues, and plots he obtained pos session of its chief towns, but the prince for whom he was fighting allowed himself to be surrounded in Barcelona. Peterborough s advice, that Charles should travel by sea to Lisbon and march against Madrid with the allied force of 25,000 men, was disregarded, and the English commander with his little body of &quot;2000 foot and 600 horse then ad vanced towards Barcelona, which was besieged by a greatly superior force of the enemy. The city was on the point of being captured, when Peterborough, warned of the approach of the English fleet it is said that the signal of its arrival was a blank sheet of paper put off in an open boat, and, after journeying to and fro, met with his country s vessels. On 8th May he brought the leading ships into the port of Barcelona, and three days later the French beat a retreat. Again did the English commander urge upon the Austrian claimant of the Spanish throne the expediency of imme diately advancing to Madrid, and again was the advice rejected, although the capital was occupied by the allied forces under Galway and Das Minas. Charles remained at Barcelona for some weeks, and when at last he did move towards Madrid it was by a route which Peterborough dis approved of. When difficulties beset Charles on his way the earl joined him, but he soon retired to Valencia in disgust, and then left the country to raise money at Genoa. In a short time he returned to Spain once more, but during his absence the prospects of the allied forces had passed from bad to worse. The leaders of the army differed in their views, and Lord Peterborough quitted the country for ever (March 1707). On his return to England he allied himself with the Tories, and received his reward in being contrasted, much to his advantage, with the Whig victor of Blenheim and Malplaquet. The differences between the three peers, Peterborough, Galway, and Tyrawley, who had served in Spain, formed the subject of angry debates in the Lords, when the majority declared for Peterborough ; after some fiery speeches the resolution that he had performed many great and eminent services was carried, and votes of thanks were passed to him without any division. His new friends were not desirous of detaining him long on English soil, and they sent him on a mission where he characteristically engaged the ministry in pledges of which they disapproved. His resentment at this disagreement was softened by the command of a cavalry regiment, and by his appointment as a Knight of the Garter. A few months before the close of Queen Anne s reign (November 1713) he was despatched as ambassador-extraordinary to the king of Sicily, but was recalled by the Whigs as soon as they obtained the reins of power. With the accession of George I. Lord Peter borough s influence was gone. Hatred of Marlborough be came the ruling passion of his mind. His last twenty years of life were passed with the recollection of disappointed hopes and with the continual presence of disease. Worn out with suffering, he died at Lisbon, 25th October 1735. His remains were brought to England and buried at Turvey in Bedfordshire, 21st November. Lord Peterborough was short in stature and spare in habit of body. His activity knew no bounds. He was said to have seen more kings and postilions than any man in Europe, and the whole point of Swift s lines on &quot; Mordanto &quot; consisted in a description of the speed with which he hastened from capital to capital. Nature had bestowed many gifts upon him, but had denied him more. He was eloquent in debate and intrepid in war, but his influence in the senate was ruined through his inconsistency, and his vigour in the field was wasted through his want of union with his colleagues. He could do nothing like other men. His first wife, Carey, daughter of Sir Alexander Eraser of Mearns, died 13th May 1709, and was buried at Turvey 20th May. Some years later he married Anas- tasia Robinson, a dramatic singer of great beauty and sweetness of disposition ; but she was unrecognized as his wife, and lived apart from him at her mother s house at Parson s Green. Xor was it until a few r months before his death that she was introduced to society as the countess of Peterborough. ( W. P. C. ) PETERHEAD, a seaport, market town, burgh of barony, and parliamentary burgh of Aberdeenshire, Scotland, is situated on a rocky peninsula on the North Sea, about 30 miles north-north-east of Aberdeen and 2 north of Buchan Ness. It has railway communication by a section of the Great North of Scotland line, opened in 1862. The town is built of the red granite of the district. At the extrem ity of the peninsula is the insular suburb of Keith-Inch. Among the principal buildings are the town-hall (1788), with a granite spire 125 feet high, the music hall, and the court-house. The reading society (1808) possesses a library with upwards of 5000 volumes, and the mechanics insti tute one with about 1000 volumes. The Arbuthnot Museum contains natural history specimens, a collection of coins, and objects of antiquarian interest. In front of the town -hall is a statue to Field-Marshal Keith (1696- 1758), presented to the burgh by William I. of Prussia in 1868. A market cross was erected in 1832 when the town was created a parliamentary burgh. Peterhead at an early period had an extensive trade with the ports of the Baltic, the Levant, and America. Formerly it was a bonding sub- port to Aberdeen, but was made independent in 1832. The north and south harbours lie between the town and Keith-Inch, and the isthmus dividing them is pierced by a canal, which is crossed by an iron swing-bridge. In the north harbour are two graving-docks. A new harbour was completed in 1878, and the south harbour has been deepened and enlarged. The south bay is to be converted into a national harbour of refuge. The Arctic seal and whale fishing, which in 1802 was prosecuted by only one vessel, employed in 1857 as many as 32 vessels, but since that time it has declined somewhat. The herring fishing, in which the port has long held a leading position (631 boats in 1883), was begun in 1818 by a joint-stock com pany. The general trade is of considerable importance. The chief exports are herrings (180,000 in 1883), granite, cattle, and agricultural produce. In 1883 the number of vessels that entered the port with cargoes and in ballast was 864 of 87,839 tons, the number that cleared 840 of 86,318 tons. The town possesses ship and boat building