CHAPTER THIRTEETH
I beseech you-- These tears beseech you, and these chaste hands woo you That never yet were heaved but to things holy-- Things like yourself--You are a God above us; Be as a God, then, full of saving mercy! The Bloody Brother.
Encouraged as she was by the courteous manners of her noble countryman,it was not without a feeling of something like terror that Jeanie feltherself in a place apparently so lonely with a man of such high rank.That she should have been permitted to wait on the Duke in his own house,and have been there received to a private interview, was in itself anuncommon and distinguished event in the annals of a life so simple ashers; but to find herself his travelling companion in a journey, and thensuddenly to be left alone with him in so secluded a situation, hadsomething in it of awful mystery. A romantic heroine might have suspectedand dreaded the power of her own charms; but Jeanie was too wise to letsuch a silly thought intrude on her mind. Still, however, she had a mosteager desire to know where she now was, and to whom she was to bepresented.
She remarked that the Duke's dress, though still such as indicated rankand fashion (for it was not the custom of men of quality at that time todress themselves like their own coachmen or grooms), was neverthelessplainer than that in which she had seen him upon a former occasion, andwas divested, in particular, of all those badges of external decorationwhich intimated superior consequence. In short, he was attired as plainlyas any gentleman of fashion could appear in the streets of London in amorning; and this circumstance helped to shake an opinion which Jeaniebegan to entertain, that, perhaps, he intended she should plead her causein the presence of royalty itself. "But surely," said she to, herself,"he wad hae putten on his braw star and garter, an he had thought o'coming before the face of majesty--and after a', this is mair like agentleman's policy than a royal palace."
There was some sense in Jeanie's reasoning; yet she was not sufficientlymistress either of the circumstances of etiquette, or the particularrelations which existed betwixt the government and the Duke of Argyle, toform an accurate judgment. The Duke, as we have said, was at this time inopen opposition to the administration of Sir Robert Walpole, and wasunderstood to be out of favour with the royal family, to whom he hadrendered such important services. But it was a maxim of Queen Caroline tobear herself towards her political friends with such caution, as if therewas a possibility of their one day being her enemies, and towardspolitical opponents with the same degree of circumspection, as if theymight again become friendly to her measures, Since Margaret of Anjou, noqueen-consort had exercised such weight in the political affairs ofEngland, and the personal address which she displayed on many occasions,had no small share in reclaiming from their political heresy many ofthose determined Tories, who, after the reign of the Stuarts had beenextinguished in the person of Queen Anne, were disposed rather totransfer their allegiance to her brother the Chevalier de St. George,than to acquiesce in the settlement of the crown on the Hanover family.Her husband, whose most shining quality was courage in the field ofbattle, and who endured the office of King of England, without ever beingable to acquire English habits, or any familiarity with Englishdispositions, found the utmost assistance from the address of hispartner, and while he jealously affected to do everything according tohis own will and pleasure, was in secret prudent enough to take andfollow the advice of his more adroit consort. He intrusted to her thedelicate office of determining the various degrees of favour necessary toattach the wavering, or to confirm such as were already friendly, or toregain those whose good-will had been lost.
With all the winning address of an elegant, and, according to the times,an accomplished woman, Queen Caroline possessed the masculine soul of theother sex. She was proud by nature, and even her policy could not alwaystemper her expressions of displeasure, although few were more ready atrepairing any false step of this kind, when her prudence came up to theaid of her passions. She loved the real possession of power rather thanthe show of it, and whatever she did herself that was either wise orpopular, she always desired that the King should have the full credit aswell as the advantage of the measure, conscious that, by adding to hisrespectability, she was most likely to maintain her own. And so desirouswas she to comply with all his tastes, that, when threatened with thegout, she had repeatedly had recourse to checking the fit, by the use ofthe cold bath, thereby endangering her life, that she might be able toattend the king in his walks.
It was a very consistent part of Queen Caroline's character, to keep upmany private correspondences with those to whom in public she seemedunfavourable, or who, for various reasons, stood ill with the court. Bythis means she kept in her hands the thread of many a political intrigue,and, without pledging herself to anything, could often prevent discontentfrom becoming hatred, and opposition from exaggerating itself intorebellion. If by any accident her correspondence with such personschanced to be observed or discovered, which she took all possible painsto prevent, it was represented as a mere intercourse of society, havingno reference to politics; an answer with which even the prime minister,Sir Robert Walpole, was compelled to remain satisfied, when he discoveredthat the Queen had given a private audience to Pulteney, afterwards Earlof Bath, his most formidable and most inveterate enemy.
In thus maintaining occasional intercourse with several persons whoseemed most alienated from the crown, it may readily be supposed thatQueen Caroline had taken care not to break entirely with the Duke ofArgyle. His high birth, his great talents, the estimation in which he washeld in his own country, the great services which he had rendered thehouse of Brunswick in 1715, placed him high in that rank of persons whowere not to be rashly neglected. He had, almost by his single andunassisted talents, stopped the irruption of the banded force of all theHighland chiefs; there was little doubt, that, with the slightestencouragement, he could put them all in motion, and renew the civil war;and it was well known that the most flattering overtures had beentransmitted to the Duke from the court of St. Germains. The character andtemper of Scotland was still little known, and it was considered as avolcano, which might, indeed, slumber for a series of years, but wasstill liable, at a moment the least expected, to break out into awasteful irruption. It was, therefore, of the highest importance toretain come hold over so important a personage as the Duke of Argyle, andCaroline preserved the power of doing so by means of a lady, with whom,as wife of George II., she might have been supposed to be on lessintimate terms.
It was not the least instance of the Queen's address, that she hadcontrived that one of her principal attendants, Lady Suffolk, shouldunite in her own person the two apparently inconsistent characters, ofher husband's mistress, and her own very obsequious and complaisantconfidant. By this dexterous management the Queen secured her poweragainst the danger which might most have threatened it--the thwartinginfluence of an ambitious rival; and if she submitted to themortification of being obliged to connive at her husband's infidelity,she was at least guarded against what she might think its most dangerouseffects, and was besides at liberty, now and then, to bestow a few civilinsults upon "her good Howard," whom, however, in general, she treatedwith great decorum.*
* See Horace Walpole's Reminiscences.
Lady Suffolk lay under strong obligations to the Duke of Argyle, forreasons which may be collected from Horace Walpole's Reminiscences ofthat reign, and through her means the Duke had some occasionalcorrespondence with Queen Caroline, much interrupted, however, since thepart he had taken in the debate concerning the Porteous mob, an affairwhich the Queen, though somewhat unreasonably, was disposed to resent,rather as an intended and premeditated insolence to her own person andauthority, than as a sudden ebullition of popular vengeance. Still,however, the communication remained open betwixt them, though it had beenof late disused on both sides. These remarks will be found necessary tounderstand the scene which is about to be presented to the reader.
Fr
om the narrow alley which they had traversed, the Duke turned into oneof the same character, but broader and still longer. Here, for the firsttime since they had entered these gardens, Jeanie saw persons approachingthem.
They were two ladies; one of whom walked a little behind the other, yetnot so much as to prevent her from hearing and replying to whateverobservation was addressed to her by the lady who walked foremost, andthat without her having the trouble to turn her person. As they advancedvery slowly, Jeanie had time to study their features and appearance. TheDuke also slackened his pace, as if to give her time to collect herself,and repeatedly desired her not to be afraid. The lady who seemed theprincipal person had remarkably good features, though somewhat injured bythe small-pox, that venomous scourge which each village Esculapius(thanks to Jenner) can now tame as easily as their tutelary deity subduedthe Python. The lady's eyes were brilliant, her teeth good, and hercountenance formed to express at will either majesty or courtesy. Herform, though rather _embonpoint,_ was nevertheless graceful; and theelasticity and firmness of her step gave no room to suspect, what wasactually the case, that she suffered occasionally from a disorder themost unfavourable to pedestrian exercise. Her dress was rather rich thangay, and her manner commanding and noble.
Her companion was of lower stature, with light brown hair and expressiveblue eyes. Her features, without being absolutely regular, were perhapsmore pleasing than if they had been critically handsome. A melancholy, orat least a pensive expression, for which her lot gave too much cause,predominated when she was silent, but gave way to a pleasing andgood-humoured smile when she spoke to any one.
When they were within twelve or fifteen yards of these ladies, the Dukemade a sign that Jeanie should stand still, and stepping forward himself,with the grace which was natural to him, made a profound obeisance, whichwas formally, yet in a dignified manner, returned by the personage whomhe approached.
"I hope," she said, with an affable and condescending smile, "that I seeso great a stranger at court, as the Duke of Argyle has been of late, inas good health as his friends there and elsewhere could wish him toenjoy."
The Duke replied, "That he had been perfectly well;" and added, "that thenecessity of attending to the public business before the House, as wellas the time occupied by a late journey to Scotland, had rendered him lessassiduous in paying his duty at the levee and drawing-room than he couldhave desired."
"When your Grace _can_ find time for a duty so frivolous," replied theQueen, "you are aware of your title to be well received. I hope myreadiness to comply with the wish which you expressed yesterday to LadySuffolk, is, a sufficient proof that one of the royal family, at least,has not forgotten ancient and important services, in resenting somethingwhich resembles recent neglect." This was said apparently with great goodhumour, and in a tone which expressed a desire of conciliation.
The Duke replied, "That he would account himself the most unfortunate ofmen, if he could be supposed capable of neglecting his duty, in modes andcircumstances when it was expected, and would have been agreeable. He wasdeeply gratified by the honour which her Majesty was now doing to himpersonally; and he trusted she would soon perceive that it was in amatter essential to his Majesty's interest that he had the boldness togive her this trouble."
"You cannot oblige me more, my Lord Duke," replied the Queen, "than bygiving me the advantage of your lights and experience on any point of theKing's service. Your Grace is aware, that I can only be the mediumthrough which the matter is subjected to his Majesty's superior wisdom;but if it is a suit which respects your Grace personally, it shall loseno support by being preferred through me."
"It is no suit of mine, madam," replied the Duke; "nor have I any toprefer for myself personally, although I feel in full force my obligationto your Majesty. It is a business which concerns his Majesty, as a loverof justice and of mercy, and which, I am convinced, may be highly usefulin conciliating the unfortunate irritation which at present subsistsamong his Majesty's good subjects in Scotland."
There were two parts of this speech disagreeable to Caroline. In thefirst place, it removed the flattering notion she had adopted, thatArgyle designed to use her personal intercession in making his peace withthe administration, and recovering the employments of which he had beendeprived; and next, she was displeased that he should talk of thediscontents in Scotland as irritations to be conciliated, rather thansuppressed.
Under the influence of these feelings, she answered hastily, "That hisMajesty has good subjects in England, my Lord Duke, he is bound to thankGod and the laws--that he has subjects in Scotland, I think he may thankGod and his sword."
The Duke, though a courtier, coloured slightly, and the Queen, instantlysensible of her error, added, without displaying the least change ofcountenance, and as if the words had been an original branch of thesentence--"And the swords of those real Scotchmen who are friends to theHouse of Brunswick, particularly that of his Grace of Argyle."
"My sword, madam," replied the Duke, "like that of my fathers, has beenalways at the command of my lawful king, and of my native country--Itrust it is impossible to separate their real rights and interests. Butthe present is a matter of more private concern, and respects the personof an obscure individual."
"What is the affair, my Lord?" said the Queen. "Let us find out what weare talking about, lest we should misconstrue and misunderstand eachother."
"The matter, madam," answered the Duke of Argyle, "regards the fate of anunfortunate young woman in Scotland, now lying under sentence of death,for a crime of which I think it highly probable that she is innocent. Andmy humble petition to your Majesty is, to obtain your powerfulintercession with the King for a pardon."
It was now the Queen's turn to colour, and she did so over cheek andbrow, neck and bosom. She paused a moment as if unwilling to trust hervoice with the first expression of her displeasure; and on assuming theair of dignity and an austere regard of control, she at length replied,"My Lord Duke, I will not ask your motives for addressing to me arequest, which circumstances have rendered such an extraordinary one.Your road to the King's closet, as a peer and a privy-councillor,entitled to request an audience, was open, without giving me the pain ofthis discussion. _I,_ at least, have had enough of Scotch pardons."
The Duke was prepared for this burst of indignation, and he was notshaken by it. He did not attempt a reply while the Queen was in the firstheat of displeasure, but remained in the same firm, yet respectfulposture, which he had assumed during the interview. The Queen, trainedfrom her situation to self-command, instantly perceived the advantage shemight give against herself by yielding to passion; and added, in the samecondescending and affable tone in which she had opened the interview,"You must allow me some of the privileges of the sex, my Lord; and do notjudge uncharitably of me, though I am a little moved at the recollectionof the gross insult and outrage done in your capital city to the royalauthority, at the very time when it was vested in my unworthy person.Your Grace cannot be surprised that I should both have felt it at thetime, and recollected it now."
"It is certainly a matter not speedily to be forgotten," answered theDuke. "My own poor thoughts of it have been long before your Majesty, andI must have expressed myself very ill if I did not convey my detestationof the murder which was committed under such extraordinary circumstances.I might, indeed, be so unfortunate as to differ with his Majesty'sadvisers on the degree in which it was either just or politic to punishthe innocent instead of the guilty. But I trust your Majesty will permitme to be silent on a topic in which my sentiments have not the goodfortune to coincide with those of more able men."
"We will not prosecute a topic on which we may probably differ," said theQueen. "One word, however, I may say in private--you know our good LadySuffolk is a little deaf--the Duke of Argyle, when disposed to renew hisacquaintance with his master and mistress, will hardly find many topicson which we should disagree."
"Let me hope," said the Duke, bowing profoundly to so flattering anintimation, "that I
shall not be so unfortunate as to have found one onthe present occasion."
"I must first impose on your Grace the duty of confession," said theQueen, "before I grant you absolution. What is your particular interestin this young woman? She does not seem" (and she scanned Jeanie, as shesaid this, with the eye of a connoisseur) "much qualified to alarm myfriend the Duchess's jealousy."
"I think your Majesty," replied the Duke, smiling in his turn, "willallow my taste may be a pledge for me on that score."
"Then, though she has not much the air _d'une grande dame,_ I suppose sheis some thirtieth cousin in the terribleCHAPTER of Scottish genealogy?"
"No, madam," said the Duke; "but I wish some of my nearer relations hadhalf her worth, honesty, and affection."
"Her name must be Campbell, at least?" said Queen Caroline.
"No, madam; her name is not quite so distinguished, if I may be permittedto say so," answered the Duke.
"Ah! but she comes from Inverary or Argyleshire?" said the Sovereign.
"She has never been farther north in her life than Edinburgh, madam."
"Then my conjectures are all ended," said the Queen, "and your Grace mustyourself take the trouble to explain the affair of your prote'ge'e."
With that precision and easy brevity which is only acquired by habituallyconversing in the higher ranks of society, and which is the diametricalopposite of that protracted style of disquisition,
Which squires call potter, and which men call prose,
the Duke explained the singular law under which Effie Deans had receivedsentence of death, and detailed the affectionate exertions which Jeaniehad made in behalf of a sister, for whose sake she was willing tosacrifice all but truth and conscience.
Queen Caroline listened with attention; she was rather fond, it must beremembered, of an argument, and soon found matter in what the Duke toldher for raising difficulties to his request.
"It appears to me, my Lord," she replied, "that this is a severe law. Butstill it is adopted upon good grounds, I am bound to suppose, as the lawof the country, and the girl has been convicted under it. The verypresumptions which the law construes into a positive proof of guilt existin her case; and all that your Grace has said concerning the possibilityof her innocence may be a very good argument for annulling the Act ofParliament, but cannot, while it stands good, be admitted in favour ofany individual convicted upon the statute."
The Duke saw and avoided the snare, for he was conscious, that, byreplying to the argument, he must have been inevitably led to adiscussion, in the course of which the Queen was likely to be hardenedin her own opinion, until she became obliged, out of mere respect toconsistency, to let the criminal suffer.
Jeanie and Queen Caroline--194]
"If your Majesty," he said, "would condescend to hear my poorcountrywoman herself, perhaps she may find an advocate in your own heart,more able than I am, to combat the doubts suggested by yourunderstanding."
The Queen seemed to acquiesce, and the Duke made a signal for Jeanie toadvance from the spot where she had hitherto remained watchingcountenances, which were too long accustomed to suppress all apparentsigns of emotion, to convey to her any interesting intelligence. HerMajesty could not help smiling at the awe-struck manner in which thequiet demure figure of the little Scotchwoman advanced towards her, andyet more at the first sound of her broad northern accent. But Jeanie hada voice low and sweetly toned, an admirable thing in woman, and ekebesought "her Leddyship to have pity on a poor misguided young creature,"in tones so affecting, that, like the notes of some of her native songs,provincial vulgarity was lost in pathos.
"Stand up, young woman," said the Queen, but in a kind tone, "and tell mewhat sort of a barbarous people your country-folk are, where child-murderis become so common as to require the restraint of laws like yours?"
"If your Leddyship pleases," answered Jeanie, "there are mony placesbesides Scotland where mothers are unkind to their ain flesh and blood."
It must be observed, that the disputes between George the Second andFrederick Prince of Wales were then at the highest, and that thegood-natured part of the public laid the blame on the Queen. She colouredhighly, and darted a glance of a most penetrating character first atJeanie, and then at the Duke. Both sustained it unmoved; Jeanie fromtotal unconsciousness of the offence she had given, and the Duke from hishabitual composure. But in his heart he thought, My unlucky _protegee_has with this luckless answer shot dead, by a kind of chance-medley, heronly hope of success.
Lady Suffolk, good-humouredly and skilfully, interposed in this awkwardcrisis. "You should tell this lady," she said to Jeanie, "the particularcauses which render this crime common in your country."
"Some thinks it's the Kirk-session--that is--it's the--it's thecutty-stool, if your Leddyship pleases," said Jeanie, looking down andcourtesying.
"The what?" said Lady Suffolk, to whom the phrase was new, and whobesides was rather deaf.
"That's the stool of repentance, madam, if it please your Leddyship,"answered Jeanie, "for light life and conversation, and for breaking theseventh command." Here she raised her eyes to the Duke, saw his hand athis chin, and, totally unconscious of what she had said out of joint,gave double effect to the innuendo, by stopping short and lookingembarrassed.
As for Lady Suffolk, she retired like a covering party, which, havinginterposed betwixt their retreating friends and the enemy, have suddenlydrawn on themselves a fire unexpectedly severe.
The deuce take the lass, thought the Duke of Argyle to himself; theregoes another shot--and she has hit with both barrels right and left!
Indeed the Duke had himself his share of the confusion, for, having actedas master of ceremonies to this innocent offender, he felt much in thecircumstances of a country squire, who, having introduced his spanielinto a well-appointed drawing-room, is doomed to witness the disorder anddamage which arises to china and to dress-gowns, in consequence of itsuntimely frolics. Jeanie's last chance-hit, however, obliterated the illimpression which had arisen from the first; for her Majesty had not solost the feelings of a wife in those of a Queen, but that she could enjoya jest at the expense of "her good Suffolk." She turned towards the Dukeof Argyle with a smile, which marked that she enjoyed the triumph, andobserved, "The Scotch are a rigidly moral people." Then, again applyingherself to Jeanie, she asked how she travelled up from Scotland.
"Upon my foot mostly, madam," was the reply.
"What, all that immense way upon foot?--How far can you walk in a day."
"Five-and-twenty miles and a bittock."
"And a what?" said the Queen, looking towards the Duke of Argyle.
"And about five miles more," replied the Duke.
"I thought I was a good walker," said the Queen, "but this shames mesadly."
"May your Leddyship never hae sae weary a heart, that ye canna besensible of the weariness of the limbs," said Jeanie. That came betteroff, thought the Duke; it's the first thing she has said to the purpose.
"And I didna just a'thegither walk the haill way neither, for I hadwhiles the cast of a cart; and I had the cast of a horse fromFerrybridge--and divers other easements," said Jeanie, cutting short herstory, for she observed the Duke made the sign he had fixed upon.
"With all these accommodations," answered the Queen, "you must have had avery fatiguing journey, and, I fear, to little purpose; since, if theKing were to pardon your sister, in all probability it would do herlittle good, for I suppose your people of Edinburgh would hang her out ofspite."
She will sink herself now outright, thought the Duke.
But he was wrong. The shoals on which Jeanie had touched in this delicateconversation lay under ground, and were unknown to her; this rock wasabove water, and she avoided it.
"She was confident," she said, "that baith town and country wad rejoiceto see his Majesty taking compassion on a poor unfriended creature."
"His Majesty has not found it so in a late instance," said the Queen;"but I suppose my Lord Duke would advise hi
m to be guided by the votes ofthe rabble themselves, who should be hanged and who spared?"
"No, madam," said the Duke; "but I would advise his Majesty to be guidedby his own feelings, and those of his royal consort; and then I am surepunishment will only attach itself to guilt, and even then with cautiousreluctance."
"Well, my Lord," said her Majesty, "all these fine speeches do notconvince me of the propriety of so soon showing any mark of favour toyour--I suppose I must not say rebellious?--but, at least, your verydisaffected and intractable metropolis. Why, the whole nation is in aleague to screen the savage and abominable murderers of that unhappy man;otherwise, how is it possible but that, of so many perpetrators, andengaged in so public an action for such a length of time, one at leastmust have been recognised? Even this wench, for aught I can tell, may bea depositary of the secret.--Hark you, young woman, had you any friendsengaged in the Porteous mob?"
"No, madam," answered Jeanie, happy that the question was so framed thatshe could, with a good conscience, answer it in the negative.
"But I suppose," continued the Queen, "if you were possessed of such asecret, you would hold it a matter of conscience to keep it to yourself?"
"I would pray to be directed and guided what was the line of duty,madam," answered Jeanie.
"Yes, and take that which suited your own inclinations," replied herMajesty.
"If it like you, madam," said Jeanie, "I would hae gaen to the end of theearth to save the life of John Porteous, or any other unhappy man in hiscondition; but I might lawfully doubt how far I am called upon to be theavenger of his blood, though it may become the civil magistrate to do so.He is dead and gane to his place, and they that have slain him mustanswer for their ain act. But my sister, my puir sister, Effie, stilllives, though her days and hours are numbered! She still lives, and aword of the King's mouth might restore her to a brokenhearted auld man,that never in his daily and nightly exercise, forgot to pray that hisMajesty might be blessed with a long and a prosperous reign, and that histhrone, and the throne of his posterity, might be established inrighteousness. O madam, if ever ye kend what it was to sorrow for andwith a sinning and a suffering creature, whose mind is sae tossed thatshe can be neither ca'd fit to live or die, have some compassion on ourmisery!--Save an honest house from dishonour, and an unhappy girl, noteighteen years of age, from an early and dreadful death! Alas! it is notwhen we sleep soft and wake merrily ourselves that we think on otherpeople's sufferings. Our hearts are waxed light within us then, and weare for righting our ain wrangs and fighting our ain battles. But whenthe hour of trouble comes to the mind or to the body--and seldom may itvisit your Leddyship--and when the hour of death comes, that comes tohigh and low--lang and late may it be yours!--Oh, my Leddy, then it isnawhat we hae dune for oursells, but what we hae dune for others, that wethink on maist pleasantly. And the thoughts that ye hae intervened tospare the puir thing's life will be sweeter in that hour, come when itmay, than if a word of your mouth could hang the haill Porteous mob atthe tail of ae tow."
Tear followed tear down Jeanie's cheeks, as, her features glowing andquivering with emotion, she pleaded her sister's cause with a pathoswhich was at once simple and solemn.
"This is eloquence," said her Majesty to the Duke of Argyle. "Youngwoman," she continued, addressing herself to Jeanie, "_I_ cannot grant apardon to your sister--but you shall not want my warm intercession withhis Majesty. Take this house-wife case," she continued, putting a smallembroidered needle-case into Jeanie's hands; "do not open it now, but atyour leisure--you will find something in it which will remind you thatyou have had an interview with Queen Caroline."
Jeanie, having her suspicions thus confirmed, dropped on her knees, andwould have expanded herself in gratitude; but the Duke who was uponthorns lest she should say more or less than just enough, touched hischin once more.
"Our business is, I think, ended for the present, my Lord Duke," said theQueen, "and, I trust, to your satisfaction. Hereafter I hope to see yourGrace more frequently, both at Richmond and St. James's.--Come LadySuffolk, we must wish his Grace good-morning."
They exchanged their parting reverences, and the Duke, so soon as theladies had turned their backs, assisted Jeanie to rise from the ground,and conducted her back through the avenue, which she trode with thefeeling of one who walks in her sleep.