Volume II Part 2 (1/2)
”I told her that I had every thing in readiness, and that I trusted she would not refuse to accoht pass for her I pressed her to come immediately, as we had no tiacious ht have deemed injudicious, had the effect which Lady Nithisdale expected; the undertaking was one of such risk, that it could only be an enterprise of impulse, except to her whose affections were deeply interested in the result The consent of Mrs Mills was carried by storan, who usually bore the naer, begging her to come immediately ”Their surprise and astonish of these, her two confidantes, ” of the consequences” The scheme was, that Mrs Mills, as tall and portly, should pass for Lord Nithisdale; Mrs Morgan was to carry concealed the bundle of ”clothes that were to serve Mrs Mills when she left her own behind her” After certain other preparations, all ed with infinite dexterity and shrewdness, these three heroines set out in a coach for the Tower, into which they were to be ad a last leave of Lord Nithisdale
Lady Nithisdale, even whilst her heart throbbed with agitation, continued to support her spirits ”When ere in the coach;” she relates, ”I never ceased talking, that they her coht have no leisure to repent
”On our arrival at the Tower, the first I introduced was Mrs Morgan (for I was only allowed to take in one at a tiht in the clothes which were to serve Mrs Mills when she left her own behind her When Mrs Morgan had taken off what she had brought for oing I begged her to sendtoo late to present ht if she did not come immediately I dispatched her safe, and went partly down stairs to meet Mrs Mills, who had the precaution to hold her handkerchief to her face, as is natural for a wo to take her last farewell of a friend on the eve of his execution I had indeed desired her to do so, that o out in the same manner Her eyebroere rather inclined to be sandy, and my lord's were very dark and very thick However, I had prepared souise his with; I also brought an artificial head-dress of the same coloured hair as hers, and I painted his face and his cheeks with rouge to hide his long beard, which he had not had time to shave
”All this provision I had before left in the Tower The poor guards, whoht liberality the day before had endeared o quietly out with my company, and were not so strictly on the watch as they usually had been; and the more so, as they were persuaded, from what I had told them the day before, that the prisoners would obtain their pardon I made Mrs Mills take off her own hood, and put on that which I had brought for her I then took her by the hand and led her out of h the next rooinable I said, 'My dear Mrs Catherine, go in all haste, and send -maid; she certainly cannot reflect how late it is I aht, and if I let slip this opportunity I am undone, for to-morrow is too late Hasten her as much as possible, for I shall be on thorns till she couards' wives and daughters, seely, and the sentinel officiously opened me the door When I had seen her safe out, I returned tohi, as she caht better pass for the lady who ca and afflicted; and the more so, as he had the sa rowing dark, and was afraid that the light of the candleshim by the hand, whilst he held his handkerchief to his eyes I spoke to hi bitterly the negligence of Evans, who had ruined me by her delay Then I said, 'My dear Mrs Betty, for the love of God, run quickly and bring her with you; you know , and if you ever made dispatch in your life, do it at present: I auards opened the door, and I went down stairs with hi him to make all possible dispatch As soon as he had cleared the door I made him walk before me, for fear the sentinel should take notice of his walk, but I continued to press him to make all the dispatch he possibly could
At the bottom of the stairs I met my dear Evans, into whose hands I confided hied Mr Mills to be in readiness before the Tower to conduct him to some place of safety, in case we succeeded He looked upon the affair as so very improbable to succeed, that his astonishment, when he saw us, threw him into such a consternation that he was alreatest presence of , lest he should mistrust them, conducted him to some of her own friends on whom she could rely, and so secured him, without which we certainly should have been undone When she had conducted him and left him with them, she returned to Mr Mills, who had by this tiether; and having found a place of security, they conducted him to it In thelady on a o back totoo late, so that everybody seemed sincerely to sympathise in my distress When I was in the room, I talked as if he had been really present I answered my own questions in my lord's voice, as nearly as I could iether, till I thought they had tiuards I then thought proper to make off also I opened the door and stood half in it, that those in the outward chaht hear what I said, but held it so close that they could not look in
I bade ht, and added, that soligent on this important occasion, who had always been so punctual in the so in person That if the Toas then open, when I had finished ht be assured I would be with hiain ad more favourable news Then, before I shut the door, I pulled through the string of the latch, so that it could only be opened in the inside
”I then shut it with so well shut I said to the servant as I passed by (as ignorant of the whole transaction), that he need not carry in candles to his master till my lord sent for them, as he desired to finish soular, successful, and heroic scheme It was now necessary that the devoted Lady Nithisdale should secure her own safety
She had, it seee, in case her attes, where a friend, named Mackenzie, waited to take her petition ”There is no need of a petition,” were the words that broke froitated woman; ”my lord is safe, and out of the Tower, and out of the hands of his eneh I know not where he is” Lady Nithisdale then discharged the coach which had brought her to her lodgings, a precaution which she always observed for fear of being traced,--never going in the same vehicle to more than one place She sent for a chair, and went to the duchess of Buccleugh, who had pro taken her precaution against all events The duchess expected her, but had co shown into the room where her friend ith her coe to her Grace, proceeded to the residence of the duchess of Montrose ”This lady had ever,” said Lady Nithisdale, ”borne a part in my distresses;” she now left her company to see and console the wife of the rebel lord, of whoht, a last farewell As the two friends met, the duchess, to her astonishment, found her visitor in a transport of joy; ”she was extrehtened,” writes Lady Nithisdale; ”and has since confessed to ht my troubles had driven me out of myself” She cautioned Lady Nithisdale to secrecy, and even to flight; for the King had been extremely irritated by the petition already sent in by Lady Nithisdale The generous duchess was, a those who frequented the Court, the only person that knew Lady Nithisdale's secret After a brief interview, Lady Nithisdale, sending for a fresh chair, hurried away to a house which her faithful attendant Evans had found for her, and where she was to learn tidings of Lord Nithisdale Here she learned that Lord Nithisdale had been re to which he had at first been conducted, to the uard-house Here the former Lord of Carlaverock and of Nithisdale , but her siood woman of the house had, it seems, but one small room up a pair of stairs, and a very sht not be heard walking up and down She left us a bottle of wine and soht us some more in her pockets the next day We subsisted on this provision froht, when Mr Mills came and conducted my lord to the Venetian Ambassador's We did not communicate the affair to his Excellency, but one of the servants concealed him in his own room till Wednesday, on which day the Ao down to Dover to meet his brother My lord put on a livery, and went down in the retinue, without the least suspicion, to Dover; where Mr Michel (which was the name of the Ambassador's servant) hired a se was so remarkably short, that the captain threw out this reflection,--that the wind could not have served better if the passengers had been flying for their lives, little thinking it to be really the case
”Mr Michelconcerned in my lord's escape; but my lord seemed inclined to have hiood place under our young master This is an exact and as full an account of this affair, and of the persons concerned in it, as I could possibly give you, to the best of my memory, and you may rely upon the truth of it For my part, I absconded to the house of a very honest man in Drury Lane, where I remained till I was assured of my lord's safe arrival on the Continent
I then wrote to the duchess of Buccleugh (everybody thought till then that I was gone off with my lord) to tell her that I understood I was suspected of having contrived my lord's escape, as was very natural to suppose; that if I could have been happy enough to have done it, I should be flattered to have the merit of it attributed to me; but that a bare suspicion without proof, would never be a sufficient ground for ht be motive sufficient for me to provide a place of security; so I entreated her to procure leave formy request, they were resolved to secure me if possible After several debates, Mr Solicitor-General, as an utter stranger to me, had the humanity to say, that since I showed such respect to Government as not to appear in public, it would be cruel to make any search after me
Upon which it was resolved that no further search should be made if I reland or Scotland, I should be secured But this was not sufficient for ary My lord sent for me up to town in such haste, that I had not ti before I left Scotland I had in my hand all the faht have been searched without warning, consequently they were far fro secure there In this distress, I had the precaution to bury theardener knehere they were I did the sas of value The event proved that I had acted prudently; for after my departure they searched the house, and God only knohat ht have transpired from those papers! All these circumstances rendered ht have been lost; for though they retained the highest preservation after one very severe winter, (for when I took them up they were as dry as if they came from the fire-side,) yet they could not possibly have reer without prejudice”
Lord Nithisdale went to Rome, and never revisited his native country; indeed, the project of the Rebellion of 1745, and the unceasing efforts and hopes by which it was preceded on the part of the Jacobites, must have rendered such a step impracticable to one who seems to have been especially obnoxious to the house of Hanover
His escape, according to Lady Nithisdale, both infuriated and alare the First, ”who flew into an excessive passion,” as she expresses it, on the news transpiring; and exclaimed that he was betrayed, and that it could not have been done without a confederacy He instantly dispatched ive orders that the prisoners ere still there, ave Lady Nithisdale; and the effects of his powerful resentland
Inexperienced, young, a stranger in the vast metropolis, Lady Nithisdale was now left alone, to skulk froht avoid the effects of the royal displeasure She absconded to the house of an ”honest man” in Drury Lane, where she remained in concealment until she heard of her husband's safe arrival on the Continent A report,been the enerally believed that she had gone with hih, Lady Nithisdale one day appeared before her, the object of that sudden and perhaps undesired visit being to obtain, by the influence of the duchess, leave to quit London; and to disseh her Grace, a belief that the safety of Lord Nithisdale was not procured by his wife'scircu, to have employed so much artifice in the conduct of this affair; but, if ever artifice be allowable, it is when opposed as a weapon to tyranny Besides, Lady Nithisdale had now not only her own safety to consider; she had to protect the interests of her son
Those whoe by imprisonment
The Solicitor-General, however, showed a more compassionate spirit than his employers, and in the course of several debates in the House of Commons, submitted that if Lady Nithisdale paid so much respect to Government as not to appear in public, it would be cruel to make any farther search after her It was therefore decided that unless the lady were seen in England or Scotland, she should be unmolested; but if she were observed in either of those countries, she should be secured This ht be a decision of mercy, but Lady Nithisdale could not submit to it, unless she left her son's estate to be ruined by waste and plunder
Hurried as she had been to London, she had found tiement, which proved to be of the utmost importance
”I had in my hands,” she relates, ”all the faht have been searched without warning, consequently they were far fro secure there In this distress I had the precaution to bury theardener knehere they were: I did the sas of value The event proved that I had acted prudently to save these papers”
Lady Nithisdale determined to return, at all risks, to Scotland; and it was, perhaps, fro the important documents to which she refers, that the estates were not escheated She soon put into execution the heroic determination, of which she made no boast Her journey was full of perils; not only those incident to the ti betrayed and discovered
Little respect was paid, in that reign, when truly the spirit of chivalry was extinguished, to the weaker sex Ladies, active and instruues, if found out, were made to pay the penalty of their dissaffection with hard ie, wandered from place to place, conscious that the eye of the law pursued their footsteps Lady Seaforth, the wife of one of the rebel lords, was reduced to necessity, even of the coton and her children shared the sa herself, also, to be an object of peculiar dislike to George the First, Lady Nithisdale's courage in braving the royal displeasure a second time, certainly appears to border upon folly and a rash temerity
But she kneell that if she could once reach the land of the Maxwells, the strict respect paid to the head of the clan, and the remarkable fidelity of all ranks of the Scotch to those who trust to their honour, would there prove her safeguard The great danger was inheroic Countess dismissed all fear from her mind, and prepared for her enterprise
”In short,” she thus prefaces her narrative, ”as I had once exposed my life for the safety of the father, I could not do less than hazard it once more for the fortune of the son I had never travelled on horseback but from York to London, as I told you; but the difficulties did not arise now fro discovered and arrested To avoid this, I bought three saddle-horses, and set off with ht with me out of Scotland We put up at all the smallest inns on the road, that could take in a few horses, and where I thought I was not known; for I was thoroughly known at all the considerable inns on the northern road Thus I arrived safe at Traquhair, where I thoughta friend of my lord's, would not per me previous notice to abscond Here I had the assurance to restto my own house with leave froistrates of Duht not norant of my arrival in the country till I was at honed to have permission to rehbours and invited theht and sent them off to Traquhair It was a particular stroke of providence that I made the dispatch I did, for they soon suspected me, and by a very favourable accident, one of theistrates of Du my leave from Government This was bruited about, and when I was told of it, I expressedto pay their respects; 'but,' said I, 'better late than never: be sure to tell them that they shall be welcome whenever they choose to come'
”This was after dinner, but I lost no ti in readiness with all possible secrecy; and the next ain for London with the same attendants, and, as before, put up at the smallest inns and arrived safe once more”[33]