Fletcher of Saltoun

Front matter

FAMOUS

•SCOTS'

THE LIBRARY

Preface

In 1792 the eleventh Earl of Buchan published a volume of Essays on the Life and Writings of Fletcher of Saltowi and the Poet Thomson. It contains our only biography of Fletcher ; but, though founded on original sources of information, it is frequently inaccurate, and must, therefore, be used with great caution. The author of the article on Fletcher in the third edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica (1797) mentions that the tenth Earl Marischal, when Governor of Neuchatel, suggested to Rousseau that he should write the life of Fletcher. Rousseau was furnished with mss. for this purpose; but nothing came of it, and most of the materials on which that work was to have been founded seem to have been lost. Some interesting documents, however, are preserved in the University Library at Edinburgh, including mss. used by Lord Buchan, and a letter to him from Lord Hailes, who had evidently been applied to for information. (Laing mss. 364.)

Mr. F. Espinasse refers to most of the printed authorities for the life of Fletcher, in a siiccinct but

>3 r-tlp-^-^yCX

6 PREFACE

exhaustive article in the Dictionary of National Biography, vol. xix. p. 292 ; and in the Scottish Review for July 1893 (vol. xxii. p. 61) there is a very interesting paper on ' Andrew Fletcher, the Scottish Patriot,' from the pen of Mr. J. R. Donaldson. Many allusions to Fletcher's conduct as a member of the last Scottish Parliament are to be found in the Godolphin Correspondence in the British Museum. (Add. mss. 28,055.) I have to thank Mr. Fletcher of Saltoun for allowing me to consult a volume of Recollections respecting the Family of Saltoun, and for an opportunity of examining the library and visiting the scenes of Fletcher's early life.

Mr. E. Gordon Duff, librarian of the John Rylands Library, Manchester, and Mr. R. A. S. Macfie have for some time been engaged in compiling a Bibliography of Fletcher; and I desire to thank them for their kindness in placing their ms. unreservedly in my hands. There is considerable doubt respecting the authorship of several pamphlets which have been attributed to Fletcher, as well as regarding the places at which his works were printed ; and if this Bibliography appears in print, it will be found most valuable by all who take an interest in his writings.

Oxford, March 1897.

Chapter I

rAGB

Fletcher's Birth and Education — Travels Abroad — A Member of the Scottish Parliament — Goes to the Continent . . 9

CHAPTER II The Whig Plot — Comes to England with Monmouth— Shoots Dare — Is found guilty of High Treason and attainted — The Estate of Saltoun forfeited 20

CHAPTER III Adventures in Spain — Serves in Hungary against the Turks — Returns to Scotland at the Revolution — Reforms in the Scottish Parliament — Saltoun Restored — Darien • , 37

CHAPTER IV Fletcher's Political Writings — ' A Discourse on Militias ' — The Affairs of Scotland — Supports Slavery as a Cure for Mendicancy — Attacks the Partition Treaty . • « 49

CHAPTER V The First Session of the Union Parliament — Fletcher proposes his Twelve Limitations on the Crown — An Act of Security — The Supplies are refused 61

CHAPTER VI •A Conversation concerning a Right Regulation of Government for the Common Good of Mankind ' , • • S5

8 CONTENTS

CHAPTER VII

PACK

A New Ministry in Scotland — Scenes in the Parliament House — The Act of Security becomes Law — England retaliates by passing the Alien Act 96

CHAPTER VITI

A Ministerial Crisis, and a Change of Government in Scotland — The Government is defeated — The Limitations again — Fletcher's Duel with Roxburghe — The Act for a Treaty of Union passed , 108

CHAPTER IX

The Union Commission at Westminster — The Act of Union passed — Belhaven's Speech — Violent Conduct of Fletcher and other Members during the Debates . , . ,129

CHAPTER X

Arrest of Fletcher — His Release — The Jacobite Prisoners of 1708 — Death of Belhaven — Fletcher retires into Private Life — Conversations with Wodrow — His Death — Views of his Character ,..,,,,. 142

CHAPTER I

Fletcher's Birth and Education — Travels Abroad— A Member of the Scottish Parliament — Goes to the Continent.

Andrew Fletcher, eldest son of Sir Robert Fletcher of Saltoun, in the county of Haddington, and of Catherine, daughter of Sir Henry Bruce of Clackmannan, was born in the year 1653. He was educated either at home or in the parish school of Saltoun until 1665. On the thirteenth of January in that year his father died, having, on his deathbed, intrusted the charge of educating his son to Burnet, the future Bishop of Salisbury, who had just been presented to the living of Saltoun, of which Sir Robert was the patron, Burnet's first published work was, A Disccurse on the Memory of that rare and truly virtuous person^ Sir Robert Fletcher of Saltoun, written by a gentleman of his acquaintance. This volume, which the author calls, ' The rude essay of an unpolished hand,' contains almost nothing about either Sir Robert or his son ; and, in fact, Burnet does little more than use his patron as a peg on which to hang a string of platitudes. But from the moment Burnet became minister of Saltoun, Andrew Fletcher lived in lo FAMOUS SCOTS

an atmosphere of learning. There was a library belonging to the Church of Saltoun, founded by one of the parish ministers, and added to by Burnet and the Fletcher family ; and among this collection of books we may fancy Burnet and his pupil spending many hours. There were two catalogues, one of them written by Sir Robert Fletcher; and in August 1666 we find the •Laird of Saltoun,' then thirteen years of age, visiting the library, comparing the books with the catalogues, and gravely reporting to the Presbytery of Haddington that Burnet was taking proper care of the books.

These books were chiefly theological, but among them were The Acts of the Second Parliament of King Charles, from which Burnet might teach the boy many useful lessons, and the * Book of the Martyrs, 3 vol. in folio, gifted by my Lady Saltoun.' For the support of this library Burnet left a sum of money; and it is still known in the district as 'Bishop Burnet's Library.' The books are preserved in a room in the manse of Saltoun under the charge of the parish minister, and prominent among them are a fine folio edition of Burnet's own works, and a black-letter copy of Foxe's Book of Martyrs,

Of Fletcher's earliest days little is recorded, except that he was, from infancy, of a fiery but generous nature. According to family tradition Burnet imbued his pupil 'with erudition and the principles of free

FLETCHER OF SALTOUN ir

government ' ; and perhaps it is not mere fancy which leads us to picture the keen, eager, excitable boy reading the Book of Martyrs, and listening to Burnet, who describes his system of education in the account which he gives of the manner in which he taught the Duke of Gloucester in after years. • I took,' he says, *to my own province, the reading and explaining the Scriptures to him, the instructing him in the Principles of Religion and the Rules of Virtue, and the giving him a view of History, Geography, Politics, and Government.' History, politics, and the theory of government— these were, all through his life, Andrew Fletcher's favourite studies; and we cannot doubt that Burnet not only drilled him thoroughly in Greek and Latin, as he certainly did, but also fostered that taste for letters from w^hich not even the turmoil of politics could ever wean him.

Fletcher also owed much to the influence of his mother ; and to this he himself, in his later years, bore testimony. 'One day,' it is recorded in the private family history, ' after Andrew Fletcher had entertained his company wuth a concert of music, and they were walking about in the hall at Saltoun, a gentleman fixed his eye on the picture of Katherine Bruce, where the elegant pencil of Sir Peter Lely had blended the softness and grace that form the pleasing ornaments of the sex. " That is my mother," says Andrew ; " and if there is anything in my education and acquirements during the early part of my life, I owe them entirely to that woman."'

Burnet remained at Saltoun until November 1669, when he was appointed Professor of Divinity at Glasgow. It is, however, possible that Fletcher was sent to the University of Edinburgh before that date, as the name of an Andrew Fletcher occurs in the University Register for the year 1668. This may not have been young Fletcher of Saltoun ; but in any case we would suppose, from the acquirements which he afterwards displayed, that he had received a University education, though this is not to be gathered from Lord Buchan, who says : 'When he had completed his course of elementary studies in Scotland, under the care of his excellent preceptor, he was sent to travel on the Continent.' But as Fletcher was only fifteen when Burnet left Saltoun, it seems more probable that he was sent to the University of Edinburgh for a }ear or two before starting on the 'Grand Tour.'

Of his travels nothing appears to be known ; but he doubtless followed the route usually taken, through France, Germany, and Italy, by young Scotsmen of family, who, it need scarcely be said, were almost always sent to finish their education by visiting foreign countries. Fletcher knew French, but with regard to Italian Lord Buchan mentions a curious fact. 'He had,' says Lord Buchan, 'acquired the grammatical knowledge of the Italian so perfectly as to compose and publish a treatise in that language; yet he could not speak it, as he found when having an interview with Prince Eugene of Savoy, and being addressed in that language by the Prince, he could not utter a syllable to be understood.'

Having returned to Scotland, he was, in June 1678, sent as one of the members for Haddingtonshire to the Convention of Estates which met that summer. His colleague was Adam Cockburn of Ormiston, a fine gentleman of the old school, but one of the most virulent Presbyterians even of that day. It is to be observed that the rolls of parliament have the name of 'James Fletcher of Saltoun.' It appears, from the Official Return of Members (published in 1878) that the original commissions for Haddingtonshire have been lost ; but there is no doubt whatever that the rolls are wrong, and the name 'James' appears by a mistake instead of ' Andrew.'

This Convention of Estates, in which Lauderdale was Lord High Commissioner, sat from the 26th of June to the nth of July. It was summonea for the purpose of voting money to maintain the troops who were to be employed in suppressing the conventicles or field meetings of the Presbyterians; and a supply of thirty thousand pounds a year, for five years, was granted. The Opposition, led by Hamilton, could muster only thirty-nine votes, while the supporters of the Government numbered one hundred, including, of course, all the Bishops. Among the thirty-nine was Fletcher, who thus, from the outset of his public life, took his stand against the arbitrary system on which Scotland was governed until the Revolution.

During this short session an incident took place which was very characteristic of Fletcher. The Estates had ordered that none but members were to be admitted to the Parliament House. Fletcher's brother Henry, however, had managed to slip in. He was discovered, fined, and sent to the Tolbooth. So next day Andrew Fletcher 'pitched on little William Tolemache as no member,' as Lord Fountainhall puts it. On this Lauderdale was forced to declare that he was one of his servants, whom he was entitled to bring into the House. This is the first instance of that hot, pertinacious spirit which Fletcher so often displayed on the floor of the Parliament House; nor, trifling as the incident was, must it be forgotten that it required some courage to face Lauderdale, whose easygoing, plausible manner concealed a most vindictive spirit.

The Government had now resolved to rule Scotland by the sword ; and their policy was to turn the militia, as far as possible, into a standing army. The Scottish Privy Council was ordered to draw five thousand foot and five hundred horse from the militia, and quarter them at the expense of the heritors in all the counties ; and instructions were given that, in addition to the oaths of allegiance and supremacy, the soldiers should be called upon to swear 'to maintain the present Government in Church and State, as it is now established by law, and to oppose the damnable principle of taking up arms against the King, or those commissionate by him.' In other words, the militia of Scotland, where a majority of the people were opposed to the Church established by law, were to swear that they would maintain the principles of passive obedience and non-resistance. And this oath was to be taken, * not in the ordinary way that such military oaths used to be executed, by drawing up the troop or company together in a body, but that every soldier, one after another, shall by himself swear the same.*

Of the * New Model,' as, borrowing the phraseology of the Commonwealth, the Ministers called the troops, two hundred foot and forty-six horse were quartered upon Haddingtonshire ; and this led Fletcher into collision with the Government. At the end of July 1680, along with Sinclair of Stevenston and Murray of Blackbarrony, he was accused, before the Privy Council, of seditiously obstructing the King's Service, *in putting the Act of the Privy Council to execution for levying the five thousand five hundred men out of the miUtia.'

It was expected that the accused, who, says Lord Fountainhall, stated 'difficulties and scruples,' would be fined and imprisoned, but they escaped with a rebuke. In January of the following year Lord Yester, Fletcher, and ten other gentlemen of Haddingtonshire, presented a petition to the Privy Council, * complaining of the standing forces, ther quartering upon them.' This petition was extremely resented, because it spoke of the quartering of soldiers on the country, in time of peace, as contrary to law, and seemed to reflect upon the Crovernment.

At the general election of 1681 there was a double return from Haddingtonshire. The Lairds of Saltoun and Ormiston were returned by those freeholders who opposed the Government, and Hepburn of Humbie and Wedderburn of Gosford by the Ministerial party. It is said that when the matter came before the committee on disputed elections. Bishop Paterson of Edinburgh, who was chairman, proposed that ' for the sake of serving the King,' some votes which had been given in favour of Fletcher should not be counted. But this dishonest advice was not taken; the case was fairly tried, and Fletcher and Cockburn were declared to have been duly elected.

The Duke of York was Commissioner in this Parliament, which met on the 28th of July 1681. The two great measures of the session were the 'Act acknowledging and asserting the Right of Succession to the Imperial Crown of Scotland,' which was passed for the purpose of securing the succession of the Duke of York, and the famous ' Act anent Religion and the Test.'

Both of these measures were strenuously opposed by Fletcher, who is said to have written a number of private letters to members of the Parliament, imploring them to vote against the Succession Act, on the ground that the Duke was both a Roman Catholic and a tyrant.

The Test Act was, in spite of its vast importance, brought in and passed in the course of a single day ; but at least one amendment was moved by Fletcher. * Mr. Fletcher of Saltoun,* says Dalrymple, * after long opposing the bill, with all the fire of ancient eloquence, and of his own spirit, made a motion which the Court party could not, in decency, oppose ; that the security of the Protestant Religion should be made a part of the Test.'

The new clause was prepared by Sir James Dalrymple, then Lord President of the Court of Session, who so framed it that the ' Protestant Religion ' was defined as that set forth in the Old Scots Confession of Faith of 1567, which was inconsistent with Episcopacy, and also allowed the lawfulness of resistance. 'That was a book,' says Burnet, * so worn out of use, that scarce any one in the whole Parliament had ever read it. None

B of the Bishops had, as appeared afterwards.' The result was that Fletcher's amendment, as framed by Dalrymple, became part of the Act, all the Bishops agreeing to it.

Fletcher also resisted the monstrous and unconstitutional clause which compelled the county electors, on pain of forfeiting the franchise, to swear that they would never attempt to * bring about,' as the statute puts it, ' any change or alteration either in church or state, as it is now established by the laws of this Kingdom.' There was a division on this question. No lists remain to show how the members voted ; but the following protest is inscribed on the rolls of Parliament : ' That part of the Act — If the Test should be put to the Electors of Commissioners for Shires to the Parliament, having been put to the vote by itself, before the voting and passing of the whole Act ; and the same being carried in the Affirmative, the Laird of Saltoun and the Laird of Grant, having voted in the negative, desired their dissent might be marked.'

Fletcher had now incurred the implacable enmity of the Duke of York, who, says Mackay, * would not forgive his behaviour in that Parliament ' ; and he was, moreover, soon involved once more in trouble with the Privy Council. The Estates had voted money for the public service; and Fletcher was named as one of the Commissioners of Supply for Haddingtonshire. Part of the Commissioners' duty was to arrange for the troops which were quartered on the country; and in April 1682 the Lord Advocate accused them before the Privy Council for not meeting with the Sheriff-Depute, to set prices on corn and straw, grass and hay, for the soldiers' horses ; * or at least for making a mock act, in setting down prices, but not laying out the localities where the forces may be served with these necessaries.' In short, the Laird of Saltoun and the Commissioners of Supply did all they could to thwart and annoy the Government.

' After much trouble and pains,' in the words of Lord Fountainhall, the gentlemen of East Lothian consented to fix store-houses and magazines in the county ; but in a short time Fletcher came to the conclusion that he could no longer remain in Scotland. He accordingly went to London, perhaps to consult Burnet on the situation, and thence made his way to the Continent.

Chapter II

The Whig Plot — Conies to England with Monmouth — Shoots Dare — Is found guilty of High Treason and attainted — The Estate of Saltoun forfeited.

Fletcher's movements cannot be accurately traced for some time after he left Scotland. Argyll wrote to him, on several occasions, for the purpose of enlisting his services against the Government ; but he did not answer the letters. At last, however, when he was at Brussels, he heard that the English Ministers had privately requested the Marquis de Grand to have him apprehended. This seems to have irritated him ; for he went to London and joined the circle of Whigs who were then engaged in preparing to resist the succession of the Duke of York. As is well known, before the plot was matured Shaftesbury fled to Holland, where he died, and the management of this dangerous business was left in the hands of a council of six — Monmouth, Russell, Essex, Howard, Hampden, and Algernon Sidney.

According to Lord Buchan, Fletcher and Baillie of Jerviswoode were the only two Scotsmen who were admitted into the secrets of the six; but what part

Fletcher took in the Whig Plot, which, it need scarcely be said, must be distinguished from the Rye-House Plot, of which Fletcher probably knew nothing, it is impossible to say. Baillie of Jerviswoode was offered his life, on condition that he would give evidence against his friends, and against Fletcher in particular; but he answered, in the often quoted words, 'They who make such a proposal know neither me nor my country.'

In October 1683 he was in Paris, whither he had perhaps journeyed in company with Burnet, who had left England at the beginning of September. Viscount Preston who was then at Paris as Envoy-Extraordinary from the English Court, wrote to Halifax about Fletcher. 'Here,' he says, 'is one Fletcher, lately come from Scotland. He is an ingenious but a very dangerous fanatic, and doubtless hath some commission, for I hear he is very busy and very virulent.'

Burnet returned to England in the beginning of the following year ; and Fletcher seems then to have gone to Holland, where he saw he would be safer than anywhere else, for we next find him travelling about in that country and in Belgium, visiting the libraries of Leyden, and picking up volumes among the bookstalls ot Haarlem. It was perhaps at this time that the curious incident recorded by Mrs. Calderwood of Polton, in the Coltness Collection, occurred. The story is almost incredible ; but Mrs. Calderwood gives it in the most matter-of-fact way.

'They tell,' she says, 'a story of old Fletcher of Salton and a skipper : Salton could not endure the smoak of toback, and as he was in a night-scoot, the skipper and he fell out about his forbidding him to smoak j Salton, finding he could not hinder him, went up and sat on the ridge of the boat, which bows like an arch. The skipper was so contentious that he followed him, and, on whatever side Salton sat, he put his pipe in the cheek next him, and whifed it in his face ; Salton went down several times, and brought up stones in his pockets from the ballast, and slipt them into the skipper's pocket that was next the water, and when he found he had loadened him as much as would sink him, he gives him a shove, so that over he hirsled. The boat went on, and Salton came down amongst the rest of the passengers, who probably were asleep, and fell asleep amongst the rest. In a little time bump came the scoot against the side, on which they all damned the skipper ; but, behold, when they called, there was no skipper; which would breed no great amazement in a Dutch company.'

In the meantime the Government had not lost sight of Fletcher; for on the 21st of November 1684 he was cited at the Market Cross of Edinburgh, and at the pier and shore of Leith, to appear within sixty days, and answer to the charge of * Conversing with Argyll and other rebels abroad.' With regard to this charge, Lord Fountainhall says that Fletcher's intrigues with Monmouth, at the time of the Whig Plot, could not be criminal, as Monmouth had received his pardon in December 1683; but this was not the opinion of the Lord Advocate, for m the following January the Laird of Saltoun and a number of other 'fugitive rebels,' including Lord Loudoun, Lord Melville, and Sir James Dalrymple of Stairs, were charged with high treason, and declared outlaws.

Soon after the death of Charles 11. Fletcher was at Brussels ; and Monmouth, who was then living incognito at Amsterdam, sent his confidential servant, William Williams, with a letter to him. Williams afterwards, when he was called as a witness against Fletcher, said he did not know the contents of the letter ; but it doubtless contained a request that Fletcher would come to Amsterdam.

Monmouth was now in despair. With the death of his father, his last chance of being received at the English Court was gone. He had fallen into the hands of conspirators who were urging him to invade England. His own opinions were all against this ; and he wished to take the advice of Fletcher, which, whether sound or not, was certain to be disinterested. So Fletcher went to Amsterdam; and what happened shows that Monmouth had acted wisely in sending for him.

Along list could be compiled of the exiles who were now assembled at Amsterdam. Argyll, Lord Grey of Wark, and Ferguson the Plotter, were the most active and persistent of the conspirators who surrounded Monmouth ; but a great part in these fateful deliberations was taken by Ayloffe and Rumbold, whose names are so well known in connection with the Rye -House Plot, by Wade, and by Captain Matthews. Dare, known as 'Old Dare,' to distinguish him from his son, must be specially remembered, as his name will presently occur in connection with the most painful event in Fletcher's life. He had been a goldsmith of Taunton before he went into exile. He was a man of rough manners, but very popular in his native place. Having lived abroad for some time, he was now eager for an immediate descent on England, and persisted, more than any one else, in promising to Monmouth a general rising in the west country.

Another of the party was Anthony Buyse, who had served under the Elector of Brandenburgh, and whom readers of fiction may recollect as the ' Brandenburgher ' with whom Micah Clarke has the bout of ' handgrips,' in Mr. Conan Doyle's famous romance.

'The person,' Sir John Dalrymple says, 'in whom the Duke of Monmouth chiefly confided was Mr. Fletcher of Saltoun, in whom all the powers of the soldier, the orator, and the scholar were united; and who, in ancient Rome, would have been the rival and the friend of Cato.' Fletcher's opinion was strong and clear. He was against making an attempt on England. Monmouth himself held the same view. But the fates were driving Monmouth and Argyll relentlessly to their doom. Argyll's mind was made up, and nothing could turn him from his purpose of invading Scotland. Fletcher was so convinced that the expedition to Scotland was useless, that he refused to take a part in it, and said that, if there was to be an invasion, he would accompany Monmouth to England.

He was, nevertheless, as strong against the expedition to England as against that to Scotland ; but it appears, from what he afterwards told Burnet, that all the English, except Captain Matthews, were pressing Monmouth to make the venture. The west of England, they told him, would rise to a man, as soon as he appeared. There would be no fighting. Even the King's Guards would support him. In London, too, the people were as disaffected as in the west. The King would not dare to send troops out of the capital ; and so there would be time to raise such an army for the Protestant cause that he would be able to fight the King on equal terms. Monmouth was a soldier, and therefore knew that a force newly enlisted, and hastily organised, would have no chance against well-drilled troops. In the discussions, Fletcher and Matthews alone seemed to have agreed with Monmouth — Lord Grey, Ferguson, Wade, and Dare all clamouring for action. * Henry the Seventh,' said Grey, ' landed with a smaller force, and succeeded.' 'He was sure of the nobility, who were little Princes in those days,' answered Fletcher shrewdly. 'It is a good cause,' cried Ferguson, 'and God will not leave us, unless we leave Him.'

And, in the end, the rash counsels of Grey and Ferguson prevailed ; and Monmouth, who seems to have been at last talked into believing that success was possible, resolved to make the attempt. Nor could Fletcher persist in his opposition when, on the 2nd of May, Argyll, taking Rumbold and AylofFe with him, sailed for Scotland, having received a promise from Monmouth that he would follow in six days.

It was not, however, until the 24th that the party of adventurers, thirty in number, left Amsterdam in a lighter. The weather in the Zuider Zee was bad, and it took them nearly a week to reach the Texel. Here the frigate Helderenherg and three tenders awaited them. The frigate, with papers made out for Bilboa, had been chartered by Monmouth, and carried arms and ammunition. An attempt was made by the agent of the English Government to induce the authorities at Amsterdam to prevent the ship sailing ; but, though the States- General gave orders that she should be stopped, the

Admiralty of Amsterdam professed that they had not a force at their disposal strong enough to take her. One of the tenders was seized ; but the Helderenberg^ with the other two, sailed with Monmouth and his followers, who now numbered eighty-two — of whom Lord Grey and Fletcher were the highest in rank. The bad weather continued after they left the Texel ; but at last the little company found themselves off the shores of Dorsetshire.

Their intention was to land at Lyme ; but Dare was put ashore at Seaton, which lies a short distance to the west of Lyme, with orders to make his way to Taunton, and inform the friends of the Protestant cause that Monmouth was at hand.