Derwentwater; a Tale of 1715- Review 1830
Derwentwater; a Tale of 1715
The Dublin Literary Gazette, No. 18 (May 1, 1830), pp. 277-278
Derwentwater; a Tale of 1715. In 2 vols. I (Review)
London, William Kidd.
THE field of historical romance, though it has been, in a great measure, engrossed by the splendid productions of one gifted Scotsman, still contains so many valuable treasures, that we witness with delight the appearance in it of any new and worthy labourers. Here we have one before us, of great talent and infinite good sense, who, to a clear view and mastery over his world of fitcny and romance, adds the rare merit of understanding the history of the period of which he writes. His work possesses interest, too, of another sort: it illustrates the state of manners and character in a distant and most interesting district of England, which, though affording many lively pictures of the varieties of human conduct, temper, and principles, seems hitherto, strangely enough, to have wanted a chronicler.
A better spot than Northumberland could not have been chosen, to illustrate the disinterested gallantry and devotion which the old and real Jacobites of England, shewed to the infatuated Stuarts, in the rising of 1715.- The family of the Ratciffes, whose name subsequently changed to the more princely title- " Derwentwater,"--continues to this day endeared to the men of Northumberland by many fresh remembrances of familiar kindness--were conspicuous for their personal attachment to that race, and for their rash contempt of danger in the cause. Every one at all acquainted with the circumstances of the first rebellion, will know the game which the last unfortunate Earl played so rashly, and accounted for so fearfully. His fate affords abundant elements for a good novel, though there were few obtrusive or prominent features in his own gentle and amiable character.
We do not like to analyse two volumes in a single paragraph; and therefore shall not attempt a sketch of the busy plot, but refer to the book itself, in which our readers will find many stirring details of individual adventure, mingled and identified with a striking sketch of the great public occurrences to which we have alluded. And by the way, on this same historical sketch we would say a few words.- Of late years it has been much the fashion in writing of the great controversy of this period, to decry what may well be called the cause of popular principles, to vilify and abuse the Whigs, as the Hanoverian or Constitutional party were then called; and with extraordinary zeal for a vanquished cause, to trumpet forth the devotion of the Jacobites, their personal gallantry, disinterested valour, unspeakable constancy, faith, and Now we could never much honour.- approve this. We could never appreciate the feeling that would raise to the stars men remarkable only for misguided, albeit disinterested, devotion to an arbitrary government, and would visit with ridicule and opprobrium, the memory of those to whose "devotion" for a rational government, we owe all the blessings of a free constitution.
The manliness with which this historical question is treated in these pages, demands our unqualified praise. The author does not tax his faith and dexterity to make the worse appear the better cause; yet he excites zeal and active sympathy for the untimely fate of his hero, and other adherents of that bad cause, by speaking always with fairness and indulgence, and neither calling in! the aid of seducing pathos, or diseased. sentiment.- In an honest and truly moral strain of feeling, he deplores their miserable destiny, whilst he censures their misjudged zeal.
What follows will bear us out, to the full5 in what we have said: it is penned with ", a learned spirit of observation," and follows the account of Derwentwater's execution, which we think also worthy of an extract; it is most affecting, but its chief praiseworthiness consists in a close and scrupulous adherence to historical accuracy;' this, in a work of fiction, where exaggeration is but too prevalent, cati not be sufficiently commended:
" It was on a stern and biting morning, towards the end of February, that a sable erection, of ominous form and character, saluting the newly awoken eye of day, informed the inhabitants of Tower Hill, that another catastrophe was about to be added to the long list of those their vicinage had witnessed in time past. When the sun had gained the utmost height the sullen season would allow, the area of that gentle elevation began to give still more active signs of the approaching tragedy. Large parties of guards, both horse and foot, then encircled the sickening structure just mentioned, which the prescient reader need not be told was the scaffold; and a dense, serried crowd, filling up the vacant space around, appeared to await what was to come, in silent and serious intimidation.
" A covered passage communicated between the stage of immolation and a large building, known as the Transport Office, within which was an apartment invested in funeral black, and appropriated to the last preparations of the sad sufferers. Here they received the blessings and adieus of their tearful friends, and here Frederick Silburne took his earthly farewell of the Lord of Dilstow.
"Thence this nobleman was the first conducted forth---selected to enjoy an unenviable priority of fate. His bearing, at the trying moment when quitting the shielded gallery, he stepped upon the elevated platform, and stood exposed to the eager gaze of the undulating multitude, was manly and composed-to a degree scarcely expected in one so young. It was the more noted, as exhibited by a character not hitherto supposed to be strong. The quiet collectedness with which he examined the block, mid desired the executioner to chip off a projection thereon, that might have offended his neck, was an additional proof of the steady resignation with which he looked upon the appalling paraphernalia of the occasion.
"Having obtained permission of the sheriffs, who were, of course, in attendance, the earl advanced to the rails of the scaffold, and read, from a paper, a short speech. Therein he apologised to his party for having condescended to plead 'guilty,' in another place; avowed an attaclunent to King James-cherished even from infancy; declared his strong faith in the doctrines of the Romnn Catholic Church; and concluded by saying, that, "if it had pleased him who now reigned, to have spared his life, he would have thought it his duty never more to have taken arms against him." This done, nothing remained to delay the final consummation. Before laying his head upon the block, he spoke a few words' of instruction to the horrid functionary by his side. The third time I cry 'Sweet Jesus!' said he to him, then strike, and do what is most convenient for you.' He then betook himself to earnest prayer.- 'Sweet Jesus!' he cried, in a low inward voice, 'receive my spirit! Sweet Jesus! be merciful unto me! Sweet Jesus!'- he spoke no more; the axe at that moment fell, and a single blow severed the head from its quivering trunk. We draw a veil over what followed.
"Thus perished the ill-fated Earl of Derwentwater, a victim to an overwrought and misjudging notion of loyalty to an expatriated master. If the matured convictions of the present day should lead any to sneer at the enthusiastic folly that led to such a dellorable result, let them bear in mind, that he lived in an age when the obsolete prejudices of an older time still clung to thousands, and that he was connected, in some sort, by the ties of consanguinity to those for whose sake he died. They cannot, at the same time, refuse to admire the generous spirit of devotion which could peril 'life, hopes, and princely fortune, in a cause which, even if triumphant, had, in a wordly sense, no reward for him. There might indeed, be the empty applause of his party; or the more valuable consciousness of having realized his own ideas of duty; but neither of those can furnish that interested motive so creditably absent.
Never, during so short a career, did any man attach to himself, more friends. Never did a magistrate of the land better sustain, in his own deportment, a title to the adventitious rank he inherited from others, and more worthily dispense the goods which fortune had stored in his garner. If the untainted testimony of all those whom a stern fortune had condemned to a life of dependance, and redeemingly directed to brook it under such a Lord, can avouch this, that confirmation can be abundantly traced. Long had the men of Tynedale occasion bitterly to deplore the sad expulsion, which, depriving them of him, robbed them of their chief ornament and support."
"In characterizing the generous impulse which inspired so many manly hearts to risk privations of the most incalculable extent, little place has been given to a spring of action much dwelt on by the vulgar-religious zeal. Such, in fact, had no general influence. A full moiety of the gentlemen in arms were Protestants; and even beneficed clergy then of the English church were to be found amidst their ranks. During the whole time they were banded together, the utmost harmony prevailed between the persuasions, it seeming as if the idea of distinctions of that kind had not entered into the heads of any. No- it was to a reverence for old associations; pity for a fallen sovereign, and the reciprocally anticipated example of friends and neighbours, that this rising is mainly to be attributed. Perhaps too, a dash of English feeling, galled to see a foreign prince claim allegiance in the land, might have mingled with those above enumerted, and, so far, have helped on the crisis.
" The thinking part of the nation were certainly, at this time, inimical to the recal of the Stuarts; and if, as has been said, knowledge is power, they were the more powerful party. But, numerically speaking, the well-wishers of that house preponderated. Nor is it difficult to understand wherefore. The influence of names; the prejudices of usage; the deference then entertained towards antiquity, furnish a few broad ideas which take prompt hold of the minds of the million, whilst, to vague or uncultivated intellect, the real nature of the compact betwixt governor and governed, is of less easy comprehension. In other words, the Stuart claims, stood in a kind of rude relief, and were to be caught up at a glance by every shallow or fervid brain that could not fathom the substantial and prospective policy which brought in the house of Brunswick. When, therefore, we consider, that the mass of the softer sex, and the inexperienced youth of the other, belong to this class, we will find a tolerably pertinent explanation of the matter.
"If the country was thus well inclined towards their ancient rulers, it may be asked, why was this overture in their favour so easily quashed? The prepared and watchful position of the party in power, and the absence of means and combination in that of their enemies, are reasons which lay on the surface.- We must, however, go a little deeper fairly to discover why the Jacobits, avowedly so numerous, did not make a better head, even at the first; or why they failed to flock around that which was made. Some explanation may be found in the undefined dread of popery industriously diffused, but more, in the settled state of society. Men had grown calculating; they were not now disposed to involve even their personal comfort, much less to risk, as of old, life itself, for an opinion. To be well affected towards those whom they believed to have an hereditary and indefensible right to rule, was one thing; to arm in their behalf, against those actually ruling, was another. They saw around them an established order of things, which they had no notion of pulling about their ears, as a step to obtain a restitution of supposed rights. Moreover, the want of any germ and connection between those rights and the common interest; the absence of any real grievance, coming home to their own " business and bosoms," caused myriads to confine themselves to quiet good wishes. To these causes, especially aggravated by the non-appearance of foreign aid, may be, in a great measure, attributed the absence of very different results."
This is clear and spirited writing; and the reasoning is substantially true.- The illustration of the manners and dialect of the Northumbrian peasantry is admirably vivid and peculiar:- we take upon ourselves to vouch for this-having travelled, at various times, through that romantic and coal-heaving district. Of the few faults of the book we have scarce time to speak. We dishke certain quaintnesses of expression, which smack of conceit-certain smatterings of "foreign lingo"-certain arcadian names; and other matters, on which it were needless to dwell--assured that the author's excellent judgment wants but a short experience to correct them. There is one matter which is, perhaps, worth censuring: Denrwentwater himself is kept too much in the background; the interest centers more in Errington and his associates: here is the only deficiency in plot, and that we are willing to ascribe mainly to the earl's peculiarly unobtrusive character.
A few words, in conclusion:- The author of "Derwentwater" models himself too closely on the style of Sir Walter Scott. We should not be inclined to censure this- nay, we would rather have regarded it as favourable to his judgment and taste, did we not fancy that we have discovered, throughout his book, a certain somewhat, denotive of a shrewd originality, that we should like to see more fully developed and indulged in. We request him, therefore, to follow the bent of his own humour. Satire sits better on his pen than sentiment: he hates all German sentimentalism---so do we.