THE DRUMMONDS.
page 96

The succession fell to the descendants of the Earl of Melfort, younger brother of the Chancellor, and Secretary of State for Scotland under James VII. He too, as we have seen, became a pervert to the Romish Church, and in his zeal for his new faith obtained from the King the exclusion of his family by his first wife from the right to inherit his estates and titles, because their mother's relations had frustrated his attempts to convert them to Romanism. At the Revolution he fled to France, and was attainted by Act of Parliament in 1695. He was created Duke de Melfort in 1701, and for a number of years had the chief administration of the affairs of the exiled monarch. He died in 1714. His second wife, daughter of Sir Thomas Wallace of Craigie, lived to be above ninety years of age, and in her latter years supported herself by keeping a faro-table. His descendants remained in their adopted country, and identified themselves with its faith, its interests, and its manners. Most of them embraced the military profession and attained high rank in the French, German, and Polish services. Some of them entered the Church, and one was elevated to the rank of cardinal. GEORGE, Sixth Duke of Melfort, renounced the Romish faith, conformed to the Protestant Church, entered the British army, and became a captain in the 98th Highlanders. Having petitioned the Queen for the restoration of the Scottish attainted honours, he proved his descent, in 1848, before the Committee for Privileges of the House of Lords, was restored in blood by an Act of Parliament in 1853, and was reinstated in the earldom of Perth and the other Scottish honours of his illustrious house.

 
THE HAYS OF TWEEDDALE.
page 400

CHARLES, third Marquis, was appointed, in 1714, President of the Court of Police, and Lord-Lieutenant of Haddingtonshire. He was chosen one of the sixteen representative peers, 3rd March; 1715, and died on the 17th of December following. He married Lady Susan Hamilton, second daughter of the Duke of Hamilton, and by her had four sons and four daughters. The third son, Lord Charles Hay, entered the army, served at the siege of Gibraltar, and fought at Fontenoy, where he was wounded.  He was appointed aide-de-camp to the King in March, 1749, and major-general in February, 1757. Three months after receiving this promotion he was sent out to America as second in command under General Hopson. The Earl of Loudon, commander-in-chief there, was a weak and irresolute man. He had eleven thousand soldiers under him, supported by thirty-three ships of war and ten thousand two hundred seamen, with whom he was to undertake an expedition against Louisberg. But on receiving some exaggerated reports of the French force, he lost heart and gave orders to retreat. 'He is like St. George upon the sign-posts,' said a Philadelphian to Dr. Franklin, 'always on horseback but never advances.' When Lord Charles Hay arrived at Halifax, he found the incapable commander idly amusing himself by employing the powerful force entrusted to him in a series of sham fights, instead of active operations against the enemy. The indignation of Lord Charles was so roused at such misconduct, that he could not refrain from expressing his dissatisfaction with the want of spirit displayed by his superior officer. He was in consequence put under arrest, and sent home to England. Although the incompetent Earl of Loudon was recalled in 1758, Lord Charles was tried by a court-martial in February, 1760; the case was submitted to the King, but no decision was given regarding it, and Lord Charles died at London two months afterwards. JOHN, fourth Marquis of Tweeddale, was an able and accomplished statesman, and possessed considerable knowledge of law. He was appointed one of the Extraordinary Lords of Session in 1721—the last who held that office; was chosen one of the Scottish representative peers in 1722, and was afterwards several times re-elected. On the downfall of Walpole, in February, 1742, Pulteney, to whom had been entrusted the arrangement of places in the new Government, insisted that the office of Scottish Minister, which had been in abeyance since 1739, should be revived, and the Marquis of Tweeddale was appointed Secretary of State for Scotland, and Principal Keeper of the Signet. Erskine of Tinwald, who at this juncture resigned the office of Lord Advocate, wrote to a brother lawyer—Craigie of Glendoick—2nd March, 1742, 'You have been mentioned to the King by the Marquis of Tweeddale as my successor. You are happy in having to do with a patron who is a man of truth and honour.' The period of four years during which his lordship held the office of Scottish Minister, was a time of great trouble and anxiety. The English members of the Government were not only grossly ignorant, as usual, of the state of feeling in Scotland, but they were by no means willing to receive accurate information on the subject. They rejected as utterly incredible the idea that a Jacobite insurrection was at hand, and thought it quite unnecessary to make any preparations to resist and suppress it. Lord Tweeddale, who was in London at that time, shared to some extent in their feeling of incredulity, and even after he was aware that the Highlanders had left Perth in their march to the south, he wrote to the Lord Advocate, 'I flatter myself they have been able to make no great progress.' On the very day on which this letter was written, Prince Charles entered the Palace of Holyrood.

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