"I have brought before you a robber of the public treasure, an overturner of law and justice, and the destruction of the Sicilian province. "-SWIFT. HISTORY OF THE REBELLION IN SCOTLAND, IN 1689. CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTORY. He was a kind of nothing, titleless, Till he had forged himself a name i', the fire Coriolanus. JOHN GRAHAM, the hero of this narrative, was the elder son of Sir William Graham of Claverhouse in Forfarshire, a gentleman of moderate for tune, but who boasted of a descent from the noble family of Montrose, and also from the royal house of Stuart, his ancestor William Lord Graham of Kincardine having married the Princess Mary, second daughter of King Robert III. Sir William Graham was himself so respectable a proprietor, as to have married into the noble family of Northesk. Lady Jean Carnegy, third daughter of John first Earl of Northesk, was the mother of the future Viscount of Dundee. The whole connections of the family were of what would now be called a decidedly Tory complexion; that is, to say, they had exerted themselves in opposition to every innovatory attempt which had been made upon the institutions of their country, from the Reformation downwards. Young Graham was educated, during the decade of 1660-70, at the University of St Andrews, where he distinguished himself so much by his abilities, and also by his zeal in favour of the established religion, that he was honoured with the particular notice and friendship of Archbishop Sharpe. He made considerable progress in a department of learning, the technical name of which, as then used in Scotland, bore a startling dissonance with the character he acquired in after life -the Humanities. It was to mathematics, however, that he chiefly directed his attention; a branch of study which certainly promised to be of greater service to one who designed to become a soldier. It is perhaps worthy of remark, that in this propensity he was resembled by Napoleon. Buonaparte, who had some other points of character in common with him. Like Napoleon, Dundee was accustomed in youth to feed the desires: of an ardent and romantic spirit with the wild narratives of the Highland bards; the only difference being, that the Scottish soldier drank his sentimental inflammation direct from its living receptacles, while the Italian could only receive it in the colder form which was given to it by Macpherson. In addition to a fondness for Highland poetry, Dundee is said to have pored with rapture over the pages of Sallust, Nepos, and Plutarch. His mind probably acquired in this simple way, that bent towards high military enterprise, and that unbending principle of military honour, which have given his name, notwithstanding all the faults which attach to it, such a strong historical in It was Dundee's opinion, in choosing and entering upon his profession, that, in order to acquire a thorough knowledge of it, he ought to serve under different foreign powers, and in every gradation of rank. He accordingly acted, for some time, at the commencement of his career, as a volunteer in the French service. When the war with Holland was concluded, and a sort of friendship established between that country and England, on account of the Prince of Orange (nephew of the British monarch) becoming Stadtholder, Dundee transferred his services to the other side of the Rhone. Becoming a cornet in the Prince of Orange's own troop of guards, he had the good fortune, while fighting in that capacity at the battle of Seneffe, (1674), to save the life of his master, by rescuing him, and bringing him off upon his own horse. The command of a Scotch regiment in the Dutch service falling vacant soon after that event, Dundee applied for it; but the Prince, though perhaps anxious to requite the merit of his preserver, was obliged, by a pre-engagement, to refuse his request. He then resolved to serve no longer in Holland, but to return home, and offer his sword to his own sovereign, who was understood to require such services, on account of the turbulence of his Scottish subjects. The Prince of Orange honoured him, at his departure, with a letter of recommendation to the Duke of York, in which there was an earnest request that he might be well provided for. The Duke having communicated this recommendation to King Charles, Dundee was soon after appointed to be captain of a regiment of horse, which was then in the process of being raised in Scotland, for the suppression of insurrections. There was something so pointed in the favour shown on this occasion to the young soldier, that we can scarcely wonder at the constancy with which he adhered ever after to the interests of his benefactors. The King was under the necessity of allowing the Duke of Lauderdale, his prime minister for Scotland, to fill up the commissions for the regiments then raised; his Grace probably making that a stipulation, for the purpose of providing for his own dependents. Charles demanded or retained only one exception; and it was in favour of the friend and preserver of the Prince of Orange. Dundee was then, (1677), let forth, with other adventurers, upon that crusade against the Whigs of the west of Scotland, which has procured his name so much popular execration. There was something extremely unfortunate in this part of his history, and especially so far as his reputation with posterity was concerned. The people whom he was employed to check, were a set of pious and worthy persons; originally, perhaps, sinning in the uncompromising vehemence with which they had conducted matters during the Civil War; but now |
