Sadly he turned his face northwards, and reached Scotland again in a miserable plight. 11. Falkirk and Culloden.-Charles Edward had one more success. He fought a battle at Falkirk. The English general Hawley despised his enemy, because the Highlanders did not understand the drill of the regular soldiers, and so he got well beaten. The king's son, the Duke of Cumberland, was sent to Scotland to see whether he could not do better than Hawley. Charles Edward wanted to remain to fight him, but his chief officers told him that his army was not large enough, and that he had better retreat northwards. Cumberland followed him. When the English army reached Nairn, the prince was at Culloden about twelve miles off. The Highlanders determined to try to surprise Cumberland's army in its sleep. They started in the evening and marched all night. They had to pass over a rough and boggy moor, and the wearied men found it impossible to push on fast enough in the dark to reach the enemy's camp before daylight. They struggled back to Culloden. The next day Cumberland was upon them. Charles Edward ordered his Highlanders to charge. They dashed upon the soldiers, and drove back the first line. The second line stood firm, and received them with a steady fire. The bold warriors in the tartan kilts wavered. Then they broke and fled. Discipline had at last shown, as it has often shown, that it is too strong for undisciplined valour. Cumberland had won a victory. But he disgraced the English name by the use which he made of it. The Highlanders were treated worse than vermin are treated by the farmer. After the battle the soldiers knocked the wounded on the head. Several of the wounded men had taken refuge in a cottage. The soldiers shut the door fast, set the house on fire, and burnt the wretched men alive. Prisoners taken were sent in great numbers to execution. Three Scotch noblemen were beheaded on Tower Hill. It was the last time that the axe and block were used in England. To the day of his death the general who had won the day was known as The Butcher Cumberland. 12. The Escape of Charles Edward. The Prince himself escaped. He wandered about for five months amongst the hills and islands of the Western Highlands. A lady, Flora Macdonald, took him under her special care, concealed him when danger was near, and aided his flight. Sometimes he was disguised as a servant, sometimes as a woman. Of the many who knew him not one would betray him to his enemies. At last he escaped in a French vessel. He lived for many years on the Continent a brokenhearted man, without hope and without employment for his energy. He sunk into dissipation and vice. In Scotland he has never been forgotten. To this day songs in honour of Prince Charlie are sung there, which were composed by a lady many years later, but which tell the thoughts which were once in so many Scottish hearts. Now that Scotchmen are all loyal to their queen and country, they can still sing that, Charlie is my darling, My darling, my darling, The young chevalier. 13. The Death of Henry Pelham.-Henry Pelham lived for eight years after the Battle of Culloden, doing his business quietly and offending nobody. He died in 1754. Now,' said the old king, 'I shall have no more peace. The old king spoke truly. CHAPTER XXXVI. THE LAST SIX YEARS OF GEORGE II. 1. Englishmen Spread over the World.-The wars which England had hitherto waged had been waged for power on the Continent of Europe. The nation. had striven to conquer France in the days of Edward III. and Henry V., to resist the enormous strength of Spain in the reign of Elizabeth, and the enormous strength of France in the reigns of William III and Anne. For some time, however, Englishmen had been spreading over the world. They had gone forth to trade and to colonise, and before the end of the reign of George II. England was at war with France, not on account of anything that had happened in Europe, but on account of things which had happened in America and Asia. 2. English and French in America.-In the time of James I. and Charles I. Englishmen had gone to live in that part of the American Continent which is now known as the United States. Some of them who had gone to the southern part went, just as people now go to Australia or Canada, because they wanted to have land of their own to cultivate. Those who went to New England in the North went because they were Puritans, and wanted to be allowed to live and to worship God in their own way without interference. The descendants of these men had increased and multiplied, and there were in the middle of the reign of George II. thirteen colonies, full of prosperous people, managing their own affairs, but each having at its head a Governor appointed by the king of England. They all lived along the Atlantic coast, and it was only very occasionally that any one of them crossed the Alleghany mountains. Those who did found a vast plain, the northern part of which is watered by the River Ohio, and the streams which fall into it. The country was covered with forests, in which were Indians who hunted the fur-covered animals which abounded there, and sold the furs to Europeans. Most of these Indians were not friendly to the English, who would cut down their woods, and ploughed up their lands if they could come into possession of them. At that time Lower Canada belonged to the French, and as the French did not want to cultivate the land on the Ohio the Indians were on very good terms with them and sold their furs to them. Even before the death of Pelham there had been some fighting going on between the English and French, and General Braddock had been sent to protect the English. He was a brave but stupid man. Officers in those days were appointed not because they understood how to lead an army, but because they were the friends of Newcastle, or of some one whose vote Newcastle wanted to gain. Braddock marched on till he came to a place where the French and Indians surrounded him in the forest, and he and most of his men were shot down from behind the trees. 3. Beginning of the Seven Years' War.-After that there could be no continuance of peace with France. The two nations were in reality contending for all that vast country which stretches from the Alleghany mountains to the Pacific. Whichever of the two gained its object would some day occupy almost all the territory which now belongs to the United States. The war would decide whether French or English was to be spoken on the banks of the Mississippi and the shores of California. But England and France did not know this; they only knew that they were fighting for the possession of the forests at the head of the Ohio. The war, which began in 1756 and lasted till 1763, is known as the Seven Years' War. 4. Newcastle driven from Office.-Newcastle was now Prime Minister. He was quite ignorant how to manage a war. At that time Minorca in the Mediterranean belonged to England. It was attacked by a French fleet and army. Admiral Byng went to take help to it, but he thought that the French were too strong, and came back without fighting. Minorca was taken by the enemy. People in England were enraged. They thought that Byng was a coward, and cried out to have him punished. Newcastle was horribly frightened. He thought |