the time of his being taken prisoner at Culloden. Sir John Strange then called Samuel Maddox; but first observed to the Court and jury, that to him the prisoner appeared to be the wisest man in the Manchester regiment, for none but madmen would enter into such a rebellion against so good and merciful a prince, who had violated no man's property, and who, during a long reign, had never invaded the rights and liberties of the subject; but if an instance could be given of the wisdom of any of those people, who had madly engaged in the rebellion, it was the prisoner, who refused to stay with the others at Carlisle, where there was all the probability that could be of their being taken by the duke of Cumberland, to be delivered up to the justice of their country, some of whom had already been executed, and more like to undergo the same fate, which the prisoner hoped to avoid by the retreat he made with the rebels into Scotland.

Samuel Maddox being re-examined, said, That the prisoner was his captain, and inveigled him into the rebel army; that being short of money, and discontented, the prisoner gave him a guinea; that he never knew the prisoner out of his mind; that often he used to send to Maddox's master, who was an apothecary, for medicines that were cooling, which he apprehended to be for no other use, than after hard drinking; that the prisoner had sometimes been afflicted with fits, but never to continue so as to deprive him of his senses, so as not to know whether he was, or was not, engaging in a rebellious act.

My Lord Chief Justice then summed up the

evidence in a very learned manner, and explained the quotations out of Hale's Pleas of the Crown; and without going out, the jury brought the prisoner in Guilty.

James Bradshaw, aged 29 years, was descended from very substantial and reputable parents, his father being a large dealer at Manchester in Lancashire, who having but an only child, (this unfortunate person) he gave him a liberal education, by putting him to the free school, where he learnt writing and arithmetic, and made a considerable progress in the classics. His father then sent him to London, James chusing to be a tradesman rather than go to the university, of which he had his choice; and accordingly was bound apprentice to Mr. Charles Worral, an eminent Manchester factor at the Golden Ball in Lawrence-lane near Cheapside, where he continued six years, well respected by his master and the customers, be being very diligent and obliging in the business; and by the young gentlemen in the neighbourhood, and through the whole circle of his acquaintance was very well beloved, being a very facetious, good-natured young fellow. In the sixth year of his time, a young lady, daughter of Mr. Waggstaff, a wealthy gentleman of Manchester, coming to London to see some of her acquaintance as well as the

Bradshaw had frequent opportunities of visiting her, and waiting upon her to all the gay and polite places of diversion which this place afforded; he at length informed her of his affection for her, and that his intentions were honourable; if she could like him for a husband, he should think himself the most happy man in the world: After several overtures and addresses of this sort, the young lady kindly answered, that if both their parents approved of it, she would consider on it; and Mr. Bradshaw growing very much in her favour, she desired him to write to Manchester about it, which he did accordingly; but before he received an answer to his letter, he had advice that his father, who had been some time in a bad state of health, was so very ill, that his life was despaired of. On this he determined to go down to Manchester; and acquainting his master with his intention, and of his father's illness, Mr. Worral generously consented thereto; and moreover told him, that if his father did not get over his illness, or continued so long ill, that his absence might be prejudicial to the business, he should be at liberty with respect to serving out the remainder of his time, and, that he should be glad to see him well settled where there was a good established trade. Soon after his arrival at Manchester his father expired, and left him in possession of a considerable fortune to carry it on; and after he had made a decent burial for his father, he then renewed his addresses to Miss Waggstaff, and in a little time was married to her, with whom he had a handsome

fortune, and an accomplished lady, sufficient to make any reasonable or prudent man happy, in the state of matrimony.

Not long after he entered into partnership with Mr. James Dawson, a Manchester warehouseman, near the Axe-inn in Aldermanbury. In about two years time he was so unfortunate as to lose his wife, which it was believed affected him so as sometimes to cause an insanity of mind, and at other times, in his lucid intervals, he appeared a bright wit; but he gave himself up to the keeping of company, whereby he contracted an acquaintance with Jesuits and Popish priests (for in those principles he had been always educated,) from whom he imbibed the principles of Jacobitism more strongly, and from time to time contracted such an affection to the cause of the Pretender and his adherents, as to declare publicly (soon after the Pretender landed) amongst his associates, that he would embrace the first opportunity to serve the cause. When the Pretender came to Manchester, he with several others of the same principles, waited on that mock prince, and tendered his service to him; who finding Mr. Bradshaw to be a young gentleman of a good family and fortune, and of some interest, conferred on him the trust of a captain in a regiment to be raised in Manchester, under the command of col. Townley, who was since executed on Kennington-Common, for hightreason; and Mr. Bradshaw had no sooner got

on ship-board was Mr. Bradshaw: There he be

chester, and the neighbouring villages, to recruit for the same regiment, in which he had such success, that he raised a number of men for the service of the said Pretender, by whom he was greatly caressed, and at whose levee be often attended, and was consulted with in several of their councils of war. He afterwards marched in a gallant manner at the head of his company with the rebels to Derby, and accompanied them in their flight back to Manchester, when they heard the duke was at their heels, and from thence to Carlisle, where he waited (with the rest of the officers) on the young Pretender to take his leave of him, it being agreed, that some part of their army should stay at Carlisle to secure a retreat for the rebels; and then he insisted that he would not stay behind under the command of Col. Townley, with whom there was no good har mony: for some misunderstanding happened between them, on account of a young lady, which they had severally addressed at a ball, which was kept at the Bull-head-inn in Manchester, for the neighbouring gentry; and indeed this animosity was increased by the haughty behaviour of Col. Townley, who now imagined the other to be under his dominion, and used often to put Mr. Bradshaw upon duty that was disagreeable to him.

What gave Mr. Bradshaw the greatest disquiet was, that when the Pretender proposed to raise a regiment of horse, of which Townley was to be colonel, Townley was labouring for Thomas Deacon (executed with Townley, &c. at Kennington) to succeed him in the command; and soon after the rebel army had left

Carlisle, Bradshaw went away incognito, and joined them again in Scotland, where he listed himself a volunteer in lord Elcho's horse, commonly called amongst the rebels the first troop of guards; and he continued with the rebels in that rank, until he was taken prisoner at the battle of Culloden.

As to Mr. Bradshaw's conduct in general, even from the time of his engaging in the rebellion, and till within a short time of his death, it must be confessed, that his behaviour has been all of a piece. Nothing but infatuation could determine a man to shut up his shop, leave his business and effects, and ruin (with all honest men) his character, to follow a wicked and rebellious multitude: and truly for what? -To be made a captain!-Nay, it is matter of fact, that he was worth several thousand pounds, his trade flourishing, and his credit well established in the world; yet was he so hearty in the good old cause (as he called it,) that he advanced cash out of his own pocket to support his ragged company.

Soon after the battle of Culloden-Moor, which put a happy end to this wicked and unnatural rebellion, an order was sent from the secretary of state's office for bringing to London such of the rebels as had been most active in the young Pretender's service, and amongst those that were put

and did not scruple voluntarily to tell those officers belonging to his majesty who had the care of him, that they could not hurt him, for he was above their cut, or words which carried the same meaning.

When the vessel on board of which they embarked arrived in the river, they were (viz. 43) committed to the New-gaol in Southwark, by his grace the duke of Newcastle's warrant, and continued prisoners there till the necessary processes were prepared for their prosecution.

About the time the Manchester rebels were ordered for execution (Bradshaw being at that time a prisoner in the New-gaol, Southwark), the night before ore they suffered, he spoke to Mr. Townley and Mr. Berwick in a disrespectful manner, saying, I find you must shortly march into other quarters. Mr. Townley made no answer; but Mr. Berwick, always remarkable for his jocularity, said, "Jemmy, you need not triumph at our misfortunes, for, take my word on't, you will find mocking is catching."

Bradshaw, the night preceding the execution of the Manchester rebel officers, drank very freely, and seemed quite unconcerned at the melancholy fate which was inevitably next day to be the consequence of their wicked undertaking. Mr. Berwick told Mr. Chadwick, that Bradshaw seemed to reflect on them, rather than pity or condole with them. Mr. Chadwick replied, "What can you expect from him? I am only sorry that it reflects so much dishonour on us all, as to admit such a fellow an officer in the regiment."

In the morning of the execution of the Manchester rebels, about seven o'clock, when the sledges came in to draw the prisoners to execution, Bradshaw was walking about the gaolyard in his morning gown, with some gentlemen, who came thither either out of curiosity, or to take leave of their dying friends, and with a sneering and ungentleman-like air, said, (pointing to the sledges) "Don't you think these things are very well contrived? Upon my word, they will do exceeding well for the purpose; "-and then raked amongst the straw in the sledges, telling the drivers, that if they did not get more straw, the lads (meaning the prisoners) would be wet; and many other silly expressions, which, if inserted, the reader would hardly credit.

When he was called upon his trial, he adpeared very gay, in a new suit of green cloth clothes, and stood very unconcerned at the bar, minding very little what was sworn against him: but when the evidence was closed, and summed up to the jury, and they brought him in Guilty, he was quite thunder-struck, and changed colour very much, and was so feeble that he could scarcely walk from the bar.

His conviction and condemnation made but little alteration in him; for though he was not so ludicrous as he had been all along, he supe

plied that part with an undaunted assurance, and ill-grounded hopes of a reprieve, till his master informed him on Tuesday night, that all endeavours that had been used to save his

20 GEORGE II. A. D. 1746.

SIR John Wedderburn, bart. was indicted for high treason; which treason was laid to be committed on the 16th of April, in the 20th year of his present majesty's reign.

Andrew Johnson said, He saw sir John with the officers of lord Strathallan's horse, in plain clothes, and a sword by his side, after the battle of Preston Pans, free and not forced.

the re

John Falkener said, He saw the prisoner at Holyrood-house, among the officers in bel army, in plain clothes, with a small-sword by his side.

Roger Mac Donald said, He saw the prisoner at Aberdeen, in a plain dress and small sword (but no cockade) with the officers of lord Strathallan's horse, and that he lodged with Mr. Johnson at Aberdeen, without a billet. James Mortimer saw him at Aberdeen, with the officers of lord Ogilvie's regiment, under no restraint or force.

John Bruce said, That he paid sir John ten shilling for ale excise, and twelve shillings for malt-excise; and unless he had paid it to him, the rebels threatened to seize his copper; for which excise he took receipts, but did not produce them, because he left them at home.

Henry Edwards deposed, That he saw the

prisoner the latter end of October, at old Gordon of Glenbucket's house at Perth; that sir

John declared he was not concerned in the rebellion, but that he had a commission sent to him to collect the excise; but it was in his father's name, and that he would go to Edinburgh to get it rectified; and he accordingly did go to Edinburgh, and about the middle of November returned to Perth, where, a drum went about the town proclaiming, that all brewers, and dealers in leather. leather, candles and other exciseable goods, should go to sir John and pay the excise, on pain of military execution.

Then several receipts for money paid to him for excise, were produced, and proved to be sir John Wedderburn's hand writing for excise, dated progressively from the 25th of November, to the 8th of January following.

Alexander Russell deposed, That he saw the prisoner, sir John, at Holy-Rood house, after the battle of Preston Pans, in a plain dress, and a small-sword hy his side, and that the

young Pretender issued an order forbidding any body from carrying arms, but those who belonged to bis army; and that if sir John had not belonged to the rebels, he dared not wear a sword.

Capt. Eyre said, The prisoner acknowledged himself a private man in the Preteuder's lifeguards.

Andrew Robinson said, He was a servant to major Glasgoe, and saw the prisoner at Dundee with the rebels, and at Burroughburgh, going to the young Pretender's quarters; that the prisoner collected the excise from six persons in this witness's presence.

John Adamson said, He paid excise to the prisoner twice, and that the prisoner had a guard with him at his quarters, where he received the excise duty.

THE PRISONER'S DEFENCE.

The counsel for the prisoner alleged, by the 7th of William the 3d, no overt acts of high treason shall be proved, unless the same is laid in the indictment; and the bare collecting the excise was no overt act, without they could

prove himlarmed in the rebellion; that the pri

soner's collect the excise for his present majesty king George the second; that the rebels came and took his horses out of his park, and that he went after them to get them back

again, where they seized him, and detained him a prisoner, and forced him to continue with them to collect the excise.

George Waters, working mason, was the first witness examined for the prisoner, and he deposed, That the rebels came to sir John's house in September 1745, and took away three of his horses, for the Pretender's service; when sir John said, That he would not let his horses go for such a use; and went to get them back again; and that some of the rebels told him, if he would not give them freely, he himself should go with them, and so forced him with them; that this evidence went to see him, when he found him guarded by the rebels, so close, that he could not go out of the room without liberty from lord Strathallan; that some time after he came to his house, and staid four days at home; that afterwards 100 men came armed, who guarded his house and carried him away; that the witness said, he saw him at the Dee, carried away by the Mac Intoshes; that afterwards he came from the Dee to his house, and staid at his house till the 5th of February, when forty or fifty men came and pressed him, and carried him to Elgin-moore, in the middle of March.

part of Scotland, several of whose ancestors are honourably mentioned in the Scottish histories, especially sir David Wedderburn, who was killed at the battle of Musselburgh. The late sir Alexander, father to this unfortunate gentleman, was greatly esteemed for his known attachment to the Revolution principles, and the Hanover succession; insomuch that the go

was collector of the excise at Inverness for king George; that he had known the prisoner two years; that he always wore a small sword, and that he was a prisoner at his own house every day, from November to the beginning of February.

David Hutchenson deposed, That he was a servant to the prisoner sir John Wedderburn; that five armed men came and seized several of his horses in his park, and that his lady went to them, and prevailed on them to release a mare; that they abused her and called her rebel-bitch; that they seized the prisoner when he went after his horses, to get them back, and carried him to lord Ogilvie's; that the prisoner returned, and a hundred armed men came and retook him prisoner, and threatened to stab him with their bayonets.

The jury, without going out, brought him in Guilty.

Sir JOHN WEDDERBURN'S CASE.

(Foster's Reports, p. 22.)

"The overt-acts were laid at Aberdeen, in the shire of Aberdeen. It was proved by two witnesses, that he was with the rebels at Aberdeen; and by those and other witnesses, that he was at divers other places with them.

of the excise, and other duties, which, with a small estate he had near Dundee, enabled him to bring up a numerous family; but being of a liberal and generous spirit, he left the estate encumbered, so that when sir John arrived to his honour of a baronet, he had nothing to support it; though on the expectation of having an estate to descend to him free, he married a young lady of a reputable family in his neighbourhood; for on his father's death the estate was destined to be sold, in order to satisfy the father's debts; that when sir Johu found nothing coming in order to support his family, he retired to a small farm, with a thatched house and clay floor, which be occupied with great industry, and thereby made a laborious but starving shift to support a wife and nine children, who used to run about in the fields barefoot.

The extreme poverty of sir John, and his numerous dependants, overcame sir John's duty to all kind of society, and the present happy establishment; and being tempted with a commission from the Pretender to collect the excise, yet in some measure forced to do it, sir John's loyalty af last gave way to his poverty; though it is admitted, that he never did any acts of violence to his majesty's subjects, any other than receiving the duties arising by the excise, having never bore arms, or caused any one to enlist into the rebel service.

After sir John was made a prisoner, he was delivered to the care of captain Eyre, an officer

that he did actually collect the excise in several places where the rebel army lay, by virtue of that appointment for the use of the rebel army. "The Prisoner's Counsel insisted, that this sort of evidence ought not to be admitted. For though collecting money for the service of rebels is an overt-act of high-treason, yet it not being laid in the indictment, no evidence ought to be given of it; and they relied on the statute of 7 W. 3. But in this they were overruled, upon the reasons given in the case of Deacon."+

Sir John Wedderburu, bart. was the son of sir Alexander Wedderburn, of Aberdeenshire, whose family have been long resident in that

* See East's Pleas of the Crown, c. 2, §. 16. §. 57.

+ See p. 366 of this vol.; and the Cases of Rookwood and Lowick, vol. 13, pp. 139.

207.

charge of the rebel officers, who treated him with great humanity, according to his birth and dignity; and conveyed him on board one of his majesty's ships of war to the river Thames, from whence he was carried with the other officers, to the New-gaol in Southwark, where he was lodged in the master-side of the gaol with sir James Kinloch, Mr. Hamilton, and others, during which time he behaved like a gentleman; being plentifully supplied, and indeed flattered himself with being acquitted, as he thought he had not armed himself in the rebellion, but was very much shocked when the jury found him guilty; and after sentence of death, his behaviour was consistent with the character of a gentleman, being sensible of his error, and the calamity he had brought on himself, his inoffensive lady, and innocent posterity.

He was executed at Kennington Common as a traitor, Nov. 28, 1746.

He was concerned with his brother, the late earl of Derwentwater, in the rebellion of 1715; and in May 1716, was convicted and attainted of high-treason before special commissioners of Oyer and Terminer, pursuant to the act of the first of the late king. While he was under sentence of death, and probably before the act of general pardon of the third of the late king passed, (See the 45th section of the act) he made bis escape out of Newgate, and got over to France.

At the latter end of the year 1745, he was, with some other officers, French, Scotch, and Irish, taken on the coast on board a French ship of war; which was loaden with arms, ammunition, and other warlike stores, bound, as was supposed, for Scotland, where the rebels

were at that time in arns.

On Friday the 21st of November 1746, he was brought to the bar by virtue of a Habeas Corpus, directed to the constable of the Tower, or his deputy; and the record of his conviction and attainder was at the same time removed thither by Certiorari.

The Habeas Corpus, with the returu, and also the Certiorari and record of the conviction and attainder being read, the substance of the record was opened to him in English by the secondary on the crown side; who then asked him what he had to say why execution should not be done upon him according to the judgment. He prayed that counsel might be assigned him, and named Mr. Ford and Mr. Jodrell; who were accordingly assigned his counsel.

They prayed a few days time that they might have an opportunity of knowing from the prisoner himself the truth and merits of his case, which was granted.||

They also prayed a copy of the record, * See the Case of his elder brother lord Derwentwater, vol. 15, p. 762.

+ From Foster's Reports, p. 40.

In the "Impartial History of his Life and Behaviour," &c. it is stated that he escaped on Dec. 11th, 1716. See a note in vol. 15, p. 803.

|| It seems that this prayer was granted in consideration of the circumstances of the particular case, and not on the ground that the benefit asked was matter of right. See 3 Burr. 1811, the Case of John King, to whom a like indulgence was denied.

November 24, 1746.

The prisoner was brought to the bar, and being again arraigned, he, e, ore tenus, pleaded that he is not the person mentioned in the record before the Court. The attorney general, ore tenus, replied, The prisoner is the same Charles Ratcliffe mentioned in the record, and this I am ready to verify; and issue was joined.

The prisoner's counsel pressed strongly to put off the trial of this issue, upon an affidavit of the prisoner, which was sworn in court, that two material witnesses named in the affidavit are abroad; one of them at Brussels, and the other at Saint Germaius; and that he believeth they will attend the trial, if a reasonable time be allowed for that purpose. But the Court refused to put off the trial, and a Venire was awarded returnable instanter. For, said the Court, this proceeding is in nature of an inquest of office, and hath been always considered as an instantaneous proceeding; unless proper grounds for postponing oning the trial be laid before the Court. It was so considered in the case of the king against Barkstead and others (Keil. 13. 1 Lev. 61. 1 Sid. 72,) upon the same issue as this is; a Venire was awarded, and a jury+ returned and sworn instanter to try that issue. It was so considered likewise in the

* And so was Rogers's Case. See 3 Burr. 1811. + See the Record in Dr. Cameron's Case.

Mr. Justice Blackstone has inserted in the Appendix to the fourth volume of his Commentaries, sect. 3, the entry of the trial instanter of the issue upon a plea to the identity in