his friends entertained a hope that he would be pardoned. But, notwithstanding several peers and commoners of distinction endeavoured to procure a remission of his sentence, it was carried into effect.

His execution took place on the 24th of February. After devotion, he advanced to the rails of the scaffold and read an address, in which he eulogised the pretender, and asked pardon of those whom he had scandalized by his plea of guilty, which, he stated, was a breach of loyalty to his lawful and rightful sovereign, King James the Third. He concluded by saying, that, had his life been spared, he should have considered himself bound in honour never again to take up arms against the reigning prince.

The earl appears to have been possessed of many good qualities. "He was formed by nature," says Patten, "to be universally beloved; for his benevolence was so unbounded, that he seemed only to live for others. He resided among his own people, spent his estate among them, and continually did them kindnesses. His hospitality was princely, and none in that country came up to it. He was very charitable to the poor, whether known to him or not, and whether papists or protestants. His fate was a misfortune to many who had no kindness for the cause in which he died."

Charles Ratcliffe, a brother of the earl of Derwentwater, was born in 1693, and evinced from his boyhood a most enthusiastic attachment to the exiled Stuarts. He acted with Forster throughout the whole of that inefficient leader's campaign, displaying a total disregard of personal danger, and a sincere devotion to the cause he had espoused, which threw a lustre over his rashness. Having surrendered with his confederates at Preston, he was arraigned for high treason in May, 1716, and was soon afterwards found guilty. He disdained to petition for mercy, but soon after the earl of Derwentwater had been executed, a free pardon was granted to Ratcliffe, which, however, he obstinately refused to accept. He was consequently detained in Newgate until the 11th of December, 1716, when he contrived to effect his escape. Patten, speaking of him about this period, says, "He is young and bold, but too forward: he has a great deal of courage, which wants a few more years and a better cause to improve it. There is room to hope he will never employ it in such an adventure again." Unfortunately, however, for himself, he continued to be an active partisan of the exiled prince.

In 1746 he received a naval commission from the king of France, and took the command of a vessel laden with arms for the use of the Jacobites in Scotland, which, however, never reached its destination, being captured at sea by an English cruizer. Ratcliffe was brought a prisoner to London, and arraigned on his previous conviction, which had never been reversed. He boldly denied the authority of the court, avowed himself to be a subject of the king of France, produced his commission, and declared that he was not Charles Ratcliffe, but the earl of Derwentwater. After some further quibbling on this and other points, his identity being satisfactorily proved, the attorney-general moved for the execution of his former sentence. The prisoner now attempted to set up his pardon in bar, but the judges being of opinion that such a plea could not, under the circumstances, be legally received, a writ was issued for his decapitation. His person and appearance on this occa