LETTER LXVII.

SIR JOHN STEUART TO THE EARL OF MORTON.

My Lord,-Next to my son's happiness in having the blood of Douglas in his veins, and the justice his uncle the Duke has been pleased to do him, I reckon it his greatest good fortune that his Grace has pointed out the Duchess of Douglas, his Grace of Queensberry, your Lordship, and some other gentlemen of worth and knowledge to countenance and direct him till he is of age to think and act for himself. I approve highly of this step, and shall never interfere or attempt obstructing a management so much abler to conduct him than any weak efforts of mine. I never was acquainted with the modes of business. I am now far advanced in life, and have no further ambition than to end my days with decency and decorum, and to do justice to mankind, which, I thank God, the estate of Grandtully will enable me to do, if creditors will hearken to reason and not harass me in a way that cannot serve themselves. When I have the honour to see your Lordship, I will explain myself more fully; meanwhile I am, with the greatest respect, my Lord, your Lordship's most obedient and most humble servant,

Edinburgh, July 27th, 1761.

Jo. STEUART.

THE DYING DECLARATIONS OF LADY JANE DOUGLAS.

Mrs. Elizabeth Hewit, spouse to Dr. Lachlan Maclean, late of Philadelphia, deposes "That she was often with Lady Jane about the time of her death, and that Lady Jane's fondness for the defendant (Archibald Douglas, Esq.) continued to the last time the deponent saw Lady Jane, which was a day or two before her death."

Mrs. May M'Crabbie, milliner in Edinburgh, deposes "That she (Lady Jane) still insisted that the shock which she had received by the death of Sholto, and other griefs that she had met with, were So severe upon her that she was perfectly persuaded she would never recover, but considered herself as a dying woman, and one who was soon to appear in the presence of Almighty God, and to whom she must answer; she declared that these children, Archibald and Sholto, were born of her body."

Dr. Martin Eccles, physician in Edinburgh, deposes "That the deponent was oft with Lady Jane during her last illness, until her death; that Lady Jane's fondness for the defendant continued to the last; that she expressed concern what should come of him after she was gone."

Mrs. Helen Hewit deposes "That Lady Jane was attended in her sickness at London by Mr. James Pringle, surgeon to the Guards, and when he left that place, by Mr. Fordyce; that these gentlemen told the deponent that Lady Jane's disease was a broken heart; that Lady

Jane returned to Scotland in August, 1753, and died the 22nd of November following; that about four hours before she died she ordered her son Archibald, the claimant, to be brought to her, when she laid her hand upon his head and said God bless you, my child; God make you a good and an honest man, for riches I despise. Take a sword in your hand, and you may one day be as great a hero as some of your predecessors.''

THE DYING DECLARATION OF SIR JOHN STEUART.

Murthly, June 7th, 1764.

Having lately had some severe fits of the gout in my stomach, with my health in other respects much impaired, these, with my great age, going seventy-six, make it appear incumbent on me to make the following declaration, as aspersions have been thrown out by interested and most malicious people as to the birth of Lady Jane Douglas her children, in order to rob the surviving child, Archibald, of his birthright, by making his parents, Lady Jane and me, appear infamous, to make him illegitimate.

I, Sir John Steuart of Grandtully, do solemnly declare before God that the forementioned Lady Jane Douglas, my lawful spouse, did, in the year 1748, bring to the world my two sons, Archibald and Sholto, and I firmly believe the children were mine, as I am sure they were hers. Of the two sons, Archibald is the only in life now. I make this declaration as stepping into eternity, before the witnesses aftermentioned, James Bisset, minister of the Gospel, at Caputh; and James Hill, minister at Gurdie; John Stewart of Dalgoos, Esq., Justice of Peace; Joseph Anderson, tenant in Slogen-Hole.

JAMES BISSET, Witness.

(Signed thus) Jo. STEUART.

JAMES HILL, Witness.

Jos. ANDERSON, Witness.

Jo. STEWART, Witness.

N.B. Sir John Steuart died a few days after signing the above declaration.

THE DYING DECLARATION OF MRS. HELEN HEWIT.

Mrs. Helen Hewit was first an attendant upon the late Lady Marchioness of Douglas, a lady of distinguished piety. She was afterwards the faithful attendant of Lady Jane Douglas. The late Rev. Mr. William Harper, a clergyman of the Episcopal communion at Edinburgh, and a man whose memory is much respected, was well acquainted with Mrs. Hewit, and deposes "That he does verily believe Mrs. Hewit to be a woman of truth and veracity, and a sincere, conscientious woman, so far as he could observe." Mrs. Hewit solemnly swore, in presence of a jury, "That upon the

10th of July Lady Jane was delivered at Paris of two sons, and that the deponent was present at their birth, and received them both into her lap when they came into the world; that the eldest, whose name is Archibald, and is the present claimant, was a strong, healthy child." Being very old and infirm, Mrs. Hewit was long in a dying state. Finding she had made a trifling mistake in her deposition, so scrupulous was she that she wrote to the Rev. Mr. Harper upon the subject. Her letter concludes with these serious and striking words— "I hope you, sir, can ease my mind, as all I declared on my examination is true, but that mistake of the day of leaving La Brun's house, which I thought true when I said it. And this I declare to you, sir, was I to step into eternity this moment.-Helen Hewit."

Mrs. Hewit lingered a little longer upon the brink of eternity than was expected. She persisted to her last hour in affirming the truth of what she had sworn, as she was to appear before an Almighty Judge.

APPENDIX IV.

"JUPITER CARLYLE'S ACCOUNT OF THE TRIAL IN THE HOUSE OF LORDS. 1

February, 1796.-On the 27th I attended the House of Peers in the Douglas Cause. The Duke of B(uccleuch) had promised to carry me down to the House; but, as I was going into Grosvenor Square to meet him at ten o'clock, I met the Duke of Montague, who was coming from his house, and took me into his chariot, saying that the Duke of B. was not yet ready. He put me in by the side of the throne, where I found two or three of my friends, amongst them Thomas Bell.

The business did not begin till eleven, and from that time I stood, with now and then a lean on the edge of a deal board, till nine in the evening, without any refreshment but a small roll and two oranges. The heat of the house was chiefly oppressive, and Lord Sandwich's speech, which, though learned and able, yet being three hours long, was very intolerable. The Duke of Bedford spoke low,

but not half an hour. The Chancellor and Lord Mansfield united on the side of Douglas; each of them spoke above an hour. Andrew Stuart, whom I saw in the House, sitting on the left side of the throne, seemed to be much affected at a part of Lord Camden's speech, in which he reflected on him; and immediately left the House; from whence I concluded that he was in despair of success. Lord Mansfield, overcome with heat, was about to faint in the middle of his speech, and was obliged to stop. The side-doors were immediately thrown open, and the Chancellor, moving out, returned soon with a servant, who followed him with a bottle and glasses. Lord Mansfield drank two glasses of the wine, and after some time revived, and proceeded in his speech. We, who had no wine, were nearly as much recruited by the fresh air which rushed in at the open doors as his lordship by the wine. About nine the business ended in favour of Douglas, there being only five Peers on the other side. I was well pleased with that decision, as I had favoured that side; Professor Ferguson and I being the only two of our set of people who favoured Douglas, chiefly on the opinion that, if the proof of filiation on his part was not sustained, the whole system of evidence in such cases would be overturned, and a door be opened for endless disputes about succession. I had asked the Duke of B. some days before the decision, how it would go; he said that if the Law Lords disagreed, there was no saying how it would go; because the Peers, however imperfectly

1" Autobiography of the Rev. Dr. Alexander Carlyle, Minister of Inveresk," pp. 513-4.

prepared to judge, would follow the Judge they most respected. But if they united the case would be determined by their opinion; it being [the practice] in their House to support the Law Lords in all judicial cases.

The rejoicings in Scotland were very great on this occasion, and even outrageous: although the Douglas family had been long in obscurity, yet the Hamiltons had for a long period lost their popularity. The attachment which all their acquaintance had to Baron Muir, who was the original author of this suit, and Andrew Stuart, who carried it on, swayed their minds very much their way. They were men of uncommon good sense and probity.