YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY Gift of Coleman 0. Parsons €x £tkt£J Coleman 0. jargons g ^...^D4L^i^4Z^ i_L^C_^_^J_3C____e__£_, YALE CS H7i (lc) RECOLLECTIONS, &c. Ohe Castle of Salton is perched like an eagle on the summit of a rock, the foot of which is washed by a beautiful stream of water descending from the Lammer Hills, and winding through a haugh, whose banks are clothed with trees of the most stately growth, — the children of a former century, that rise to guard and adorn the ancient battlements. A part of this building appears to be of great antiquity : De Saulis (from whence Sauliston, and Salton), was one of the competitors for the Crown, who gave in their claims to- Edward II. The Fletchers, who came originally from Yorkshire, settled here in the time of Charles I. ; and there appears to have been several remarkable men in that family.* Lord Innerpeffer was one of the seven who voted against delivering up the King, for which a fine of L. 5000 was im posed upon him by Oliver Cromwell : The last part of this honourable debt was paid, it is said, by Lord Milton. His son, Sir Robert Fletcher, who is celebrated by Bishop Burnet, married Katharine Bruce, a daughter of * Fletcher, in Saxon, ia an arrow-maker. An edict of Henry VIII. threatens all the Fletchers, Bowyers, that leave the country to work in foreign parts, with his dis pleasure. Clackmannan ; but dying early of a consumption, she mourned her Lord during 30 years : In a room hung with black, and lighted by the dead lustres, sat this Lady in her deepest funeral weeds ! yet it appeared that she had not thus neglected her family. One day, after Andrew Fletcher had entertained his company with a concert of music, and they were walking about in the hall at Salton, a gentleman fixed his eye on the picture of Katharine Bruce, where the elegant pencil of Sir Peter Lylly had blended the softness and grace that form the pleasing ornaments of the sex ; " That is my mother," says Andrew, " and if there is any thing in my education or " acquirements, during the early part of my life, I owe them ¦" entirely to that woman." What noble praise is this ? How much superior to all that title, fortune, or birth, could bestow ? The estate of Salton, forfeited by James II., was restored to the family by King William, though Andrew Fletcher lived mostly abroad after the Union ; but getting in years, and finding his health decline, he was seized, as all men in such circumstances, with a longing desire to return to his own country. Accordingly, Lord Milton, then at Leyden, set out for Paris, and brought his uncle over, in the year 1716, to London; there he was taken with a fit of the dysentery, that in a short time put a period to his life. It is reported, that Lord Sunderland, having called and seen Mr Fletcher, asked, if there was any thing he wished to be done 1 "I " have a nephew, my Lord, that has been studying the law, " make him a judge when he is fit for it." The body of this illustrious patriot, the pride of his family, and the ornament of his country, was put in a lead coffin, and conveyed to the vault of the family at Salton. Lord Milton succeeded to his father, Henry Fletcher, the brother of Andrew, who had married Catharine Car negie of Pittarrow. She first brought the barley-mill to Scotland, the original building and machinery of which still remain at Salton. Andrew, observing the many domestic virtues of this Lady, when they spoke of marriage, said, " My " brother has got the woman that should have been my " wife." What was spoken by Lord Granville, of Archibald Duke of Argyle, with whom he was mostly in opposition, might, with some allowance, be applied to Lord Milton : " Perhaps," said my Lord, " there may have been cleverer, " or quicker men, but I never kneAV a man that had less " rubbish in his understanding." Accordingly, his great talents for business, application, decision, with the early attain ment of high official rank, at the critical period of 1745, soon raised him to a distinguished situation. Mr John Hume, in his history of the Rebellion, calls Lord Milton a Sous Ministre to the Duke of Argyle, an appella tion very little known or used at the time. Both the brothers, John, as well as Archibald, were the friends of Lord Milton; but his influence arose from the opportunities he had of doing good, and which his humanity and excellent sense, in times of & great difficulty and danger, enabled him to diffuse and extend very widely over the country. Accordingly, it survived the loss of his patron, as well as the favour of following ministers ; it continued as long as he lived ; and had any of his descen dants been inclined to follow his line of public business, they would have found a noble patrimony in the good-will of the country to found upon. Colonel Edmonston of Newton used to speak of a dinner at Leith, where he had been soon after my Lord's death : It was a mixed company, brought together on some occasion, and amounted to about twenty. Towards the evening, one gave, " To the memory of Lord Milton." — " I second that," says another, "for I have in my time been much obliged to his " Lordship." — " I pledge you both," says a third, " for my " family is indebted to him alone for their present happy " situation." In this way it passed through one half of the company, when the Preses, filling his glass, " Gentlemen, so " general a benefactor deserves to be drunk with every mark " of honour by the whole of us." The worthy Colonel himself was a distinguished officer, and about the same standing with General Fletcher, both of them pupils of George Crawford : " Edmonstone," said one of his friends, " is a man that you could take every moment in your " arms." It was by Lord Milton's advice that the Duke of Cumberland was sent to Scotland, which first gave a favour able turn to the interests of Government. So soon as the Duke arrived at the Abbey, he went to Lord Milton's house, and summoned his officers to a council of war ; he insisted on Lord Milton's taking his seat, and called upon his Lordship first to give his opinion : " Your Royal Highness will have " already observed the good effects of your coming, in the " union and joy expressed by the friends of Government ; and " the spirit of the soldiers, broken with the bad success of the " war, begins already to revive ! The rebel army must be " informed this night of your arrival ; and it will probably " increase the dissensions and uncertainty that prevail in their " councils : To take advantage of both, the moment should " not be allowed to pass." — " Then," says his Royal Highness, rising up, " I march to-night : Lord Berry, call the officers " in waiting, and give the necessary orders." Henry Fletcher was the second son of Lord Milton, and the most favoured of all his children ; the gallantry and economy of the officer, virtues that he loved and had practised himself, were agreeable to the old man ; and perhaps he never was happier than in the appointment of Henry to the com mand of the 35th regiment, the last favor he received from Government. 6 General Fletcher was a lieutenant in Ponsonby's regiment at the battle of Dettingen : part of the corps, where his post happened, was drawn up in a morass ; but such was the effect of the fatigue, and watching for several nights. before, that as soon as they halted, they sunk down into the bog, and fell asleep. In 1756, he went out to America as a field-officer of the 35th, and afterwards commanded one of the divisions of the boats under General Wolfe, in the landing at Louisburgh : As they approached a little bay, or inlet of the sea, three batteries opened upon the division ; a ball struck the grenadier boat on the bow, and turning about, Henry saw only a few caps floating on the water ; a grape-shot tore the arm of the man at the helm, who involuntarily, perhaps, turned the head of the commanding officer's boat. General Fletcher called out to the soldiers to shoot him : The direction, however, was soon recovered, and the division advanced steadily through a storm of surf and shot, until they reached the shore. General Fletcher never was wounded, though (in the military phrase) he had been much seen for some time. The same fortune attended his cousin, Colonel David Home, one of the most gallant officers in Europe, with the greatest simplicity of manners, though he had been present in every affair, from Culloden to the piquets in Germany, where he acquired such deserved honour. An inadvertence in marching off the guard at Louisburgh, however, exposed the General to an unusual risk, having a large roll of paper and a field-glass in one hand, he was marked by a French officer from the opposite bastion : ¦" There goes," says he, " the English engineer, let us salute " him as he passes, with a coup de trots." Three guns were immediately run out, and pointed upon the officer with the roll ; the shot of two had crossed before they got the length ; but the centre gun being fired direct, struck the orderly serjeant at his side. In the following year, Colonel Fletcher accompanied General Wolfe in the expedition to Quebec ; the natural obstacles that presented, and an opponent worthy of the General, made this a very laborious and eventful campaign, though it terminated with a lustre of genius and intrepidity, that did the highest honour to the General and his army. One day, upon an excursion against the Indians, who troubled the out-posts from the other side of the river, while the fire of these savages fell heavy upon the officers, the General addressed him in these words : " Harry, what is " your friends doing at home, to allow this promotion to " pass ? Are they asleep ? But come ! I have the power of " giving temporary rank until his Majesty's pleasure is " known : It shall be put in orders to-morrow, and none " must come over your head while you are under my u command." " Sir," said the Colonel, touched with the noble manner of his commander, " to receive it from you, is " infinitely more agreeable to me than any thing that can " come from home." From this time, the love for Mr Wolfe was deeply impressed on his mind, and it mingled in his conversation, with expressions of admiration and regard for that young hero, during the whole course of his life. It has been the good fortune of some generals, by tlieir generosity, as well as their great actions, to attach tlieir soldiers to tlieir person and interests, with a degree of enthusiasm ; they participated as it were in his renown, and his praise was tlieir greatest reward. " Hod if, Cesar, me r