To these acquirements were
added a singular charm of manner.[217] One can hardly suppose the visits
of two such men not to have had their source from some motive of
kindness.

To the credit of the House of Lords, an address was voted to the King,
petitioning that his Majesty would reprieve such of the rebel lords as
deserved his mercy. The royal answer was couched in these terms: that
"the King on this, and all occasions, would do what he thought
consistent with the dignity of the Crown and the safety of his
people."[218] It was unfortunate that, both at this time and in the
Rebellion of 1745, there was no Queen Consort. A woman's heart would,
one may trust, have pleaded for the young, gallant, and beloved
Derwentwater. The English Court was, at that time, insulted by the
audacious intrigues of foreign mistresses. These women had no interest
in the King's real fame, nor in the national credit. Such was the case
in the first Rebellion.[219] In 1745 Queen Caroline, the wife of George
the Second, was dead.

Accompanied by two courageous ladies, the young Countess of Derwentwater
threw herself at the feet of the King, and implored mercy on her
husband.[220] In the House of Commons, the First Lord of the Treasury
declared, that he had been offered a bribe of sixty thousand pounds to
save Lord Derwentwater. Sir Richard Steele spoke loudly in favour of the
condemned lords, but the declaration of Walpole suppressed all hopes of
mercy. "He was moved with indignation," he said, "to see that there
should be such unworthy members of this great body as to open their
mouths, without blushing, in favour of rebels and parricides." He
adjourned the House until the first of March, it being understood that
the peers would be executed in the mean time. It is some consolation to
reflect that the Minister had, on this occasion, only a majority of
seven.

At this juncture, when all hope seemed lost, Mary, Dowager Countess of
Derwentwater, proffered the following petition in behalf of her sons.
One can hardly suppose how it could have been disregarded; but the
Monarch had few sympathies with his people of England.

"The humble Petition of Mary Countess of Derwentwater, 1716, to the
King's most excellent Majesty, sheweth,

"That the Earl of Derwentwater and Charles Radcliffe (your
petitioner's two and only sons) having been unfortunately engaged
and surprised into a horrid and open Rebellion against your most
sac