Sir John Cope and the _Rebellion of 1745. By the
late General Sir Robert Cadell, K.C.B. (William Blackwood and Sons. 16s.)—Sir John Cope, who died in 1760, was, in a sense, tried for his conduct at the famous battle of Prestonpans in 1745 before a Court or Board of Inquiry which sat in the Horse Guards and for five days examined witnesses. He was, also in a sense, acquitted. But the defence which was offered for him hardly appears to have been regarded as adequate by the late General Sir Robert Cadell, who would almost seem to have been attracted to this old historical subject by the circumstance of his having had professionally to go over much the same ground as the unfortunate commander. He has come to the conclusion that latter- day historians such as Sir Walter Scott, Hill Burton, and even the late Professor Veitch have been more unjust to Cope than even his contemporaries, with whose recriminations, such as those contained in Skinner's comic ballad of " Johnnie Cope," there was always mingled a vein of genuine humour. It may be allowed, at the very least, that in General Cadell's monograph, which has been published since his death by his representatives, as good an attempt at the vindication of Cope as is now possible has been made. It is to be regretted that the General, when he was engaged on the in- quiry which has resulted in this book, had not carried it a little further back than he has done, and had prepared a full biography of Sir John. As that soldier entered the Army in 1707, he must have had considerable experience before he was selected to put down the Rising of nearly forty years later. Referring, however, not so much to what General Cadell has left undone as to what he has actually done, it may be allowed that he has made good one point,—that Cope did sleep on the field of battle the night before Prestonpans, instead of seeking comfort and shelter at some distance, as certain of his assailants have maintained. But while Cope may not have been a coward, even General Cadell cannot prove from his marchings and counter-marchings in the High- lands before Prestonpans that he had any skill or foresight as a commander. It is to be regretted, also, that General Cadell should have found it necessary to blacken the characters of nearly all who were connected, directly or indirectly, with his hero, including two such dissimilar persons as the young Chevalier and the celebrated and "converted" Colonel Gardiner.
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