for the ‘Scotch rogue’ Ridpath, who continued to write when at liberty (Journal to Stella, 28 Oct. 1712). On 19 Feb. 1713 Ridpath was tried at the Guildhall. The attorney-general said that he ‘had for some years past outwent all his predecessors in scandal.’ That the trial was to a large extent a party matter is shown by the list of Ridpath's counsel: Sergeant Pratt, Sir Peter King, and Messrs. Lechmere, St. Leger, Fortescue, and Cowper. A collection had been made on Ridpath's behalf, and whigs were told that unless they would subscribe two guineas they would not be admitted to be members of the party (Wentworth Papers, p. 310). After a hearing of eight hours, the jury found Ridpath guilty of two of the libels, and sentence was postponed. On 1 May his recognisances of 600l. were estreated, because he had failed to appear, in accordance with an order made on 27 April, and on the 25th a reward of 100l. was offered by Bolingbroke for his discovery; but without result, Ridpath having fled to Scotland, and thence to Holland (Political State, iv. 176, v. 97–100, 340–2; The Tryal and Conviction of Mr. George Redpeth, 1713, folio; An Account of the Proceedings and Sentence given against Mr. George Redpeth, 1713, folio; Queen's Bench, Coram Reg. Rolls, Easter 12 Anne, at Publ. Rec. Office).
In Ridpath's absence the ‘Flying Post’ was carried on by Stephen Whatley, under his general directions. In 1714 it was found that the printer, Hurt, had intercourse with Defoe, Ridpath's rival journalist, and the ‘Flying Post’ was at once taken out of his hands. Defoe came to Hurt's assistance, and on 27 July published, through Hurt, a rival newspaper, ‘The Flying Post and Medley;’ the latter part of the title was soon dropped. Ridpath called this the ‘Sham Flying Post’ (Lee, Life of Defoe, pp. 230–6).
Ridpath, who now lived at Rotterdam, was celebrated by the ‘Dutch Gazetteer,’ according to Swift, as ‘one of the best pens in England’ (Swift, Works, 1824, iv. 297). In 1713 he wrote ‘Some Thoughts concerning the Peace, and the Thanksgiving appointed by authority to be observed for it;’ and certain observations on the address of the highlanders to Queen Anne, which he complained was signed only by ten, four of whom were catholics, called forth ‘The Honourable Chieftains of the Highland Clans vindicated from the false Aspersions and scurrilous Reflections thrown upon them by Ridpath, the scandalous and justly condemned Libeller,’ Edinburgh, 1713. In 1714 he published a book called ‘Parliamentary Right maintained, or the Hanover Succession justified,’ in answer to Bedford's ‘Hereditary Right to the Crown of England asserted.’ His letters to the English minister at The Hague, in the British Museum, give a curious account of the difficulties in getting this work circulated (Stowe MSS. vol. ccxxv. f. 372, vol. ccxxvi. ff. 41, 66, 73, 86, 88, 226, 251, 346, 489, vol. ccxxvii. ff. 69, 76, 87, 91). Copies were sent by various ships to different ports in England; but many were lost or thrown overboard by the captains, who dared not land them, or were returned because no one dared receive them. Early in the year Ridpath feared arrest in Holland. He had much political correspondence with persons in Scotland, and in April he wrote ‘The New Project examined, or the Design of the Faction to deprive the Hanover Family of the power to name Lord Justices anatomised,’ but it is doubtful whether this pamphlet was printed.
After the accession of George I Ridpath returned to England, and was made one of the patentees for serving the commissioners of the customs in Scotland with stationery wares (Read's Weekly Journal, 12 Feb. 1726). In 1717 he was giving Wodrow advice in the preparation of the ‘History of the Sufferings of the Church of Scotland,’ and was himself proposing to write a continuation of Buchanan's ‘Scotch History.’ The ‘Flying Post’ still waged war with tories, and Ridpath made slanderous charges against Nathaniel Mist [q. v.] and others (Mist's Weekly Journal, 21 and 28 June 1718); but in 1719, when he was living in Greville Street, Holborn, he published ‘An Appeal to the Word of God for the Trinity in Unity.’ Pope wrote (Dunciad, i. 208):
To Dulness Ridpath is as dear as Mist.
According to Wodrow, the dedication to the Lower House of Convocation, prefixed to the collected edition of the ‘Independent Whig,’ 1721, is by Ridpath (Abbotsford Club Miscellany, i. 379). It is an attack on the unscriptural claims of the clergy, who are charged with teaching the need of giving endowments rather than plain morality and religion. In 1722 Ridpath was secretary to a lottery at Harburg, Hanover, in connection with a company formed to maintain a trade with that country. The king denied having sanctioned the lottery, and a committee of the House of Commons examined Ridpath in December and January 1723. Most of the company's money had been lost in the South Sea Company, and a bill was introduced to suppress the lottery. In February the trustees announced, through Ridpath, that they would return all tickets on application.
