by his doubts as to the movements of Argyle.* Meanwhile, Lord Mar, at Perth, had no sooner been apprised of his arrival, than he took horse with the Earl Marischal, General Hamilton, and about thirty other gentlemen, and hastened forward to meet their long expected Prince. Fully convinced as I am of the justice and wisdom of the Hanover succession, and of the national miseries that must have resulted from its overthrow, I yet cannot divest myself of a feeling of reverence-almost of partiality, when I behold the unhappy grandson of Charles the First striving for the throne of his fathers, and trace his footsteps on the soil of his ancient dominion.

The reception of Mar at Fetteresso was, as might be expected, highly cordial; the Chevalier warmly acknowledged his past services, and created him a Duke. On the 30th, James set off from Fetteresso, and on the 4th of January he slept at Glammis Castle, the residence of the Earls of Strathmore, which he declared to be the finest gentleman's seat that he had ever seen in any country. Two days afterwards he made his public entry into Dundee on horseback; the Earl of Mar riding on his right hand, and the Earl Marischal on his left, while nearly three hundred gentlemen brought up the rear. He was hailed with loud and general acclamations, and, at the request of his friends, remained for an hour at the market-place to gratify the eager affection of the people, who thronged to kiss his hands. Continuing his progress, he, on the 8th, arrived within two miles of the army, at the Royal palace of Scone, where he established his residence, named a regular council, and performed several other acts of state. He issued six proclamations for a general thanksgiving, in gratitude of the special and "miraculous providence" shown in his safe arrival;† for prayers in churches; for the currency of all foreign coins; for the meeting of the Convention of Estates; for ordering all fencible men, from sixteen to sixty, to repair to his standard; and for his coronation on the 23d of January. "At the first news of his landing," says one of the insurgent gentlemen at Perth, "it is impossible to express the joy and vigour of our men. Now we hoped the day was come, when we should live more like soldiers, and should be led on to face our enemies, and not be mouldering away into nothing, attending the idle determination of a disconcerted council." His appearance amongst his troops was, however, attended with mutual disappointment. He had been promised by Lord Mar a large and victorious army. They had been told that he would bring with him a numerous body of officers, and, perhaps, of men, and a large supply of money, arms, and ammu

The Pretender to Lord Bolingbroke, Jan. 2, 1716. Stuart Papers. See Appendix. The cause publicly assigned was an ague.

† Collection of Original Papers, p. 160.

True Account of the Proceedings at Perth, by a Rebel. London, 1716, p. 15, a curious and authentic narrative. Mr. Chambers, who quotes this work, is mistaken (note, p. 332) in ascribing it to the Master of Sinclair. If he had had an opportunity of reading Sinclair's MS. Memoirs he would have found that Sinclair had already gone northwards to Lord Huntly's; that he was not at Perth during any part of these latter transactions, and never saw the Chevalier in Scotland.

nition. He now came almost alone in the midst of a dwindled and discordant multitude. On making his entry into Perth, the day after he reached Scone Palace, he expressed his wish to see "those little Kings with their armies," as he called the chiefs and the clans; and one of the most martial tribes of Highlanders was accordingly marshalled before him. He was much pleased at the appearance and the arms of the mountaineers; but, on inquiring how many such were in arms for him, and learning their scanty numbers, he could not conceal his feelings of concern and surprise ;* and in fact, so much reduced was the insurgent army, that they could not venture to disclose their weakness by the customary pageant of a general review.

Nor was there any reasonable hope of speedy reinforcements. Huntly and Seaforth, to whom James had immediately applied, were privately treating with the government for a submission; and the unusual depth of the snow was a reason with some, and a pretext with many others, for remaining at home. Meanwhile Argyle still continued in front, at the head of an army, now immensely superior both in numbers and in discipline, and he had already pushed his outposts along the coast of Fife, dislodged the insurgent garrisons, and cut off the supply of coal from the camp at Perth.

Difficulties such as these might have baffled even the military skill of Marlborough, or the heroic spirit of Montrose. Still dess could they be overcome by a young and inexperienced Prince. Had James been bred a Protestant, had he come to the throne by undisputed succession, and had he ruled in tranquil times, he would certainly have been a popular monarch, from his graceful manners, his mild temper, and his constant application to business. The letters of his which I have read in the Stuart and other Collections, appear to me written with remarkable ability and power of language. But he had neither that daring energy, nor that sound judgment, which might fit him for the part of leader in trying emergencies. It was once observed by Stanhope to Dubois, that if ever France should fit out an expedition against England, he only hoped, to insure its failure, that the Pretender might be placed at its head.† Nature had made this Prince a quiet unenterprising man, education a bigoted Catholic, and, like most of the Princes of his race, he combined an obstinate and unreasonable pertinacity in what he had once determined, with a blind submission to favourites, sometimes unwisely chosen and always too readily obeyed. Even at this period, the crisis of his own fate, he was so little warned by his father's, as to refuse, or rather evade, giving the same promise of security to the Church of Ireland as to the Church of England, and stubbornly to withstand all the representations of Bolingbroke upon that subject! §

* Mar in his previous letters had swelled his army to 16,000 men! Mém. de Berwirk, vol. ii. p. 170.

† Sevelinges, Mémoires Sécrets, vol. i. p. 201.

See the deliberate and reluctant opinion of one of his warmest partisans, Mr. Lockhart of Carnwath, writing in the year 1728; Lockhart Papers, vol. ii. p. 405.

$ Bolingbroke to James, Nov. 2, 1715. Appendix. See also his remarks in the letter to Wyndham.

The appearance and demeanour of the Chevalier, when in Scotland, seem to be truly described by one of the gentlemen who had taken up arms for his cause: "His person was tall and thin, seeming to incline to be lean rather than to fill as he grows in years. His countenance was pale, yet he seems to be sanguine in his constitution, and has something of a vivacity in his eye that perhaps would have been more visible, if he had not been under dejected circumstances and surrounded with discouragements, which, it must be acknowledged, were sufficient to alter the complexion even of his soul as well as of his body. His speech was grave, and not very clearly expressing his thoughts, nor overmuch to the purpose, but his words were few, and his behaviour and temper seemed always composed. What he was in his diversions we know not; here was no room for such things. It was no time for mirth. Neither can I say I ever saw him smile. . . . I must not conceal, that when we saw the man whom they called our King, we found ourselves not at all animated by his presence, and if he was disappointed in us, we were tenfold more so in him. We saw nothing in him that looked like spirit. He never appeared with cheerfulness and vigour to animate us. Our men began to despise him; some asked if he could speak. His countenance looked extremely heavy. He cared not to come abroad amongst us soldiers, or to see us handle our arms or do our exercise. Some said the circumstances he found us in dejected him; I am sure the figure he made dejected us; and, had he sent us but 5000 men of good troops, and never himself come amongst us, we had done other things than we have now done."*

The same writer adds, however, "I think, as his affairs were situated, no man can say that his appearing grave and composed was a token of his want of thought, but rather of a significant anxiety, grounded upon the prospect of his inevitable ruin." His speech to his counsel, also, which was printed and circulated at the time, is marked by sense and spirit. "Whatsoever shall ensue," he said in conclusion, "I shall leave my faithful subjects no room for complaint that I have not done the utmost they could expect from me. Let those who forget their duty, and are negligent of their own good, be answerable for the worst that may happen. For me it will be no new thing if I am unfortunate. My whole life, even from my cradle, has shown a constant series of misfortunes, and I am prepared (if so it please God) to suffer the threats of my enemies and yours.' The council held on this occasion, the 16th of January, determined upon several important measures. First, to fortify Perth, a labour which might have been and should have been completed long before; secondly, to impede the advance of the Duke of Argyle by burning Auchterarder, and all the other villages on the road to Stirling. It was with the utmost difficulty that the Chevalier could be brought to consent to this harsh and invidious project; a reluctant permission was, however, at length wrung from him, and the measure

• True Account of the Proceedings at Perth, by a Rebel, p. 19.

accomplished. Steps were also taken to summon the absent clans, and to obtain supplies of arms and money; for it was one of the many misfortunes of the Jacobites at this juncture, that a vessel which was bringing them some gold from France in ingots had been stranded, and the treasure lost.*

Meanwhile, the government, dissatisfied at Argyle's procrastination, sent down General Cadogan, one of Marlborough's best officers, to quicken and decide his movements. Cadogan, on coming to Stirling, found the Duke, as he says, anxious to invent excuses for inaction, and labouring to discourage the troops by exaggerating the numbers of the enemy and the dangers of the service.† One of his pleas for remaining quiet was founded on the want of artillery; but Cadogan, proceeding in person to Berwick, hastened the arrival of the expected train. Another of the Duke's objections was the extreme rigour of the season; another the burning of the villages (for excuses are never wanting where inclination is); but the urgency of Cadogan over-ruled all his difficulties, real or pretended, and obliged him, on the 24th of January, to begin employing the country people in clearing away the snow, preparatory to the march of the

army.

The news of this intention rapidly flew to Perth, causing great perplexity amongst the chiefs, and great rejoicing amongst the men. The latter were loud and clamorous for battle; the former sat in deliberation the whole night of the 28th, but could come to no decided resolution. "Why, what would you have us do?" said an officer next day to one of the tumultuous parties gathered in the streets. "Do!" cried a Highlander, "what did you call us to arms for? Was it to run away? What did the King come hither for? Was it to see his people butchered by hangmen, and not strike one stroke for their lives? Let us die like men, and not like dogs!" A gentleman from Aberdeenshire added his opinion, that they ought to take the person of their monarch out of the hands of his present timid counsellors, and then, if he were willing to die like a Prince, he should find there were ten thousand gentlemen in Scotland who were not afraid to die with him. These sentiments were no doubt very becoming in brave subalterns; but as certainly it behoved the generals to bear in mind the enormous disproportion of numbers and of discipline, the incomplete defences of Perth and the difficulty of standing a siege, the actual want of fuel and the future want of provisions, the danger of a second Preston, and the possibility that some of the insurgents might be base enough to make terms with the government by giving up the Chevalier. A retreat to the northward, on the contrary, would afford further time for the chance of foreign succours, would secure the person of the Pretender, might entangle Argyle's army in the intricacies of the Highland hills, expose him

Lord Mar's Account from France. This money was part of the loan from Spain. Mém. de Berwick, vol. ii. p. 169.

Coxe's Life of Marlborough, vol. vi. p. 334.

True Account of Proceedings at Perth, p. 28.

to a battle on more equal terms, and deprive him of all service from his cavalry. On these grounds, we can scarcely join the Highland soldiers in condemning as pusillanimous the resolution which was finally taken of withdrawing from Perth, although I admit, there seems reason to believe, that many of the chiefs had already for some time determined to abandon the whole enterprise, to induce the Pretender to re-embark at Montrose, and the army to disperse in the Highlands.

The resolution to retreat, finally formed at a council on the night of the 29th of January, was promulgated to the army on the 30th, a day whose evil augury for the House of Stuart was observed and lamented by all present. With sullen silence, or indignant outcries, did the Highlanders prepare for their departure; and mournful was the farewell of their friends at Perth, now about to be exposed to the vengeance of the insulted government. Early next morning the troops began to defile over the Tay, which, usually a deep and rapid river, was now a sheet of solid ice, and bore both horse and foot of the retreating army. Their march was directed along the Carse of Gowrie to Dundee.

On the other hand, the English and Dutch troops did not quit Stirling till the 29th. They advanced that day to Auchterarder, one of the villages burnt by the insurgents, where they encamped all night upon the snow, a few only being partially sheltered by the blackened and roofless walls that still remained. Argyle, leading the vanguard, entered Perth about twelve hours after the last of the insurgents had left it, and, first allowing a day of rest, proceeded with a select body in their pursuit. Cadogan writes to Marlborough at this juncture: "The Duke of Argyle grows so intolerably uneasy that it is almost impossible to live with him any longer; he is enraged at the success of this expedition, though he and his creatures attribute to themselves the honour of it. When I brought him the news of the rebels being run from Perth, he seemed thunderstruck, and was so visibly concerned at it, that even the foreign officers that were in the room took notice of it. . . . Since the rebels quitting Perth, he has sent for 500 or 600 of his Argyleshire men, who go before the army a day's march to take possession of the towns the enemy have abandoned, and to plunder and destroy the country, which enrages our soldiers, who are forbid, under pain of death, to take the value of a farthing, though out of the rebels' houses. Not one of these Argyle men appeared whilst the rebels were in Perth, and when they might have been of some use.

The real motives for Argyle's backwardness are not perhaps very apparent. He may have wished to spare many of the insurgents from private friendship and connexion; he may have been afraid lest the forfeiture of their estates should involve the loss of his own seignorial rights over some of them. It seems to me, however, still

⚫ Letters from General Cadogan to the Duke of Marlborough, dated Feb. 4, 1716, and printed in Coxe's Memoirs. Coxe is mistaken as to the march of the troops from Stirling; they reached Tullibardine, not on the fourth day, but on the second,