that, notwithstanding any thing that may be contamed in that letter for dissolving them, or impeding their procedure, yet that they are a free and lawful meeting of the estates, and will continue undissolved until they settle and secure the protestant religion, the government, laws, and liberties of the kingdoms." In this letter, James implored the convention, as faithful subjects, to support his interests, and he informed them, that should any attempt be made by foreigners to interfere with them, he would afford them assistance. To all who should return to their duty before the last day of the month, he offered pardon; but he declared his resolution to punish those who should resist his authority. No answer was returned to this letter, and the bearer of it was doomed to suffer a short imprisonment.

As the king's friends saw that any efforts they could make in the convention after the reception his letter had met with, would be quite unavailing, they agreed at a private meeting which they held on the seventeenth of March, to repair to Stirling and there hold a convention by themselves. This resolution was adopted agreeably to the wish of the king himself, who, in anticipation of what would happen in the convention called by the prince, had sent a written authority, dated from Ireland, empowering the archbishop of St Andrews, the earl of Balcarras, and Viscount Dundee, to call a meeting of the estates at Stirling. Balcarras and Dundee received an assurance from the marquis of Athole, who, ever since the cold reception he had met with from William, had been wonderfully loyal, that he would accompany them, and a similar promise was obtained from the earl of Mar, governor of Stirling castle. Athole, however, began to waver, a circumstance which deferred the departure of the king's friends.

Here it may not be improper to notice a circumstance which probably had its weight in the deliberations preceding the departure of Dundee. On the morning of sixteenth March, just as Lord Dundee was on the point of going to the convention, he was waited upon by James Binnie, a dyer, who informed him that he had overheard a conversation the day before among some persons of their intention of murdering him and Sir George Mackenzie, and Binnie offered, if a warrant were granted hiin, to apprehend them. Dundee immediately went to the convention and applied for protection, but they refused to act in the matter, and passed to the order of the day. Whether this affair was the device of the Whig party, as has been supposed, to get quit of two individuals particularly obnoxious to them, there are no means of ascertaining; but when the circumstances of the times, and the opinions then held by many of the people are considered, the design of assassinating them is far from improbable. *

But be this as it may, Dundee resolved to remain as short as possible

Balcarras, p. 24.-Minutes of Convention, 16th March.

DEPARTURE OF DUNDEE FROM EDINBURGH.

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in a place where he might be every moment exposed to the dagger of the assassin; and, accordingly, he and his friends fixed on Monday the eighteenth of March for their departure for Stirling. With the exception of Dundee, they all assembled at the appointed place of rendezvous in the city at the hour which had been fixed; but as the marquis of Athole, who had promised to accompany them and to protect them on their arrival at Stirling with a body of his vassals, wished them to postpone their departure till the following day; they consented to remain, and were in the act of dispersing and proceeding to the convention when Dundee made his appearance. Such an unexpected resolution greatly surprised him, but he told Balcarras, that whatever were the views of his friends, he would not remain another day in Edinburgh. Balcarras remonstrated with him, and represented, that his departure would give the alarm to their enemies, who would not fail to take advantage of the discovery; but he replied, that as he had a select body of between forty and fifty troopers ready mounted and prepared to start, he would not remain any longer within the city, but would clear the walls with his party and wait without for such friends as might choose to join him. Dundee accordingly left the city at the head of his troopers to go, as he is said to have emphatically replied to a friend who put the interrogatory to him, wherever the spirit of Montrose should direct. After passing the Nether-bow port, he turned to the left down Leith Wynd, and after clearing the suburbs of the Calton, he faced to the west, and proceeded along the line of road known at the time by the name of the Lang-gate, and which now forms the splendid terrace of Princes' street. On arriving opposite the castle, Dundee ordered his men to halt, and alighting from his horse, he clambered up the steep precipice on the west side of that fortress, and from the bottom of the wall held a conference with the duke of Gordon, who stood in an adjoining postern gate immediately above. No account has been preserved of the nature of the conversation which passed between these two devoted adherents of the king, but it is understood that the viscount entreated the duke to hold out the castle as long as he could, and that he would endeavour to raise the siege as soon as he had collected sufficient forces.

The unexpected appearance of Dundee riding down the High Street of Edinburgh in open day at the head of his troopers, had attracted a considerable number of spectators, and before he reached the Langgate, the whole population was in motion, many of whom left the city and witnessed at some distance the interview between the two noblemen. Intelligence of Dundee's departure, and his conference with the duke, was immediately brought to the convention, which was sitting at the time, and created a great sensation. Reports the most unfavourable were raised, and brought by messengers to the convention, that crowds were flocking to Dundee's standard, that their design was to attack the convention, and that the duke of Gordon meant to fire upon the city.

In the midst of the confusion and alarm occasioned by these rumours, the duke of Hamilton addressed the convention in a very angry tone, and told them, that the time was now come when the members should look to their own safety, and as he had no doubt there were enemies among them who were privy to Dundee's designs, he proposed, in order to prevent their escape, that the doors of the convention should be bolted and the keys laid upon the table. This motion being agreed to, the earl of Leven was directed to assemble some forces, which had been brought into the city by the Tory lords, for their protection; but their fears were soon dispelled by the departure of Dundee for the west, and by the return, to the city, of the inhabitants who had gone out to witness the exhibition; and whose appearance near Dundee's troopers, had given rise to the report that they had joined him. The convention despatched a Major Bunting with a party of horse in pursuit, but although he overtook Dundee, he had not the courage to attack him, alarmed by a threat with which, it is said, Dundee menaced him, that he would send him (Bunting) back to the convention, in a pair of blankets, did he dare to molest him.* Dundee crossed Stirling bridge the second day of his departure, and proceeded to his residence of Didhope near Dundee, to ruminate over the events which had just passed, and. to concoct his plans, under the new and extraordinary circumstances in which he was placed, for the restoration of James.†

Life of Dundee.

↑ Before giving the details of Dundee's insurrection, the following short sketch will not be out of place. John Graham, Viscount Dundee, descended from the royal line of the Stuarts by the marriage of William, Lord Graham of Kincardine, his ancestor, with the Princess Mary, second daughter of King Robert III., was the eldest son of Sir William Graham of Claverhouse in Angus or Forfarshire. Besides a royal descent, Viscount Dundee also claimed to be descended, through the family of Morphy in Mearns, from the illustrious house of Montrose, and was also allied to the noble family of Northesk by his mother, Lady Jean Carnegy, who was third daughter of the first earl. Young Graham entered the university of St Andrew's in the year sixteen hundred and sixty, where he acquired considerable distinction as a scholar. Mathematics were his favourite study, in the knowledge of which he particularly excelled; and, perhaps, this predilection may have determined him to embrace a military life. He left the university in sixteen hundred and seventy and went to France, into the service of which he entered as a volunteer. He afterwards transferred his services to Holland, and received the commission of a cornet in one of the Prince of Orange's troops of guards. He distinguished himself at the battle of Seneffe, in sixteen hundred and seventy four, by saving the life of the prince, who had been dismounted, and carrying him off upon his own horse. Having been refused the command of one of the Scottish regiments in the employment of the States, he left the Dutch service and returned to Scotland in the year sixteen hundred and seventy-seven, and was appointed by Charles II., captain of one of the regiments then raising in Scotland for the suppression of the Whigs, in which service he acquired from the unfortunate covenanters, on account of his alleged severities, the unenviable appeliation of "the bloody Clavers." The confidence which Charles had bestowed on Captain Graham was continued by his successor James, who, after promoting him successively to the ranks of brigadier and major-general, raised him to the peerage under the title of Viscount Dundee, on the twelfth of November, seven days after the invasion of the prince of Orange.

CHAPTER VI.

Dubious conduct of the king's adherents-Proceedings of the convention-Arrival of Major-general Mackay-Plan for settling the government proposed and carriedCrown of Scotland offered to, and accepted of, by William and Mary-Attempt to apprehend Dundee, who escapes to the north-Retires to Inverness where he is joined by Macdonald of Keppoch-Mackay marches to the nort and advances upon Inverness-Dundee retires through Badenoch into Athole-Surprises Perth and appears before the town of Dundee-Retires into Lochaber-Colonel Ramsay arrives at Perth, marches through Athole-Retreats to Perth-Advance of Mackay from Inverness-Dundee marches into Badenoch-Mackay retreats through Strathspey and encamps at Colmnakill-Disaffection among Mackay's troops-Ruthven Castle surrenders to Dundee Mackay retreats farther down Strathspey-Followed by Dundee--Retreat of Dundee-Skirmish between Mackay's dragoons and the Macleans-Dun dee retires into Lochaber-Disbands his forces-Return of Mackay to Edinburgh.

THE idea of setting up a counter convention at Stirling, was immediately abandoned on the departure of Dundee from the capital. The marquis of Athole, whom the adherents of the king had chosen for their leader, showed no disposition to follow Dundee, and the earl of Mar, who, to save his loyalty made a feint to escape by the only guarded way, was apprehended, not unwillingly, as is supposed, by the sentinels, and brought back, but was released on giving his parole that he would not leave the city without the permission of the convention. The ambiguous conduct of these two noblemen, tended to cool the ardour of the few remaining adherents of the king, some of whom resolved to support the new order of things, whilst others, less pliant, ab⚫sented themselves wholly from the convention. That assembly, after passing an act approving of the conduct of the English convention, in requesting the prince of Orange (now declared king of England) to take upon him the administration of the affairs of that kingdom, acknowledged their obligations to him as the assertor of their liberties, and also entreated him to assume the management of the affairs of Scotland. The convention, thereupon, despatched Lord Ross with a letter to William, embodying these sentiments in answer to the communication he had sent them, in which, moreover, they thanked him for having called them together, and declared that they would take effectual measures for the security of religion, and the laws and liberties of the kingdom.

Popular as the steps were which the convention were about to take, for settling the government of the nation, with the great body of the people, they were not insensible to the probability of a formidable op

position being raised to their plans, by a bold and determined band of royalists in the north, who, headed by such a warlike and experienced commander as Dundee, might involve the whole kingdom in a civil war. To prepare therefore against such an emergency, the convention, before proceeding to the important business for which it had assembled, issued a proclamation requiring all persons from sixteen to sixty, and capable of bearing arms, to put themselves in readiness to take the field when called upon: they deprived all militia officers, suspected of attachment to the king, of their commissions, and filled up the vacancies thus occasioned, by others on whom they could rely. Sir Patrick Hume, who lay under an attainder for the part he took in Argyle's rebellion, was appointed to the command of the horse militia, and the earl of Leven was nominated to the command of a body of eight hun dred men, raised for a guard to the city of Edinburgh.

Backed by these, and by about eleven hundred men of the Scotch brigade from Holland, which arrived at Leith from England, on the twenty fifth of March, under general Mackay, as major-general of all the forces in Scotland, and by a force of two hundred dragoons which were also sent from England; the leaders of the convention proposed that a committee of eight lords, eight knights, and eight burgesses, should be appointed to prepare and report upon a plan of settling the government. The archbishop of Glasgow and a few other adherents of the king, who still remained in the convention, made a bold stand

General Hugh Mackay was son of Colonel Hugh Mackay of Scowry. He first entered the Venetian service, in which he distinguished himself. Leaving the service of that republic, he went to France, where he obtained a captaincy in Douglas's regiment. After serving under Marshall Turenne, in the campaign in the Netherlands, in sixteen hundred and seventy-two, captain Mackay offered his services to the prince of Orange, who gave him the commission of Major in one of the Scotch regiments, then serving in Holland. After reaching the rank of Colonel in the Dutch service, Mackay was invited to England by James II., from whom, on the fourth of June, sixteen hundred and eighty-five, he received the appointment of major-general, or commander in chief, of the forces in Scotland; and he was admitted a member of the Scottish privy council, by virtue of a warrant from the king, dated the eighteenth of the same month. But disliking the arbitrary proceedings of James, or preferring the service of his son-in law, Mackay resigned his commission and returned to Holland. The prince raised him to the rank of major-general, and gave him the command of the British regiments, with which he invaded England. By a warrant signed by William and Mary, dated from Kensington, fourth January, sixteen hundred and eighty-nine, Mackay was appointed "majorgeneral of all forces whatever, wittin our ancient kingdom of Scotland." This assumption of the sovereign authority without waiting for the determination of the convention, was guarded against by the following entry in their records: "Edinburgh, 28th March, 1689. The estates of this kingdom considering that the king of England, in pursuance, of his acceptation of the administration of the public affairs of this kingdom, till the meeting of the estates had sent down Major-general Mackay, with some Scots regiments under his command, for the security of the estates, aud general peace of the kingdom; they do acknowledge the great kindness and care of the king of England; and do hereby warrant and authorise the said Major-general Mackay, to command any forces, either standing or to be raised, with the militia, within this kingdom, &c." Mackay was raised to the rank of lieutenant-general in 1690, and was killed at the battle of Steinkirk, 3d August, 1692,