the most prosperous fortune of the pretender. Their zeal for the protestant succession became warmer in proportion to his success, and the danger to which the existing government seemed exposed; for they paid no regard to his declarations in regard to religion, and very little to those of a civil nature. "Kirk and king!" was the prevailing cry.

Very different was the state of affairs in the north of Scotland. The majority of the people beyond the river Tay, being chiefly papists, non-jurors, or luke-warm presbyterians, were disposed to favour the re-establishment of the house of Stuart. But many of the leading men were attached to the reigning family by motives of interest, ambition, inclination, gratitude; and exerted themselves zealously for the support of government. Of these, one of the most distinguished was Duncan Forbes of Culloden, president of the Court of Session; a man of extensive knowledge, great talents, engaging manners, and equally respected for his public and private virtues. To him the house of Hanover may almost be said to owe its continuance on the throne of Great Britain, and we the enjoyment of our happy constitution. He confirmed in their allegiance several chieftains who began to waver: some he induced, by the force of his arguments, to renounce their former principles, and oppose that cause which they intended to abet; others he persuaded to remain quiet, from prudential considerations. In these views he was warmly seconded by the earl of Loudon, who commanded the king's forces at Inverness; where he was joined by twelve hundred men, under the earl of Sutherland; by a considerable number under lord Rae; and beside the Grants and Monros, by a body of hardy islanders from Skie, under sir Alexander Macdonald and the laird of Macleod 1.

These advantages, however, were counterbalanced by the prevailing spirit of the people, and the activity of a few rebel leaders. At the head of those stood lord Lewis Gordon; who though his brother, the duke, was in the interest of government, had been remarkably successful in arming the retainers of the family, and engaging all disaffected persons in the neighbourhood of Aberdeen. The earl of Cromartie had raised a body of men for the support of the pretender; a considerable sum of money had been received, for his use, from Spain; and lord John Drummond, brother to the duke of Perth, had landed with a small

1 Contin. of Rapin, vol. ix.-Smollett, vol. xi.

reinforcement, and with liberal promises of farther aid from France.

Encouraged by these, flattering appearances, and by the rapid progress of the pretender, lord Lovat, one of the most extraordinary characters in ancient or modern times, who had long temporised, ordered his son to put himself at the head of his clan, and repair to the rendezvous of the rebels at Perth'.—He even sent round his whole estate the Fiery Cross, or general denunciation of spoil, sword, and fire, made by the Highland chiefs against such of their vassals as should refuse to take arms at their command. Near a thousand Frasers were instantly levied,

1 Simon Fraser, lord Lovat, was born with insinuating talents, and exerted his whole force upon mankind through the channel of their vanity. Totally destitute of principle, and despising veracity as an useless quality, he accommodated all his actions to his immediate interest, and all his words to the deceitful purpose of drawing the credulous into his views. And although his natural address was homely, his personal appearance remarkably forbidding, and his flattery too obvious to escape the observation even of the weak and the vain, it was too strongly applied to be resisted entirely by men of the most moderate tempers, and of the soundest understanding. Though his projects were generally formed with little judgment, he was bold and fearless in the execution of them. In 1697, he entered with an armed band the house of a woman of quality, seized her person, and ordered the marriage ceremony to be performed, while he endeavoured with the sound of a bag-pipe, to drown her cries; and having stripped her, by cutting off her stays with his dirk or dagger, he forcibly consummated the pretended marriage amidst the noise and riots of his barbarous attendants.

Obliged to abandon the kingdom, and declared a rebel and an outlaw for this and other acts of violence, Fraser found means to obtain a pardon from king William. He also ingratiated himself with the court of St. Germain by becoming a Catholic; and was employed by the court of France in attempting to raise a rebellion in Scotland in 1703. For that purpose he was furnished with proper credentials by the pretender; but instead of making use of them for the restoration of the exiled family, he disclosed the plot to the English government, and returned to France to procure more full proofs of the guilt of the principal conspirators. His treachery being there discovered, he was thrown into the Bastile, where he remained some months, and must have suffered the punishment due to his crimes, but for his consummate dissimulation. He had the address to make it believed, that all he had done was for the interest of the pretender; and, on his return to Britain, his sufferings in France recommended him not only to the protection but the favour of govern

ment.

In 1715, he was highly serviceable to the house of Hanover, by assisting in the suppression of the rebellion; and becoming afterward a personal favourite of George I., he was nobly rewarded for his loyalty. He even formed the scheme of erecting himself into a kind of viceroy in the Highlands; pretending that if he had the distribution of twenty-five thousand pounds annually among the heads of clans, he could effectually prevent all their future insurrections, and draw them insensibly into the interest of the reigning family. Disappointed, however, in his ambitious hopes, and otherwise disgusted with the established government, he relapsed into Jacobitism; and concluding that the young pretender would be supported by a powerful foreign force, he was at no pains to conceal his principles. But when Charles landed without such force, Lovat refused to join him, though he had accepted the office of lordlieutenant of all the counties north of the Spey. Yet was he industrious in arming his clan; in order, as is supposed, to procure a pardon for his treasonable speeches and practices, by throwing his interest into the scale of government, if the unexpected success of the pretender had not induced him to take part in the rebellion. See the Stuart Papers, Lockhart's Mem. Lovat's Trial.

and the master of Lovat invested Fort Augustus. The earl of Loudon marched to the relief of the garrison, and accomplished his purpose. But this success was more than balanced by that of lord Lewis Gordon, who surprised and routed the laird of Macleod, and Monro of Culcairn at Inverary, and obliged them to repass the Spey; so that the rebels were now masters of the whole country, from that river to the Frith of Forth, and every where imposed contributions on the inhabitants, and seized the royal revenue.

The pretender, on leaving England, understanding that Edinburgh was secured by a fresh army, had proceeded by the way of Dumfries to Glasgow, and imposed a heavy contribution on that loyal city. After making a hasty but oppressive tour through the neighbouring country, he directed his march to Stirling, where he was joined by the French troops under lord John Drummond, by the Frasers under the master of Lovat, and by lord Lewis Gordon and his victorious followers. It was now resolved to invest that town and castle; the latter being of great importance, by commanding the bridge over the river Forth. The town surrendered as soon as a battery was opened against it; but the castle, defended by a good 1746. garrison, under the command of general Blakeney, baffled all the attempts of the rebels.

A.D.

The taking of the town of Stirling was, in itself, an event of little moment. Yet, when connected with the miraculous escape of the pretender from two royal armies, and the increase of the number of his adherents during his bold expedition to the southern parts of the kingdom, it served to occasion fresh alarm in England; especially as it was deemed a prelude to the reduction of that fortress, which was the key of communication between the north and south of Scotland. The greatest exploits were now thought not impossible for Charles and his sturdy Highlanders, who seemed to be at once invulnerable, and proof against the rage of the elements.

General Hawley, an experienced officer, was ordered instantly to assemble an army, and proceed to the relief of Stirling castle. This commander, who was naturally brave, confident, and even presumptuous, having under him major-general Huske, the brigadiers Cholmondeley and Mordaunt, and other officers of distinction, advanced to Falkirk at the head of nine thousand men, beside the Argyleshire Highlanders and Glasgow volunteers; and having a contemptible idea of the rebels, whom he

had boasted he would drive from one end of the kingdom to the other with two regiments of dragoons, he gave himself little trouble to inquire after their numbers or disposition.

The pretender's army consisted of eight thousand five hundred men, and lay concealed in Torwood. Hawley, being informed that his adversaries were preparing to take possession of some rising grounds in the neighbourhood of his camp, comJan. 17. manded his cavalry to cut them in pieces. But the event proved very different from what he expected. The horse being quickly broken, recoiled upon the foot; and a total rout ensued. Abandoning their tents, with part of their artillery and baggage, the king's forces retired in confusion to Edinburgh, after attempting in vain to make a stand at Falkirk. About three hundred of their number were killed or wounded, and two hundred were made prisoners 1.

If the victorious Charles, during the consternation occasioned by this second blow, had again boldly entered England, he might possibly have taken up his winter quarters in the capital; or, if he had marched with the main body of his army toward Inverness, he might have crushed the earl of Loudon, disarmed the loyal clans, doubled the number of his adherents, and made himself absolute master of all the north of Scotland. But his heart being set on the reduction of Stirling castle, he lost sight of every other object. He therefore returned to the siege of that fortress; and after having in vain attempted to carry it by assault, the mode of attack most agreeable to his followers, and for which they were best adapted, he obstinately persisted in erecting batteries, opening trenches, and making regular approaches, in the depth of winter, to the great dissatisfaction of the Highlanders, many of whom retired in disgust to their native mountains.

While he was wasting his time, and breaking the spirit of his adherents, in these fruitless, impolitic, and ill-conducted operations, the nation recovered from that panic into which it had been thrown by the rout at Falkirk. The royal army in Scotland was reinforced with a body of fresh troops. The duke of Cumberland was appointed to command it; and the affairs of government soon began to wear a new face. Though unsuccessful in Flanders, and considered by professional men as no great master in the military art, the duke was adored by the

1 Contin. of Rapin; and various publications of the times.

soldiery. And the appearance of a prince of the blood, it was hoped, would at once intimidate the rebels, and encourage the king's troops.

Experience proved this conjecture to be well-founded. The duke, on his arrival at Edinburgh, was received with the warmest expressions of joy, and welcomed as a deliverer of the loyal party. The presbyterian preachers went yet farther; they represented him as a saviour sent by the Almighty to protect his chosen people, and take vengeance on their enemies. Firmness and confidence now took place of irresolution and despondency; and such of the Jacobites as had not yet taken arms, foreseeing the ruin of their prince's cause, remained quiet.

As soon as the royal commander had collected his army, amounting to about fourteen thousand horse and foot, he advanced toward the enemy. Charles at first seemed disposed to hazard a battle. But the Highlanders being much fatigued and disgusted with the siege of Stirling castle, upon which they could make no impression, and in the attacks of which they lost a number of men, the pretender resolved, by the advice of his most experienced officers, to abandon all his posts on this side of the Spey, and proceed northward, as a fugitive instead of a conqueror. He was able, however, to reduce Inverness, Fort George, and Fort Augustus, and to oblige the earl of Loudon to take refuge in the isle of Skie. In a word, his present success showed what might have been done, had he taken this route during his good fortune, when every heart was big with hope. The well-affected clans, as they were called, who now made but a feeble resistance, would then have joined him almost to a man : and many persons of distinction, who still wore the mask of loyalty, would have repaired to his standard. Although he had been impolitic, he was yet formidable; and only a more perfect knowledge of the advantages of his situation seemed necessary to have enabled him to withstand all the efforts of his enemies.

In the mean time, the duke, being joined by six thousand Hessians1, left two battalions at Stirling, and four in Perth, and proceeded to Aberdeen with the main body of his army. During his stay in that neighbourhood, he was indefatigable in exercising his troops, notwithstanding the rigour of the season, and in providing for the security of the country; and as soon as the

1 These troops were sent over from Flanders to replace the Dutch auxiliaries, whose recall the French court had demanded, as they had formed a part of the garrison of Tournay, precluded by the articles of capitulation from serving against his most Christian majesty or his allies for eighteen months.