charged the left of the king's army, sword in hand; with such impetuosity, that in less than seven minutes the whole body of that division, horse and foot, was entirely broken. General Whetham, who commanded that wing, believing that the fate of the battle was decided, fled in consternation to Stirling, with the intelligence of the duke of Argyle's defeat: but in the mean while, the duke, at the head of the dragoons, fell upon the enemy's left, and drove them before him for two miles, to the waters of Loch Allan, the indomitable spirit of the enemy harassing him severely in the pursuit, by ten distinct attempts to rally their lines in that short distance. On his return, he met the right wing of the rebels, coming back flushed with their success over the scattered troops of Whetham: and at this moment each army found itself in possession of the station that had been previously occupied by the other, having by the events of the day exchanged their ground, as it happened to the contending forces engaged in the battle of Naseby. Towards evening, the earl of Mar retired to Ardoch, and the duke of Argyle resumed the heights of Dunblane. The next day, he carried off the wounded from the field, with four pieces of cannon left behind by the enemy, and took his way to Stirling. The loss on each side was estimated at about 500, and both generals claimed the victory. But the advantage was chiefly with the king's army, who maintained their post at the last with a force numerically inferior to that of their adversaries.

So close, however, was the balance of success, that a variety of rumours were spread concerning the triumphant progress of the rebels, and it was even reported that the earl of Mar was on the road to London, within two days march of the Tower. The whigs treated these exaggerations with contempt, and Addison suggested to the tories, that they might say with king Pyrrhus, that such another victory would undo them.

The duke of Argyle followed up his successes to the further discomfiture of the insurgents, forcing them to

1716.

THE PRETENDER.

25

abandon Perth, Dundee, and Montrose, in succession. At the same time, four officers, tried at Preston as deserters, were shot; and the principal prisoners, including seven peers, were taken to London, led pinioned through the city, and committed to different prisons. Many others were tried and executed in Liverpool; some died from the severity of the season and want of necessaries, and a few had their sentences commuted to transportation. But the great offenders were reserved for a special commission.

On the 26th of December, the pretender landed at Peterhead, near Aberdeen, where he immediately formed a sort of travelling court, issued sundry proclamations for convening the estates, for raising levies, and for solemnising his coronation, created several peers and knights, received addresses from the clergy and laity of the neighbourhood, and sent an order to the lord mayor of London, to proclaim him in the capital. From Aberdeen he moved to Glamis, and from thence made a public entry into Dundee, finally taking up his residence at the palace of Scone, on the 7th of January. But 1716. this ill-conducted enterprize, upon which much valour in the ranks of its supporters was expended in vain, owing to the folly and weakness of its head, did not long continue to disturb the peace of the kingdom. Argyle had accurate intelligence of the proceedings of the enemy, and tracked him from Perth to Brechlin. The pretender at length discovered that his cause was hopeless, and hastily embarking at night in a French ship, that lay in the harbour of Montrose, accompanied by Mar and Melfort, the most faithful of all his followers, he stood out to sea for Norway, and, coasting along the shores of Holland and Germany, to avoid pursuit, arrived at Gravelines in five days. Thus terminated the hopes of the tories in that quarter: the rebel army fled into the mountains of the north, and, gradually dispersing, left England to its conflict of parties in the council chamber and the parliament.

The influence of personal reputation over the direction

of events that superstition of the imagination, which sometimes invests a cause or an individual with the attributes of destiny-has rarely been more distinctly exhibited than in the cases of the pretender and his illustrious opponent. The former was proverbially unlucky the latter uniformly prosperous. Had they

lived in the times of astrology, and had their nativities been cast under opposing stars, the popular faith on these points could hardly have been much stronger. The life of the pretender, no doubt, abundantly justified distrust of his good fortune; while the whigs assiduously cultivated the impression that George I. always succeeded in whatever he undertook,

a prophecy that "For me," said

generally produces its own fulfilment. the pretender, in a speech addressed to his friends in council, "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." This despondency, damping the zeal of his adherents, was forcibly contrasted with the enthusiasm of the king's party, who invariably endeavoured to persuade the people that his majesty could not fail. '66 Having thus far," says one of his most strenuous servants, 'considered our happiness in his majesty's civil and military character, I cannot forbear pleasing myself with regarding him in the view of one who has been always fortunate. Cicero recommends Pompey under this particular head to the Romans, with whom the character of being fortunate was so popular, that several of their emperors gave it a place amongst their titles." "* And then he goes on to describe the interest Providence had taken in the affairs of the king, always interposing at the right moment to insure his success. By such arts was the elector of Hanover recommended to the regards of his new subjects.

The conduct of the pretender throughout the whole

* Addison, Freeholder, No. 2.

1716.

CAUSES OF FAILURE.

27

of this agitated period, betrayed extraordinary imbecility of character, rendered still more dangerous by the blindest fanaticism. In vain Bolingbroke counselled him to embody in his declaration to the people of England, a promise that the established church should be respected. He said that it had been suggested to him, that such a promise would be a violation of conscience, and the declaration was accordingly drawn up with such alterations and provisions that Bolingbroke refused to be concerned in it. "The spring of his whole conduct," said Bolingbroke, "is fear, and there were very few amongst the Roman catholics themselves who did not think him too much of a papist." The earl of Mar, alone, endeavoured to shelter the reputation of the pretender by attributing the failure of the undertaking to the mismanagement of others. In a narrative of the expedition into Scotland, which he published soon after his arrival in Paris, he explicitly states, that he had expected the co-operation of Forster in the South of Scotland, and that he was wholly disappointed in the anticipated supplies of men and ammunition from France; while to the insidious proceedings of Bolingbroke, he plainly attributes the ultimate derangement of the chevalier's affairs. But as

it was incumbent upon the earl of Mar to furnish some excuses to the court of St. Germaine's for the abandonment of the design, these statements are to be regarded rather as the materials of a desperate defence than as strict historical facts. There is no doubt that the whole business was unskilfully planned, and executed without forethought or concert, and that much of the blame rested on the earl of Mar himself. Bolingbroke early detected the internal weakness of the councils by which the pretender was infatuated, and, with his usual promptitude, withdrew from them, a crime that was not to be forgiven by the party he deserted.

The vindictive spirit exhibited by the government towards the principal noblemen who took part in the rebellion, and who were specially tried in Westminster hall, was both cruel and superfluous. The administration was

justly blamed, even by many of its supporters, for not having adopted measures for drawing the war to a conclusion, by issuing a proclamation to pardon those who should return to their allegiance, and sparing the nation the horrors of the scaffold, by passing an act of grace and indemnity after the rebellion had been suppressed.* It was evident that many of these lords were forced into jacobitism, which they would not have otherwise willingly embraced, by the violence of the whigs; and that even the most zealous of them would have considered themselves bound in honour never to bear arms against the king, had their lives been spared.† Seven of these unfortunate noblemen were impeached on the 11th of January, on the motion of Mr. Lechmere, the earls of Derwentwater, Nithisdale, Carnwath, and Winton; the viscount Kenmure; and the lords Widdrington and Nairn : and this impeachment was carried in due form to the bar of the house of lords. They all pleaded guilty, under an impression that it would propitiate the mercy of their enemies, but without effect. On the 9th of February sentence was pronounced upon them in Westminster hall, by the lord chancellor Cowper, who officiated as lord steward. Great intercession was made on their behalf with the court and the parliament, particularly in favour of the earl of Derwentwater, whose youth and gallantry excited universal commiseration. The countess of Nithisdale and lady Nairn threw themselves at the king's feet, as his majesty was passing through the apartments of the palace, and afterwards appealed to his clemency in the royal bed-chamber, to which they were introduced by the dukes of Richmond and St. Albans. They also had petitions presented to both houses, but in the commons they were negatived by a motion for adjournment,

*Parl. Hist. vii. 445.

"If that prince," said the earl of Derwentwater, in his dying declaration, "who now governs, had given me my life, I should have thought myself obliged never more to have taken up arms against him; " and this earl was a Roman catholic.

Walpole stated that he had been offered 60,000l. to save the earl of Derwentwater's life. See Coxe's Walpole.