CHAPTER XV. THE PRETENDER IN SCOTLAND. THE SEPTENNIAL ACT. XV. UPON the arrival of James at St. Malo on November 8, N.S., CHAP. 1715, he found everything, to use his own language, "in a strange confused chaos". Out of this emerged the decision that Ormonde should make another venture on England, whilst he himself attempted to gain the east coast of Scotland. As the Channel was patrolled by English cruisers, St. Malo was a dangerous port at which to embark. It was agreed, therefore, that he should travel to Dunkirk on horseback by unfrequented roads and in disguise. On his arrival there on December 1-12 he was greeted by the news that Ormonde's second attempt to land, on this occasion in Cornwall, had been prevented by tempestuous weather and that he had returned to France. Having embarked at Dunkirk in a small vessel, James on January 2, 1716, wrote to Bolingbroke from Peterhead: "I am at last, thank God, in my own ancient kingdom". His first act was to issue a proclamation, dated October 25, the original draught of which had been prepared by Bolingbroke, but altered by himself.2 It promised the restoration of the Scottish parliament and, in the equivocal terms which Bolingbroke denounced, security for the two established Churches of England and Scotland only, that of Ireland being deliberately 1 James III. to Lord Bolingbroke, November 15, 1715, Stuart Papers, i., 458 "He" (James), in conversation with Bolingbroke," took exception against several passages (of Bolingbroke's draught) and particularly against those wherein a direct promise of securing the churches of England and Ireland was made" (Bolingbroke's letter to Sir William Wyndham). Bolingbroke believed that the draught had been "sent to the queen to be corrected by her confessor," and the dates shew that an interval elapsed sufficient for this to be done (see Stuart Papers, i., lxxxiii.). The whole tenour of the amendments was one continued instance of the grossest bigotry, and the most material passages were turned with all the Jesuitical prevarication possible" (Letter to Wyndham, see Stuart Papers, i., 448-49). CHAP. excluded. The After a short stay at the seat of the Earl Marischal XV. at Fetteresso, where he conferred on Mar the title of duke, James, on the 4th, made his public entry into Dundee. people flocked to see him, but only to meet with disappointment. He had none of the glamour of the first nor the bonhomie of the second Charles. He recalled rather the gloomy visage of his father. "His countenance," wrote a supporter, “looked extremely heavy. . . . Some said the circumstances he found us in dejected him; I am sure the figure he made dejected us." After a stay at the royal palace of Scone, where he fixed January 23 for his coronation, James advanced to Perth. There the first revelation awaited him. Mar had led him, while abroad, to expect an army of 16,000 men; but numbers of the highlanders had made their way home, leaving no more than 4,000 men in camp. The Earl of Sutherland, assisted by Lord Lovat,' who was anxious to make his peace with the government, had on the day before Sheriff Muir recaptured the town and castle of Inverness. The pretender's army was therefore threatened at the same time from the north and from the south. In the middle of November General Cadogan, Marlborough's favourite officer, who had been in Holland negotiating the Barrier treaty between the emperor and the States-general, arrived in the Thames with 3,000 Dutch troops. Another 3,000 were already embarked for England, the whole 6,000 being the number stipulated for by the treaty of Utrecht. By the close of December the army had assembled at Stirling, Argyll in chief command with Cadogan as next in rank. On January 29, Argyll and Cadogan began their advance. That night a council of war, held at Perth, decided on a retreat towards Dundee. Twelve hours after the evacuation of Perth, Argyll with the vanguard entered the town. The restiveness of the highlanders at the order to retreat was soothed by smooth words. They were marching for Aberdeen, a district notoriously well-affected towards them. If they were pursued to the highlands, where the enemy's cavalry would be useless, victory would be assured. But when they found themselves making direct for the coast, and at Montrose saw two French 1 Stuart Papers, i., 460, 482. 2 He obtained a pardon for these services. Ibid., p. 514. 1716 FLIGHT OF THE PRETENDER. 261 XV. vessels riding at anchor, they began to harbour suspicions that CHAP their prince might be contemplating desertion. In fact, no resolution had been come to, and on February 3 James wrote imploring the regent for prompt succour.1 But the ships, one of which had been ordered to convey an envoy to the continent, offered an opportunity which might not recur. Το divert suspicion, the prince's baggage was sent on with the advance party, while his bodyguard was stationed outside his house, as if he were about to march. He himself, in company of Mar, escaped after dark by a back door on February 4, and found refuge on board. Before his departure, he signed a commission to Lieutenant-General Alexander Gordon, nominating him commander-in-chief in Scotland. It is due to James to say that, notwithstanding the equivocal manner of his withdrawal, which gave it the aspect of desertion, he was in fact only prevailed upon by the representation that his presence would make it more difficult for his followers to obtain terms. In a letter written for circulation among them, but not disclosed till they reached Aberdeen, where the news of his escape was communicated, he recommended them to provide for their own safety until his return with succours might justify a renewal of the attempt. The reading of this letter at a crowded meeting evoked lively expressions of indignation.2 Argyll affected to pursue the dispersing rebels to Aberdeen and Peterhead, but with a humane tardiness that provoked the wrath of Cadogan, who accused him of conniving at their escape. The rebel remnant, consisting of 400 horse and 200 foot, rendezvoused for the last time at Badenoch on February 14, whence General Gordon and the other chiefs wrote to Argyll asking for terms. Argyll, having had reiterated orders to give no answer to such requests, their letter remained unnoticed and they decided to 1 Stuart Papers, i., 504. 2 February 4, 1716, ibid., i., 505; ii., 110, 150. This seems to have been true; see the detailed accounts of the marches as narrated by Clanranald. Ibid., ii., III. 4 General Alexander Gordon, the Earls of Linlithgow and Southesk, and seven others to the Duke of Argyll, February 15, ibid., i., 512. The clansmen forced the leaders to sign it. Ibid., ii., 149. Lord Townshend to the Duke of Argyll, November 8, 1715, Townshend MSS., p. 177; cf. pp. 180, 181. CHAP. shift for themselves as best they could. A number escaped to XV. the Orkneys and other islands and thence to Holland, Nor way, Sweden, and France. Small ships were dispatched by the pretender during February, March, April, and May to patrol the islands and western coasts and collect and transport the fugitives. At the close of February Argyll, whose indisposition to press hardly on his countrymen had called forth repeated expressions of dissatisfaction from Townshend, was recalled, and Cadogan, who had censured his remissness, was appointed commander-in-chief in Scotland. Cadogan was indefatigable in hunting down the fugitives. "The Dutch troops," according to a Jacobite, "left nothing earthly undestroyed" between Stirling and Inverness, and "the English troops were very little more merciful ".3 By April the country was entirely tranquil. Thus ingloriously ended the pretender's hopes. The rebellion in Scotland had revealed the weakness of the clan system when opposed to an organised government. Political animosities, local jealousies, and blood feuds hindered the co-operation of the clans. The sentiment of personal loyalty rendered the action of the tribesmen dependent, not upon general political views, but upon the interest or the caprice of the individual chief. Lovat was able to attach to either side the Frasers and the Grants, and to offer to lend his vassals for the extirpation of rival clans.5 That the largest of the clans should be hostile to the rebellion and its chief, Argyll, at the head of the royal troops, deprived the movement of national significance. Against the command of his chief it was in vain for the pretender to expect that a proclamation would bring a highlander to the battlefield. Ormonde, Berwick, Marlborough alike had failed him. With Marlborough a despairing effort was made on the very day of his escape. Captain David Floyd "downright forced his way" into the duke's presence, presenting him with a letter probably from James himself. But the duke's capacity for good or ill was approaching its end. 1 Stuart Papers, ii., 112, 143. Ibid., ii., 57, 74, 81, 160. *The rebels contributed to the destruction by themselves burning houses to "prevent the enemy subsisting". Ibid., p. 116. Ibid., i., 499, 501. * Lord Lovat to General Cadogan, March 10, 1716, ibid., ii., 36. 1716 JAMES DISMISSES BOLINGBROKE. 263 stroke of paralysis on May 28 was the precursor of disabling CHAP. infirmities. Bolingbroke had remained in France, untiringly exerting that the duke and he were on such bad terms that " As the cause of the pretender became manifestly more unpromising, the anxiety of the regent to atone for the breaches of friendship shewn by French officials in permitting the equipment and dispatch of his expedition began to shew itself. 1 Mar to Colonel John Hay, Stuart Papers, ii., 85, April 13, 1716. 2 March 6, 1716, Stuart Papers, ii., 5. Bolingbroke declared that the memorial against him had been concocted in France and sent to England. Ibid., p. 106. In a letter to the Bishop of Rochester (Atterbury), of August 28, 1716, Mar implies that the initial suggestion of his dismissal came from the bishop and his friends. Ibid., p. 386; cf. also ibid., p. 74. XV. |