previously, he had landed rich in hopes, which deceitful Fortune had for a while seemed willing to fulfil, but which had all been blasted in a single hour.

The idea of rallying the scattered army at Ruthven had not been at first abandoned. Lord George Murray even succeeded in collecting a force of about twelve hundred men, and the Highland chiefs adopted a series of Resolutions, by which they pledged themselves "forthwith to raise in arms, for the interest of his Royal Highness Charles Prince of Wales, all the able-bodied men they could collect within their respective interests or properties;" but the enemy's force was too overwhelming, the terror caused by the battle of Culloden too great, and the destitution of the gallant remnant of his army too complete, to allow Charles to indulge the hope of retrieving his recent losses. Lord George Murray indeed sent a messenger to urge Charles not to leave Scotland yet; but the Prince returned for answer that he was determined to embark for France, whence he hoped soon to return with fresh suc

The Resolutions, and the names of the chiefs by whom they were adopted, are given in the Appendix to Home's History.

cours. By the same messenger he addressed his thanks to his adherents for the zeal and fidelity which they had displayed in his cause; advising them, however, for the present, to think only of providing for their own security. In obedience to this message, the little army of Jacobites broke up and dispersed; the struggle was over and the war at an end.

CHAPTER XXII.

ADVENTURES OF THE PRINCE IN THE HEBRIDES.

THE war was at an end, without having conducted Charles Stuart either into the grave or to the British throne, although, ever since the commencement of the struggle, he had repeatedly declared, both in writing and by word of mouth, that he would either conquer or perish in the conflict upon which he had entered. This declaration has been made the theme of much censure against its author. When he first landed on the coast of Scotland with seven companions, and, unsupported by an army, was preparing to undertake the conquest of Great Britain, the world called him a madman; after he had conquered Scotland, and had penetrated deep into the heart of England, the world was forced to admit that this madman might have effected a triumphal

entry into London, and might have re-established the throne of the Stuarts; but then it was added, he would not have been able to maintain himself there.*

Others have accused the Prince of having

* Baron von Spittler (Sämtliche Werke, dritter Band, S. 319) says: "Fortunately for the country, he (Charles) did not know how to turn his advantage to account." Whether or not it wa fortunate for the country, that many important advantages gained by Charles were only partially turned to account, is a question that shall be more closely examined in the last section of this work. K. F. Becker (Weltgeschichte, zehnter Theil, S. 59) after mentioning the Prince's entrance into Derby, says: "But injudicious measures gave an adverse turn to his fortunes. He showed the English people, that he brought with him all the old principles and opinions of his family." If, under the description of "injudicious measures," it is intended to include the retreat from Derby, Becker is not perhaps far wrong, but the blame of that retreat rests not on the Prince. With respect to the assertion that Charles entertained the same principles which had led to the expulsion of his grandfather from the throne, we are at a loss to guess by what act or word he can be said to have justified such an accusation. The principles and opinions alluded to will be vainly sought in the language put forth in his proclamations and manifestoes, and all the acts of his life breathe a contrary spirit to that imputed to him by the author just quoted. On this subject also we shall have a word or two to say towards the close. Opinions equally unfavourable had, it is true, been expressed by former writers. Thus Lord Lyttelton, in his History of England, speaks of "the young adventurer Charles Edward " as of a man reared at a luxurious court without having been infected by its effeminacy; as of one ambitious and enterprising, but, owing either to want of experience or natural inability, unequal to so great an undertaking. By such a description one is naturally led to suspect that Lord Lyttelton believed Charles to have been educated at the court of France; for even supposing, with his lordship's

caused the unfortunate issue of the enterprise by his own want of capacity, and have added that he

principles, that he would consent to recognise the court of James at Rome as "" a court," it is hardly to be supposed that any one would think of describing it as a "luxurious" court. To have obtained for it such a character, James must have been more amply provided with pecuniary means, or less disposed to parsimony. As to Charles's want of experience, if a want of military experience is meant, it cannot be denied that the campaign of 1745 was the first in which he held a command of any importance, but in the course of that campaign he can hardly be said to have shown himself in an unfavourable light; on the contrary, the campaign has justly been called a brilliant one, and several modern writers, among others Sir W. Scott and Lord Mahon, have not hesitated to acknowledge that Charles displayed considerable military ability in the course of the war. That he did not show himself unequal to his great undertaking, but that, on the contrary, he proved himself singularly qualified for it, has been sufficiently shown in the preceding part of this narrative. Lord Lyttelton says also, that if "the Pretender" had turned to account the general consternation which prevailed after the battle of Preston, and had marched immediately into England, the consequences might have been dangerous to the security of the State, but that he wasted his time in Edinburgh, seemed to take a delight in the vain pomp of royalty, and was delighted to find himself at length treated as a king. We have already seen, however, what it was that really detained Charles at Edinburgh, and have had abundant opportunities of satisfying ourselves that, in the pageantry of Holyrood, he did not forget, that he was never for a moment unmindful of, the great task which he proposed to himself, and that this very pageantry, properly understood, was requisite to his success. J. M. Schroeck (Allgemeine Weltgeschichte, Bd. XIII. Abthing. 2, S. 862) says: "Charles Edward had been educated in a school in which principles were impressed upon him the very reverse of those which then prevailed in England. He had been taught that, even though he brought civil war and all its attendant