treated to Carlisle, and arrived there with his army on the morning of the 19th of December.

It was thought desirable that the Highland garrison in that town should be reinforced, but it was not easy to find forces willing to be left behind in a place almost certain to be sacrificed. The men of the Manchester regiment, who were disheartened at the prospect of a retreat into Scotland, were pitched upon for this duty, together with a number of French and Irish. The last had little to fear, being generally engaged in the French service, and the English were probably of the mind of Captain Morgan, that hanging in England was preferable to starving in Scotland.

The skirmish at Clifton seems to have abated the speed of the English pursuers, who no longer attempted to annoy the retreat of their active enemy. The Scottish army left Carlisle upon the 20th of December, and effected their retreat into Scotland by crossing the Esk at Langtoun; the river was swollen, but the men, wading in arm in arm, supported each other against the force of the current, and got safely through, though with some difficulty. It is said that the Chevalier showed both dexterity and humanity on this occasion. He was crossing on horseback, beneath the place where

provided in a sufficient number of cavalry to have taken advantage of the disorder, it is beyond question that the Duke of Cumberland and the bulk of his cavalry had been taken prisoners.". MPHERSON'S MS. Memoirs, quoted in Notes to Waverley, v. ii. p. 288.]

VOL. XXVI.

some of his men were fording the river, one or two of whom drifted from the hold of their companions, and were carried down the stream in great danger of perishing. As one of them passed, the Chevalier caught him by the hair, called out in Gaelic, "Cohear, cohear!" that is, "Help, help !" supported the man till he was taken safely from the water, and thus gave himself an additional claim to the attachment of his followers.1

The Highland army, marching in two divisions,

Our cavalry formed

"["The Esk, which is usually shallow, had been swelled by an incessant rain of four days to a depth of four feet. Nothing could be better arranged than the passage. in the river, to break the force of the current, about twenty-five paces above that part of the ford where our infantry were to pass; and the Highlanders formed themselves into ranks of ten or twelve abreast, with their arms locked in such a manner as to support one another against the rapidity of the river, leaving sufficient intervals between their ranks for the passage of the water. Cavalry were likewise stationed in the river below the ford, to pick up and save those who might be carried away by the violence of the current. The interval between the cavalry appeared like a paved street through the river, the heads of the Highlanders being generally all that was seen above the water. By means of this contrivance, our army passed the Esk in an hour's time, without losing a single man; and a few girls, determined to share the fortune of their lovers, were the only persons who were carried away by the rapidity of the stream. were kindled to dry our people as soon as they quitted the water; and the bagpipers having commenced playing, the Highlanders began all to dance, expressing the utmost joy on seeing their country again; and forgetting the chagrin which had incessantly devoured them, and which they had continually nourished ever since their department from Derby."-JOHNSTONE, pp. 75, 76. -Compare Viscount Dundee's exiled officers' passage of the Rhine. Ante, vol. xxiv. p. 398.]

Fires

arrived at Annan and Ecclefechan on the same day, and pursued their road through the west of Scotland.

While the Scottish rebels were advancing, the utmost alarm prevailed in London; there was a sharp run upon the Bank, which threatened the stability of that national establishment; the offers of support from public bodies showed the urgency of the crisis; the theatres, for example, proposed to raise armed corps of real not personated soldiers. There was the more alarm indicated in all this, because the Highlanders, who had not been at first sufficiently respected as soldiers, had acquired by their late actions credit for valour of a most romantic cast. There was something also in the audacity of the attempt, which inclined men to give Charles credit for secret resources, until his retreat showed that he was possessed of none except a firm belief in the justice of his own cause, and a confidence that it was universally regarded in the same light by the English nation. The apathy of the English had dissipated this vision, few or none, excepting Catholics, and a handful of

["People thronged to the bank to obtain payment of its notes; and it only escaped bankruptcy by a stratagem. Payment was not indeed refused: but as those who came first were entitled to priority of payment, the bank took care to be continually surrounded by agents with notes, who were paid in sixpences in order to gain time. These agents went out at one door with the specie they had received, and brought it back by another, so that the bona fide holders of notes could never get near enough to present them; and the bank, by this artifice, preserved credit, and literally faced its creditors."-JCHNSTONE, p. 57 ]

Jacobites of Manchester, having shown themselves disposed to acknowledge his cause. The retreat, therefore, from Derby was considered throughout England as the close of the rebellion; as a physician regards a distemper to be nearly overcome, when he can drive it from the stomach and nobler parts into the extremities of the body.

CHAPTER LXXXI.

State of Affairs in Scotland-Spirit of Resistance to the Jacobites-Fines levied by Prince Charles from Dumfries and Glasgow-Levies for his Service assembled at Perth-Failure of Richelieu's projected Expedition— Junction of the Jacobite Forces, at Stirling-Surrender of Carlisle to the Duke of Cumberland, who is recalled to London-General Hawley appointed to the Command in Scotland-Battle of Falkirk―The Duke of Cumberland appointed to the Chief Command in Scotland.

[1746.]

THE state of Scotland had materially changed during the absence of the Prince and his army upon the expedition to Derby; and the nation was. now in the situation of one, who, having received a stunning blow, recovers at last from his stupor, and aims, though feebly and with uncertainty, at retaliating the injury which he has sustained.

Inverness was in the hands of Lord Loudon, commanding an army composed of the MacLeods, MacDonalds of Skye, and other northern clans, who, to the number of two thousand men, had associated against the insurgents. The Earl of Loudon even felt himself strong enough to lay hands on Lord Lovat in his own castle, named Castle Downie, and brought him to Inverness, where he detained him in a sort of honourable