"It were highly necessary that methods and measures were concerted for the right way of doing this, which you should let such of them as you know are so trusted know, and it is absolutely necessary that they either send one to me about this, or let me know it certainly some other way, that we may not be drawing different ways when we are designing the same thing.
"We have no return of the last message which was sent to the good man of the house you wrote of, and t'is above eight days ago. I believe he designs right, tho' t'is odd."
The enthusiasm which was at first displayed towards the Chevalier was soon cooled, not only by his grave and discouraging aspect, but by his fearless and impolitic display of his religious faith. He never allowed any Protestant even to say grace for him, but employed his own confessor "to repeat the Pater nosters and Ave Marias:" and he also shewed an invincible objection to the usual coronation oath,—a circumstance which deferred the ceremony of coronation,—Bishop Mosse declaring that he would not consent to crown him unless that oath were taken. This sincerity of disposition—for it cannot be called by a more severe name—especially diminished the affections of the Chevalier's female episcopal friends, who had excited their male relations to bear arms in his favour. But the circumstance which weighed the most heavily against James, was the order which he published, on hearing that the Duke of Argyle was making preparations to march against him, for burning the towns and villages, and destroying the corn and forage, between Dumblane and Perth. This act of destruction, from the effects of which the desolate village of Auchterarder has never recovered, was determined on, in order that the enemy might be incommoded as much as possible upon their march; it added to the miseries of a people already impoverished by the taxes and contributions which the Jacobites had levied. It appears, however, from a letter of James's, since discovered, or perhaps, only suppressed at the time, to have been an act which he bitterly regretted, and the order for which he signed most unwillingly. He was desirous of making every reparation in his power for the ravages which were committed in his name.[136]
On the ninth of January a council of war was held by the Duke of Argyle at Stirling, where, by a singular coincidence, the council sat in the same room in which James the Second, then Duke of York, had, in 1680, been entertained by the Earl of Argyle, to whom he had proposed the repeal of the sanguinary laws against Papists. The refusal of Argyle to concur in that measure, the consequences of his conduct, and his subsequent death, are circumstances which, doubtless, arose to the remembrance of his descendant, as he discussed, in that apartment, the march towards Perth.
The country between Stirling and Perth was covered with a deep snow; the weather was one continual storm; it was therefore impossible for the army of Argyle to proceed until the roads were cleared,—a process which required some time to effect. It is asserted, nevertheless, by an historian, that upon Colonel Ghest being sent with two hundred dragoons to reconnoitre the road leading to Perth, that the greatest panic prevailed in that town: immediate preparations were made for defence, and nothing was to be seen except planting of guns, marking out breastworks and trenches, and digging up stones, and laying them with sand to prevent the effects of a bombardment.[137] The Earl of Mar, nevertheless, does not appear, if we may accredit his own words, to have even then despaired of a favourable issue. The following letter betrays no fear, but speaks of some minor inconvenience, which is far from being of a melancholy description. The difficulty of procuring the right sort of ribbon for the decoration of the Garter, is altogether a new feature among the adversities of royal personages. It seems strange that James should not have provided himself, before quitting France, with all that was necessary to preserve the external semblance of majesty.
"January 20th, 1715-16.
"Sir,
"I wrote to you the eighteenth, and sent severall others enclosed, which I hope will come safe to you. The inclosed, markt D. F., is from the King to Davie Floid at London, which he desires you may take care to gett conveid to him safly and soon, it being of consequence. The other is for my wife, which I beg you may forward as usewall.
"We are told that ther's some foot come to Dumblain, and that ther's more expected there. And they still talk as if they designed to march their whole armie against us nixt week. Perhaps they intend it, but with this weather I see not how 'tis in their power. If they do tho', upon their expecting we are to abandon Perth upon their aproach, as I'm told they believe, they will find themselves mistaken, for all here are resolved to stand it to the last, and perhaps we will not wait their comeing the lenth, but meet them by the way. We might have left it indeed, some time ago; but that time is past, and the King's being with us alters the case in every respect. After all, I cannot get myself to belive that they will actually come to us in haste, and if they do they may mistake their reckning. Sure I am, it were impossible for us to march to them in this snow, and our folks are as good at that as they. The snow puts me in mind of the children of Israel's pillar of smoke and pillar of fire; and to say truth, ther's something in the weather very odd and singular; I never saw such.