“We also strictly command all receivers, collectors, or other persons who may be seized of any sum or sums of money levied in the name or for the use of the usurper, to retain such sum or sums of money in their own hands, till they can pay them to some person of distinction appearing publicly for us, and demanding the same for our use and service; whose receipt or receipts shall be a sufficient discharge for all such collectors, receivers, or other persons, their heirs, &c.
“Lastly, we do hereby require all sheriffs of shires, stewards of stewartries, and their respective deputies, magistrates of royal boroughs, and bailies of regalities, and all others to whom it may belong, to publish this our declaration, at the market crosses of their respective towns and boroughs, and there to proclaim us under the penalty of being proceeded against according to law, for their neglect of so necessary and important a duty.”
After this manifesto had been read, the Marquis of Tullibardine returned to the prince’s quarters with the standard under an escort of 50 Camerons. In about an hour after the conclusion of this ceremony, Macdonald of Keppoch joined the prince with 300 of his men; and in the evening some gentlemen of the name of Macleod, displeased with the conduct of their chief, arrived at Glenfinnan, proffered their services to the prince, and offered to return to Skye, and raise all the men they could in support of his cause. On arriving at Glenfinnan, Macdonald of Tierndriech presented the prince with an excellent horse which he had taken from Captain Scott. The animated appearance of the glen, which now resounded with the martial strains of the pibroch, contrasted strongly with the solitary gloom which pervaded when the prince entered it. Instead of the small party which joined him in the morning, Charles found himself within a few hours at the head of a body of about 1,200 brave and resolute men, warmly attached to his person and cause, at least those of them who were chiefs, and ready and willing to hazard their lives in his service. Charles was exceedingly delighted at the appearance of his little army, and it has been observed that at no other time did he look more cheerful or display a greater buoyancy of spirits.[838]
Of the many singular circumstances attending this extraordinary insurrection, the utter ignorance in which the personage in whose name it was undertaken was kept, is not the least. Charles had indeed written his father on the eve of his departure from France, acquainting him with the resolution he had taken, but before his letter reached Rome, the prince was actually at the head of his army. The object of Charles in concealing his design from the Chevalier is obvious. He was aware that his father would have opposed such a rash attempt, and might probably have applied to the court of France to prevent his departure; and having taken his resolution, he was determined not to put it in jeopardy by too timely an announcement of his intentions. Whatever opinion may now be formed of the prudence of an undertaking, which, had it succeeded, would have been considered as one of the boldest strokes of political wisdom, there can be but one sentiment as to the conduct of the prince, in thus withholding from his parent all knowledge of the design he had formed for accomplishing the object of his daring ambition. Though under the corrupt influence of a few interested persons, whom he kept about his person,[839] he still retained a sufficient portion of filial respect to prevent him from violating the declared injunctions of his father; and as no opposition short of actual violence could have induced him to forego his resolution of going to Scotland, he avoided the disagreeable alternative of disregarding the commands which his father would have laid upon him by taking the course he did.
When the Chevalier de St. George received the prince’s letter, which informed him that he was to proceed instantly to Scotland, he was greatly surprised and agitated;[840] but as the step had been taken, he became reconciled to it, and even could not help applauding the courage of the prince in entering upon the enterprise. Writing to the Duke of Ormond, on the 11th of August, the Chevalier says, “I have now by me your letters of the 14th July, and of the 27th, which last came by the courier, which brought me an account of the resolution the prince had taken, and executed without consulting me, for he was very sure I would not have approved it, tho’ I cannot but say, that the courage and sentiments he shows on this occasion, will always do him honor.”[841] Again in writing to his agent, Sempil, on the same day, he observes, “What takes me up wholly at present, is the resolution the prince has taken and executed, without my knowledge.... The question now is to look forward, and not to blame what is past. It is true, I never should have advised the prince to have taken such a step, but since it is taken it must be supported, and whatever be the event, it will certainly turn much to the prince’s personal honor, nay, even something may be said to justify what he has done. The usage he met with in France, and the dread of a peace, were no doubt strong motives to push him on a rash undertaking, than to sit still; and who knows but what has happened, may, in some measure, force the court of France out of shame to support him, while otherwise perhaps they had continued to neglect him, and then have abandoned him at last.... The prince’s example will, I hope, animate our friends in England; he has ventured generously for them, and if they abandon him, they themselves, and indeed our country, will be ruined.”
It had always been the opinion of the Chevalier—an opinion which experience has shown was well founded—that no attempt on Scotland could possibly succeed, unless accompanied by a simultaneous landing in England; and he now saw the necessity of enforcing this consideration more strongly than ever upon the court of France. In the letter which Charles had sent him, he desired his father to write to the King of France and Cardinal Tencin, entreating them for support. The Chevalier, however, did not confine himself to the king and to the cardinal, but addressed himself also to the Maréchal de Noailles, and the whole of the French ministers. Alluding to the necessity of supporting the prince by a descent on England, the Chevalier says in the letter to Ormond, from which a quotation has already been made; “Enfin, since the step is taken, it is certainly incumbent on all of us to do our best to support it, and I am very sure nothing will be wanting on your side for that effect. My darkness, my anxiety, and the multiplicity of my reflections on this occasion, are so great that I shall not pretend to enlarge on this subject at present. In the mean time, I now write to Lord Marischal by the way of Paris, and write also directly to the King of France, and all the ministers, for without a landing in England is soon made, humanly speaking, it will be impossible for the prince to succeed.” He repeats almost the same observations in his letter to Sempil, also referred to: “I know not particularly the grounds he (the prince) goes upon, but I am afraid there is little room to hope he will succeed, except he be vigorously supported by the court of France; and, therefore, we must all of us in our different spheres leave nothing undone for that effect. I now write myself to the King of France and all the ministers, and we must be all of us more than ever solely and wholly intent on the great object.”
But the Chevalier, in his anxiety to procure early succours for the prince, did not confine himself to words. To pay off the debts which Charles had contracted before his departure, he immediately remitted a sum of 200,000 francs to O’Bryan, his chief agent at Paris, and placed another sum of 50,000 francs in the hands of Waters, junior, his banker in Paris, at the disposal of O’Bryan, to meet instant contingencies.[842] He afterwards remitted to Waters, through Belloni, his banker at Rome, 80,000 Roman crowns, and promised another remittance of 28,000 in a few weeks, which, he said, would exhaust his treasury.
MACFARLANE.