were, that he was to be guided entirely by the orders of the lord provost, had nothing left but to comply with this advice, and accordingly marched for Dumbarton castle, pursued by the mob for more than a third part of the way.*

The commander-in-chief, general Wade, lost no time in communicating all the particulars of this notorious outrage to the lords justices, the king being at the time in Hanover, and took the most peremptory measures for putting down every thing like opposition to the laws. Campbell's and Stair's dragoons were instantly ordered to the west, and, in a few days, Glasgow was taken possession of by an army of horse and foot, supported, if we may credit Lockhart, with a formidable train of artillery.

The magistrates of Glasgow, on this occasion, showed nothing of that intrepid energy which they had often manifested in circumstances far more alarming; on the contrary, their conduct was marked with much of imbecility, if not of disaffection, and it gave the highest offence to the members of administration, who directed the lord advocate to proceed against the offenders with all possible expedition. He was also commanded to inquire into the conduct of the magistrates, particularly of the lord provost, and how he came to omit the reading of the riot act, on an occasion where it was obviously his imperative duty so to have done, and he was, without loss of time, to "proceed against him, by securing, examining, and committing him according to law." The lord provost was indeed rather hardly bestead; that he was at bottom a Jacobite, there cannot be a doubt, but there is no evidence that he was more so than some, at least, of his brethren in the magistracy, three of whom kept out of the way, only that they might escape that responsibility, which they must have been aware attached to their official characters, and those that did remain afforded him very little assistance. He was, however, on the sixteenth of July, apprehended along with his brethren in the magistracy, and imprisoned in the tolbooth of Glasgow, upon warrants from the lord advocate, countersigned by a justice of the peace for Lanarkshire, and they were all next day carried to Edinburgh,

* Lockhart Papers, vol. ii. pp. 162, 163. Culloden Papers, pp. 80, 81.

where they were imprisoned in the common jail, but upon a petition to the court of justiciary, they were admitted to bail, and set at liberty. A few, and but a few of the rioters, were brought to trial, and, though their guilt was clearly proved, from the state of public feeling, it was found impossible to obtain verdicts against them, but of a mitigated character, in consequence of which, though it had been resolved upon to make severe examples of the magistrates, the process against them was abandoned.* In order to be revenged, the magistrates entered a prosecution against Bushel before the justiciary for murder; but the solicitor, in the absence of the lord advocate, refused his concurrence, and before this could be obtained according to the forms usual in such cases, the cap

The following is a part of the instructions the lord advocate received on this occasion in a letter from Mr. Delafaye, dated Whitehall, July 20th, 1725:"My lord, I have laid before the lords justices your lordship's letter of the twentieth instant, with the several papers enclosed, by which their excellencys, with great approbation, saw the pains and care you have taken in the execution of their orders to you, with relation to the great tumults at Glasgow. Their excellencys have commanded me to signify to your lordship their further directions that you prosecute with vigour not only the persons concerned in these tumults, but also the magistrates of that town, who, by the examination, you have taken, appear to have been guilty of gross malversation in not taking due care, to say no worse, to prevent or suppress the riot, and, as you mention that you have proofs against some of the criminals as having been in pursuit of the king's troops, which involves them in the guilt of high treason, their excellencys have thought fit, notwithstanding their former directions, if your lordship find it proper to prosecute any of them for that crime, you should do it, and a particular commission of oyer and terminer being necessary in that case, their excellencys would have you send them the names of such persons as you shall judge proper to be put into such commission." This mode of procedure his lordship declined, but declares his intention to pursue the rioters as guilty of felony, and," at the same time that the prosecution against them is going on," he adds, " I should incline to have the trial of the magistrates carried on, whose guilt I conceive to be much the greatest, though they have used art successfully to hide it, and whose punishment will be of greater consequence to the public peace than that of the more obscure offenders." Culloden Papers, p. 352. From this, and from all the circumstances of the case, it is evident that the escape of the magistrates of Glasgow on this occasion was neither owing to their innocence, nor to any desire on the part of their superiors to overlook their guilt, but merely from the strength of popular feeling, which happened to be wholly upon their side.

1

tain received from the king a full remission, and was promoted from the foot to the command of a troop of horse. Campbell made application to parliament, and had six thousand four hundred pounds allowed him for damages, which, with other incidental expenses, cost the city of Glasgow upwards of nine thousand pounds, a tax being imposed on all beer brewed in the city, to make it up, which tax the citizens of that place continue to pay to this day.*

This tumult being settled without any very great trouble, General Wade proceeded to the north to execute the main object of his mission, the disarming of the clans, which, taken in connexion with the above disturbances, it was hoped by the Jacobites, would operate in a high degree in promoting their interests. "I find," says James himself, they [the Highlanders] are of opinion that nothing less than ruin is designed for them, and those on this side are persuaded that the English government will meet with the greatest difficulties in executing their projects, and that the clans will unanimously agree to oppose them to the last, and if thereby, circumstances will allow them to do nothing for my service, that they will still, by a capitulation, be able to procure better terms to themselves than they can propose by leaving themselves at the government's mercy, and delivering up their arms, and if so, I am resolved, and I think I owe it to them, to do all in my power to support them, and the distance I am at, has obliged me to give my orders accordingly, and nothing in my power shall be wanting to enable them to keep their ground against the government, at least, till they can procure good terms for themselves, though, at the same time, I must inform you that the opposition they propose to make, may prove of the greatest advantage to my interest, considering the hopes I have of foreign assistance, which, perhaps, you may hear of before you receive this letter. I should not have ventured to call the Highlanders together, without a certainty of their being supported, but the great probability there is of it, makes me not at all sorry they should take the resolution of defending themselves, and not delivering up their arms,

* Lockhart Papers, vol. ii. pp. 240, 241. Annals of Glasgow, &c. &c.

which would have rendered them in a great measure useless to their country, and, as the designs of the government are represented to me, the laying down of their arms is only to be the forerunner of other methods that are to be taken to extirpate their race for ever. They are certainly in the right to make the government buy their slavery at as dear a rate as they can. The distance I am at, and the imperfect accounts I have had of this law, have been very unlucky; however, the orders I have sent to France I hope will not come too late, and I can answer for the diligence in the execution of them, which is all I can say to you at present from hence.”*

From this letter it might be supposed that James had actually made arrangements for an immediate descent upon Britain, and that he had ensured the co-operation of at least one of the principal continental powers; but he had done no such thing, nor does it appear that he had made any suitable preparation even for bringing the few friends he had about him into immediate action, so that this attempt to stir up the Highlanders to rebellion, can be regarded as no better than a wanton sacrifice of these poor people to his own presumption and vanity. His friends, however, especially the duke of Hamilton, the earl of Kincardine, and Mr. Lockhart, were eager to prevent the fatal effects of his inconsiderate rashness, and wrote him that they were humbly of opinion that if the Highlanders attempted to stand it out against the government, it would be a rash and fatal attempt, which might occasion their total extirpation, and instead of his near prospect of foreign assistance being an argument for the Highlanders resisting the orders of government, they considered it as a very strong one for their compliance. "For we have often observed," say they, "both from public transactions and private conversations, that the bulk of the English, nay, even such of them as are most in your interest, having a natural antipathy to the Scots, are in a particular manner jealous of their having the honour of being too active and instrumental in your restoration." In consequence of this feeling among the English, they very justly observed that it would be prudence to allow them to take the lead, and

* Lockhart Papers, vol. ii. pp. 169, 170.

if they could be brought to encounter the danger, make them welcome to the honour of being foremost in a matter which they imagined would be so beneficial to both nations. At the same time they frankly admit that the hope from that quarter was not without a considerable drawback; "for though, over a bottle, or even in their most serious consultations, they are sensible enough of their unhappy circumstances, and seemi willing to enter into measures for their deliverance, yet great numbers of them are so intoxicated with the love of ease and plenty, that they are backward to enter into action, and would willingly cast the brunt of the first attempt on the Scots, and wait to declare and take a part till they see how matters are like to go, and thus, betwixt the different views of these two set of men, the game has been, and may again be lost." The Highlanders, they assure him, "are certain, and will deliver up none of their arms till the very last, and then only such as are useless," and they very pertinently remark, " that foreign powers, if they take the pains to inquire, and are otherwise hearty in his interest, can have no excuse to hang back on account of the Scots."

Anticipating the arrival of these foreign aids, perhaps in the course of a week, or of a day, they assure James that all will be as he would have it with regard to the Highlands, but though, even in the Lowlands, "people of all ranks are extremely enraged, and the time," of course," very proper for an attempt," they remind him of “ many inconveniences that cannot suddenly be evited." Among these inconveniences, they mention his having clothed no person with authority to give orders how to act; no concert among his friends; no design laid down, nor any preparations made; the total ignorance of his friends where or when the attempt, which was perfectly new to them, was to be made, and the consequent impossibility of laying down the necessary measures; the imminent hazard of his friends being seized upon by the government, whose troops were so numerous in the country, and stationed between them and the Highlands, so that they could have no hope of concealment but in the western shires, and even there they think their safety uncertain, " as there are in all shires