Memoirs of the Jacobites of 1715 and 1745 | Page 7

on that memorable undertaking to
engage the Clans, which ultimately ended in the insurrection of 1745.

Lord George Murray, meantime, had returned to his native country,
where he was presented to George the Second, and solicited, but
ineffectually, a commission in the British army. This was refused, and
the ardour in the Stuart cause, which we may presume to have wavered,
again revived in its original vigour.
Previous to the Insurrection of 1745, Lord George Murray married
Amelia, the only surviving child and heiress of James Murray of
Glencarse and Strowan, a lady who appears, both from the terms of
affection and respect expressed towards her by the Marquis of
Tullibardine, and from the tenour of her own letters, to have coincided
warmly in the efforts of her husband for the restoration of the
Stuarts.[12] Five children were the issue of this marriage.
The course which public affairs were now taking checked, however,
completely all hopes of domestic felicity. After several unsuccessful
negotiations in Paris attempted by the agents of James Stuart, and in
London by Lord Elcho, the scheme of invasion languished for some
time. Whilst all was apparently secure, however, the metropolis was the
scene of secret cabals and meetings of the Jacobites, sometimes at one
place, sometimes at another; but unhappily for their cause, the party
generally wanted compactness and discretion. "The little Jacobites," as
those who were not in the secret of these manoeuvres were called,
began to flatter themselves that a large army would land in England
from France that summer. Nor was it the policy of Government to
check these reports, which strengthened the hands of the ministry, and
procured a grant of the supplies with alacrity. The Jacobites, meantime,
ran from house to house, intoxicated with their anticipated triumphs;
and such chance of success as there might be was thus rendered
abortive.
The year 1743 ended, however; and the visions of the Jacobites
vanished into air. Donald Cameron of Lochiel, the elder, who visited
Paris for the purpose of ascertaining what were the real intentions of
the French cabinet, found that even the Cardinal Tencin did not think it
yet time for the attempt, and he returned to Scotland disheartened. The
death of the Cardinal Fleury in 1743 added to the discomfiture of his

hopes.[13] Above all, the reluctance of the English Jacobites to pledge
themselves to the same assurances that had been given by the Scotch,
and their shyness in conversing with the people who were sent from
France or Scotland on the subject, perplexed the emissaries who arrived
in this country, and offered but a faint hope of their assistance from
England.
But, in the ensuing year, the affairs of the Jacobites brightened; France,
which had suspended her favours, once more encouraged and flattered
the party. A messenger was dispatched to the palace of Albano, to
acquaint the Chevalier that the day was now arrived when his views
might be expected to prosper; whilst at the same time the utmost pains
were taken by the French Government to appear to the English averse
to the pretensions of James Stuart. It affords, indeed, another trait of the
unfortunate tendency of the Stuart family to repose a misplaced
confidence, that they should have relied on professions so hollow and
so vague as those of France. But the dependent and desolate situation
of that Prince may well be supposed to have blinded a judgment not
ripened by any active participation in the general business of life, and
narrowed within his little Court. Besides, there remained some who,
after the conflict at Culloden was over, could even view the enterprise
as having been by no means unauspicious. "Upon the whole," writes
Maxwell of Kirkconnel, "the conjuncture seemed favourable; and it is
not to be wondered that a young Prince, naturally brave, should readily
lay hold of it. There was a prospect of recalling his father from an exile
nearly as long as his life, saving his country from impending ruin, and
restoring both to the enjoyment of their rights."[14]
Great preparations were in fact actually made by the French
Government for the invasion of Great Britain. The young Prince, who
was forthwith summoned from Rome, was to land in the Highlands and
head the Clans; Lord John Drummond, it was arranged, should make a
descent on the southern part of the island, and endeavour to join the
young Chevalier, and march towards Edinburgh. Twelve thousand
French were to pour into Wales at the same time, under the command
of a general who was never named, and to join such English insurgents
as should rally to their assistance.

This scheme, had it been executed with promptness, might perhaps
have prospered better than, in these later times, in the security of an
undisturbed succession, we are inclined to allow. General