ounder of the banking-house of Drummond at
Charing Cross, which was formed, as it has been surmised, for the
express purpose of facilitating supplies to the partisans of the
Chevalier. This spirited member of the family remained unchanged in his
principles during the course of a life protracted until the age of
eighty-one. His part in the great events of the day was well known, and
meanly avenged by Sir Robert Walpole, who, in the course of the
insurrection, caused a run upon the bank. The concern, backed by its
powerful connections, stood its ground; but the banker forgave not the
minister. When the tumults of 1745 were at an end, Mr. Drummond so far
yielded to the dictates of prudence as to go to court: he was received
by George the Second, to whom he paid his obeisance. But when the
minister, anxious to conciliate his stern and formidable foe, advanced
to offer him his hand, Mr. Drummond turned round, folded his hands
behind his back, and walked away. "It was my duty," he said afterwards,
"to pay my respects to his Majesty, but I am not obliged to shake hands
with his minister!"

On the young James Drummond Duke of Perth, as chief of the House of
Drummond, the eyes of the Jacobites were turned, with expectations which
were, to the utmost of the young nobleman's power, fulfilled. It was by
his mother's desire that he had been educated in France, where he was
confirmed in the principles of the Romish faith. He possessed, indeed,
some acquirements, and displayed certain qualities calculated to inspire
hope in those who depended upon his exertions that he would prove a
valuable adherent to the cause. Naturally courageous, his military turn
had been improved by a knowledge of the theory of war: his disposition
united great vivacity to the endearing qualities of benevolence and
liberality; he had the every-day virtues of good-nature, mildness, and
courtesy. His pursuits were creditable to a nobleman. He was skilled in
mathematics, an elegant draughtsman, a scholar in various languages, a
general lover of literature, and a patron of the liberal arts. Nor was a
fondness for horse-racing, in which he indulged, and in which his horses
frequently bore away the prize, likely to render him unpopular in the
eyes of his countrymen. But there were some serious drawbacks to the
utility of the young nobleman as a public man.

His health, in the first place, was precarious. When a child, a barrel
had been rolled over him, and a bruise