of Perth, Lord Elcho, Lord John Drummond, old Lochiel, Sir
Thomas Sheridan and his nephew Mr. Hay, Maxwell of Kirkconnel, and Mr.
Lockhart of Carnwath, and several Low-country gentlemen, who had been
wandering about in these remote parts when the frigates were setting out
on their return,[273] and finding that the Prince was gone, and that
nothing was to be done for his service, had determined to escape. On the
tenth of June these frigates reached Nantes: Lord Elcho affirms that
"all arrived safe at Nantes;" one only is said never to have gained that
shore. Worn out by fatigues too severe, and, perhaps, the progress of
disease being aided by sorrow, the Duke of Perth is generally stated to
have died on ship-board on his passage. His malady is understood to have
been consumption.

Another celebrated member of this distinguished family, Lord
Strathallan, was not spared to witness the total ruin of all his hopes.
He fell at the battle of Culloden. The impression among his descendants
is, that, seeing the defeat certain, he rushed into the thick of the
battle, determined to perish. In 1746 Lord Strathallan's name was
included in the Bill of Attainder then passed; but, in 1824, one of the
most graceful acts of George the Fourth, whose sentiments of compassion
for the Stuarts and their adherents do credit to his memory, was the
restoration of the present Viscount Strathallan to the peerage by the
title of the sixth Viscount.

It is with regret that we take leave, amid the discordant scenes of an
historical narrative, of one whose high purposes and blameless career
are the best tribute to virtue, the noblest ornament of the party which
he espoused. Modest, yet courageous; moderate, though in the ardour of
youth; devout, without bigotry; and capable of every self-sacrifice for
the good of others, on the memory of the young Duke of Perth not a
shadow rests to attract the attention of the harsh to defects of
intention, unjustly attributed to the leader of the Jacobite
insurrection.

FOOTNOTES:

[207] Genealogy of the Most Noble and Ancient House of Drummond. By a
Freind to Vertue and the Family.--Unpublished.

[208] The office of Thane or Seneschal was, to be the _Giusticiare_ or
guardian of that country; to lead the men up to the war, according to
the roll or list made out; and to be collector for the Athbane of the
kingdom for the King's rents in that district. The Athbane was the
highest officer in the kingdom--Chief Min