religions of the country, and that he would
be inclined to follow out in this respect the fatal policy of his
grandfather, Charles would in all probability have received a more
active and general support than was accorded to him. The zeal with which
the Episcopalian party in Scotland espoused his cause, naturally gave
rise to the idea that the attempt of the Prince was of evil omen to
Presbytery; and the settlement of the Church upon its present footing
was yet so recent, that the sores of the old feud were still festering
and green. The established clergy, therefore, were, nearly to a man,
opposed to his pretensions; and one minister of Edinburgh, at the time
when the Highland host was in possession of the city, had the courage to
conclude his prayer nearly in the following terms--"Bless the king; Thou
knows what king I mean--may his crown long sit easy on his head. And as
to this young man who has come among us to seek an earthly crown, we
beseech Thee in mercy to take him to Thyself, and give him a crown of
glory!" At the same time, it is very curious to observe, that the most
violent sect of Presbyterians, who might be considered as the
representatives of the extreme Cameronian principle, and who had early
seceded from the Church, and bitterly opposed the union of the kingdoms,
were not indisposed, on certain terms, to coalesce with the Jacobites.
It is hardly possible to understand the motives which actuated these
men, who appear to have regarded each successive government as equally
obnoxious. Some writers go the length of averring that, in 1688, a
negociation was opened by one section of the Covenanters with Lord
Dundee, with the object of resistance to the usurpation of William of
Orange, and that the project was frustrated only by the death of that
heroic nobleman. Sir Walter Scott--a great authority--seems to have been
convinced that such was the case; but, in the absence of direct proof,
I can hardly credit it. It is perfectly well known that a conspiracy was
formed by a certain section of the Cameronian party to assassinate Lords
Dundee and Dunfermline whilst in attendance at the meeting of Estates;
and, although the recognition of William as king might not have been
palatable to others who held the same opinions, it would be a strange
thing if they had so suddenly resolved to assist Dundee in his efforts
for the exiled family. But the political changes in Scotland, more
especially the union, seem to have ins