nt
times, disgusted with the total falling away of some friends, and
the coldness of others, been almost on the point of resigning his
undertaking. How often I have I known him affect an open brow and a
jovial manner, joining in the games of the gentry, and even in the
sports of the common people, in order to invest himself with a temporary
degree of popularity; while, in fact, his heart was bursting to witness
what he called the degeneracy of the times, the decay of activity among
the aged, and the want of zeal in the rising generation. After the day
has been spent in the hardest exercise, he has spent the night in pacing
his solitary chamber, bewailing the downfall of the cause, and wishing
for the bullet of Dundee or the axe of Balmerino.'

'A strange delusion,' said Darsie; 'and it is wonderful that it does not
yield to the force of reality.'

'Ah, but,' replied Lilias, 'realities of late have seemed to flatter his
hopes. The general dissatisfaction with the peace--the unpopularity
of the minister, which has extended itself even to the person of his
master--the various uproars which have disturbed the peace of the
metropolis, and a general state of disgust and disaffection, which seems
to affect the body of the nation, have given unwonted encouragement to
the expiring hopes of the Jacobites, and induced many, both at the Court
of Rome, and, if it can be called so, of the Pretender, to lend a more
favourable ear than they had hitherto done to the insinuations of those
who, like my uncle, hope, when hope is lost to all but themselves.
Nay, I really believe that at this moment they meditate some desperate
effort. My uncle has been doing all in his power, of late, to conciliate
the affections of those wild communities that dwell on the Solway, over
whom our family possessed a seignorial interest before the forfeiture,
and amongst whom, on the occasion of 1745, our unhappy father's
interest, with his own, raised a considerable body of men. But they are
no longer willing to obey his summons; and, as one apology among others,
they allege your absence as their natural head and leader. This has
increased his desire to obtain possession of your person, and, if he
possibly can, to influence your mind, so as to obtain your authority to
his proceedings.'

'That he shall never obtain,' answered Darsie; 'my principles and
my prudence alike forbid such a step. Besides, it would be totally
unavailing to his purpose. Whatever thes