were visiting him in 1740, and were entertained
with the lavish hospitality of a Highland home. One of these guests
ventured to ask of the landlord, what was the rent of his estate. "I can
bring five hundred men into the field," was the reply. It was estimated,
about this time, that the whole force which could be raised by the
Highlanders amounted to no more than twelve thousand men; yet, with this
inconsiderable number, the Jacobites could shake the British throne.

The danger which might arise to the Government, in case of a foreign
war, from the Highlanders, was foreseen by Duncan Forbes of Culloden,
and a scheme was formed by that good and great man, and communicated to
Lord Hay, adapted to reconcile the chieftains to the sovereignty of the
house of Hanover, and at the same time to preserve the peace of the
country. This was, to raise four or five Highland regiments, appointing
an English or Scotch officer of undoubted loyalty to King George, to be
colonel of each regiment, and naming all the inferior officers from a
list drawn up by President Forbes, and comprising all the chiefs and
chieftains of the disaffected clans. Most unhappily this plan was
rejected. Had it been adopted, the melancholy events of the last
Rebellion might not have left an indelible stain upon our national
character. The Highlanders, once enlisted in the cause of Government,
would have been true to their engagements; and the fidelity of the
officers, when serving abroad, would have been a guarantee for the good
conduct of their relations at home. It was not, however, deemed
practicable; and the energies of a determined and unemployed people were
again brought into active force. It is said to have met with the decided
approbation of Sir Robert Walpole, but it was negatived by the
Cabinet.[51]

The year 1739 witnessed the revival of the Jacobite Association, which
had been annihilated by the attainders and exiles of its members after
the last Rebellion. The declaration of war between Spain and England,
induced a belief that hostilities with France would follow; and
accordingly, in 1740, seven persons of distinction met at Edinburgh, and
signed an association, which was to be carried to the Chevalier St.
George at Rome, together with a list of those chiefs and chieftains who
were ready to join the association, if a body of French troops should
land in Scotland. This was the commencement of the second Rebellion; and
it was seconded with as pure