shewed his hereditary affection to the Stuarts,--an affection
which was probably sincere at that early age: and he was even
imprisoned for his open avowal of that cause, at the time when his elder
brother repaired to the standard of Dundee. Deserting the study of the
civil law, to which he had been originally destined, Simon Fraser
entered a company in the regiment of Lord Tullibardine, his relation;
nevertheless, he twice attempted to benefit the Jacobite cause,--once,
by joining the insurrection promoted by General Buchan, and a second
time by forming a plan, which was rendered abortive by the famous
victory at La Hogue, for surprising the Castle of Edinburgh, and
proclaiming King James in that capital.

This plot escaped detection; and the young soldier pursued his military
duties, until the death of Hugh Lord Lovat drew him from the routine of
his daily life into intrigues which better suited his restless and
dauntless character.

Although his father, it is clearly understood, never bore the title of
Lord Lovat, Simon, immediately upon the death of Lord Hugh, took upon
himself the dignity and the offices of Master of Lovat. He seems,
indeed, to have assumed all the importance, and to have exercised all
the authority, which properly belonged to Lord Lovat. He was at this
time nearly thirty years of age, and he had passed his life, not in mere
amusement, but in acquiring a knowledge of the world in prosecuting his
own interests. It is true, his leisure hours might have been more
innocently bestowed even in the most desultory pursuits, than in the
debasing schemes and scandalous society in which his existence was
passed: it is true, that in studying his own interests, he forgot his
true interest, and failed lamentably; still, he had not been idle in his
vocation.

He is said, on tradition, to have been one of the most frightful men
ever seen; and the portrait which Hogarth took of him, corroborates that
report. He inherited the courage natural to his family, and his
character, in that single respect, shone out at the last with a radiancy
that one almost regrets, since it seemed so inconsistent that a career
of the blackest vice and perfidy should close with something little less
than dignity of virtue. He seems to have been endowed with a capacity
worthy of a better employment than waiting upon a noble and wealthy
relative, or inflaming discords between Highland clans. If we may adduce
the Latin quotations which Lov