eable to be able to clear his memory. It was not
very long after the meeting in Braemar, that Lord Mar discovered that
there was what he called "a devil" in his camp, in the person of the
Master of Sinclair, whose manuscript strictures upon the unfortunate and
incompetent leader of the Jacobites have contributed to blacken his
memory.

According to the Master of Sinclair, the Earl of Mar produced at the
meeting a forged commission; but this statement is not only contradicted
by Lord Mar's own account, but completely invalidated by the fact that
the commission is in existence, among various other curious documents
and letters, many of which place the character of Lord Mar in a much
fairer light than that in which it has hitherto been viewed. The Earl of
Mar, in a justification of his conduct, printed at Paris, and added to
Patten's History of the Rebellion, gives the following account of the
affair:

"It was near a month after the Earl of Mar[89] set up the Standard
before he could produce a commission, and it is no small proof of the
people's zeal for their country that so great a number followed his
advice and obeyed his orders before he could produce one. It must,
though, be owned, and it is the less to be wondered at, that his
authority being thus precarious, some were not so punctual in joining
him, and others performed not so effectually the service they were sent
upon, which, had they done, not only Scotland, but even part of England,
had been reduced to the Chevalier's obedience, before the Government had
been in a condition to make head against us."[90]

The commission was, however, at that time written, although it had not
been sent over to Scotland. It is dated the seventh of September, 1715,
and is superscribed James R.[91] The Earl of Mar was doubtless aware
that such an instrument was in preparation.

When the Earl had first arrived in Scotland, he found, as he himself
alleges, the people far more eager to take arms than his instructions
allowed him to permit; but before actual steps were commenced, that
ardour was cooled by two circumstances: first, by the Chevalier's not
landing in England, as the Jacobites had confidently hoped; and,
secondly, by the Duke of Berwick's not coming to Scotland.[92] The
vigorous measures adopted by Government made, therefore, a far greater
impression on the public mind than could have been expected had the Earl
of Mar been boldly seconded by him who was most of all inter