past
description. Had the unlucky and pusillanimous Mr. Forster appeared at
that moment, he "would certainly," as Mr. Patten relates, "have been cut
to pieces." Even in his chamber, the General was attacked by his own
Secretary, Mr. Murray, and a pistol which was aimed at him only averted
by Mr. Patten's hand. The truth is, even Forster's fidelity has been
doubted; and subsequently, the mild treatment which he received during
his imprisonment, and his escape from prison, have been construed, with
what justice it is difficult to say, into a confirmation of this charge.

On the morning after the surrender, the rebels were all made prisoners
and disarmed, soon after daybreak. That day, so fatal to the Jacobites
of 1715, witnessed also the battle of Sherriff Muir under Lord Mar, and
the retaking of the town of Inverness by Lovat. It must have aggravated
the regrets of those who then laid down their arms, to see the
townspeople of Preston plundered, in despite of every hope to the
contrary, by the King's forces, as they dislodged the dejected Jacobites
from their quarters. But these irregularities were soon checked.

At last the sound of trumpets and the beating of drums were heard: the
two Generals were entering the town in form. They rode into the
Market-place, around which the Highlanders were drawn up with their
arms. The lords and gentlemen among the rebels were first secured, and
placed severally under guard in separate rooms at the inn. Then the poor
Highlanders laid down their arms where they stood, and were marched off
to the church, under a sufficient guard. Here the thrifty Scots amused
themselves by making garments of the linings of the pews, which they
ripped off from the seats.

Seven noblemen, besides one thousand four hundred and ninety others,
including gentlemen and officers, were taken at Preston.[206] Generally
speaking, they were treated well by the military: "The dragoons were
civil to us," writes the Highlander, "their officers choosing rather to
want beds themselves than we should."[207] At Wigan the prisoners were
allowed to commune together, under the inspection of sentinels; and a
warm altercation occurred between Lord Widdrington and Brigadier
Mackintosh, in the presence of Lord Derwentwater, who took little notice
of the Brigadier, but turning to another gentleman, said: "You see what
we have brought ourselves to by giving credit to our highborn Tories--to
such men as Fenwick, Tate, Green, and