arer to you before night than you
may dream of." Upon the death of Dundee, Sir Ewan Dhu, disgusted by the
deficiencies of the commander who succeeded him, retired to Lochaber,
and left the command of his clansmen to his eldest son, John Cameron,
who, with his son Donald, form the subjects of this memoir.

Sir Ewan Dhu lived until the year 1719, enjoying the security which his
exploits had procured for him; and maintaining, by his own dignified
deportment, the credit of a family long upheld by a previous succession
of able and honourable chieftains. The state and liberality of the
Camerons were not supported, nevertheless, by a lavish expenditure;
their means were limited: "Yet," says Mrs. Grant of Laggan in her MS.
account of the clan, "perhaps even our own frugal country did not afford
an instance of a family, who lived in so respectable a manner, and
showed such liberal and dignified hospitality upon so small an income,"
as that of Lochiel.

The part which Sir Ewan Dhu had taken in the action at Killicrankie
would, it was naturally supposed, draw down upon him the vengeance of
those who visited with massacre the neighbouring valley of Glencoe. The
forbearance of Government can only be accounted for by the supposition
that King William, with his usual penetration, decreed it safer to
conciliate, than to attempt to crush a clan which was connected by
marriage with the most powerful of the Highland chieftains.

No arts could, however, win the allegiance of the Camerons from those
whom they considered as their rightful sovereigns. Towards the end of
William's reign, the young chieftain John was sent privately to France,
where his early notions of loyalty were confirmed, and his attachment
to the court of James enhanced, by the influence of the Duke of Berwick,
who formed with him a sincere and durable friendship.

The character of the chieftain was softened in the young Lochiel. He was
intelligent, frank, and conciliating in his manners, and had associated
more generally with the world than was usually the case with the
chieftains of those days. Among the circles with whom the young Lochiel
mingled, Barclay Urie, the well known apologist of the Quakers, was also
accustomed to appear. An attachment was thenceforth formed between John
Cameron and the daughter of Barclay, and a matrimonial alliance was soon
afterwards decided upon between the daughter of that gentleman and the
young chieftain.

The choice was considered