to
save with what may be unjustly called a niggard hand his earnings, to
support, in their old age, those who have given him birth. "I have
been," says General Stewart, "a frequent witness of these offerings of
filial bounty, and the channel through which they were communicated; and
I have generally found that a threat of informing their parents of
misconduct, has operated as a sufficient check on young soldiers, who
always received the intimation with a sort of horror."[260]

Blessed, doubtless, with the approval of his father, Sir Ewan Dhu,
Lochiel quitted his home. He left a wife whom he loved, a parent whom
he reverenced, and whose span of life could not be long extended; he
left a numerous and prosperous family, upon a sense of duty, a principle
of loyalty, an adherence, so fixed and so sure among the Highlanders, to
his engagements. The name of Cameron does not appear among the
chieftains who were assembled at Braemar; but it appears probable that
he attended the Earl of Mar's summons, since he was cited, by the
authority of an act passed on the thirtieth of August, to appear at
Edinburgh, as well as a number of other disaffected chieftains and
noblemen, to give bail for his allegiance to the Government. The summons
was not answered by a single individual, and the preparations for the
fatal insurrection continued in unabated activity.

The details of the hopeless struggle contain no especial mention of John
Cameron of Lochiel; but, from manuscript sources, we learn that, after
the battle of Sherriff Muir, he continued with the Jacobite army,
conducted by General Gordon, to whom James Stuart had entrusted the
command of that remnant of his gallant and deserted adherents. The
Jacobite army having marched to Aberdeen, were there informed by General
Gordon of the flight of the Chevalier, of that of Lord Mar, and of the
other principal leaders. A letter was then read to them from James,
declaring that the disappointments which he had met with, especially
from abroad, had obliged him to leave the country. He thanked his
subjects for their services, and desired them to advise with General
Gordon, and to consult their own safety, either by keeping in a body,
or separating, and encouraged them to hear from him again in a very
short time. A singular scene ensued. General Gordon and the chief
officers of the army, are said to have pretended surprise at this
disclosure, although they were previously in the secret; but the
i