een one of those whom the
treasurer consulted, in settling the government of Scotland. The rumour
was not conducive to his comfort or well-being in his native country;
and the Earl appears to have passed much more time in intrigues in
London than among the gardens of Alloa.

It was not long before the effects of the general discontent were
manifested in the desire of the majority of the Scottish nation to
restore the descendant of their ancient kings to the throne, and even
the Cameronians and Presbyterians were willing to pass over the
objection of his being a Papist. "God may convert the Prince," they
said, "or he may have Protestant children, but the Union never can be
good."[46] The middle orders openly expressed their anxiety to welcome a
Prince to their shores, whom they regarded as a deliverer: the nobility
and gentry, though more cautious, yet were equally desirous to see the
honour of their nation, in their own sense of it, restored.
Episcopalians, Cavaliers, and Revolutionists, were unanimous, or, to use
the Scots' proverb, "were all one man's bairns." This state of public
feeling was soon communicated to St. Germains, and Colonel Hooke, famous
for his negotiations, was, according to the writer of the Memoirs,
"pitched upon by the French King, and palmed upon the court of St.
Germains, and dispatched to sound the intentions of the principal
Scottish nobility." This agent arrived in Scotland in the month of March,
1707. The paper containing assurances of aid to James Stuart was signed
by sixteen noblemen and gentlemen; but the Earl of Mar was, at that
time, engaged in a very different undertaking, and was in close amity
with Sunderland, Godolphin, and the heads of the Whig party.

The spring of 1708 discovered the designs of Louis, and the news of
great preparations at Dunkirk spread consternation in England. At this
juncture, the first in which the son of James the Second was called upon
to play a part in that drama of which he was the ill-starred hero, the
usual fate of his race befel him. He came to Dunkirk hastily, and in
private, intending to pass over alone to the Firth of Forth. He was
attacked by the measles; at a still more critical moment of his
melancholy life, he was the victim of ague: both of them ignoble
diseases, which seem to have little concern with the affairs of royalty.
The delay of the Prince's illness, although shortened by the peremptory
commands of the French King to proceed, was fatal