sufficient restraint. It is creditable to the character of the regiment, that, under so close an observer of their discipline, too much accustomed to look on soldiers as pieces of machinery, destined to obey his orders without thought or reflection, beyond the immediate orders they received, very few punishments were inflicted; and that these were only of the kind usually inflicted on Highland regiments of that period. In 1783, the regiment was ordered to England, and marched to Portsmouth for the purpose of being embarked for India. The unfortunate occurrences, which threw such a shade over its character on that occasion, are mentioned under another head, and, therefore, need not be detailed in this place. I shall only add, from the best authority, that these occurrences would not have taken place had the intentions of Government been previously explained, the inclinations of the soldiers been consulted, and their extended service to India left to their own choice, instead of an attempt being made to embark them contrary to their terms of service. After the affair at Portsmouth was adjusted, the regiment marched to Berwick, and was disbanded there in April 1783. The officers of this regiment lived on the happiest and most friendly footing. Those of them who survive still cherish their former friendships, and, at the distance of forty years, indulge in the recollections of early intimacy. These feelings extended to the soldiers, who, before the occurrence just mentioned, were respectful, and attached to their officers. The whole corps was, in short, like a family, of which General Murray was the common father and friend. Before the reduction, he assembled the officers, and, taking a memorandum of the wishes and views of each individual, he made such good use of his own and his family's influence, that, before he died, and without any further application on their part, he got every one who was so inclined restored to full pay. This good man was indefatigable and unwearied in his zeal to serve his officers. The late Lord Sydney, when Secretary of State, used to call him the Bishop of Dunkeld; for, said his Lordship, "I never see his face but when there is some vacant church, or some office in Perthshire, or something formerly in the gift of the Bishop of Dunkeld, to give away." The late Mr Lewis, of the War Office, called him the Athole Forester; "not," says he, "as the forester or keeper of Athole deer, but as the guardian and friend of his Highlanders of the Athole regiment, for whom he will take no refusal." General Murray was wounded in a singular manner at the capture of Martinique in 1762, when captain in the 42d. A musket ball entered his left side, under the lower rib, passed up through the left lobe of the lungs, (as was ascertained after his death,) crossed his chest, and, mounting up to his right shoulder, lodged under the scapula. His case being considered desperate, the only object of the surgeon was to make his situation as easy as possible for the few hours they supposed he had to live; but, to the great surprise of all, he was on his legs in a few weeks, and, before he reached England, was quite recovered, or at least his health and appetite were restored. He was never afterwards, however, able to lie down; and, during the thirtytwo years of his subsequent life, he slept in an upright posture, supported in his bed by pillows. He died in 1794, a Lieutenant-General, Colonel of the 72d regiment, and representative in Parliament for the county of Perth. SEVENTY-EIGHTH REGIMENT, OR NOW THE SEVENTY-SECOND REGIMENT. 1778. THE Earl of Seaforth, having engaged in the Rebellion of 1715, and been included in the subsequent act of attainder, forfeited his estate and title. His grandson, Kenneth Mackenzie, repurchased the property from the Crown, was created an Irish Peer by the title of Lord Viscount Fortrose, and, in the year 1771, restored to the ancient title of the family, as Earl of Seaforth. In gratitude for these favours, he made an offer to his Majesty, in the year 1778, of raising a regiment on his estate, which in former times had been able to furnish 1,000 men in arms whenever the Chief required their service. Whether in poverty and exile, or in possession of rank and fortune, Seaforth experienced no difference of respect, or disinterested and effectual support. On the present occasion, the offer was accepted, and, in the month of May of that year, 1,130 men assembled at Elgin, immediately after Lord Macleod's Highlanders had marched to the south. They were principally raised by gentlemen of the clan of "Caber Fey," as the Mackenzies are called, from the stag's horns on the armo * * An instance of this will be seen in the Appendix, where 400 of Lord Seaforth's followers, or rather those who had been so when he was in possession of his estate and honours, marched to Edinburgh, to lodge a sum of money, part of their rents, to be remitted to his Lordship when in exile in France in 1732. rial bearings of Seaforth. After being reviewed at Elgin, they marched southward for embarkation. Of this number, 500 men were from Lord Seaforth's own estate, and about 400 from the estates of the Mackenzies of Scatwell, Kilcoy, Applecross, and Redcastle, all of whom had sons or brothers in the regiment. The officers from the Lowlands brought upwards of 200 men, of which 43 were English and Irish. The clan of Macrea had long been faithful followers of the Seaforth family, and, on this occasion, the name was so general in the regiment, that it was known more by the name of the Macreas than by any other. So much was this the case, that a memorable, but too common occurrence in Highland corps, which took place in Edinburgh, is still called in Scotland" The affair of the Macreas." This unfortunate misunderstanding proves the absolute necessity of pre *The arms and crest of the Mackenzies were assumed in consequence of Kenneth, the ancestor of the family, having rescued Alexander II. King of Scotland, from an wounded stag, which had attacked him. The animal, furious from pain, ran in upon the King, threw him down, and would have gored him on the spot, had it not been for the prompt assistance of Kenneth Fitzgerald, who, happening to be in sight, run up, and dispatched the deer. In gratitude for this assistance, the King gave him a grant of the castle and estate of Ellen Dounan, and thus laid the foundation of the family and clan Mackenneth, or Mackenzie, so called from the name of their ancestor, who was an Irishman by birth. The crest is a stag's head and horns. It is a curious circumstance that the last Lord Seaforth's life should have been endangered in the same manner as that in which the first of the family saved the King's. Lord Seaforth was attacked by a hart in the parks of Brahan Castle; but, being a powerful man, and possessed of great strength of arm, he closed on the animal, and, seizing him by the horns, pressed his breast against the deer's forehead. A long and desperate struggle ensued, till he was relieved by a game-keeper, who was attracted to the spot by the bellowing of the hart. His Lordship was bruised, but not materially injured. The late Mr West painted the rescue of King Alexander. The figures are portraits, in full size, of persons on the Seaforth estate, his Lordship being one of the number. Mr West told me, the last time I saw him, that he considered this painting the best of his earlier pieces. serving the utmost fidelity in transactions, or engagements, with soldiers. Independently of the dishonour that attaches to all breaches of promise, it is quite evident that the evils of the example are great and manifold, and that, according to all the known principles of human nature, fidelity cannot be expected from those who believe themselves to have been deceived. In the month of June the corps was inspected by General Skene, and embodied under the denomination of Seaforth's Highlanders, or the 78th regiment. The whole were found so effective, that not one man was rejected. There being several supernumeraries, they were formed into a recruiting company, a measure the more necessary, as the corps was ordered for the East Indies, which destination was much more fatal to troops at that time than now, when the voyage is shortened by less than one-half, the quality of the provisions much improved, and the accommodation allowed, in ships employed as transports, greatly enlarged. In the month of August the regiment marched to Leith for embarkation; but on its arrival there the men began to show symptoms of dissatisfaction. The transactions that took place on this occasion I have noticed in another place. It is sufficient here to remark, that, after full attention was paid to their claims, the men embarked with much cheerfulness, and with a more complete re-establishment of their confidence, as their colonel, the Earl of Seaforth, was to accompany them on service. The intention of sending them to India having been postponed, they landed in Guernsey and Jersey in equal divisions, whence, at the end of March, they were removed to Portsmouth, where, on the 1st of May 1781, they embarked for the East Indies, amounting to 1,110 rank and file, all in high health, and well disciplined. But however hardy their constitutions, and however capable of active exertions on land, they did not withstand the diseases inci • See Appendix.-Mutinies of the Highland Regiments. |