The Stuart dynasty, it is well known, long after its fall and expulsion from the throne, still maintained its influence among the Highland clans. Several of these were blindly devoted to its restoration, and could perceive no evidence. of that misgovernment which had rendered the exiled house so odious in the Lowland counties. They viewed the actual sovereign as an usurper, the Stuart as a wronged monarch, and themselves as that portion of his ancient subjects who were bound by every obligation of honour and loyalty to redress his wrongs. Professing also the ancient religion, they found in this an additional motive for exertion; and, in espousing the Stuart cause, felt as if they had been agents holding a direct commission from Heaven, to restore at once the altar and the throne. Filled with this noble but mistaken enthusiasm, no enterprise appeared hazardous, no sacrifice too severe, provided they could reestablish the ancient régime, and place the crown once more on the head of the Stuart. In the battle of Killicrankie, already described, the Clan M'Ian, or "Macdonalds" of Glenco, had fought in support of the exiled king under the Viscount Dundee, whose death in the field imparted to that victory all the consequences of a defeat. Early in the summer of 1691, a cessation of hostilities was proposed on the part of government by the earl of Braidalbane, and accepted by several of the Highland chiefs, among whom was the laird of Glenco. In the month of August following, a proclamation was issued, by which all who had taken an active part in the former rebellion were promised indemnity, on condition that, within the current year, they should take the oath of allegiance to King William. After considerable demurrer as to the part he should act-whether he should desert the Stuart cause, already hopeless, and embrace the terms of the indemnity-M'Ian of Glenco repaired at length to Inverlochy, where Colonel Hill, governor of the fort, was stationed to receive the oath of allegiance. This was late in December; but Glenco, on presenting himself, was informed that the colonel had no instructions to administer the oath, and that he must apply to Sir Colin Campbell at Inverary, to whom he was furnished with a letter. The journey to this station was much retarded by deep snows, and the almost pathless wastes that lay between Inverlochy and Inverary; so that, besides being detained for a whole day by an officer of government, Glenco had great difficulty in accomplishing his journey. Three days also of continued storms elapsed before the government functionary, to whom the letter was addressed, could reach Inverary, and when he did so the term of indemnity had expired. Thus circumstanced, Campbell had no power to act; but moved by the distress of Glenco, and his entreaties to be permitted to take the oath, he administered it to him in due form, a certificate of which, along with Colonel

Hill's letter, he immediately forwarded to the Privy Council in Edinburgh. On receiving these, the clerk took the precaution to consult one of the council, who advised him not to lay these documents before the council, as the oath had not been taken within the time prescribed, and was therefore null. Colonel Hill's letter, nevertheless, would have been sufficient evidence as to the intention of Glenco, and showed that his not having taken the oath within the given. period was no fault of his, but caused by circumstances over which he could have had no control. This justice, however, was denied him; neither the letter nor the certificate were presented to the Council. The impression of rebellious disaffection on the part of Glenco was suffered, without one palliating word in his favour, to kindle into speedy vengeance against the unhappy chief and his people.

Within five days from the taking of the oath, namely, on the 11th of January, the officers then at the head of the various detachments stationed in this part of the Highlands, received peremptory orders to "proceed with fire and sword" against all those who had not taken the benefit of the indemnity. By additional instructions, signed by the king, under date of the 16th of January-the day marked by the secretary Stair-it was commanded that the rebels should be received only upon mercy; and that, "if the tribe of Glenco could be separated from the rest of the Highlanders, it would be proper for the vindication of public justice to extirpate that set of thieves!"* For the execution of this barbarous edict, care was taken to employ a detachment from the regiment of Argyll, who were known to be well disposed for such a service, from the bitter feud that had long subsisted between the Campbells and the people of Glenco. About the end of January, in pursuance of strict orders, a strong body of militia, under the command of Campbell of Glenlyon, marched from their winter quarters, and, on the 1st of February, entered the doomed valley. Their sudden appearance naturally caused some degree of alarm, but on being questioned as to their object, they professed the most friendly intentions, and all suspicion was dropped. For twelve days they were entertained with all the kindness and hospitality which the unsuspecting chief and his people-even at their own

It is obvious that the only distinction that could justly be made between the Glenco men and the Highlanders who had not taken the benefit of the indemnity, was, that the former stood in a much more favourable situation, their chieftain having actually taken the oath... The secretary, however, although aware of this fact, entirely overlooked the qualifying words-or, rather, took it for granted that the Glenco men might be separated from the rest of the Highlanders for extirpation. And in his letters to the military officers, with an outrageous zeal urges the execution of the scheme in the manner and at the season best calculated to render the massacre complete. "This," says he, " is the only season when they cannot escape us”—“. This is the time to maul them, in the long cold nights."-Campbell. Garnett, &c.

great and personal inconvenience-could bestow. To every individual of that insidious detachment they extended the hand of friendship, and treated them with the warmth of a Highland welcome. But once secure in the heart of the fold, these wolves soon threw off their disguise, and manifested their natural thirst for blood.

It has been inferred from various circumstances, that the leader of this detestable expedition was ignorant of the design with which he was ordered to march upon Glenco; but there can be no doubt that, in Captain Campbell, the government saw an able instrument for the execution of its sanguinary measures, and selected him accordingly. Independently of the warm hospitality lavished upon this officer, and the troops under his command, other circumstancesnamely, a close family connexion*-rendered the service, if possible, still more revolting. On the twelfth day after his arrival, Campbell received the following order from his superior, Major Duncanson, then stationed at Ballahulish, the ferry above named. "You are hereby ordered," says the document, "to fall upon the rebels, the Macdonalds of Glenco, and put all to the sword under the age of seventy. You are to have special care that the old fox and his cubs do upon no account escape out of your hands. so that no man may escape from the glen.

You are to secure all the avenues, This you are to put in execution at five o'clock in the morning precisely, and by that time, or very shortly after it, I will strive to be at you with a stronger party; but if I do not come to you at that hour, you are not to tarry for me, but fall on. This is by the king's special command, for the good and safety of the country, that these miscreants be cut off root and branch. may See that this be put in execution without feud or favour, else you may expect to be treated as not true to the king, or government, nor a man fit to carry a commission in the king's service."

On receipt of this atrocious order, Campbell did not exclaim with generous indignation, "We are soldiers, not assassins!" He did not spurn the infernal instrument that was to brand his name with the crime of murder. He did not tear the insulting document, and cast it in the bearer's face. He did not denounce the infamous plot, and call upon every soldier under his command to resist the order with his blood! No; as soon as he had read the death-warrant of his generous host and a confiding people, he took instant measures for its execution. Parties were distributed to every village in the glen, and at five o'clock in the morning, while the inhabitants were buried in profound repose, the massacre began. An

A son of Macdonald, chief of Glenco, was married to a niece of Campbell's.

inferior officer, named Lindsay, was charged with a special order to see the old chief M'Ian put to death. This they knew was a formidable undertaking; for being a man of athletic form, a true descendant of the "heroes of Fingal," and with a courage that shrank from no danger, they well knew that if he once drew his broadsword, he would not fall unavenged. Caution, therefore, was necessary; and resolving to accomplish by the basest treachery the object of his mission, Lindsay called at Glenco's house, pretending that he was the bearer of a friendly message. The ruse succeeded; he was admitted without scruple; and while the old chief was rising from his bed to receive him, a volley of musketry from the soldiers stationed at the window, struck their victim between the shoulders,* and left him prostrate in his blood. Several of his domestics were killed on the spot. From his wife's fingers the assassins tore off the rings with their teeth; she only survived the night; agony and despair overcame her reason, and the following day she died a raving maniac. By a timely warning the chief's two sons escaped; but thirty-eight of their friends were shot or put to the sword as they woke out of sleep. In Campbell'st

⚫ These particulars of his death are slightly varied in the relations by different authors.-See preceding account, p. 76.

+ The following fact, as illustrative of the religious tenets with which the Highlanders' minds are imbued -particularly as regards that of retributive judgments in this life-may here be aptly introduced. The late Colonel Campbell of Glenlyon, grandson of him who commanded the military at the massacre above related, retained, through a period of thirty years' service in the 42d regiment, the belief that the punishment of the cruelty, oppression, or misconduct of an individual, descended as a curse on his children to the third and fourth generations. In 1748, he was a supernumerary captain in the above regiment, and retired on half-pay. He then entered the marines, and in 1762 received his majority with the brevet rank of lieutenant-colonel, and commanded eight hundred of his corps at the Havannah. In 1771, he was ordered to superintend the execution of a soldier of marines, who had been tried by a court-martial, and condemned to be shot. A reprieve was sent; but in order to impress a salutary lesson on those around, the whole ceremony of the execution was ordered to proceed until the criminal should be upon his knees, with a cap over his eyes, prepared to receive the volley, and at that moment he was to be informed of his pardon. No person was to be told previously; and Colonel Campbell was directed not to inform even the firing party, who were warned that the signal to fire would be the waving of a white handkerchief by the commanding officer. When all was prepared, the clergyman having left the prisoner on his knees in momentary expectation of his fate, and the firing party looking with fixed attention for the signal, Colonel Campbell put his hand into his pocket for the reprieve; but, in pulling it out of the pocket, the white handkerchief accompanied it, and catching the eyes of the party, they instantly fired, and the unfortunate prisoner was shot dead. The same instant the paper dropped from Campbell's fingers, and clapping his hand distractedly to his forehead, he exclaimed, "The curse of God, and the curse of Glenco is here!I am an unfortunate ruined man!" He ordered the soldiers to their barracks, quitted the parade, and shortly after retired from the service. His retirement, adds General Stewart, was not the result of any reflection or reprimand, as the unfortunate affair was known to be purely accidental; but the melancholy impression on his mind was never effaced.

* Vol. i. p. 110.