The History of England, from the Accession of James the Second - Volume 1, Thomas Babington Macaulay [ebook pc reader txt] 📗

to be in readiness.

All the clans hostile to the name of Campbell were set in motion.

John Murray, Marquess of Athol, was appointed Lord Lieutenant of

Argyleshire, and, at the head of a great body of his followers,

occupied the castle of Inverary. Some suspected persons were

arrested. Others were compelled to give hostages. Ships of war

were sent to cruise near the isle of Bute; and part of the army

of Ireland was moved to the coast of Ulster.343


While these preparations were making in Scotland, James called

into his closet Arnold Van Citters, who had long resided in

England as Ambassador from the United Provinces, and Everard Van

Dykvelt, who, after the death of Charles, had been sent by the

State General on a special mission of condolence and

congratulation. The King said that he had received from

unquestionable sources intelligence of designs which were forming

against the throne by his banished subjects in Holland. Some of

the exiles were cutthroats, whom nothing but the special

providence of God had prevented from committing a foul murder;

and among them was the owner of the spot which had been fixed for

the butchery. "Of all men living," said the King, "Argyle has the

greatest means of annoying me; and of all places Holland is that

whence a blow may be best aimed against me." The Dutch envoys

assured his Majesty that what he had said should instantly be

communicated to the government which they represented, and

expressed their full confidence that every exertion would be made

to satisfy him.344


They were justified in expressing this confidence. Both the

Prince of Orange and the States General, were, at this time, most

desirous that the hospitality of their country should not be

abused for purposes of which the English government could justly

complain. James had lately held language which encouraged the

hope that he would not patiently submit to the ascendancy of

France. It seemed probable that he would consent to form a close

alliance with the United Provinces and the House of Austria.

There was, therefore, at the Hague, an extreme anxiety to avoid

all that could give him offence. The personal interest of William

was also on this occasion identical with the interest of his

father in law.


But the case was one which required rapid and vigorous action;

and the nature of the Batavian institutions made such action

almost impossible. The Union of Utrecht, rudely formed, amidst

the agonies of a revolution, for the purpose of meeting immediate

exigencies, had never been deliberately revised and perfected in

a time of tranquillity. Every one of the seven commonwealths

which that Union had bound together retained almost all the

rights of sovereignty, and asserted those rights punctiliously

against the central government. As the federal authorities had

not the means of exacting prompt obedience from the provincial

authorities, so the provincial authorities had not the means of

exacting prompt obedience from the municipal authorities. Holland

alone contained eighteen cities, each of which was, for many

purposes, an independent state, jealous of all interference from

without. If the rulers of such a city received from the Hague an

order which was unpleasing to them, they either neglected it

altogether, or executed it languidly and tardily. In some town

councils, indeed, the influence of the Prince of Orange was all

powerful. But unfortunately the place where the British exiles

had congregated, and where their ships had been fitted out, was

the rich and populous Amsterdam; and the magistrates of Amsterdam

were the heads of the faction hostile to the federal government

and to the House of Nassau. The naval administration of the

United Provinces was conducted by five distinct boards of

Admiralty. One of those boards sate at Amsterdam, was partly

nominated by the authorities of that city, and seems to have been

entirely animated by their spirit.


All the endeavours of the federal government to effect what James

desired were frustrated by the evasions of the functionaries of

Amsterdam, and by the blunders of Colonel Bevil Skelton, who had

just arrived at the Hague as envoy from England. Skelton had been

born in Holland during the English troubles, and was therefore

supposed to be peculiarly qualified for his post;345 but he was,

in truth, unfit for that and for every other diplomatic

situation. Excellent judges of character pronounced him to be the

most shallow, fickle, passionate, presumptuous, and garrulous of

men.346 He took no serious notice of the proceedings of the

refugees till three vessels which had been equipped for the

expedition to Scotland were safe out of the Zuyder Zee, till the

arms, ammunition, and provisions were on board, and till the

passengers had embarked. Then, instead of applying, as he should

have done, to the States General, who sate close to his own door,

he sent a messenger to the magistrates of Amsterdam, with a

request that the suspected ships might be detained. The

magistrates of Amsterdam answered that the entrance of the Zuyder

Zee was out of their jurisdiction, and referred him to the

federal government. It was notorious that this was a mere excuse,

and that, if there had been any real wish at the Stadthouse of

Amsterdam to prevent Argyle from sailing, no difficulties would

have been made. Skelton now addressed himself to the States

General. They showed every disposition to comply with his demand,

and, as the case was urgent, departed from the course which they

ordinarily observed in the transaction of business. On the same

day on which he made his application to them, an order, drawn in

exact conformity with his request, was despatched to the

Admiralty of Amsterdam. But this order, in consequence of some

misinformation, did not correctly describe the situation of the

ships. They were said to be in the Texel. They were in the Vlie.

The Admiralty of Amsterdam made this error a plea for doing

nothing; and, before the error could be rectified, the three

ships had sailed.347


The last hours which Argyle passed on the coast of Holland were

hours of great anxiety. Near him lay a Dutch man of war whose

broadside would in a moment have put an end to his expedition.

Round his little fleet a boat was rowing, in which were some

persons with telescopes whom he suspected to be spies. But no

effectual step was taken for the purpose of detaining him; and on

the afternoon of the second of May he stood out to sea before a

favourable breeze.


The voyage was prosperous. On the sixth the Orkneys were in

sight. Argyle very unwisely anchored off Kirkwall, and allowed

two of his followers to go on shore there. The Bishop ordered

them to be arrested. The refugees proceeded to hold a long and

animated debate on this misadventure: for, from the beginning to

the end of their expedition, however languid and irresolute their

conduct might be, they never in debate wanted spirit or

perseverance. Some were for an attack on Kirkwall. Some were for

proceeding without delay to Argyleshire. At last the Earl seized

some gentlemen who lived near the coast of the island, and

proposed to the Bishop an exchange of prisoners. The Bishop

returned no answer; and the fleet, after losing three days,

sailed away.


This delay was full of danger. It was speedily known at Edinburgh

that the rebel squadron had touched at the Orkneys. Troops were

instantly put in motion. When the Earl reached his own province,

he found that preparations had been made to repel him. At

Dunstaffnage he sent his second son Charles on Shore to call the

Campbells to arms. But Charles returned with gloomy tidings. The

herdsmen and fishermen were indeed ready to rally round Mac

Callum More; but, of the heads of the clan, some were in

confinement, and others had fled. Those gentlemen who remained at

their homes were either well affected to the government or afraid

of moving, and refused even to see the son of their chief. From

Dunstaffnage the small armament proceeded to Campbelltown, near

the southern extremity of the peninsula of Kintyre. Here the Earl

published a manifesto, drawn up in Holland, under the direction

of the Committee, by James Stewart, a Scotch advocate, whose pen

was, a few months later, employed in a very different way. In

this paper were set forth, with a strength of language sometimes

approaching to scurrility, many real and some imaginary

grievances. It was hinted that the late King had died by poison.

A chief object of the expedition was declared to be the entire

suppression, not only of Popery, but of Prelacy, which was termed

the most bitter root and offspring of Popery; and all good

Scotchmen were exhorted to do valiantly for the cause of their

country and of their God.


Zealous as Argyle was for what he considered as pure religion, he

did not scruple to practice one rite half Popish and half Pagan.

The mysterious cross of yew, first set on fire, and then quenched

in the blood of a goat, was sent forth to summon all the

Campbells, from sixteen to sixty. The isthmus of Tarbet was

appointed for the place of gathering. The muster, though small

indeed when compared with what it would have been if the spirit

and strength of the clan had been unbroken, was still formidable.

The whole force assembled amounted to about eighteen hundred men.

Argyle divided his mountaineers into three regiments, and

proceeded to appoint officers.


The bickerings which had begun in Holland had never been

intermitted during the whole course of the expedition; but at

Tarbet they became more violent than ever. The Committee wished

to interfere even with the patriarchal dominion of the Earl over

the Campbells, and would not allow him to settle the military

rank of his kinsmen by his own authority. While these

disputatious meddlers tried to wrest from him his power over the

Highlands, they carried on their own correspondence with the

Lowlands, and received and sent letters which were never

communicated to the nominal General. Hume and his confederates

had reserved to themselves the superintendence of the Stores, and

conducted this important part of the administration of war with a

laxity hardly to be distinguished from dishonesty, suffered the

arms to be spoiled, wasted the provisions, and lived riotously at

a time when they ought to have set to all beneath them an example

of abstemiousness.


The great question was whether the Highlands or the Lowlands

should be the seat of war. The Earl's first object was to

establish his authority over his own domains, to drive out the

invading clans which had been poured from Perthshire into

Argyleshire, and to take possession of the ancient seat of his

family at Inverary. He might then hope to have four or five

thousand claymores at his command.