entertain Suspition and give Orders according to their Conduct, Scroll letter Lord Lovat to Lord Loudon, 26th Nov., 1745. Your Lop.'s letter of Sunday's date was delivered to me yesterday morning. The bearer of it came here Sunday night after I was abed, for I had been extremely distressed all day with my cough and stich, which with the external misfortunes I groan under renders me incapable of thinking or writing upon any subject without great pain, and obliged me to keep the bearer so long, for which I beg your Lop.'s pardon. I understand the letter I had the honr. to write in answer to yr. Lop.'s of the 22nd was not come to hand when you writt that now before me, ffor if it had I flatter myself your Lop. would have thought it all the ansr. that I or any man in my situation coud give. The men of this Country are still at home, and as I have writt to your Lop. once and again, I do assure you upon my honour that I shall use my outmost Endeavours to keep them so. This is the only satisfaction occurs to me that is in my power to give, For I own I do not comprehend what your Lop. means by proper satisfaction, unless this be it. If I did, as far as it was in my power, your Lop. should have had it ere now. But if your Lop. still persists that this is not Enough, Pray let me know articulatly what satisfaction you would have, or what you would call proper satisfaction, and if it is in my power or depends on me, I shall frankly give it. But if your Lop. shall think, as I hope you will, that this is all I can say or do in the matter, your Lop. 1 will have me excusd when I add that the threats and menaces made by your Lop. agt. my poor Country is not a little surprizing and especially that part of them that is levelld agt. the people that have given no disturbance, and remain peaceably in their houses. It would be extremely odd, My Lord, to Involve those in the Guilt of their Neighbours for that very reason which ought to intitle them to your Lop.'s protection-I mean their staying at home; ffor, according to your Lop.'s way of reasoning, any particular Clan or Country may be Convict of Rebellion and exposed to the dismall consequences of it if any number of Rascalls less or more that live among them shall be so audacious to attempt that Crime, let the rest be ever so quiet and peacable, and according to that doctrine one universall attainder may be direct in the present unhappy Conjuncture agt. all Scotland. God forbid, My Lord, that any man in power, and much less the Earl of Loudoun, should reason or act upon such principles, and especially when the Lord Lovat and his Country are to be made the first Instance in Scotland of such proceedings. No, my Lord, I am sure yr. Lops. have too much goodness for that, nor can all that I have heard said, either directly or indirectly, upon the subject ever Convince me that my dear and intimate friend, the late worthy Earl of Loudoun's Son, will act so unprecedented a part agt. the Lord Lovat or his Country, and, therefore, I shall rest satisfied that neither I nor they will meet with any distress from your Lops. for the misconduct of some rascalls that live in this country. As to my unhappy Son, I wish from my heart that my paternall advices or authority coud influence his conduct. As to the Stratherrick men, I do assure your Lop. that I had no Intelligence from them nor keept any Correspondence with them since the time they made that base and wicked attempt upon the house of Culloden, for which I was so much incense, however, I have sent to know the truth of the Informations your Lops. have with respect to that Country, and as far as I know them I shall communicate you. Lord Loudon to Lord Lovat, November 27th, 1745. Inverness, Novr. 27th, 1745. My Lord, Last night I had the honour of your Lop.'s of that dayes date in answer to mine of the 24th, in which I desired that to Prevent my marching into your Lop.'s Country you might propose what you thought might give reasonable Satisfaction that your people would not join in the Rebellion, and I am sorry to see, that all your Lop. Offers is an assurance that they are all at presant at home, and an assurance you will use all your endevours to keep them so, and more sorry to observe that your Lop. thinks this is sufficient. Had your people remained hitherto Quiet, and could your Lop. now say, what you sade about three months ago to the Government, that you had the absolut direction of them, What is offered would have been a proper Satisfaction; But when your Lop. well knows that they have been of late frequantly assembled in Arms, without legal authority, and when you recollect what you acquainted me with, in yours of the 22nd, that your son, who seemed determined to join the Rebells, has twenty times more to say with most of them than your Lop. hase, you will, I am confident, admit that there being at home to-day is no evidence that they are to be so to-morow, and that your Lops. endevours to keep them Peacable are not to be relied on. Nay I am persuaded upon due attention your Lop. will be thankful to me for not depending on the assurance you give; Because should I do so, and should it fail me, one can see with half an eye what your Lop. would have to answer for, and when you view the matter in this light, I should hope that in place of expostulating with me, and using very ernest arguments against my march, your Lop. will rather press me to march immediatly to support your authority over your Clan Seduced by your Son from the Respect Due to your Lop. and to prevent their Emenent Ruin, and the Suspition that may reatch your Lop. from their Conduct, should they be so mad as to join the Rebells. Now my Lord, since you must see that what has been offered can not possibly Give me Satisfaction, and since you desire that I may lett you know articulatly what Satisfaction I would have, I will tell you in two words: These Men have already been Assembled in Arms, and since your Lop. will not take upon you absolutly to answere for them, Those arms must be given up, that the means of offending may be taken out of there hands. Less than this can give no reasonable Security that the Goverment shall remain undisturbed, and if your Lop. concur in it it may be effected without any harshness or hardship. If you do not, should any hardships ensue they can not lie at my door. For tho what your Lop. observes that it sounds hard for the falts of a few to bear hard on a whole Kindered is true in the Common Case, Yet in this, where the whole Clan have avowedly been frequantly together in Arms without any Colour of Law, and apparently with a Disposition to offend, they can not justly complain of any hardship Provided it Is no furder than the security of the Goverment against there violence nesesity requiers it. This Satisfaction, your Lop. observes, I propose because you do not take upon you absolutly to answer for the Peaceable behaviour of your Clan. But if your Lop. thinks you can so far Depend on their regard and affection for your person that you can undertake that twenty of them shall not appear in arms, or leave the Country for two months, under the Condition of Vacating the Protection you at presant have for yourself and Family, and your Lop. very well knowes Protections only reach to Acts prior, not to what may be done subsequant to them. I shall be sattisfied with that security, as I know how much they owe to your Lop. You judge right, my Lord, when you think I have the greatest unwillingness to proseed to extramity with your Lop., for whom I inherrit from my father a very great respect, and am, My Lord, your Lordship's hitherto most obsterat friend, and obedient humble servant, LOUDOUN. Scroll letter Lord Lovat to Earl of Loudon, dated 30th My Good Earl, November, 1745. The letter which your Lop. did me the honour to write to me of the 27 of this month was only delivered to me yesterday. I am extreamly sensible of the great civilitys and friendship that your Lop. has hitherto evidenced for me by the moderation of your Conduct towards my Country, and the trouble you have taken ou my accot. at this unlucky Conjuncture. I see, my Lord, how happy I am in finding in your Lop.'s person the sincere friend I lost by the death of your worthy ffather, and I pray God it may be in my power to make your Lop. the turns your friendship deserve at my hands, and to give you a reall proof of that Sincere gratitude I shall ever entertain towards you; and in the meantime I beg leave to assure your Lop. of my most affectionate humble duty and best respects. It gives me the greatest concern that your Lop. lays so little stress on my endeavours to keep my people at home. I apprehend your Lop. knows too much of the Highlands to imagine that any Chief in Scotland can absolutely undertake for the good behaviour of every man that belongs to his Clan or lives among them. No, my Lord, that is impossible, but when a Chief uses all his Endeavours, as I hope to Convince your Lop. and the world I do, he must have very little to say with his people if his power and Influence I can do not keep at home the greater and better part of them. And if that is the Case with mine, I perswade myself your Lop. will never allow yerself to harrass or distress my Country for the misconduct of such wretches, neither their duty to God nor men can keep from wicked practices. But to show your Lop. that my people have not yet renounced all sort of regard and duty to me, assure you, as a certain truth, that I dispersd yesterday two or three Compys that had assembled themselves in a body. I prevailed on the Gentlemen that headed them to give me a promise never to attempt any illegal step agt. the Govert. This I hope your Lop. will think a piece of Service that ought to intitle me and my Country to your protection, especially as I am determined to persevere in my duty, and I hope in God, old and infirm as I am, that the Govert. shall reap advantage by my doing so. When this is the Case, my Lord, what more can be asked of me, and if no more can be expected or demanded of me have I not all the reason in the world to assure myself that my person and Estate will continue undisturbed, and to expect the proper Assurances for that purpose? As to what your Lop. proposes of taking up the Arms of this Country, If your Lop. had not been grusly misinformed in that matter, you would not, I presume, have demanded it. Ffor in the first place, my Lord, there are no Arms in the Country, because my Clan have been twice disarmed upon the Act of Parliament, so that they are now the Clan in Scotland that have fewest arms, and I declare for my own part I did not see a Gun these twelve months past. In the next place, my Lord, tho' they were possessed of Arms, which they are not, the getting them surrenderd is a work of time, as its in the power of every little Rascal to conceal them in a Corner where its even impossible for his wife or bairns to know anything about them, and much less woud any party of men that coud go in search of them. But there is a third reason agt. that Scheme, and which weighs still more with me, and I hope will do so with your Lop., and its this--That an attempt to take up any few arms that may be among a people would contribute greatly to Exasperate the whole, and put them upon desperate Schemes, whereas, the method I find goes the greatest length to retain them in their duty is smoothing and good usage. And when to these reasons your Lop. adds this one, That the Rebells have arms in plenty ready to be delivered to any that will be so mad as to join them, and that it is these arms and not their own such people have their Eyes on as the means of offending. I persuade myself your Lop. will think as I do that its much more |