gentlemen, should come forward to finish what had been gallantly
attempted by a few Highland chiefs.

It is probable, indeed, that the Jacobites of the day were
incapable of considering that the very small scale on which the
effort was made, was in one great measure the cause of its
unexpected success. The remarkable speed with which the
insurgents marched, the singularly good discipline which they
preserved, the union and unanimity which for some time animated
their councils, were all in a considerable degree produced by the
smallness of their numbers. Notwithstanding the discomfiture of
Charles Edward, the nonjurors of the period long continued to
nurse unlawful schemes, and to drink treasonable toasts, until
age stole upon them. Another generation arose, who did not share
the sentiments which they cherished; and at length the sparkles
of disaffection, which had long smouldered, but had never been
heated enough to burst into actual flame, became entirely
extinguished. But in proportion as the political enthusiasm died
gradually away among men of ordinary temperament, it influenced
those of warm imaginations and weak understandings, and hence
wild schemes were formed, as desperate as they were adventurous.

Thus a young Scottishman of rank is said to have stooped so low
as to plot the surprisal of St. James's Palace, and the
assassination of the royal family. While these ill-digested and
desperate conspiracies were agitated among the few Jacobites who
still adhered with more obstinacy to their purpose, there is no
question but that other plots might have been brought to an open
explosion, had it not suited the policy of Sir Robert Walpole
rather to prevent or disable the conspirators in their projects,