he Scottish friends of his family to the mercy of his and
their enemies. On the other hand, the prince of Orange importuned him to
acquiesce; many of his counsellors suggested that, if he were once on the
throne, he might soften or subdue the obstinacy of the Scottish parliament;
and his mother, by her letters, exhorted him not to sacrifice to his
feelings this his last resource, the only remaining expedient for the
recovery of his three kingdoms. But the king had still another resource;
he sought delays; his eyes were fixed on the efforts of his friends in the
north of Scotland; and he continued to indulge a hope of being replaced
without conditions on the ancient throne of his ancestors.[1]

Before the king left St. Germains[b] he had given to Montrose a commission
to raise the royal standard in Scotland. The fame of that nobleman secured
to him a gracious reception from the northern sovereigns; he visited each
court in succession; and in all obtained permission to levy men, and
received aid either in money or in military stores. In autumn he despatched
the first expedition of twelve thousand men from

[Footnote 1: Carte's Letters, i. 338, 355. Whitelock, 430. Clarendon, iii.
343.]

[Sidenote a: A.D. 1650. March 15.]
[Sidenote b: A.D. 1649. August.]

Gottenburg under the Lord Kinnoul; but the winds and waves fought against
the royalists; several sail were lost among the rocks; and, when Kinnoul
landed[a] at Kirkwall in the Orkneys, he could muster only eighty officers
and one hundred common soldiers out of the whole number. But Montrose was
not to be appalled by ordinary difficulties. Having received[b] from the
new king the order of the garter, he followed with five hundred men, mostly
foreigners; added them to the wreck of the first expedition, and to the
new levies, and then found himself at the head of a force of more than one
thousand men. His banners on which was painted a representation of the late
king decapitated, with this motto, "Judge and avenge my cause, O Lord," was
intrusted to young Menzies of Pitfoddels, and a declaration was circulated
through the Highlands, calling upon all true Scotsmen to aid in
establishing their king upon the throne, and in saving him from the
treachery of those, who, if they had him in their power, would sell him as
they had sold his father to English rebels. Having transported[c] his whole
force from Holm Sound to the Northern extremity of Caithness, he traversed
that and t