with as little
difficulty as he had done Holyrood-house. "He continued," says Lord
Elcho, "all that day positive he would march to London. The Irish in the
army were always for what he was for, and were heard to say, that day,
'that they knew if they escaped being killed, the worst that could
happen to them was a few months imprisonment.'"

The reluctance of the unfortunate and brave young Chevalier was
increased by the evident ardour which his men, in the expectation of an
engagement with the Duke of Cumberland, were at that very instant
displaying, whilst the arguments which sealed Charles Edward's fate,
resounded within the walls of Exeter-house. The Highlanders, whose
heroism balanced the inequality of the respective forces, breathed
nothing but a desire for the combat. They were to be seen, during all
that eventful day, in crowds before the shops of the cutlers,
quarrelling who should be the first to get their swords sharpened.[129]
In the very midst of the discussions, a courier arrived from Lord John
Drummond, informing the Prince that he had landed at Montrose with his
regiment, the Scottish Brigade, newly raised in France, and some pickets
of the Irish Brigade, the rest of which would probably be in Scotland
before the letter reached the Prince.[130] But this favourable
intelligence, far from lessening the desire of Lord George to secure a
retreat, rather increased his determination to uphold that resolution;
and emboldened him to unfold to Charles Edward a plan for a Scottish
campaign, which, he thought, might be prosecuted with advantage. In
retreating to Scotland, the Prince, he argued, would have the advantage
of retiring upon his reinforcements, which included the Highlanders at
Perth, and the succours brought by Lord John Drummond. He concluded his
address by a request, in the name of the persons present, that they
should go back and join their friends in Scotland, to live or die with
their countrymen.

Two councils were held upon this important subject, for in the afternoon
the Prince convened another, to consider of the advices which the
courier sent by Lord John Drummond had brought. "The debates," observes
the Chevalier Johnstone, "were very keen." The Prince obstinately
insisted upon giving battle to the Duke of Cumberland on the next day,
the sixth; but he stood alone in that opinion. The Chiefs of Clans, who,
since the council held at Perth, had never opposed the Prince in
anything, feeling that