to secure for himself and his family a high
position, which he scarcely knew how to occupy: to fill the pockets of
his German attendants and his German mistresses; to get away as often
as possible from his uncongenial islanders whose language he did not
understand, and to use the strength of Great Britain to obtain petty
advantages for his German principality. At once the new king exhibited
violent prejudices against some of the chief men of the nation, and
irritated without a cause a large part of his subjects. Some believed it
was a favorable opportunity to reinstate the Stuart dynasty. John
Erskine, eleventh earl of Mar, stung by studied and unprovoked insults,
on the part of the king, proceeded to the Highlands and placed himself
at the head of the forces of the house of Stuart, or Jacobites, as they
were called. On September 6, 1715, Mar assembled at Aboyne the noblemen,
chiefs of clans, gentlemen, and others, with such followers as could be
brought together, and proclaimed James, king of Great Britain. The
insurrection, both in England and Scotland, began to grow in popularity,
and would have been a success had there been at the head of affairs a
strong military man. Nearly all the principal chiefs of the clans were
drawn into the movement. At Sheriffmuir, the contending forces met,
Sunday, November 13, 1715. The victory was with the Highlanders, but
Mar's military talents were not equal to the occasion. The army was
finally disbanded at Aberdeen, in February, 1716.

The rebellion of 1745, headed by prince Charles Stuart, was the grandest
exhibition of chivalry, on the part of the Highlanders, that the world
has ever seen. They were actuated by an exalted sense of devotion to
that family, which for generations, they had been taught should reign
over them. At first victory crowned their efforts, but all was lost on
the disastrous field of Culloden, fought April 16, 1746.

Were it possible it would be an unspeakable pleasure to drop a veil over
the scene, at the close of the battle of Culloden. Language fails to
depict the horrors that ensued. It is scarcely within the bounds of
belief that human beings could perpetrate such atrocities upon the
helpless, the feeble, and the innocent, without regard to sex or age, as
followed in the wake of the victors. Highland historians have made the
facts known. It must suffice here to give a moderate statement from an
English writer:

"Quarter was seldom given to the stragg