olence, he represented the danger of attempting to
prosecute the voyage; and, with the consent of the chevalier de St.
George and his general, returned to Dunkirk, after having been tossed
about a whole month in very tempestuous weather. In the meantime sir
George Byng sailed up to Leith road, where he received the freedom of
the city of Edinburgh in a golden box, as a testimony of gratitude for
his having delivered them from the dreadful apprehensions under which
they laboured.

STATE OF THE NATION AT THAT PERIOD.

Certain it is, the pretender could not have chosen a more favourable
opportunity for making a descent upon Scotland. The people in general
were disaffected to the government on account of the union; the regular
troops under Leven did not exceed five-and-twenty hundred men, and even
great part of these would in all probability have joined the invader;
the castle of Edinburgh was destitute of ammunition, and would in all
appearance have surrendered at the first summons; in which case the
Jacobites must have been masters of the equivalent money lodged in that
fortress: a good number of Dutch ships, loaded with cannon, small arms,
ammunition, and a large sum of money, had been driven on shore in the
shire of Angus, where they would have been seized by the friends of the
pretender, had the French troops been landed; and all the adherents of
that house were ready to appear in arms. In England, such a demand was
made upon the bank, by those who favoured the invasion, and those who
dreaded a revolution, that the public credit seemed to be in danger.
The commons resolved, that whoever designedly endeavoured to destroy
or lessen the public credit, especially at a time when the kingdom was
threatened with an invasion, was guilty of a high crime and misdemeanor,
and an enemy to her majesty and the kingdom. The lord treasurer
signified to the directors of the bank, that her majesty would allow
for six months an interest of six per cent, upon their bills, which was
double the usual rate; and considerable sums of money were offered
to them by this nobleman, as well as by the dukes of Marlborough,
Newcastle, and Somerset. The French, Dutch, and Jewish merchants, whose
interest was in a peculiar manner connected with the safety of the bank,
exerted themselves for its support; and the directors having called in
twenty per cent, upon their capital stock, were enabled to answer
all the demands of the timorous and disaffe