command of sir John Ligonier.
Prince Charles, notwithstanding this formidable opposition, determined
to proceed. He had received assurances from France, that a considerable
body of troops would be landed on the southern coast of Britain, to make
a diversion in his favour; and he never doubted but that he should be
joined by all the English malcontents, as soon as he could penetrate
into the heart of the kingdom. Leaving a small garrison in the castle of
Carlisle, he advanced to Penrith, marching on foot in the highland garb,
at the head of his forces; and continued his route through Lancaster and
Preston to Manchester, where on the twenty-ninth day of the month, he
established his head quarters. There he was joined by about two hundred
Englishmen, who were formed into a regiment under the command of colonel
Townley. The inhabitants seemed to receive him with marks of affection;
and his arrival was celebrated by illuminations and other public
rejoicings. His supposed intention was to prosecute his march by the
way of Chester into Wales, where he hoped to find a great number of
adherents; but all the bridges over the river Mersey being broken down,
he chose the route to Stockport, and forded the river at the head of
his division, though the water rose to his middle. He passed through
Macclesfield and Congleton; and on the fourth day of December entered
the town of Derby, in which his army was quartered and his father
proclaimed with great formality. He had now advanced within one hundred
miles of the capital, which was filled with terror and confusion. Wade
lingered in Yorkshire; the duke of Cumberland had assumed the command
of the other army assembled in the neighbourhood of Lichfield. He had
marched from Stafford to Stone; so that the rebels, in turning off
from Ashbourne to Derby, had gained a march between him and London.
Had Charles proceeded in his career with that expedition which he had
hitherto used, he might have made himself master of the metropolis,
where he would have been certainly joined by a considerable number of
his well wishers, who waited impatiently for his approach; yet this
exploit could not have been achieved without hazarding an engagement,
and running the risk of being enclosed within three armies, each greatly
superior to his own in number and artillery. Orders were given for
forming a camp on Finchley-common, where the king resolved to take the
field in person, accompanied by the earl of Stair,