the battle, and massacred those miserable wretches who
lay maimed and expiring: nay, some officers acted a part in this cruel
scene of assassination, the triumph of low illiberal minds, uninspired
by sentiment, untinctured by humanity. The vanquished adventurer rode
off the field, accompanied by the duke of Perth, lord Elcho, and a few
horsemen; he crossed the water at Nairn, and retired to the house of a
gentleman in Strutharrick, where he conferred with old lord Lovat; then
he dismissed his followers, and wandered about a wretched and solitary
fugitive among the isles and mountains for the space of five months,
during which he underwent such a series of dangers, hardships, and
misery, as no other person ever outlived. Thus, in one short hour, all
his hope vanished, and the rebellion was entirely extinguished. One
would almost imagine, the conductors of this desperate enterprise had
conspired their own destruction, as they certainly neglected every step
that might have contributed to their safety or success. They might have
opposed the duke of Cumberland at the passage of the Spey; they might,
by proper conduct, have afterwards attacked his camp in the night, with
a good prospect of success. As they were greatly inferior to him in
number, and weakened with hunger and fatigue, they might have retired
to the hills and fastnesses, where they would have found plenty of live
cattle for provision, recruited their regiments, and been joined by
a strong reinforcement, which was actually in full march to their
assistance. But they were distracted by dissensions and jealousies; they
obeyed the dictates of despair, and wilfully devoted themselves to ruin
and death. When the news of the battle arrived in England, the nation
was transported with joy, and extolled the duke of Cumberland as a hero
and deliverer, Both houses of parliament congratulated his majesty on
the auspicious event. They decreed, in the most solemn manner, their
public thanks to his royal highness, which were transmitted to him by
the speakers; and the commons, by bill, added five-and-twenty thousand
pounds per annum to his former revenue.

[Illustration: 298.jpg CULLODEN MOOR]

THE DUKE OF CUMBERLAND TAKES POSSESSION OF INVERNESS.

Immediately after the decisive action at Culloden, the duke took
possession of Inverness, where six-and-thirty deserters, convicted by
a court-martial, were ordered to be executed: then he detached several
parties to ravage