The gallant Malcolm was apprehended in about ten days after they separated, put aboard a ship and carried prisoner to London.  He said, the prisoners in general were very ill treated in their passage; but there were soldiers on board who lived well, and sometimes invited him to share with them:  that he had the good fortune not to be thrown into jail, but was confined in the house of a messenger, of the name of Dick.  To his astonishment, only one witness could be found against him, though he had been so openly engaged; and therefore, for want of sufficient evidence, he was set at liberty.  He added, that he thought himself in such danger, that he would gladly have compounded for banishment[560].  Yet, he said, ’he should never be so ready for death as he then was[561].’  There is philosophical truth in this.  A man will meet death much more firmly at one time than another.  The enthusiasm even of a mistaken principle warms the mind, and sets it above the fear of death; which in our cooler moments, if we really think of it, cannot but be terrible, or at least very awful.

Miss Flora Macdonald being then also in London, under the protection of Lady Primrose[562], that lady provided a post-chaise to convey her to Scotland, and desired she might choose any friend she pleased to accompany her.  She chose Malcolm.  ’So (said he, with a triumphant air) I went to London to be hanged, and returned in a post-chaise with Miss Flora Macdonald.’

Mr. Macleod of Muiravenside, whom we saw at Rasay, assured us that Prince Charles was in London in 1759[563], and that there was then a plan in agitation for restoring his family.  Dr. Johnson could scarcely credit this story, and said, there could be no probable plan at that time.  Such an attempt could not have succeeded, unless the King of Prussia had stopped the army in Germany; for both the army and the fleet would, even without orders, have fought for the King, to whom they had engaged themselves.

Having related so many particulars concerning the grandson of the unfortunate King James the Second; having given due praise to fidelity and generous attachment, which, however erroneous the judgment may be, are honourable for the heart; I must do the Highlanders the justice to attest, that I found every where amongst them a high opinion of the virtues of the King now upon the throne, and an honest disposition to be faithful subjects to his majesty, whose family has possessed the sovereignty of this country so long, that a change, even for the abdicated family, would now hurt the best feelings of all his subjects.

The abstract point of right would involve us in a discussion of remote and perplexed questions; and after all, we should have no clear principle of decision.  That establishment, which, from political necessity, took place in 1688, by a breach in the succession of our kings, and which, whatever benefits may have accrued from it, certainly gave a shock to our monarchy,[564]—­the able and constitutional Blackstone wisely rests on the solid footing of authority.  ’Our ancestors having most indisputably a competent jurisdiction to decide this great and important question, and having, in fact, decided it, it is now become our duty, at this distance of time, to acquiesce in their determination.[565]’