likely to have very ill effects; and the face he forced himself to set upon it, that it might not appear too much, made an impression upon his temper. He was apt to be peevish: it put him under a necessity of being much in his closet, and of being silent and reserved; which, agreeing so well with his natural disposition, made him go off from what all his friends had advised, and he had promised them he would set about,-of being more visible, open, and communicative. The nation had been so much accustomed to this during the two former reigns, that many studied to persuade him, it would be necessary for his affairs to change his way, that he might be more accessible and freer in his discourse. He seemed resolved on it, but he said his ill health made it impossible for him to execute it; and so he went on in his former way, or rather he grew more retired, and was not easily come at, nor spoke to. And in a few days after he was set on the throne, he went to Hampton Court; and from that palace he came into town only on council days; so that the face of the Court, and the rendezvous usual in the public rooms, was now quite broken : this gave an early and general disgust."

In addition to other causes of annoyance to which William was exposed, may be mentioned the circumstance of the number of traitors by whom he knew himself to be surrounded, and the difficulty of knowing where to repose con

fidence. Lord Dartmouth observes, in one of his notes to Bishop Burnet's History :-"The Earl of Portland once in discourse with the King, (I had it from one that was present,) said the English were the strangest people he had ever met with; for by their own accounts of one another, there was never an honest nor an able man in the three kingdoms; and he really believed it was true. The King told him he was very much mistaken, for there were as wise and honest men amongst them, as were in any part of the world, (and fetched a great sigh,)—' but, he added, they are not my friends."" King William's sentiments, with regard to the Scottish portion of his subjects, may be inferred from a witty remark that he made to the Duke of Hamilton. That nobleman,with the kindly feeling of nationality which is the characteristic of his countrymen,-was once lauding Scotland to the skies, when William cut him short in his harangue :-" My Lord," he said, I only wish the country was a hundred thousand miles off, and that you were the king of it."

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CHAPTER VI.

Character and habits of the Scottish Highlanders.-Lord Dundee's opposition to William.- Sketch of his character.Anecdote of Lord Dundee.-Battle of Killicrankie, and death of Dundee.-Epitaph on him by Dr. Pitcairn.-Flight of the survivors of his army to France, and their subsequent sufferings. Their daring in battle.-They are ultimately disbanded.-Unsettled state of the Highlands.-Lord Breadalbane's proposal to distribute money among the disturbed districts. Accepted at first by the English Government, but afterwards declined, at the instigation of his Lordship's enemies. Circumstances that led to the massacre of Glencoe.-Details of that massacre. Treachery of Captain Campbell of Glenlyon. Extract from Sir Walter Scott's poems.-Anecdotes connected with the massacre.-Horror excited by it throughout the kingdom.-William's explanation of the affair.-Letters addressed to him by Lord Tarbet on the subject of the state of the Highlands, discovered after his death. Probability that William was utterly ignorant of the extent to which it was proposed to carry on the massacre.

THE circumstances connected with the dreadful massacre of Glencoe are fraught with an interest of at once so romantic and so painful a nature, and the concurrence of William in that dark and detestable tragedy has fixed so indelible a blot upon his character, that it would be impossible to pass over such an event in silence. At the period

of which we are treating, the enthusiasm excited in favour of the exiled King had extended itself, almost universally, among the free hearts and wild fastnesses of the Highlands of Scotland. This singular and interesting people were then, as at the present day, divided into distinct clans, but united by stricter bonds and higher notions of partisanship, than at present constitute the distinguishing features of their national character. The sentiments with which each individual of his tribe regarded his brother clansman, resembled that sacred feeling which unites an attached family, rather than the cold ties of distant consanguinity. Each tribe could trace its descent from a single ancestor or common head, and, although, in the course of years, the parent stream might have branched off into various channels, still the simple fact, that even the most indigent clansman could claim a relationship with his chief, served to cement between them a bond of family union, and generated in the humblest Highlander an honourable self-respect. In fact, in honouring his chieftain each honoured himself; the dignity of the clan constituted a family compact; and an insult offered to a single individual was regarded as an injury and affront to the whole. The attachment with which the clansman regarded his chieftain partook of the character of enthusiasm, and, as it was invariably repaid by the latter with a fatherly and protecting kindness, obligations

were cemented on both sides, which were found mutually advantageous. The sword and the advice of the chieftain were always to be had in the hour of need; his hall was the common meeting-place of the clan, and afforded food to the hungry, and to the weary shelter and the hospitable blaze. The very walls of the chieftain's castle, from being associated with wild legends of battles and sieges, inspired an interest common to all. Its courts were still the general assembling-place in the hour of danger. In war they echoed with the clang of arms and the shrill notes of the pibroch, and in peace with the sounds of rude festivity and social mirth.

The character of the Scottish Highlander presented at this period a singular mixture of good and bad qualities. On the one hand, it was distinguished by an almost patriarchal simplicity, by romantic courage, and feelings of the most high-minded independence; while, on the other, it was tarnished by a savage ferocity, a mean cunning, and an invincible addiction to plunder, and even to low theft. It appears, indeed, almost incredible, that the same men, who gave up their bed to the weary and their food to the hungry, who tended the sick stranger with an almost feminine interest and care,-could enter mercilessly on the most barbarous reprisals, and, losing sight of every feeling of humanity, alike rejoice in the burning of the castle or the cot;