DIGITISED MANUSCRIPTS

( 20 ) to convey him at a moment’s notice to his beloved Hanover. This day was long remembered as ‘Black Friday.’ The Duke of Cumberland, the King’s brother, was in the meantime on his way to deal with the insurrection. A gallant and experienced soldier, better things were expected of him than of Cope and Wade. No words can describe the exultation of Prince Charles. He was only a hundred and twenty-seven - miles from London, and blinding himself to the gravity of the situation, to the smallness of his following, to the uncertainty of the reception he would meet with in the South, he was anxious to press forward at all hazards. He anticipated so easy a triumph that he consulted whether he should make his entry into London on horseback or on foot, in Highland costume or in English dress. But the turning - point of his career had been reached : the climax of romance had arrived. Stern reality in the shape of Lord George Murray cruelly dispelled the fair illusions of the Prince’s dream. A general council had been held over night by the commanders of the Scotch battalions, in which +4 was settled without a dissentient voice that they should retreat. The English population was hostile to their cause; despite their promises the French had not put in an appearance ; the Duke of Cum-