DIGITISED MANUSCRIPTS

( 25 ) despair, and his fame would have come down to pos- terity untarnished. In the hope of finding a French ship to convey him abroad, Charles, shortly after the battle of Culloden, fled to the west coast of Scotland, accom- panied by his faithful governor, Sir Thomas Sheridan, two aides-de-camp, six friends, a priest, and one Ned Burke, who acted as his guide. The Duke of Cumberland found it an easy task to put down the insurrection, but sullied his name by the cruelties he perpetrated, and which gained for him the nickname of ‘ Butcher.’ A proof of the devotion with which Charles in- spired the people is furnished by the conduct of a poor Highlander, who thought to save the Prince by killing the Duke of Cumberland at the sacrifice of his own life. Passing through the English lines he fired at a richly-dressed officer, whom he mistook for the Duke, but without hitting him. Needless to say that the young hero was shot dead on the spot. A merciless slaughter followed the battle. On being remonstrated with for having outraged the laws of the country, ‘Laws!’ roared the Duke; ‘What laws? Ill make a brigade give laws!’ The gaols were thronged to suffocation ; prisoners suffered privations that amounted to torture ; innocent friends were ill-treated for their sympathy. A Provost for venturing to interfere met with the reply, ‘ D——