Here he was joined by six hundred of the Camerons under their chief Lochiel, Keppoch with three hundred of his men, and many other smaller parties. With a war chest of but four thousand louis d’or, which he had brought with him, and a very varied collection of arms, Prince Charlie the next morning commenced a march which ended only at Derby, one hundred and twenty miles from London, and which, if persevered in, would have led him in all probability, to the steps of the English throne. At this time King George the Second was in Hanover, but so alarming were the reports which reached him of the Stuart Prince’s doings, that he set out at once, and on the 31st of August reached London. This absence of the King in Hanover, is pretty strong evidence that the movements of the young invader had been conducted in absolute secrecy. The King on his arrival found, however, that the Regency--which apparently did not include the Prince of Wales--had not been idle. Warrants had been issued against the Duke of Perth and Sir Hector Maclean, but the former escaped. The Dutch had also been called upon to supply six thousand auxiliaries according to contract, a decision had been come to to recall some of the regiments from Flanders, the nucleus of an army was being formed at Newcastle under Marshal Wade, and some of the militia had been called out. The spirit of the people, however, remained perfectly passive; probably they looked upon the incursion of Prince Charlie as a sort of filibustering expedition similar to that of his father in 1715, which would soon fizzle out. Henry Fox, who was at the time a member of the Government, thus records this apathy on the part of the public in confidential letters to Sir C. H. Williams. He writes on September 5th, 1745: “England, Wade says, and I believe, is for the first comer; and if you can tell whether the six thousand Dutch and the ten battalions of English, or five thousand French or Spaniards will be there first, you will know our fate....” He continues on September 19th: “God be thanked! But had five thousand landed on any part of this island a week ago, I verily believe the entire conquest would not have cost them a battle.” The King, however, was persuaded that the affair was of no importance, and promptly snubbed the Prince of Wales when he asked for a command. Even a regiment was denied him, while his younger brother was given a brigade straight away in Flanders two years before! Frederick upon this stood apart as it were, with his arms folded, and contemplated the preparations cynically. Matters stood in this wise until well on into September, when news arrived of the total defeat of Sir John Cope’s army at Preston Pans on September 20th. What was more surprising than this, however, was the news of the Prince’s exceeding moderation and kindness to the vanquished.