The battle of Preston had proved the impossibility of relying upon any formidable insurrection in England. As the royalist troops were collected and armies strengthened, the chances of success became less every day. Mar remained quiet at Perth, and Argyle and the English saw that delay was wholly in their favour. But in January a new colour was given to the affair by the arrival of the Pretender at Peterhead. He at once assumed the style of royalty, issuing proclamations and appointing a day for his coronation. The English ministry could not believe that so bold a step would have been taken without promised support from France. Immediate action became therefore necessary, and through villages burnt by the Pretender's order, and deep snow which Mar believed impassable, Argyle moved northwards, gradually threatening Perth. From the first James had shown but little military spirit, and now, although the clansmen offered to fight for him to the last, on the 30th of January (1716) the army was withdrawn from Perth across the frozen Tay, and marched along the coast to Montrose, whence James and Mar withdrew secretly to France, deserting their followers, who, still retiring northward, were wholly broken up as an army when Argyle reached Aberdeen on the 8th of February. Like every man that ever bore the name of Stuart, with fair abilities, James was selfish and self-seeking to the last degree. Faithless to his friends, a slave to his sensual passions, he was respectable only in a certain gift of personal bravery, in a sort of grandeur of obstinacy, and in the tenacity with which he clung to his religious creed and his hereditary rights. [Sidenote: Punishment of the rebels.]