The Duke of Perth won many of those who were enemies to Charles Edward,
over to his cause, by the humanity and civility with which he treated
the conquered citizens, over whom he had the chief command until Charles
arrived. But even the important advantage thus gained could not still
the animosities which had been kindled in the breasts of those who ought
to have laid aside all private considerations for the good of their
common undertaking. Hitherto Lord George Murray and the Duke of Perth
had had separate commands, and had not interfered with each other until
the siege of Carlisle. Here the Duke had acted as the chief in command;
he had directed the attack, signed the capitulation, and given orders in
the town until the Prince arrived. This was a precedent for the whole
campaign, and it ill-suited the fiery temper of Lord George Murray to
brook it tamely. There was, indeed, much to be said in favour of Lord
George's alleged wrongs, in this preference of one so young and
inexperienced as the Duke of Perth. In the first place, Lord George was
an older Lieutenant-General than his rival; nor could it be agreeable to
his Lordship to serve under a man so much his inferior in age and
experience. "Lord George," observes Mr. Maxwell, "thought himself the
fittest man to be at the head of the army; nor was he the only person
that thought so. Had it been left to the gentlemen of the army to choose
a general, Lord George would have carried it by vast odds against the
Duke of Perth." But there was still another pretext, which was insisted
upon as a reason less offensive to the Duke of Perth, whose gentle and
noble qualities had much endeared him even to those who did not wish to
see him chief in command; this was his religious persuasion. It was
argued that, at that time in England, Roman Catholics were excluded from
all employments, civil and military, by laws anterior to the Revolution;
it was contended that these laws, whether just or not, ought to be
complied with until they were repealed; and that a defiance of these
laws would confirm all that had been heard of old from the press and
from the pulpit, of the Prince's designs to subvert both Church and
State: neither could it be alleged in excuse for the young Prince, that
a superiority of genius or of experience had won this distinction, in
opposition to custom, for the Duke of Perth.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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