About this Time the Duke of P[erth] came from England and as L[ochie]l and [I] had often Schemed together what we ourselves were able to do in the present posture of affairs and seemed to agree in Opinion that should the french disapoint us we were more able to restore the King by our own strength during the absence of the Army than with the Assistance of 10,000 men were our Troops once returned, for which reason did the English fail to give the assurances to the french they required, but we should gett the people at home to take it in hand by themselves. With this View I had already wrote Mr. Edgar on that Strain and now we agreed to sound the Duke of P[erth] on the same Subject which we did and found him abundantly forward. He was then going to the Country and Sir A[lexander] Mc[Donal]d[165] was with his brother-in-law A[irl]y so desired the Duke would try him and some days after had a letter from hime wherein he said that he had spoke to him as was agreed and found him very keen that he said the sooner it was done the better and in place of 700 men which his Uncle carried with him in the year 1715 he would now bring 1200. At the same time when his Grace was talking to us in Edinburgh on this subject he said the people in that part of the Country where he had come from very honest and that the Mayer and Aldermen had spoke to him in the strongest terms, which he then told us, and desired I might acquaint the King of it, so I desired his Grace would putt it in writting and that I should not fail to transmit it to his Majesty; upon which he went to another room and brought me a sheet of paper mostly write which I did not care to transmitt in his own words but abridged it; however shall say no more of it here as I will putt down the letter I wrote the King and another to Mr. Edgar. I must only observe that I read the Duke’s memorial to my L[ord] T[ra]q[uai]r att his own house upon giving him some paper he had putt in my custody att his leaving Scotland, at which time his Lordship and I agreed to put it in the fire as the letter I had wrote and which I att the same time read to my Lord contained the substance of it, this I have frequently repented since, as his Grace’s memory did not seem to serve him exactly to what he had wrote. In answer to his Majesty’s I wrote the following, Dated July 5th, 1743:-- [Sidenote: Murray to the Chevalier]