received an education at that time considered liberal, at least suitable to the sphere of life in which he was to appear. Of strong natural parts, he acquired the necessary but rude accomplishments of the age; and with a degree of native hardihood, favoured by a robust and muscular frame, he wielded the broad-sword with such irresistible dexterity, as few or none of his countrymen could equal. Yet he was possessed of complacent manners when unruffled by opposition, but he was daring and resolute when danger appeared and he became no less remarkable for his knowledge of human nature than for the boldness of his achievements.

It was customary in those days, as it is at present, for gentlemen of property, as well as their tenantry, to deal in the trade of grazing and selling of cattle. This business appears to have been carried on by Rob Roy Macgregor to a considerable extent, so that in early life he was not conspicuous for any dashing exploit. Upon his succession to his estate, however, new objects were presented to him, and having laid claim to the authority, with which he was now invested, over some faithful vsssals, he readily commanded their unlimited services in the prosecution of his views,-in repelling his foes, or in exacting the tax of blackmail, which he began to raise over the neighbouring countries. This tributary impost had long been suffered to prevail in the Highlands; and though lawless, and generally oppressive, the usage of many ages had sanctioned the practice, so that it was considered neither unjust nor dishonourable; and from its beneficial effects in securing the forbearance and protection of those to whom it was paid, it was usually submitted to as an indispensable measure, and consisted of money, meal, or cattle, according to agreement. The practice too of carrying off the cattle of other clans was still common in those countries; and the followers of Rob Roy were no less guilty of these habits, when necessity, or the unfriendly disposition of other tribes occasioned dispute; but these predatory excursions were usually undertaken against the Lowland Borderers, whom they regarded as a people of another nation, different in manners as in language; and what was not the least motive of attack, they were also

more opulent, and less inclined to

war.

Whether the exploits of Rob Roy Macgregor, some of which had become notorious, and the fame he acquired as a cunning and enterprising genius, had rendered him more to be conciliated and courted as a friend, than to be considered and held as an enemy with the family of Argyll, the former scourge of his clan; or whether the chief of that house,-the second duke of the name, from a conviction of the cruelties and injustice which his ancestors had exercised over the Macgregors, had experienced any reasonable compunction, is not certainly known; but it is unquestionable, that this nobleman not only relaxed from all severities against that people, but became attached in the most friendly manner to Rob.

The harsh enactment of the legislature during the reign of James VI. which declared the suppression and prohibition of their name, still hung over the Macgregors, having been renewed by succeeding monarchs; and though Rob Roy had all along despised such authority, he was at last prevailed upon, with reluctance, to adopt some other appellation, so that he might appear, in one instance at least, to acquiesce in the law. He accordingly, from the amicable terms upon which he stood with the Duke of Argyll, now his avowed patron, assumed, by his permission, the name of Campbell, and relinquished that of Macgregor, though in the country, and among his clan, he was acknowledged by no other. He was, consequently, in a writ dated in 1703, denominated Robert Campbell of Inversnaid, his paternal inheritance.

This property extended for some miles along the eastern border of Loch Lomond; but, from pecuniary embarrassment, it fell into the hands of the first Duke of Montrose. In his cattledealing Rob Roy had a partner in whom he placed unbounded confidence; but this person, having on one occasion been intrusted with a considerable sum of money, made a sudden elopement, which so shattered Rob's trading concerns, that he was under the necessity of selling his lands to the Duke of Montrose, but conditionally, that they should again revert to him, providing he could return to the Duke the sum he had promised to

pay for them. Montrose had paid a great part, but not the whole, of the price agreed upon. Some years having elapsed, Rob Roy found his finances improved, and, wishing to get back his estate, offered to restore the Duke the sum he had advanced; but upon some equivocal pretence he would not receive it, and, from Rob's dissolute character, an adjudication of the lands was easily obtained, which deprived him of any future claim. Considering this transaction as unjust on the part of Montrose and his factor, Graham of Orchil, Rob watched his opportunity to make reprisal, the only remaining means in his power; and a future occasion gave him the success he desired. This factor, when collecting his rents, was attended, as a matter of compliment, by several gentlemen of the vicinity, who dined with him. Among those who were present at this time was Rob Roy; but before he came he placed twenty of his men in a wood close by, to wait a fixed signal, and went himself to the house with his piper playing before him. This was at the inn of ChapelArroch in Aberfoil. The factor had no suspicion of Rob's purpose, as he laid down his claymore to indicate peace, and partook of the entertainment, during which his piper played some wild pibrochs, the boisterous accompaniment which used to give a zest to every Highland feast.

Rob, in the meantime, observed the factor's motions, and saw that he deposited the money in a portmanteau which lay in the room.

Dinner was

no sooner over than he ordered his piper to strike up a new tune; and in a few minutes Rob's men surrounded the house ;-six of them entered with drawn swords-when Rob, laying hold of his own, desired the factor to deliver him the money which he had collected, and which he said was his due. Resistance was useless; the money was given up, and Rob granted a receipt for it. But as he conceived that the factor was accessory to the infringement of the contract that deprived him of his estate, he resolved to punish him. Accordingly he had him conveyed and placed in an island near the west end of Loch Ketturrin, now rendered conspicuous as the supposed residence of the fair Ellen, the Lady of the Lake.

In this island was Orchil confined for some weeks; and, when set at liberty, was admonished by Rob Roy no more to collect the rents of that country, which he meant in future to do himself, maintaining, that as the lands originally belonged to the Macgregors, who lost them by attainder, such alienation was an unnatural and illegal deprivation of the right of succeeding generations; and, from this conviction, he was the constant enemy of the Grahams, the Murrays, and the Drummonds, who then claimed, and still inherit, those extensive domains.

Among other coercive measures, which from time to time were adopted to suppress the practices of the Macgregors, was that of planting a garrison in their country at Inversnaid, upon the spot from whence Rob Roy took his title. The immoderate bounds to which the rigorous decrees of government had been carried, not only by its immediate instrument the military, but also by the other clans who surrounded the Macgregors, drove them to such desperation, that they held the laws in contempt, as they were wholly precluded from their benefit, so that nothing appeared too hazardous nor too flagrant for them to perform. This fortress had been set down some time before any sally from it had given annoyance to Macgregor; and though the number of soldiers which it generally contained were no great obstruction in his estimation, yet they were a sort of check upon those small parties which he some seasons sent forth. He therefore determined to intimidate the garrison, or to make the military abandon it. He had previously mentioned his plan, and secured the connivance of a woman of his own clan who served in the fort. Having supplied her with a quantity of Highland whisky, of which the English soldiery were very fond, she contrived, on an appointed night, to intoxicate the sentinel; and while he lay overcome by the potent dose, she opened the gate, when Rob Roy and his men, who were on the watch, rushed in with loads of combustibles,

and set the garrison on fire in different places, and it was with difficulty that the inmates escaped with their lives. Though Rob was suspected to be the incendiary, there was no immediate proof, and the damage was quietly repaired.

The steady adherence of the Highlanders to the expatriated house of Stuart, was so well known, and so much dreaded by every prince who succeeded them on the British throne, that a watchful eye was constantly kept over their motions, and they were constrained to hold all their communings, which related to the affairs of the exiles, in the most secret and clandestine manner.

Some time subsequent to the unsuccessful attempt of the Highland clans under Dundee, at Killicrankie, a great meeting of chieftains took place in Breadalbane, under pretence of hunting the deer, but in reality for the purpose of ascertaining the sentiments of each other respecting the Stuart cause. Opinions were unanimous; and a bond of faith and mutual support, previously written, was signed. By the negligence of a chieftain to whom this bond was intrusted, it fell into the hands of Captain Campbell of Glenlyon, then at Fort-William, who, from his connexion with many whose names were appended, did not immediately disclose the contents; but from the deserved odium which was attached to that person, from having commanded the party who perpetrated the infamous massacre of Glencoe, he was justly despised and execrated even by his nearest friends; and when it was known that a man of such inhuman feelings held this bond, those who signed it were seriously alarmed, and various plans were suggested for recovering it. Rob Roy Macgregor, who was at this clan meeting, had also affixed his name; but on his own account he was indifferent, as he regarded neither king nor government. He was, however, urged by several chiefs, particularly his patron, to exert himself, and if possible to recover the bond. With this view he went to Fort-William in disguise, not with his usual number of attendants, and getting access to Captain Campbell, who was a near relation of his own, he discovered that, out of revenge for the contemptuous manner in which

the chieftains now treated the captain, he had put the bond into the possession of the governor of the garrison, who was resolved to forward it to the Privy Council; and Rob, learning by accident the day on which it was to be sent, took his leave, and went home. The despatch which contained the bond was made up by Governor Hill, and sent from Fort-William, escorted by an ensign's command, which in those countries always accompanied the messages of government. On the third day's march, Rob, and fifty of his men, met this party in Glendochart, and ordering them to halt, demanded their despatches. The officer refused; but Rob told him, that he would either have their lives and the despatches together, or the despatches alone. The ferocious looks and appearance of Rob and his men bespoke their resolution. The packet was given up; and Rob having taken out the bond he wanted, he begged the officer would excuse the delay he had occasioned, and wishing him a good journey, left the military to proceed unmolested. By this manœuvre many chieftains kept on their heads, and the forfeiture of many estates was prevented.

But

The most inveterate enemy that Rob Roy had to guard against, was the Earl of Athol, who had long harassed his clan, and whose machinations were even more alarming than the denunciation of the law. Rob had no doubt given cause for this enmity, for he had frequently ravaged the district of Athol, carried away cattle, and put every man to the sword who attempted resistance; and all this, he said, was to retaliate the cruelties formerly committed upon his ancestors. he had once nearly paid for his temerity. The Earl having sent a party of horse, they unexpectedly came upon him, and seized him in his own house of Monachaltuarach, situated in Balquhiddar. He was placed on horseback, to be conveyed to Stirling Castle; but in going down a steep defile, he leaped off, ran up a wooded hill, where the horsemen could not follow, and escaped. Athol, on another occasion, sent twenty men from Glenalmond, to lay hold of Macgregor. He saw them approaching, and did not shun them, though he was alone. His uncommon size and strength, the fierceness of his countenance, and the posture of de

fence in which he placed himself, intimidated them so much, that they durst not go near him. He told them, that he knew what they wanted, but if they did not quietly depart, none of them should return. He desired them to tell their master, that if he sent any more of his pigmy race to disturb him, he would hang them up to feed the eagles.

Feuds, and violent conflicts of clans, still continued prevalent, with all the animosity which marked the rude character of the times; and a contest having arisen betwixt the Earls of Athol and Perth, Rob Roy was requested to take part with the latter: and though Perth was no favourite with him, he readily agreed to give his assistance, as he would undertake any thing to distress Athol. Having assembled sixty of his men, he marched to Drummond Castle with seven pipers playing. The Atholmen were already on the banks of the Earn, and the Drummonds and Macgregors marched to attack them; but they no sooner recognised the Macgregors, whom they considered as demons, than they fled from the field, and were pursued to the precincts of their own country.

Although Rob Roy Macgregor, from his great personal prowess, and the dauntless energy of his mind, which, in the most trying and difficult emergencies, never forsook him, was the dread of every country where his name was known, the urbanity and kindness of his manners to his inferiors, gained him the good will and services of his whole clan, who were always ready to submit to any privation, or to undergo any hardship, to protect him from the multitude of enemies who sought his destruction; and one or two, among many instances of their attachment, may here be mentioned :—A debt, to a pretty large amount, which he had long owed to a person in the Lowlands, could never be recovered, because no one would undertake to execute diligence against him. At length a messenger at Edinburgh appeared, who pledged himself, that with six men, he would go through the whole Highlands, and would apprehend Rob Roy, or any man of his name. The fellow was stout and resolute. He was offered handsome sum, if he would bring Rob Roy Macgregor to the jail of Stirling, and was allowed men of his own choice. He

This

accordingly equipped himself and his men, with swords, sticks, and every thing fitted for the expedition; and having arrived at the only public house then in Balquhiddar, he inquired the way to Rob's house. party were at once known to be strangers, and the landlord coming to learn their business, he sent notice of it to his good friend Rob, and advised them not to go farther, lest they might come to repent of their folly; but the advice was disregarded, and they went forward. The party waited at some distance from the house, and the messenger himself went to reconnoitre.

Having announced himself as a stranger who had lost his way, he was politely shewn by Rob into a large room, where

"All around, the walls to grace, Hung trophies of the fight or chace; A target there, a bugle here, A battle-axe, a hunting-spear, And broad-swords, bows and arrows store, With the tusked trophies of the boar;" which astonished him so much, that he felt as if he had got into a cavern of the infernal regions; but when the room door was shut, and he saw hanging behind it a stuffed figure of a man, intentionally placed there, his terror increased to such a degree, that he screamed out, and asked if it was a dead man? To which Rob coolly answered, that it was a rascal of a messenger who had come to the house the night before; that he had killed him, and had not got time to have him buried. Fear now wholly overcame the messenger, and he could scarcely articulate a benediction for his soul, when he fainted and fell upon the floor. Four of Rob's men carried him out of the house, and, in order to complete the joke and at the same time to restore the man to life, they took him to the river just by, and tossed him in, allowing him to get out the best way he could himself. His companions, in the mean time, seeing all that happened, and supposing he had been killed, took to their heels; but the whole glen having now been alarmed, met the fugitives in every direction, and gave every one of them such a complete ducking, that they had reason all their lives to remember the lake and river of Balquhiddar.

These people were no sooner out of the hands of the Macgregors, than they made a speedy retreat to Stirling,

not taking time on the road to dry their clothes, lest a repetition of their treatment should take place; and upon their arrival there, they represented the usage they had received, with exaggerated accounts of the assassinations and cruelties of the Macgregors, magnifying their own wonderful escape, and prowess in having killed several of the clan, so that the story was reported to the commander of the castle, who ordered a company of soldiers to march into the Highlands to lay hold of Rob Roy Macgregor. A party of Macgregors, who were returning with some booty which they had acquired along the banks of the Forth, descried the military on their way to Callander, and, suspecting their intention, has tened to acquaint Rob Roy of what they saw. In a few hours the whole country was warned of the approaching danger, and guards were placed at different stations to give notice of the movements of the soldiers. All the men within several miles were prepared to repel this invasion, in case it was to lay waste the country, which had often been done before; but the military had no other orders than to seize Rob Roy, who considered it more prudent to take refuge in the hills, than openly to give the military battle, when they meant no other hostility.

After a fruitless search for many days, the soldiers, unaccustomed to the fatigue of climbing mountains, and scrambling over rocks, and through woods, took shelter at night in an empty house, which they furnished with heath for beds; and the Macgregors, unwilling that they should leave their country without some lasting remembrance of them, set fire to the house, which speedily dislodged the soldiers. In the confusion, many of them were hurt, a number lost their arms, and one man was killed by the accidental discharge of a musket. The military party, thus thrown into confusion, broke down by fatigue, and almost famished for want of provisions, which they could not procure, withdrew from the country of the Macgregors, happy that they had escaped so well.

The tribute of black-mail, already noticed, extended, under Rob Roy's system, to all classes of people, to inferior proprietors, and to every description of tenantry; but the more powerful chieftains, though they at times considered Rob as an useful

auxiliary, and though their property was often subjected to spoliation, would seldom consent to that compulsatory regulation, as being too degrading to that consequence which they were anxious to maintain. Rob did certainly, as occasion required, exact what he conceived to be his due in this way, with some severity; but he often received the tax as a voluntary oblation. Of this last description was an annual payment made to him by Campbell of Abruchil; but this proprietor having omitted to pay Rob for some years, he at last went to his castle with an armed party, to demand the arrears due to him. Having knocked at the gate, leaving his men at some distance, he desired a conversation with the laird; but he was told that several great men were at dinner with him, and that no stranger could be admitted. "Then tell him," said he, "that Rob Roy Macgregor is at his door, and must see him, if the king should be dining with him." The porter returned, and told Rob that his master knew nothing of such a person, and desired him to depart. Rob immediately applied to his mouth a large horn that hung by his side, from which there issued a sound that appalled the castle-guard. shook the building to its base, and astonished Abruchil and his guests, who quickly left the dining-table. an instant Rob's men were by his side, and he ordered them to drive away all the cattle they found on the land; but the laird came hastily to the gate, apologised for the rudeness of the porter to his good friend Rob Roy Macgregor, took him into the castle, paid him his demand, and they parted good friends.

(To be continued.)

THE PROGRESS OF LEARNING.

In