Stuarts

THE YOUNG CHEVALIER 225
were large and rolling, and of a light blue. The fair, but not
ill-marked eyebrows which surmounted these features were beautifully
arched. His nose was round and high, and his mouth small in
proportion to the rest of his features. He was above five feet ten in
stature, and his body was of that straight and round description which is
said to indicate not only perfect symmetry but also the valuable requisite
of agility."
This account of the Prince, at the zenith of his fortunes, is paralleled
by a passage quoted in Horace Walpole's letters, in which Mr. /Eneas
Macdonald relates :
"There entered the tent a tall youth of most agreeable aspect, in a
plain black coat, with a plain shirt, not very clean, and a cambric stock,
fixed with a plain silver buckle, a plain hat with a canvas string having
the end fixed to one of his coat buttons ; he had black stockings and
brass buckles on his shoes. At his first appearance I found my heart swell
to my very throat."
From "The Wanderer, or Surprising Escapes," published in Glasgow,
1752, we learn that the Prince was "as straight as a lance and as round
as an egg, and would fight, run, or leap with any man in the Highlands."
Indeed, according to Chambers, the Highlanders were amazed "to find
themselves overmatched at running, wrestling, leaping, and even at their
favourite exercise of the broadsword, by the slender stranger." But if
slender, he was of a robust constitution, inured to exercise and so good a
pedestrian as to out-tire his men : his walking powers which served him
in such stead were acquired in the pursuit of game in Italy. He was also
an excellent horseman. There is no doubt that, physically, Charles Stuart
was richly endowed, in evidence of which one has only to ' read the story
of his unparalleled endurance during his wanderings. As to his mental
gifts, opinions are probably more divided. Left to himself, his boldness
would have been mere rashness, whilst he had a secretiveness which led
to his disappearance for months at a time, so that even his father and
brother were unacquainted with his whereabouts.
Returning to the story of Prince Charlie's progress after his triumphant
entry into Edinburgh, his adherents were thrown into a state of rapturous
excitement by the astonishing victory of Preston Pans, which followed
within barely a month's time of the raising of the standard at Glenfinnan.
The defeat of Sir John Cope's dragoons need not be described. Their
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