Series 3 > Miscellany of the Scottish History Society (Fourth volume)

MADE BY CHARLES EDWARD STUART 125
beggary. Such a state of affairs was not only pitiable in
itself, but discreditable to the English people, for it was
unknown even among the least civilised nations. One of
the chief reasons of this attitude was that George, even
without his English kingdom, had an ample patrimony
in Germany, whereas James had nothing of his own what¬
ever to live upon ; and they added that, if George had had
a soul a little above his kingdom, he would have given up
of his own accord what he was holding with no good title,
thus winning immortal praise by his renunciation. Such
a thing was, of course, not to be thought of, but it crossed
their minds. Others, however, who were no friends of
Brunswick rule, frankly declared that it was useless and
too late now to bemoan the unfortunate result of the war,
since they had not taken up arms at the right time. From
this we may gather that if, after his first successes, Edward
had made straight for London, as he had meant to do, a
goodly number of its citizens might well have rallied to
his standard ; for .in London there was a very high opinion
of his good qualities, which his presence would have raised
still higher. But, as we have seen, the opposition had been
too strong.
Whatever the feelings of those who would have liked to
see a change of government may have been, George
continued quietly to enjoy the fruits of his victory, wisely
treating with contempt the idle rumours he could not
prevent. One thing only he desired—and it was a matter
which gave him no little anxiety—and that was to get
Edward into his hands. This thought tormented him day
and night, as though he could not consider this dangerous
war at an end so long as Edward was safe and sound.
Every one was convinced that he would ultimately fall
into his hands. The whole of Scotland was scoured with
the utmost thoroughness. The vigilance of the Govern¬
ment made it impossible for him to remain in any inhabited
place, nor could he any longer lie hidden in the fastnesses
of the mountains owing to the watchfulness of the King’s
officers, who were continually on the move everywhere,
penetrating into the thickest woods and searching even the