It was clear, however, that in this
matter Lauderdale had gone too far. The Highlanders were ordered to
return to their homes. They returned accordingly, laden with spoil such
as they had never dreamed of, and of the use of a large part of which
they were as ignorant as a Red Indian or a negro.[14]
The departure of the Highland host leaves the stage free for
Claverhouse. It was at this crisis he returned to Scotland, and here
this summary of one of the most miserable chapters in British history
may fitly end.
FOOTNOTES:
[7] This is, perhaps, the best place to disclaim all intention of
scoffing at this great writer and historian. It is a common impertinence
of the day in which I have no wish to join. It is not, I hope, an
impertinence to say that only those who have, for their own purposes,
been forced to follow closely in his tracks can have any just idea of
the unwearying patience and acuteness with which he has examined the
confused and so often conflicting records of that time, or of the
incomparable skill with which he has brought them into a clear
continuous narrative. To glean after Macaulay is indeed a barren task.
So far, then, from affecting to cavil at his work, I must acknowledge
that without his help this little book would have been still less. Yet I
do think he has been hard upon Claverhouse.
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