afterwards pardoned under the Act of Indemnity.
    The Author knew him well, and has often heard these circumstances from his
own mouth. He was a noble specimen of the old Highlander, far descended,
gallant, courteous, and brave, even to chivalry. He had been out, I believe, in
1715 and 1745; was an active partaker in all the stirring scenes which passed in
the Highlands betwixt these memorable eras; and, I have heard, was remarkable,
among other exploits, for having fought a duel with the broadsword with the
celebrated Rob Roy MacGregor, at the Clachan of Balquhidder.
    Invernahyle chanced to be in Edinburgh when Paul Jones came into the Firth
of Forth, and though then an old man, I saw him in arms, and heard him exult (to
use his own words) in the prospect of »drawing his claymore once more before he
died.« In fact, on that memorable occasion, when the capital of Scotland was
menaced by three trifling sloops or brigs, scarce fit to have sacked a fishing
village, he was the only man who seemed to propose a plan of resistance. He
offered to the magistrates, if broadswords and dirks could be obtained, to find
as many Highlanders among the lower classes as would cut off any boat's crew who
might be sent into a town full of narrow and winding passages, in which they
were likely to disperse in quest of plunder. I know not if his plan was attended
to; I rather think it seemed too hazardous to the constituted authorities, who
might not even at that time, desire to see arms in Highland hands. A steady and
powerful west wind settled the matter, by sweeping Paul Jones and his vessels
out of the Firth.
    If there is something degrading in this recollection, it is not unpleasant
to compare it with those of the last war, when Edinburgh, besides regular forces
and militia, furnished a volunteer brigade of cavalry, infantry, and artillery,
to the amount of six thousand men and upwards, which was in readiness to meet
and repel a force of a far more formidable description than was commanded by the
adventurous American. Time and circumstances change the character of nations and
the fate of cities; and it is some pride to a Scotchman to reflect, that the
independent and manly character of a country willing to entrust its own
protection to the arms of its children, after having been obscured for
half-a-century, has, during the course of his own lifetime, recovered its
lustre.
 

                                     Notes

1 A homely metrical narrative of the events of the period, which contains some
striking