Note 385 — Copy of Colonel Ker of Gradyne,[364] his Account.

Here Colonel Ker vindicates Lord George Murray from villainy, an imputation which no man in his right senses could ever entertain against Lord George, because no villain would have exposed his person so remarkably as he did where danger called upon all occasions. Besides, if Lord George had acted the double and dishonest part, why should he have skulked, and, at last, have gone to foreign parts? But, then, it is worth noticing that Colonel Ker says not a word with respect to the insolence and haughtiness of Lord George's temper, his great misfortune and fault, in which alone he can be justly blamed, and with which he stands charged by the Prince's own words to more than one [see ff. 150, 236, 450, 453]. However, to do Lord George justice, it is affirmed by some who have an opportunity of knowing, that Lord George, before he left Scotland, did declare his surprize to a friend (Murray of Abercairney) how it could enter into the head of any person to charge him with treachery. But at the same time that he acknowledged with concern and regret that he had been too often guilty of contradicting and thwarting the Prince in the measures he proposed. Certainly, tho' both be bad enough, there is a great difference 'twixt villainy and pride.

Robert Forbes, A.M.