Murray of Broughton, who had acted as Charles Edward's secretary
during the rebellion, was captured after Culloden, and unlike the
other Jacobite prisoners turned King's evidence to save his own
life. Not only did he give evidence against the Scots with him in
the rebellion, but he told the Government what he did not know
of his own knowledge but only at second hand through Lord
Traquair (whom he got excepted out of the Act of Indemnity) of
the talks with Butler in 1743, naming Barrymore, Cotton, Wynn,
Lord Orrery and Dr Barry and mentioning 'many persons in the
City well affected to the Pretender' not identified by him, adding
that they had continued to deal with the French in the relation to
the Pretender's affairs in the years 1744-5. Either because Traquair
did not tell him or for other reasons, Murray never mentioned
Beaufort. The Cabinet at a meeting in February 1747 considered
'whether it might not be proper to communicate to the world by
the help of the secret committee the information they had' concern-
ing those named by Murray, but decided, as Lord Chancellor
Hardwicke wrote, that 'satisfied with having brought the leaders
of the rebellion to the block, and having the rest at their mercy,
did not choose to push inquiries further'. In any case, not having
two witnesses against them they could not have proceeded at law
but only in Parliament by way of bill of attainder. True to form,
the only person they arrested was Dr Barry, the underling. How-
ever, at the trial of Lord Lovat, one of the lords of the Association
who had sent his clan out under his eldest son the Master of Fraser
fairly late on in the rebellion and who was arrested and executed
on Murray's evidence, the Government allowed the names of
Barrymore, Wynn and Cotton to come out when the last two were
present in the House. Thomas Prowse, a Tory Member who was

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