785 



STUART FAMILY. 



STUART FAMILY. 



780 



was appointed captain-general of the expedition which was to invade 

 England, and was authorised to proclaim the Pretender's name 

 at certain places. But a storm dispersed and entirely disabled the 

 Spanish fleet off Cape Finisterre ; and a descent which the Spaniards 

 made at Kintail in Scotland (June 1719), although aided by the High- 

 landers, was defeated by General Wightman. During the year 1718-19 

 a marriage was agreed on between the Pretender and Maria Clementina 

 Sobieski, granddaughter of John Sobieski, king of Poland. This 

 princess had a million sterling for her dowry. The court of Vienna 

 however objected to the marriage ; and on her way through Tyrol 

 to Italy the princess was seized, and placed in confinement in Inn- 

 sprnck. Not being released, even upon the personal application of her 

 father, she escaped from Inuspruck in man's clothes, went to Bologna, 

 and was there married by proxy to the Pretender, who was still in 

 Spain. Two sons, Charles-Edward and Henry, were the offspring of 

 this union. The Earl and Countess of Inverness were entrusted with 

 the charge of the eldest, styled Prince Charles. They were Pro- 

 testants, a circumstance which gave great offence to their mother, and 

 to Cardinal Alberoni, by whose counsels she was governed. After six 

 years of married infelicity, or, as Maria Clementina terms it in her 

 letters, " of injuries and insults," she withdrew, in 1725, to the convent 

 of Cecilia, whence no entreaties of her husband could draw her, nor 

 could he for many months obtain even an explanation of her conduct. 

 From various letters, which are given in the ' Lockhart Papers,' it 

 seems that, as usual, both parties considered themselves in the right. 

 The Pretender would not part with Lord Inverness; his wife was 

 resolved not to return to him whilst that nobleman and his wife, of 

 whom she is said to have been jealous, remained at court. The 

 followers of James were scandalised at this breach ; at length the Earl 

 of Inverness was dismissed, and a reconciliation was effected. The 

 Earl of Inverness was a Colonel Hay, upon whom the Pretender 

 bestowed the title in 1725, at the same time making him his secretary. 

 He was always called Colonel Hay, except at the Pretender's court, 

 and by the persons corresponding with it. Maria Clementina died 

 in 1735. 



In 1722' the Pretender published at Lucca his famous declaration, 

 addressed to his loving subjects of Great Britain, and to all foreign 

 princes and states, to serve as a foundation for a lasting peace in 

 Europe, and signed ' James Rex.' This document, which, amongst 

 other articles, contained a proposal to George I. to resign his crown, 

 was pronounced by the House of Lords to be a false, insolent, and 

 traitorous libel, and was burnt at the Royal Exchange. 



The death of George I. produced no improvement in the fortunes of 

 James Stuart, though there were continual cabals in his favour iu 

 Great Britain, and a treaty (called the treaty of Vienna) had been 

 formed between the emperor of Germany and the king of Spain iu 

 1725, with a view of restoring the Pretender. James, during the 

 Litter years of his life, resided entirely at Rome, where he led a quiet 

 life, although the hope of ascending the throne of England seems 

 never wholly to have left him. Frugal in his household, he saved, 

 out of the pension allowed him by the pope and his share of the 

 Sobieski estate, a sum of money sufficient to defray the expenses of a 

 subsequent invasion of England. The events of the year 1745 belong 

 to the history of his eldest son, rather than to the annals of the 

 Pretender's life. He was the last of the Stuarts that received kingly 

 honours. James Stuart died at Rome in 1765. 



CHARLES EDWARD STUART, born on the 31st of December 1721, 

 bore the title of Prince of Wales among the Jacobites. He served 

 in Spain under Don Carlos, who paid him great respect and atten- 

 tion. He is represented, a few years after this time, to have been 

 a youth of graceful person, generous, affable, and engaging manners, 

 " to have the spirit of a Sobieski without the timidity of a Stuart ; " 

 and, though reared iu the effeminate south, to have been capable of 

 encountering difficulties and hardships. In the year 1743 Cardinal 

 Tencin, the prime minister of France, who had received the purple at 

 the recommendation of the Pretender, combined with the Jacobites 

 in England and Ireland to project a fresh invasion of Great Britain. 

 He persuaded the Pretender to surrender his claims to Charles Edward, 

 and, upon his consenting, the prince set out for France, giving out 

 that he intended to make a campaign in Piedmont, but proceeding in 

 the disguise of a courier to Paris, where he arrived on the 20th of 

 January 1744. The young man was, as Tindal expresses it, "made a 

 loan of to France," whose aim was to cover her own selfish designs 

 with the plea of countenancing the Stuart family. Marshal Saxe was 

 appointed to command the expedition ; and he, having been in Eng- 

 land, and knowing that the towns were rarely fortified, had an idea 

 that the country could be quickly subdued. 



The young prince set out for the coast of Picardy, where au army 

 of 15,000 men was assembled, and transports were provided at 

 Boulogne, Dunkirk, and Calais for carrying the troops to England. 

 The army was to land on the coast of Kent, where many Jacobites 

 were expected to rise; and at the same time a squadron sailed from 

 Brest to convoy the transports. But the squadron fled before the 

 British fleet under the command of Sir John Norris, and almost shared 

 the fate of the Invincible Armada. A violent storm destroyed most 

 of the transports, and a great part of the troops were drowned (1744). 

 The prince returned to Paris, and waited a more favourable opportu- 

 nity. But he was not daunted by obstacles, and the period at which 



BIOO. DIV. VOL. V. 



the rebellion of 1745 was undertaken was favourable to its success. 

 The king of England was in Hanover, and Scotland was almost 

 destitute of troops. The Highlanders, disaffected, and thirsting for 

 revenge, were ripe for revolt. Towards the end of May 1745, Charles 

 Edward left Paris for Nantes. William, Marquis of Tullibardine, who 

 had been attainted in 1715, Sir John Macdonald, Colonel Strictland, 

 Mr. George Kelly, a clergyman of the Church of England, and Sir 

 Thomas Sheridan, formerly tutor to the young Pretender, with several 

 other gentlemen, accompanied him. On the 5th of July he sailed in 

 La Doutelle, a French vessel, which he had joined from Nantes iu a 

 fishing-boat, designing to Bail round Ireland, and to land upon the 

 western coast of Scotland. Another ship, the Elizabeth, was ordered 

 to accompany him as a convoy, and on board this vessel the prince 

 had placed 400,000^. sterling, with arms for several thousand men. 

 These two ships fell in with a British cruiser to the west of the Lizard 

 Point. A fierce action ensued, and the Elizabeth was so much damaged 

 as to be obliged to put back into Brest. The prince pursued his course 

 to Scotland, saying that he would either die or be crowned. On the 

 28th of the month he landed at Boradale, a farm belonging to 

 Macdonald of Clanranald, on the shore of the bay of Locbnanuagh. 

 He thence proceeded to the house of Kinlochmoidart, where he was 

 met by several Highland chieftains; and whence the clans were 

 summoned to rise. Many persons here advised the prince to return 

 to France, and wait another opportunity; but he was resolute in 

 remaining. About ten days afterwards the prince set up his standard 

 at Glenfinnan. 



At this time Sir John Cope was commander-in-chief in Scotland. 

 At first the news of the rebellion was treated with ridicule, and the 

 government were c ilatory in their measures. On the 6th of August 

 a reward of 30,000. was offered, by proclamation of the lords justices 

 in the Gazette, to any person who should secure the eldest son of the 

 Pretender; and on the 31et, George II. returned to London from 

 Hanover. The prince, having heard of the price put upon his person, 

 issued a counter proclamation, offering 30,0001. for apprehending the 

 Elector of Hanover. On the 27th of August he advanced in hopes of 

 meeting Sir John Cope ; but on reaching Garvamore, he found that 

 General Cope had faced about, and taken the route by Ruthven to 

 Inverness. No sooner did the English troops turn their backs upon 

 the Jacobite army, than a common soldier deserted, and carried the 

 news to the other side. The Highlanders instantly put themselves 

 into motion ; and on arriving at Garvamore, it was determined that 

 they should march to the south, and enter the low country, thus 

 endeavouring to get possession of Edinburgh before General Cope 

 should arrive there. On the 30th of August they reached Blair Athol, 

 and the Duke of Athol, who was on King George's side, retired at 

 their approach. On the 3rd of September they entered Perth, where 

 the Pretender's declarations were read. At Perth great numbers 

 flocked to the Pretender's standard. Among the most considerable 

 were the Duke of Perth, Lord Strathallan, and Lord George Murray, 

 who was the younger brother of the Marquis of Tullibardine, whose 

 right of primogeniture had been forfeited by his attachment to the 

 exiled Stuarts : his second brother, Lord James, now duke of Athol, 

 having succeeded to his estates and honours. Lord George Murray 

 was a brave, humane, and honourable man ; and he possessed a sound 

 judgment in military matters. Having accepted the act of grace 

 which passed after the rebellion of 1715, Lord George was not 

 possessed of that entire confidence on the part of Charles Edward 

 which he proved himself eventually to have fully merited. 



The reception which the prince met with in the Lowlands was not 

 so cordial as he expected. On the llth of September he marched from 

 Perth to Dunblane; and on the 13th passed the Forth at the ford of 

 the Frew, a few miles above Stirling. Colonel Gardiner's dragoons?, 

 which were posted near Stirling, withdrew at his approach. On the 

 15th instant the rebels arrived within nine miles of Edinburgh, and 

 Gardiner's and Hamilton's dragoons were posted within two miles of 

 it. The city had been hastily fortified ; a thousand men had been 

 armed for its defence, in addition to the city guard; and trained 

 bands of mixed Whigs and Jacobites were constantly on duty. Every- 

 thing was so prepared that the town might have held out for some days 

 before troops which had not a single cannon. " But," says an anonymous 

 Writer, " to the lasting dishonour of Scotland, the capital was given up 

 to a handful of half starved savages without stroke of sword." 



On the 15th of September, being Sunday, public worship was sus- 

 pended, and the volunteers were under arms all day. On Monday, 

 until noon, the defence was carried on very vigorously ; but about 

 two o'clock a petition was set on foot, praying the magistrates and 

 town-council to call a meeting of the chief inhabitants to deliberate 

 concerning the propriety of delivering the town up to Charles Edward. 

 About this time, the dragoons first, and afterwards the officers of the 

 crown, left the city, the dragoons taking the route of Musselburgh and 

 Haddington. TLe result of the public meeting, which was principally 

 composed of Jacobites, was a determination to surrender the town, 

 and place the arms of the volunteers in the castle. A deputation waa 

 despatched to Gray's Hill, about two miles from Edinburgh, where 

 Charles Edward then was. Whilst the terms of capitulation were 

 still under discussion, intelligence came that General Cope had arrived 

 at Dunbar, and would speedily march to the relief of the town. A 

 second deputation was sent, to gain time, and those who composed it 



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