Bonnie Prince Charlie: Charles Edward Stuart (Pimlico) (114 page)

1
A S V, Francia, 490 f.444; R A Stuart M 11, p.355; Cordara, pp.171–2.

2
R A Stuart 277/127,130; Mahon, iii, p.xxxi; Browne, iii, p.463;
Daily Advertiser
, 15 October 1746.

3
R A Stuart 345/162.

4
Add. MSS 20,662 f.121.

5
Add. MSS 28,691 f.15; H M C, Kenyon, p.474;
L M
, iii, pp.253–4.

6
Frederick to Andrie, 24 April 1746,
Frederick the Great, Politische Correspondenz
, op.cit., v, p.69. In 1745, Charles’s
annus mirabilis
, Baron Franz Trenck (1711–49) had come close to capturing Frederick for ransom.

7
Add. MSS 20,662 f.121.

8
L M
, i, pp.54–5.

9
L M
, i, p.25.

10
L M
, i, p.46.

11
See
Boswell’s Life of Johnson
, op.cit., v, p.193.

12
Ibid
., v, p.192.

13
R A Stuart 345/162.

14
In 1771 Catherine the Great, in a letter to Voltaire, compared a famous Russian wanderer to the prince in the heather (
Voltaire Correspondence
, ed. Theodore Besterman, 80, p.14).

15
Oeuvres complètes d’Helvetius
, 5 vols (Paris, 1795), ii, pp.237–8.

16
Luynes, vii, p.453.

17
Luynes, vii, p.456.

18
R A Stuart 277/168; Mahon, iii, pp.xxxi–xxxii; Browne, iii, pp.465–6.

19
R A Stuart 277/165.

20
Luynes, vii, p.462.

21
R A Stuart 278/1.

22
Luynes, vii, pp.460–1.

23
R A Stuart 278/25; Luynes, vii, p.462.

24
R A Stuart 278/41.

25
R A Stuart M 11, p.356; 278/62; Barbier, iii, p.498.

26
R A Stuart 278/3–4.

27
Luynes, vii, p.463.

28
R A Stuart 278/72.

29
R A Stuart 278/118.

30
R A Stuart 278/64. The prince also sent an angry letter of protest to the marquis d’Argenson (R A Stuart 278/113; Tayler,
Stuart Papers
, pp.186–7).

31
R A Stuart 278/169.

32
Tayler,
Stuart Papers
, pp.146–8.

33
‘Providence has begun the work. He took Strickland from you in Scotland and Sir Thomas here, at the time he was just returning to you. This you ought to look upon as a manifest call from heaven for you to finish the work and to rescue yourself out of such hands’ (R A Stuart 279/44). A close reading of this long letter from James (28 November 1746) provides powerful circumstantial evidence for the theory of James’s unconscious motivation towards Sheridan that I have advanced here.

34
R A Stuart 279/44,52,55.

35
R A Stuart 278/169; 279/9.

36
Luynes, vii, pp.466–7; R A Stuart 279/18,22.

37
R A Stuart 278/153.

38
R A Stuart 279/124.

39
R A Stuart 280/97.

40
R A Stuart Box 1/242.

41
Browne, iii, pp.476–7; R A Stuart 280/96.

42
R A Stuart 279/171.

43
R A Stuart 279/38.

44
R A Stuart 280/31.

45
R A Stuart Box 1/245.

46
R A Stuart 279/167.

47
R A Stuart 280/57,89.

48
A E M D Angleterre 83 f.336.

49
Ibid
., f.328.

50
Sometimes there were 35 ‘
maitres
’ at dinner and 20 at supper plus a singular collection of wines (R A Stuart 279/95).

51
A E M D Angleterre 83 f.341.

52
Pietro Bindelli,
Enrico Stuart
(Frascati, 1982), p.69.

53
R A Stuart 279/171.

54
R A Stuart 280/1 A.

55
R A Stuart 279/97.

56
A S V Francia 490 f.457.

57
A S V Francia 490 f.461; R A Stuart 279/34,154.

58
A S V Francia 490 f.469.

59
A S V Francia 490 f.475; R A Stuart 279/169.

60
Browne, iii, pp.474–5; R A Stuart 280/67.

61
A S V Francia 490 f.496; R A Stuart 280/89.

62
R A Stuart 280/89 B.

63
R A Stuart 280/49.

64
R A Stuart 280/38.

65
R A Stuart 279/163.

66
Browne, iii, p.472; R A Stuart 279/114,116.

67
Browne, iii, pp.475–6; R A Stuart 280/73.

68
Browne, iii, pp.485–6; R A Stuart 281/70.

69
Browne, iii, pp.479–83; R A Stuart 281/32. There were other letters in the same vein. On 20 January James told
O’Brien
that he thought the prince was living in a world of illusion (R A Stuart 280/105). On the same date he urged his son to try the diplomatic round with France once more: ‘We cannot hope to get any good from them by haughtiness and dryness’ (R A Stuart 280/101).

70
R A Stuart 280/118.

71
R A Stuart 280/132.

72
R A Stuart 281/26.

73
The prince arrived in Avignon on 1 February (Browne, iii, p.483; R A Stuart 281/28).

74
Browne, iii, p.484; R A Stuart 281/67.

75
R A Stuart 281/29.

76
Browne, iii, pp.486–7; R A Stuart 281/101.

77
Tayler,
Jacobite Epilogue
, pp.135–8; Browne, iii, pp.489–91.

78
A E M D Angleterre 76 f.373.

79
Benedict to Tencin, 22 February 1747, Morelli, i, p.399.

80
Luynes, viii, p.91.

81
Marville-Maurepas Correspondence
, iii, p.171.

82
S P Tuscany 52 f.88; 53 f.17.

83
A S V Francia 490 f.526.

84
R A Stuart 281/116.

85
Browne, iii, p.488; R A Stuart 281/143.

86
Mahon, iii, pp.xxxviii–xli.

87
R A Stuart 282/40.

88
S P Tuscany 52 f.97; R A Stuart 282/40.

89
R A Stuart 282/40.

90
Ibid
.

91
Mahon, iii, p.xli.

92
Browne, iii, pp.491–2; R A Stuart 282/11.

93
R A Stuart 282/40.

94
Walpole Correspondence
, 7, p.288.

95
Charles Edward to Carvajal, March 1747, A G N, Simancas (Nacional, Historico), Legajo 4823.

96
Browne, iii, pp.492–3; R A Stuart 282/38–9.

97
Charles Edward to Carvajal, 13 March, A G N, Simancas, Legajo 4823.

98
Browne, iii, p.493; R A Stuart 282/52.

99
A E M D Angleterre 83, f.325.

100
R A Stuart 282/67.

101
R A Stuart 282/69.

102
R A Stuart 282/126,131.

103
R A Stuart Box 1/274.

104
Walpole Correspondence
, 19, p.355.

105
Ibid
., 19, p.393.

106
R A Stuart 280/127; 282/96.

107
Marville-Maurepas Correspondence
, iii, p.197.

108
Charles Edward to Maurepas, 27 March 1747, M P; to comte d’Argenson, 26 March, R A Stuart 282/90; to Louis XV, R A Stuart 282/93.

109
R A Stuart 279/114,116.

110
R A Stuart 278/179.

111
S P Tuscany 51 ff.298–9;
Daily Advertiser
, 1 November 1746.

112
Browne, iii, pp.472,494–7; R A Stuart 283/7.

113
R A Stuart 282/128.

114
Browne, iii, pp.499–500; R A Stuart 283/60. James anyway thought the idea unwise at a personal level: ‘Such a match, if it really could effect your restoration, would, no doubt be desirable, though it is not without its objections, even in respect to you as well as to her, were she otherwise well disposed towards us’ (Browne, iii, pp.497–8; R A Stuart 283/33).

115
R A Stuart 283/7.

116
R A Stuart 283/44,47.

117
R A Stuart 283/138; 284/1.

118
Dated 3 January 1747, M P.

119
A E M D Angleterre, 86 ff.373–4.

120
‘Il n’a pas assez la parole à la main pour pouvoir raisonner sur les plus simples’ (R A Stuart 284/1).

121
Browne, iv, pp.26–9; R A Stuart 289/146.

122
‘His behaviour during last winter had appeared at first such as could not be reconciled with the heroism he had shown in the enterprise he had undertaken and became at last offensive’ (A E M D Angleterre, 86 f.370).

123
A E M D Angleterre, 86 f.374.

124
Ibid
., f.370.

125
Ibid
.

126
D’Eguilles to Maurepas, 27 June 1747, M P.

127
A E M D Angleterre, 86 f.373.

1
R A Stuart 281/67.

2
R A Stuart 281/22, 50.

3
A S V Francia 490 f.502.

4
R A Stuart 279/114, 116; 280/49.

5
R A Stuart 281/60.

6
R A Stuart 281/50.

7
R A Stuart 279/130, 168.

8
S P Tuscany 46 ff.132–3.

9
R A Stuart 283/3.

10
R A Stuart 283/80, 105.

11
Murray of Broughton
, pp.399–400; R A Stuart 283/5–6.

12
R A Stuart 283/7.

13
R A Stuart 283/99. For conclusive proof that Tencin and O’Brien colluded in the secret project see R A Stuart, Box 1/258; Box 2/289.

14
A S V Francia 490 f.555.

15
D’Argenson,
Journal et Mémoires
, op, cit., v, pp.98–9.

16
Browne, iii, pp.498–9; R A Stuart 283/45.

17
A S V Francia, 490 ff.549, 555.

18
R A Stuart 283/171.

19
R A Stuart 283/183.

20
Morelli, i, pp.428–9.

21
R A Stuart 283/126.

22
A E C P, Rome, 796 f.95.

23
See La Rochefoucauld to Puysieux, 9 June 1747, A E C P Rome, 801 f.50.

24
Benedict also advised Henry to clear his journey to Rome secretly through the French court. Cf. Henry’s note to Louis XV, A E C P, Rome 801 f.9.

25
Morelli, i, pp.428–9.

26
R A Stuart 283/117.

27
R A Stuart 283/141.

28
R A Stuart 284/100.

29
R A Stuart 284/101.

30
R A Stuart 284/105; 285/40.

31
D’Argenson, v, pp.98–9.

32
R A Stuart 284/62.

33
R A Stuart 284/200.

34
R A Stuart 285/49.

35
R A Stuart 284/103.

36
R A Stuart 285/104.

37
Barbier, iv, pp.256–7; D’Argenson, v, pp.98–9; R A Stuart 285/202.

38
Browne, iv, pp.13–14; Tayler,
Stuart Papers
, pp.210–12; R A Stuart 285/126–7.

39
R A Stuart 285/78.

40
Browne, iv, pp.10–11.

41
R A Stuart 367/89.

42
See for example R A Stuart 286/111. His apology in January 1748 is a classic of non-argument: ‘As to his becoming a cardinal, you know in your conscience that you have no reason to complain of either him or me for that step having been taken’ (R A Stuart 289/82). James was a great one for interpreting other people’s consciences to them. The combination of a total lack of
cogent argument
, allied to sanctimoniousness, must have been particularly irritating to the prince.

43
A S V Francia 491 f.24; Morelli, i, p.439; R A Stuart 285/144.

44
A S V Francia, 491 f.15.

45
Barbier, iii, p.19.

46
D’Argenson, v, pp.98–9.

47
Benedict to Tencin, 17 August 1747, Morelli, i, p.444.

48
Morelli, i, p.455.

49
R A Stuart 285/143.

50
R A Stuart 285/66.

51
A S V Francia, 490 f.518.

52
A S V Francia, 491 ff.7, 23.

53
R A Stuart 285/79, 144.

54
R A Stuart 282/73, 145.

55
R A Stuart 283/36, 51, 64.

56
Tayler,
Stuart Papers
, p.190; R A Stuart 282/156.

57
R A Stuart 281/26; 284/50.

58
Browne, iv, p.12; R A Stuart 285/119.

59
R A Stuart 316/225.

60
Browne, iv, p.17; R A Stuart 286/109, 144.

61
Browne, iv, p.17; R A Stuart 287/48.

62
R A Stuart 286/4, 8.

63
A S V Francia, 491 f.23.

64
Ibid
., f.8.

65
Ibid
., f.24.

66
Ibid
., ff.23, 29, 35, 47.

67
R A Stuart 287/116, 122.

68
Browne, iv, pp.19–20.

69
For an unravelling of the complex kinship relationships of the great Jacobite families, as well as a brilliant scholarly reconstruction of the love affair under discussion see L. L. Bongie,
The Love of a Prince. Bonnie Prince Charlie in France 1744–1748
(Vancouver, 1986).

70
Recueil dit de Maurepas
, 6 vols (Leyden, 1865), vi, p.34. One of the problems Bongie identifies in his book is a confusion of the referend of Princesse de Rohan (Bongie, op, cit., p.28l). The problem does not end there. Many contemporaries (Maurepas among them) also referred to Louise as the Princesse de Guémèné. As Bongie points out, this usage properly relates to her mother-in-law, Louise-Gabrielle-Julie de Rohan-Soubise.

71
Leon Lallement,
Le Maréchal de Camp Warren
(Vannes, 1893), p.42.

72
Bongie, p.184. Andrew Lang long ago noted: ‘there are traces also of an affair with Madame de Montbazon’ (
Prince Charles Edward
, op. cit., p.344). And scholars have long known that Louise’s letters to the prince were among the Stuart Papers (R A Stuart 316/3–91). But the task of transcribing, dating and making sense of them has always seemed too daunting. It was left to Professor Bongie – in an intellectual voyage comparable in terms of Jacobite studies to Stanley’s 1874–7 journey through the Dark Continent – to achieve this.

73
Bongie, p.184.

74
Ibid
.

75
Ibid
., pp.178–83.

76
R A Stuart 287/76. The prince later retracted the offer, claiming that his father had misunderstood what he was saying (R A Stuart 288/72).

77
Marc de Germiny,
Les Brigandages maritimes de l’Angleterre
, 3 vols (Paris, 1925).
Sous le règne de Louis XV
, i, p.71.

78
R A Stuart 345/162.

79
Bongie, op.cit., pp.7, 190.

80
Bongie, p.190.

81
Ibid
., pp.5, 193.

82
Ibid
., pp.195–7.

83
So dominant was the Princesse de Guémèné that when observers saw her, Louise and Charles Edward together, they assumed that Louise was a front and that it was the mother-in-law, then aged forty-three, who was the prince’s real mistress. See the report by Nuncio Durini on 18 December after the prince had moved into his new home in Paris: ‘At the Rohans his constant companions are the Duchesse de Montbazon and the Princesse de Guémèné.
The former is his spiritual companion, the latter his carnal one
’ (italics mine) (A S V, Francia 491 f.78).

84
Bongie, pp.193–8.

85
Ibid
., p.199.

86
Ibid
., p.202.

87
Ibid
., p.203.

88
Ibid
., pp.204–7.

89
This view receives support from the autobiographical fragment in which the prince speaks obliquely of his affair with Louise (Bongie, pp.9–10, 396–7).

90
Bongie, pp.209–10.

91
Ibid
., pp.224–5.

92
Ibid
., pp.237–9; 271–2.

93
Ibid
., pp.282–5.

94
Albemarle to Holderness, 18 December 1753, S P France 248 f.288.

95
Pelham MSS. Ne. 2086.

96
Bongie, op.cit., pp.212–16.

97
R A Stuart Box 4/1/1/94, 95, 102, 104.

98
Amazingly Pickle the Spy stated that the Princesse de Guémèné was one of Charles Edward’s favourites! (Pelham MSS. Ne. 2087 (6).) Again we see the confusion between the two women. Clearly he meant the duchesse de Montbazon.

99
D’Argenson, v, p.232.

100
R A Stuart 290/107.