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 THE 
 
 DESCENDANTS OF THE STUARTS. 
 
LOfJDON : 
 REED AND PARDON, PRINTERS, 
 PATERNOSTER ROV/. 
 
THE 
 
 DESCENDANTS OF THE STUARTS. 
 
 BY WILLIAM TOWNEND. 
 
 LONDON : 
 
 LONOMAN, BEOWN, OEEEN, LONGMANS, & EOBERTS. 
 
 1858. 
 
 THE AUTHOli EESERVES THE RIGHT OF TRANSLATION. 
 
4 3 o 4 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 I HAVE written, what has hitherto been un- 
 chronicled in our annals, a history of the Descendants 
 of the House of Stuart. 
 
 To the public, whose kind forbearance I claim, a 
 brief explanation is due of the motives which have 
 dictated the publication of this work. 
 
 In the first place, I have been influenced by the 
 desire to supply a desideratum in English history. 
 
 I have also wished to show that if dynastic history 
 is lost sight of in recounting our national chronicles, 
 the reader is left in ignorance of the secret, in con- 
 tradistinction to the avowed motives, which have 
 governed our diplomacy. 
 
 Moreover, I think it important, that, as the 
 abolition of the Oath abjuring the Descendants of 
 the Stuarts, in order to facilitate the admission of 
 the Jews into the legislature, now forms a question of 
 the day, no information relating to this exiled 
 family, proving or disproving the existence of their 
 
 b 
 
iv 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 descendants, should be withheld from the public, in 
 order that they may arrive at a correct decision upon 
 the subject. 
 
 And, lastly, I consider that this history of the 
 Stuarts is due to that illustrious House, whose 
 genealogical records have so long been involved in 
 obscurity. 
 
 That a narrative of the Roman Catholic Stuarts 
 is a desideratum in Anglican literature, is proved 
 bv the absence of such a work. 
 
 That national history, if written unconnectedly 
 with dynastic, conveys but an inadequate idea of 
 the secret policy of a kingdom, is evident, — for it is 
 in the connexional ties subsisting between the so- 
 vereigns that we must seek for an elucidation of the 
 motives which have instigated their polity, — the 
 friendship or hostility of one royal brother towards 
 another being generally affected by these con- 
 siderations. The history of our own country, which 
 I adduce as a specimen, will be found to corroborate 
 the truth of this assertion; for, from the times of the 
 Conqueror to the present day, have not dynastic, 
 rather than national interests, regulated its policy ? 
 In the following epitome of its chronicles, read the 
 reply : — 
 
 William the Pirst's reign was disturbed by con- 
 flicts with Prance, originating in the countenance 
 afforded Robert, William's son, by the Prench king. 
 
 The regalities of William the Second and Henry 
 the Eirst were influenced by precisely the same 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 V 
 
 considerations as those which had affected their 
 father's. 
 
 Stephen's reign was a protracted civil war, owing 
 to the dynastic disputes engendered betwixt himself 
 and his cousin Matilda. 
 
 The sway of Henry the Second is little else than a 
 relation of disputes between father and son; — the 
 French king, as usual, being drawn in as an acces- 
 sary, by his espousal of the interests of the latter. 
 
 Kichard the First's royalty is a narrative of con- 
 spiracies and counterplots on the part of his brother. 
 
 J ohn was more fortunate, although he inaugurated 
 his reign by the murder of his nephew : he had no 
 sons who disputed his title, and the contest in which 
 he engaged with Erance is perhaps the first which 
 may be truly termed national. 
 
 Henry the Third's empire was disturbed by the 
 pretensions of his relative, Simon de Montfort; but 
 with foreign powers his relations were more peaceful 
 than had been any of his predecessors. 
 
 Edward the First's royalty is generally considered 
 glorious; although the dynastic war which he 
 waged with Scotland, consequent on the disputed 
 succession to that throne, and in the course of which 
 he perpetrated such cruelties, considerably detracts 
 from his personal merits. 
 
 Edward the Second's reign was, so far as regarded 
 the monarch personally, the most cruel and calami- 
 tous of any of our princes ; for here, shocking to 
 relate, we find the wife arrayed against her husband, 
 
 b 2 
 
vi 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 and actually a murderess for the sake of her para- 
 mour. 
 
 Edward the Third's disputes with Prance were 
 entirely dynastic and anti-national ; and were based 
 upon his pretensions to the Prench crown, which 
 he assumed were valid, despite the operation of the 
 Salic law. 
 
 The reign of Richard the Second was most cala- 
 mitous, as it originated those direful civil wars, 
 which for more than half a century desolated Eng- 
 land, consequent on the usurpation of the throne by 
 his cousin Henry of Lancaster. 
 
 Henry the Eourth's reign was disturbed owing to 
 the informality of his title, and one pitched battle, 
 at least, — that of Shrewsbury, was hazarded on be- 
 half of the lineal heirs 
 
 The domination of Henry the Eifth is usually 
 considered glorious, as his many chivalric qualities 
 conspired to keep in oblivion the claims of the yet 
 unfor gotten lineal princes. His war with Erance, 
 originally national, speedily degenerated into a dy- 
 nastic one, by his marriage with Katherine, the 
 Erench king's daughter ; on which event he advanced 
 pretensions to the throne of Erance, based upon 
 legitimate right. 
 
 The royalty of Henry the Sixth is the most dis- 
 astrous recorded in our annals. The claims of the 
 lineal heirs, which had been disregarded during the 
 reigns of the preceding Harries, could no longer be 
 disguised under the sway of a weak and imbecile 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 vii 
 
 prince ; and the miseries attendant upon a disputed 
 succession became more manifest than had before 
 appeared. The reign of Henry was a protracted 
 dynastic contest, in which national interests may be 
 said to have been wholly unaffected. His claims to 
 both the French and Anglican thrones were ul- 
 timately negatived, and after a great sacrifice of 
 life, in which, out of all our nobility, not twenty 
 are said to have survived, the crown fell into the 
 possession of the lawful claimant, 
 
 Edward the Fourth ; when the nation, exhausted 
 by its deathlike struggles, silently submitted to his 
 sway. 
 
 The reign of Edward the Fifth, however, was 
 destined to renew all the horr(;rs of a contested suc- 
 cession ; and the murder of this prince by his uncle 
 Richard, of Gloucester, forms another bloody stain 
 on our national annals. 
 
 Richard the Third, a usurper, a murderer, and 
 with an adverse Lancasterian faction, could not 
 reasonably expect to remain long upon the throne ; 
 nevertheless, the animosities engendered betwixt the 
 rival E/Oses were now so bitter, that the Yorkists 
 condoned his usurpation and murder of his nephew 
 rather than submit to the domination of the detested 
 Lancasterian party. 
 
 Henry the Seventh completed the virtual anni- 
 hilation of the Yorkists on the field of Bosworth ; 
 but his title, even supposing the Lancasterian princes 
 to have been the rightful claimants, was so defective, 
 
VUl 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 that he gladly remedied this informality by espousing 
 the lineal heiress, Elizabeth of York ; although even 
 this measure failed to allay the dynastic heats which 
 had raged with such inveteracy ; and the rebellions 
 of Lambert Simnel and Perkin Warbeck prove how 
 far the Yorkists were from being satisfied with the 
 union of the rival Red and White Eoses. 
 
 Henry the Eighth, as the lineal heir, with an 
 undisputed title, was more fortunate. The war in 
 which this sovereign engaged with Erance may be 
 termed the second national one since the accession 
 of the Conqueror. 
 
 The reign of Edward the Sixth was, on the whole, 
 prosperous ; although the desperate attempts made 
 by his guardians to woo for him the beauteous 
 Mary of Scotland, engendered a short-lived contest 
 with the northern kingdom. 
 
 Mary the Eirst's royalty was disturbed by dynastic 
 disputes, consequent on the pretensions advanced by 
 Lady Jane Grey, the Protestant parliamentary heiress, 
 to the throne ; claims which, although partially sym- 
 pathized with, were ultimately negatived by the 
 nation. 
 
 Elizabeth's sway, like her sister's, was agitated 
 by the pretensions of a cousin competitor ; and, like 
 her, she triumphed over her rival, the innocent Mary 
 falling a victim to her jealousy. Contrary to the 
 policy of her predecessors, Elizabeth lived in amity 
 with Erance, her attention being wholly engrossed 
 by the hostility evinced towards her by Spain. The 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 ix 
 
 war in wliich she engaged with that power might be 
 termed dynastic rather than national, since it is evi- 
 dent that it was Philip's marriage with her sister 
 Mary which first induced him to interfere in our 
 internal concerns. 
 
 The reign of James the First, the lineal repre- 
 sentative of both the Saxon and Norman dynas- 
 ties, was undisturbed. The vague conspiracy on 
 behalf of Lady Arabella Stuart hardly meriting that 
 name. 
 
 Charles the First's royalty is a history of dis- 
 putes between Prelatists and Presbyterians, and a 
 monarch and his subjects; the former striving to 
 retain his authority, and the latter seeking to deprive 
 him of it. The overweening conceit of the Pres- 
 byterians, in violently endeavouring to subvert 
 the national church, certainly originated the con- 
 test, however its ulterior object may have 
 changed by the predominance of another, and rival 
 party. 
 
 Charles the Second lived in amity with Prance, 
 primarily determined to this policy by the dynastic 
 ties which connected him with the French monarch. 
 
 James the Second, naturally inclining to a pacific 
 polity, followed in the wake of his brother. The 
 dynastic war engendered with France, consequent on 
 James's deposition and the usurpation of his throne 
 by his son-in-law, is notorious. 
 
 William the Third, actuated by feelings of personal 
 hatred towards Louis Quatorze, reinaugurated the 
 
X 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 discarded policy of the Plantagenets ; a policy 
 which for the last two centuries had been falling 
 into desuetude, and which it was reserved for this 
 monarch to reanimate with, if possible, increased 
 inveteracy. 
 
 Queen Anne, George the Pirst, George the Second, 
 and George the Third, walked in the steps of their 
 Orange predecessor, — were engaged in perpetual 
 warfare with Prance, and abjured the peaceful notions 
 which, since the times of Edward the Fourth, had 
 gradually influenced our national polity. 
 
 Under George the Pourth the unnatural hostility 
 existing between England and Erance may be said to 
 have received its death-blow ; the chivalrous support 
 which our sovereign rendered to Louis the Eighteenth 
 earning for him the eternal gratitude of that good 
 old prince — who perhaps of all monarchs that have 
 ever reigned conferred the most lasting benefits upon 
 his subjects without meeting with the slightest return 
 of gratitude. And thus for George the Eourth was 
 reserved the honour, not only of allaying the animo- 
 sity existing between the rival countries, but also 
 of repaying the princely hospitality evinced by 
 Louis's ancestor towards James the Second. 
 X That the Oath abjuring the descendants of the 
 Stuarts, and which, be it remembered, is taken by 
 all members of parliament and public function- 
 aries^ is incongruous as to the language in which it 
 is couched, is notorious ; although it is simply the 
 verbiage, not the intention of the Act, which the death 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 xi 
 
 of Henry of York has rendered inapplicable.* That 
 the objection so frequently raised, that it is farcical 
 abjuring the Stuarts when none exist, is not a correct 
 one is undeniable, although it bears upon it primd 
 facie the impress of truth ; and those who raise this 
 cavil about words should consider that it is the spirit 
 
 * The Oath as at present administered, after the form established by 
 6 George III, c. 53, is couched in the following language : — " I do truly 
 and sincerely acknowledge, profess, testify, and declare in my conscience 
 before God and the world, that our Sovereign lady Queen Victoria is 
 lawful and rightful queen of this realm, and all other her Majesty's 
 dominions and countries thereto belonging, and I do solemnly and sin- 
 cerely declare that I do believe in my conscience, that not any of the 
 descendants of the person who pretended to be Prince of Wales during 
 the life of King James the Second, and after his decease pretended to be 
 and took upon himself the style and title of King of England, by the 
 name of James the Third, or of Scotland, by the name of James the 
 Eighth, or the style and title of King of Great Britain, hath any right 
 or title whatsoever to the crown of this realm, or any other dominions 
 thereto belonging. And I do renounce, refuse and abjure any allegiance 
 or obedience to any of them : and I do swear that I will bear faith and 
 true allegiance to her Majesty Queen Victoria, and her will defend to the 
 utmost of my power against all traitorous conspiracies and attempts 
 whatsoever which shall be made against her person, crown or dignity. 
 And I will do my utmost endeavour to disclose and make known to her 
 Majesty and her successors all treasons and traitorous conspiracies which 
 I shall know to be against her, or any of them. And I do faithfully 
 promise to support, maintain and defend the succession of the crown 
 against the descendants of the said James, and against all other persons 
 whatsoever, which succession by an act intituled ' An Act for the further 
 Limitation of the Crown, and better securing the Rights and Liberties of 
 the Subject,' is and stands limited to the Princess Sophia, electress and 
 duchess dowager of Hanover, and the heirs of her body being Protestants. 
 And all these things I do plainly and sincerely acknowledge and swear, 
 according to the plain common sense and understanding of the same 
 words, without any equivocation, mental evasion, or secret reservation 
 whatsoever. And I do make this recognition, acknowledgment, abjura- 
 tion, renunciation and promise, heartily, willingly, and truly, ujmn the 
 true faith of a Christian. 
 
Xll 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 rather than the phraseology of the Act which should 
 be regarded ; a point, at all events, upon which no 
 divergence of opinion can exist, since it is evident that 
 its sole intention was to preclude those Roman Catho- 
 lic princes from ascending the throne who enjoyed a 
 better title to it than the House of Hanover, according 
 to the laws of hereditary succession. It is certain that, 
 had our legislators contemplated the possibility of 
 failure of James the Second's issue, they would have 
 substituted those of Charles the First. Clearly, then, 
 as the representatives of the latter monarch, through 
 his daughter Henrietta of Orleans, occupy the place 
 originally filled by those of the former, an alteration 
 might be adopted which would have the effect of 
 rendering the oath at once consistent and intelligible. 
 Whether it is expedient or advisable to repeal the 
 Act altogether, is a different question ; although to 
 quibble about its phraseology when its meaning is 
 obvious, speaks but little for the candour of those 
 who descend to have recourse to such an arguuient. 
 It proves rather that they have another and ulterior 
 object in view, which it would be more ingenuous 
 openly to avow. The alternatives presented are 
 either the substitution in the Act of the descendants 
 of Charles the Eirst for those of James the Second, 
 or the repeal of the Act in toto ; and to the majority, 
 as has been the custom from time immemorial, the 
 minority must be content to render obedience, v 
 
 Lastlv, I have said that this work is a fitting- 
 tribute to those whose memory I would rescue from 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 xiii 
 
 oblivion. Were the crimes committed by the Stuarts 
 of so unpardonable a dye that their very remem- 
 brance should cease from off the earth ? Traduced, 
 vilified, and misunderstood whilst living, will history 
 continue eternally to calumniate them? "Will no 
 voice be raised in defence of those who, though not 
 devoid of vices, had yet a preponderating balance of 
 virtues ? who, and I affirm it advisedly, will well 
 bear a comparison, as a dynasty, with that of any 
 upon record. Because the Stuarts were unsuited to 
 the times in which they lived — because they would 
 have made better constitutional sovereigns than des- 
 potic ones — because they possessed not that strength 
 of mind, fortiter in re sometimes so necessary — 
 but, on the contrary, had a preponderance of what 
 are, though perhaps not very correctly termed, 
 amiable weaknesses, are sins to be laid to their 
 charge of which they were wholly guiltless ? 
 
 What were the crimes of the Stuarts ? Eead 
 their history, commencing with Robert the Second, 
 downwards, and what is the reply ? Candidly, 
 fairly, and without prejudice, is cruelty one of the 
 vices which can be imputed to them ? Were they 
 brutal ? Compare them with the Tudors ; those 
 merciless sovereigns who remorselessly imbrued their 
 hands in the blood even of their nearest relatives — 
 and what is the reply ? Were they savage ? The 
 idea of a savage Stuart seems too ludicrous for 
 utterance. Were they ignorant, unrefined, coarse, 
 or barbarous in their ideas ? The contrary is indis- 
 
xiv 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 putable. As a family, they were the most highly 
 educated, the most refined and cultivated in their 
 tastes of any dynasty that has graced a throne. 
 That they were vacillating, too easily governed by 
 favourites, and had exalted notions of their own 
 prerogative, are charges which can be established 
 against the Stuarts— but what are these compared 
 with those which might be preferred against their 
 predecessors ? At most they are but weaknesses, 
 not crimes. But a last question remains — Were the 
 Stuarts suited to the age in which they lived? 
 And here I unhesitatingly answer in the negative. 
 Herein lay their fault, their misfortune— herein 
 lies the true explanation of the calumny which has 
 so perseveringly pursued them : herein consists the 
 crime for which no remission can be found, and for 
 which, receiving no pardon whilst living, they have 
 been stigmatised even after death. That the English 
 people during the times of the first Stuarts pre- 
 ferred some brutal monster, regardless of delicacy of 
 feeling, provided he displayed the outward marks of 
 an iron-handed will, is evident ; for even the 
 atrocities of Henry the Eighth, that sanguinary 
 tyrant who imbrued his hands in the blood of delicate 
 and high-born females, there is no reason to suppose 
 rendered him distasteful to his subjects. The crimes 
 of his daughters— worthy scions of their sire — and 
 worthy imitators of his cruelties — there are no 
 grounds for believing detracted from their popula- 
 rity. What did the Stuarts in comparison with acts 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 XV 
 
 SO barbarous ? What more dissimilar characters 
 could exist than Henry and his two daughters, upon 
 the one hand, and Charles the Pirst and his two sons, 
 upon the other ? And yet which monarchs, which 
 dynasties, were most revered, most a;ppreciated by 
 their subjects ? The truth is, that nations in semi- 
 civilized times caress and fear a tyrant. It is only 
 savage attributes which command their respect and 
 admiration. They look up to those who astonish and 
 captivate them by their daring in wickedness, who 
 strike by terror. Who during the early ages gained the 
 ascendancy over his tribe? Was the best, the wisest 
 man from among them selected ? On the contrary, 
 was it not rather the boldest and most tyrannical ? To 
 him men of lesser calibre implicitly bowed, astonished, 
 subjugated by his daring. And thus it was with the 
 Stuarts ; they failed to astonish their subjects, and 
 their subjects consequently failed to reverence them. 
 They vacillated, they allowed themselves partially 
 to be governed by sentiments of equity, they conde- 
 scended to argue with those whom their predecessors 
 had commanded. Herein lay their weakness, and 
 the cause of the misfortunes which subsequently 
 overwhelmed them. The nation thus taught by 
 their masters, learned to argue also, and as they 
 considered, unanswerably : necessarily arriving at 
 different conclusions, both parties had recourse to 
 arms — the people triumphed, and the banishment 
 and spoliation of the unhappy Stuarts terminated 
 this chapter of British history. The people who 
 
xvi 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 have conquered should be just and generous — they 
 can well afford to be so — for vindictiveness and 
 calumnv ill befit the brow of a victor. The misfor- 
 tunes or crimes of the Stuarts, in whichever of 
 these lights they may be viewed, are considered as 
 eternal reproaches to history ; by the one party — 
 the adherents of divine right — they are believed to 
 have been unrighteously dethroned ; by the other — 
 the advocates of the sovereignty of the people — 
 the nation is blamed for having submitted to their 
 tyranny. The via media lies between these extremes ; 
 neither the Stuarts nor the nation were faultless ; 
 both had their errors, and both have expiated them. 
 The Descendant of the former reigns over a foreign 
 kingdom in lieu of the heritage of his forefathers ; 
 the latter have suffered the miseries attendant on 
 disastrous and internecine warfare. The strife is 
 ended, and we can afford impartially, not vindic- 
 tively, to judge the vanquished. I have endeavoured 
 to be unbiassed in my portraiture. Those who have 
 viewed them only through the distorted medium 
 handed down from generation to generation by 
 avowed enemies will necessarily demur to my state- 
 ments. They will be unable to eradicate those im- 
 pressions, which, contracted in early youth, naturally 
 follow and pursue us through life. But if with some 
 I be more successful ; if with some who calmly and 
 dispassionately review the characters of the Stuarts 
 as a dynasty, I seem to have spoken the truth, I shall 
 be amply repaid for the task 1 have undertaken. I 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 xvii 
 
 shall at least have succeeded in causing those to 
 he viewed with more favour whose crimes princi- 
 pally consisted in their misfortunes. The first 
 Princes of the House of Hanover and their satellites, 
 at all events, were not the men to calumniate those 
 whom they had supplanted. Hear what John 
 Heneage Jesse, the author of the " Court of England 
 under the Stuarts," says on this point : — " Alas," 
 he writes, after enumerating the terrible atrocities 
 committed by that ever-memorable monster, the 
 butcher-duke of Cumberland, " alas, it is to be feared 
 that compassion and generosity of feeling were not 
 the distinguishing characteristics of the last genera- 
 tion of the House of Hanover. The Stuarts, indeed, 
 may have had their vices, their follies, and perhaps 
 their crimes ; but certainly no scion of that ill-fated 
 race ever signed so inhuman an order as that for 
 the massacre of Glencoe, or ever approved of such a 
 frightful retribution as that which followed the sup- 
 pression of the insurrection of 1745." Nor did the 
 Stuarts, with all the licentiousness which has been 
 lavishly imputed to them, ever disgust their sub- 
 jects, on their first introduction to them, by bringing 
 foreign mistresses in their train ; whilst the lawful 
 wife, she who should have shared in the triumphs of 
 her lord, was detained in captivity, immured in 
 almost solitary confinement, in order that her spouse 
 might tranquilly enjoy the unlawful society to which 
 he had resigned himself. 'George the Pirst, who is 
 {>ortrayed as such a moral character — at least by 
 
XVlll 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 implication — by partial historians, will ill stand 
 comparison on a scrutiny with even the immoral 
 and profligate Charles the Second. Such is the 
 favouritism displayed by historians, such the result 
 of the portraiture by one rival dynasty of another ! 
 
 I have been actuated in the publication of this 
 work by no other motive than a desire to supply 
 information hitherto unchronicled. I could wish 
 that the compilation of it had devolved on one more 
 practised in historical authorship than myself ; but 
 this not having been accomplished, I commit this 
 volume with all its faults to the indulgence of the 
 public, whose pardon I bespeak for any errors that 
 may have inadvertently escaped revision. If I have 
 succeeded, however imperfectly, in elucidating a 
 neglected portion of English history, I am satisfied. 
 I may fairly say that I have been actuated by no 
 party motive, and I would fain hope by no party 
 spirit. I explicitly disclaim the idea of obtruding 
 any supposed or alleged claims of the Descendants 
 of the Stuarts to the sovereignty of these realms. 
 Now the British Throne is so worthily filled by 
 one, who, as queen, wife, and mother, pre-emi- 
 nently adorns her exalted station, any such dis- 
 claimer seems superfluous. That she may long, very 
 long, be spared to rule over a contented and prosper- 
 ous people is the sincere and fervent wish of 
 
 THE AUTHOR. 
 
THE 
 
 DESCENDANTS OF THE STUAETS. 
 
 The Excluded Members of the Royal Family of 
 England, — Who were they? and, What of their 
 careers ? are questions that naturally suggest them- 
 selves to readers of English history, though in 
 vain will its pages be searched for an elucidation of 
 them. Strange and incredible as it may appear, it 
 is nevertheless a fact, that, although Ten Members 
 of the Royal Eamily were excluded the British 
 Throne by the Revolution of 1688-9, and its natural 
 concomitant, the Act of Succession of 1701, eight 
 are entirely unnoticed by historians, and their 
 existence is as completely ignored as if they 
 had never lived. Hume, Mackintosh, Goldsmith, 
 Hallam,* Rapin, and Keightley are alike silent 
 respecting them; and if they are guilty of this 
 anomaly, what can be expected from minor literati ? 
 
 * Hallam notes generally the existence of such parties, but without 
 enumerating them. He merely says, " There were several of the Pala- 
 tine family," &c. 
 
 B 
 
2 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 Neither if we turn to personal memoirs of the royal 
 family,* where more precision might be expected, is 
 the desired information to be found ; for, following 
 in the wake of our national historians, they treat 
 only of the children of the reigning monarchs : nor 
 are they included in the lists of the queens of England, 
 the princesses of England, or the princes of Wales ; 
 for in none of these categories do they figure : 
 lastly, with two exceptions, they have never formed 
 the subject of separate biographies ; so that it would 
 almost seem as if historians with one consent had 
 conspired to sweep their remembrance from off the 
 earth. 
 
 Why this unchronicled page in English his- 
 tory has been suffered so long to remain, it is 
 not difficult to determine ; for not in our own 
 words, but in those of Hume, would we assert, 
 ** that the long-continued tenure of power by a cer- 
 tain party has proved destructive of all historical 
 truth : " we mean, that the bias given by Whig 
 writers of the day has been unconsciously imitated 
 by their successors, who either from complaisance to 
 the reigning house, the force of example, or indiffer- 
 ence, have concurred in perpetuating this anomaly. 
 Most pertinently does Miss Strickland, corrobora- 
 tory of Hume, remark on this, that for upwards 
 
 * Even the Peerages and Baronetages, headed by genealogical pedi- 
 grees of the royal family, commonly omit all notice of the excluded princes 
 and princesses ; or if they mention them, mislead, rather than inform, by 
 their ambiguity. 
 
OF THE STUARTS. 
 
 3 
 
 of a century after the Revolution of 1688, it was 
 considered a test of loyalty to the reigning family, 
 and of attachment to the Church of England, to 
 revile the sovereigns of the House of Stuart, root 
 and branch, and to consign them, their wives and 
 children, their friends and servants, and all who 
 would not unite in desecrating their tombs, to the 
 reprobation of all posterity. Every one who at- 
 tempted to write history at that period was, to use 
 the metaphor of the witty author of ' Eothen,' sub- 
 jected to the immutable law which compels a man 
 with a pen in his hand to be uttering, now and 
 then, some sentiment not his own, as though, like 
 a Erench peasant under the old regime, he were 
 bound to perform a certain amount of work on the 
 public highways." * What wonder that the oft- 
 repeated query, "Who are the descendants of 
 the Stuarts?" should be continuously reiterated, 
 seeing that the question has even been mooted 
 in our senate, without receiving a satisfactory 
 explanation. 
 
 So lately as the 9th of June, 1856, the following 
 extraordinary quotation was made by Sir Erederick 
 Thesiger, when speaking on his proposed amend- 
 ment to the " Oath of Abjuration Bill," — a Bill, 
 which, nominally professing to release members of 
 Parliament from a declaration of their allegiance 
 to the House of Hanover, and consequent abjura- 
 
 * Agnes Strickland's " Introduction to Life of Mary Beatrice, Queen 
 of England," vol. ix. 
 
 B 2 
 
4 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 tion of the House of Stuart, — has, for its secret 
 object, the promotion of the house of Rothschild. 
 
 "A book has been lately published," remarked 
 Sir Prederick, " in Ireland, called ' Hibernia Do- 
 minica,' which contains a most remarkable passage, 
 which passage is erased from some copies, but is to 
 be found in others. This passage states that the heirs 
 of Sophia, Duchess Dowager of Hanover, were 
 placed upon the British throne as being the nearest 
 of kin to the Stuarts, who were Protestants, but 
 that there were fifty or more Catholic princes enjoy- 
 ing a nearer relationship, according to the genealo- 
 gical tree, which, the writer said, he had then in his 
 * possession. " I will venture to ask," continued Sir 
 Frederick, addressing his auditors, " whether you 
 do not believe that a Bishop Cullen possesses that 
 genealogical tree, and that the selection of these 
 bulls " (referring to some he had just enumerated) 
 " is not some of the fruit of that genealogical 
 tree ? " 
 
 We have said that this is a most extraordinarv 
 statement of Sir Frederick Thesiger's, for if it does 
 not question, which seems doubtful, the existence of 
 the princes who claimed a nearer relationship to 
 the Crown than the House of Hanover at the Revo- 
 lution ; it implies that their names are unknown, and 
 only to be found in some genealogical tree, hidden in 
 some remote corner of Some Bishop Cullen' s resi- 
 dence. What renders this statement the more 
 extraordinary is, that Sir Frederick had previously 
 
OF THE STUARTS. 5 
 
 informed bis hearers that " the title of her Majesty 
 to the throne depended upon the Protestant cha- 
 racter of her ancestors and the Act of Settlement, 
 and that if it depended simply upon a mere here- 
 ditary right, a certain Roman Catholic Sovereign 
 would be at this moment, de jure, King of these 
 Realms : w]iich assertion is corroborated by Black- 
 stone, who says, " The new settlement of the crown, 
 enacted at the Revolution, did not merely consist 
 in excluding King James II. and the person pre- 
 tended to be Prince of Wales, and then suffering the 
 crown to descend in the old hereditary channel, but 
 it broke through in some instances the usual course 
 of descent, though it still kept it in view, and paid 
 a great" (by the selection of the Princess Sophia, 
 the nearest Protestant Stuart) "though not total" 
 (by the exclusion of the Catholic Stuarts who stood 
 nearer the throne than the former) "regard to it."t 
 It is therefore evident that Sir Prederick, unless he 
 spoke at random, must himself have had some 
 knowledge of this hidden genealogical tree, or had 
 congruous sources of information; for if not, we 
 ask, how could he have known that a certain Roman 
 Catholic Sovereign was, according to the doctrines 
 of hereditary right, de jure, King of these realms ? 
 Why this mystery should be so pertinaciously 
 affected, it is difficult to determine ; but when even 
 
 * Morning Herald, June 10, 1856. Keport of speech of Sir Frederick 
 Thesiger. 
 
 t Blackstone, ch. 3, p. 214. Of the King and his Title. 
 
f 
 
 6 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 in the highest chamber of the realm the existence 
 of the excluded princes is questioned and denied, it 
 seems high time some valid information was fur- 
 nished relating to them, in order that the ridiculous 
 mystery which has prevailed may once for all be 
 satisfactorily cleared up. 
 
 The Eoyal Family of England at the epoch our 
 narrative commences with, i.e. at the Revolution of 
 1688-9, was divided into two, and two only, separate 
 families or dynasties. Of these the Ligne ainee, 
 to whom strictly speaking the title of " the royal 
 family" was restricted, enumerated the reigning 
 monarch, and the other descendants of King 
 Charles I. ; whilst the Branclie caclette com- 
 prised the descendants of that monarch's sister, 
 Elizabeth, Queen of Bohemia. The sole represen- 
 tation of the House of Stuart concentred in these 
 dynasties, who alone remained of that once numerous 
 family; and had they failed of issue. Parliament 
 must have gone back for an heir to the crown to 
 times as far antecedent as those of Hemy YIIL, 
 even to the descendants of that monarch's younger 
 sister Mary, the grandmother of Lady Jane Grey. 
 The members of the royal family were at the Eevo- 
 lution of 1689 of the Ligne ainee, besides King 
 James II. and his consort Mary Beatrice of Modena, 
 that monarch's four children. 
 
 1. James, Prince of Wales, b. 1688 (a Roman 
 Catholic). 
 
OF THE STUARTS. 
 
 7 
 
 2. Mary, Princess of Orange (Queen Mary II.) 
 
 b. 1632 (a Protestant). 
 .3. Anne, Princess of Denmark (Queen Anne) 
 b. 1664 (a Protestant). 
 
 4. The Princess Louisa, b. 1692 (a Homan 
 
 Catholic). 
 And King James's nephew and niece. 
 
 5. William, Prince of Orange (King William 
 
 III.) b. 1650 (a Protestant). 
 
 6. Anne, Queen of Sardinia, b. 1669 (a Eoman 
 
 Catholic). 
 
 The members of the royal family of the Branche 
 cadette were : — 
 
 1. Elizabeth Charlotte, Duchess of Orleans, 
 
 b. 1652 (embraced Eomanism 1671). 
 
 2. Louis, Prince of Salms, b. 1674 (a Homan 
 
 Catholic). 
 
 3. The Lady Louisa of Salms, b. 1674 (a Ro- 
 
 man Catholic). 
 
 4. The Lady Eleanora of Salms, b. 1678 (a 
 
 Homan Catholic). 
 
 5. Anne, Princess of Conde, b. 1648 (a Homan 
 
 Catholic). 
 
 6. Benedicta, Duchess of Hanover, b. 1652 (a 
 
 Roman Catholic). 
 
 7. The Princess Palatine Louisa, b. 1622 (em- 
 
 braced Romanism 1659). 
 
 8. Sophia, Duchess of Hanover, b. 1630 (a 
 
 Protestant). 
 
8 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 Of these princes and princesses four may be said 
 to have reigned as English sovereigns, though as 
 the last named, Sophia, died two months before 
 Queen Anne, she did not actually ascend the throne. 
 Their right was what might be termed that of 
 donation or purchase, as contradistinguished from 
 that of hereditary descent, for as King William 
 occupied the throne before Queen Anne, it is clear 
 it could not have been the latter.* The remaining 
 princes and princesses enumerated were the excluded 
 members of the royal family, whose very names have 
 been unregistered by historians. 
 
 They stood thus : — 
 
 Stuarts : — 
 
 1. James, Prince of Wales. 
 
 2. The Princess Louisa. 
 
 3. Anne, Queen of Sardinia, in whom the 
 representation of the House of Stuart 
 eventually vested. 
 
 Stuart Simmer em : — 
 
 4. Elizabeth Charlotte, Duchess of Orleans. 
 
 5. Louis, Prince of Salms. 
 
 6. Louisa, Princess of Salms. 
 
 7. Eleanora, Princess of Salms. 
 
 8. Anne, Princess of Conde. 
 
 9. Benedicta, Duchess of Hanover. 
 10. The Princess Palatine Louisa. 
 
 With the exception of the Prince of Wales (better 
 
 * Blackstone on the King' and his Title. 
 
OF THE STUAKTS. 
 
 9 
 
 known as the Chevalier de St. George, or Old Pre- 
 tender), all these princes and princesses were aliens, 
 and strangers to their native country, although the 
 daughters, cousins, and grandchildren of its kings ; 
 and in this respect on a par with William III. and 
 George I., the one a Dutch and the other a German 
 prince. That their very existence has been com- 
 pletely ignored by historians a glance at our national 
 records will soon make apparent, for in any history of 
 England that has heretofore been penned the infor- 
 mation relating to the royal family is limited to this : 
 that King James II. was dethroned, and his son, the 
 innocent Prince of Wales, first on the plea of suppo- 
 sititiousness, and when that was abandoned, on that 
 of religion, excluded the throne; that William, 
 Mary, and Anne usurped or succeeded to the vacated 
 dignity, and were on their death succeeded by 
 George I. the next Protestant heir (son of the 
 Electress Sophia), who ascended the throne "pur- 
 suant to the Act of Succession." That this Act was 
 passed, 1701, on the death of Queen Anne's son, the 
 Duke of Gloucester ; and that the Duchess of Savoy,* 
 daughter of Henrietta of Orleans, who was daughter 
 of Charles I., protested against it as detrimental to 
 her prospective rights, but that her claims were 
 unheeded. Some writers add that George I.'s 
 
 * This princess, in 1712, assumed the title of Queen of Sicily, which 
 she exchanged in 1718 for that of Sardinia. We have (in consonance 
 with the general practice of historians) always designated her by the 
 latter title ; and the rather as it is the one which has ever since been 
 retained by her descendants. 
 
10 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 mother, the Electress Sophia, was the youngest of 
 thirteen children, without any notice of the elder 
 princes, who in the natural course of events would 
 take precedence of their juniors. 
 
 This is a fair 7'esu?ne of what may be gathered 
 from our national records ; but lest a doubt should 
 remain on the subject in the mind of any reader, we 
 will quote the testimony of our leading historians, 
 commencing with Hume, par excellence, England's 
 historian, and including that of Mackintosh, Gold- 
 smith, Rapin, and Keightley. Macaulay's and Lin- 
 gard's histories do not reach this period ; whilst 
 Lord Mahon's narrative, the most impartial and 
 original that has yet been written, commences at 
 the Peace of Utrecht, some twenty years afterwards. 
 
 Hume, after noting the death of the Duke of 
 Gloucester, which occurred 29th July, 1700, thus 
 writes : — " The Jacobites openly exulted in an event 
 which they imagined would remove the chief bar to 
 the interest of the Prince of Wales ; but the Pro- 
 testants generally turned their eyes upon the Prin- 
 cess Sophia, Electress-Dowager of Hanover, and 
 grand-daughter of James I. (not a word spoken, be 
 it observed, of the other members of the royal 
 family, who stood betwixt the Prince of Wales and 
 the Duchess of Hanover). The King William 111.^ 
 in his speech to the Commons, who met 10th Eebru- 
 ary, 1701, noted that the nation's loss in the death 
 of the Duke of Gloucester rendered it absolutely 
 necessary for them to make further provision for the 
 
OF THE STUARTS. 
 
 11 
 
 crown in the Protestant line ; when they, taking this 
 into consideration, resolved, that for the preservation 
 of the peace and happiness of the kingdom, and the 
 security of the Protestant religion, it was absolutely 
 necessary that a further declaration should be made 
 of the limitation and succession of the crown in 
 the Protestant line, after his majesty (King 
 William III.) and the princess (Queen Anne) and 
 the heirs of their bodies respectively ; and that the 
 Princess Sophia, Duchess-Dowager of Hanover, 
 should be declared the next in succession to the 
 crown of England, in the Protestant line, after his 
 majesty and the princess, and the heirs of their 
 bodies respectively, and that tlie further limitation 
 of the crown be to the said Princess Sophia, and 
 the heirs of her body being Protestants."* This 
 enactment was opposed by the Marquis of Nor- 
 manby, and protested against by four lay lords, viz. 
 Huntingdon, Plymouth, Guildford, and Jeffries : 
 eight of the spiritual peers who would have joined 
 in the opposition having previously been deprived of 
 their sees.f Hume goes on to say, " The Act of Suc- 
 cession gave umbrage to all the popish princes more 
 
 * Smollett's Continuation of Hume's History of England, vol. i. p. 401. 
 
 t The eight spiritual peers who were deprived of their sees, on refus- 
 ing to take the oaths to William and Mary, were : Sancroft, Archbishop 
 of Canterbury ; Kenn, Bishop of Bath and Wells ; Lake, Bishop of Chi- 
 chester ; Lloyd, Bishop of Norwich ; Frampton, Bishop of Gloucester ; 
 Thomas, Bishop of Worcester; Turner, Bishop of Ely ; and White, 
 Bishop of Peterborough. Only two of the bishops, Compton of London, 
 (who had been suspended by King James,) and Burnet, who was ad- 
 vanced by William himself, cordially supported the Government. 
 
12 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 nearly related to the crown than this lady whom the 
 Parliament had preferred to all others. The Duchess 
 of Savoy, grand-daughter of King Charles I., by 
 her mother, ordered her ambassador, Count Maffei, 
 to make a solemn protestation to the Parliament of 
 England, in her name, against any resolutions and 
 decisions contrary to her title as sole daughter of 
 the Princess Henrietta, next in succession to the 
 crown of England after King "William and the 
 Princess Anne of Denmark. Two copies of this 
 protest Maffei sent in letters to the Lord Keeper and 
 the Speaker of the Lower House, by two of his 
 gentlemen, and a public notary to attest the delivery, 
 but no notice was taken of the declaration."* 
 
 Sir James Mackintosh is more explicit in his 
 statements than Hume, and isj in fact, the only 
 writer who pretends to give the motives wich in- 
 fluenced the Houses of Parliament in enacting the 
 Act of Settlement. His relation, which, we may 
 premise, rests solely on the authority of Burnet, 
 that unscrupulous Whig partizan, is as follows : 
 ''The most important act of the session of 1701," 
 he writes, " passed under curious or rather whim- 
 sical circumstances, if credit may be given to the 
 History of Bishop Burnet, t It was the Act of Set- 
 
 * Smollett's Continuation of Hume's History of England, vol. i. p. 401. 
 
 t Burnet's words are : " The manner in which the motion of the 
 passing of the Act of Succession, which had been strongly recommended 
 by King William at the opening of the session, was managed, bore little 
 marks of sincerity with it ; it was often put off from day to day, and 
 gave place to the most trifling matters. After a great deal of time had 
 
OF THE STUARTS. 
 
 13 
 
 tlement, vesting the succession to the crown in the 
 House of Brunswick, being Protestant. Sir John 
 Bowles, reputed a madman in the House, was 
 chosen by the Tories to launch the name of the 
 Electress Sophia of Hanover, in order to bring ridi- 
 cule on the Hanoverian succession ; the mover was, 
 as a matter of courtesy or course, chairman of the 
 committee ; and the House no sooner resolved itself 
 into a committee, than the members ran out with 
 such indecent haste, that the contrivers blushed for 
 
 been wasted in preliminaries, when it came to the nomination of the 
 mover, Sir John Bowles, who was then disordered in his senses and soon 
 after quite lost them, was set on by the " (Tory, then ministerial) " party 
 to be the first to name the Eleclress-Dowager of Brunswick, which 
 seemed done to make it less serious, when moved by such a person ; he 
 was, by the forms of the house, put in the chair of the committee, to 
 whom the bill was committed. The thing was still put oif for many 
 weeks ; at every time that it was called for, the motion was entertained 
 with coldness, which served to heighten the jealousy: the committee 
 once or twice sat upon it, but all the members ran out of the house with 
 so much indecency, that the contrivers seemed ashamed of this manage- 
 ment. There were seldom fifty or sixty at the committee, yet, in con- 
 clusion, it passed, and was sent up to the Lords, where it was expected 
 great opposition would be made to it. Some imagined the Act was only 
 an artifice, designed to gain credit to those who at this time were so ill 
 thought of by the nation, that they wanted something colom-able to 
 excuse their other proceedings. Many of the Lords absented themselves 
 on design. Some little opposition was made by the Marquis of Nor- 
 manby ; and four lords, the Earls of Huntingdon and Plymouth, and the 
 Lords Guildford and Jeffries, protested against it. We reckoned it a 
 great point carried, that we had now a law on our side for a Protestant 
 successor ; for we saw plainly a great party formed against it, in favour 
 of the pretended Prince of Wales. Many who called themselves Pro- 
 testants seemed fond of such a successor : a degree of infatuation that 
 justly amazed all who observed it, and saw the fury with which it 
 was promoted." — Vide Burnet's History of his Own Times, vol. iii. 
 pp. 299, 300. 
 
14 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 the management." " There were," he says, " sel- 
 dom fifty or sixty present." " If such was the case," 
 continues Su^ James (and, be it remembered, it is 
 the statement of a Whig partizan), " the Whigs 
 must have been as indifferent about the succession 
 of the House of Brunswick as the Tories. But the 
 Whigs, who were disgusted with King William, 
 could hardly contemplate with pleasure the succes- 
 sion of a petty German prince, disqualified by his 
 foreign habits and matured incapacity for governing 
 on a great scale a free nation like the English. The 
 jesting proposal of the Duke of Devonshire to place 
 the crown on the head of long Tom (the Earl of 
 Pembroke), proves that at least one leading Whig, 
 and perhaps the most eminent and estimable of his 
 party, accepted the Act of Settlement with distaste. 
 It is related by Coke in his Detection, that on one 
 of the masters in Chancery being sent down with 
 the Bill to the Commons, they interrogated him as 
 to what amendments the Lords had made in it, and 
 on being answered by him ' None at all,' several of 
 the members said aloud, 'The Devil take you 
 and your Bill ! ' The Duchess of Savoy also, 
 granddaughter of Charles I., protested very idly 
 against this Bill as an invasion of her hereditary 
 right." * 
 
 Bapin de Thoyras, although a contemporary, and 
 more voluminous historian than even Mackintosh, is 
 curter still in his relation of this piece of parlia- 
 
 * Sir James Mackintosh's History of England, vol. ix. pp. 129—132. 
 
OF THE STUARTS. 
 
 15 
 
 iiientary legislation. He says, On the death of 
 the Duke of Gloucester, the eyes of the nation 
 were turned to Sophia, Electress-Dowager of Han- 
 over, youngest daughter of the Queen of Bohemia, 
 and grand-daughter of King James I. This 
 princess immediately repaired to the Hague, to con- 
 fer with the king on the measures necessary for the 
 present security and eventual establishment of the 
 Protestant succession. The king when the House 
 of Commons met, recommended a further provision 
 for the succession of the crown in the Protestant 
 line, on which they unanimously resolved, after 
 making further provision for the rights and securi- 
 ties of the people, ' that the Princess Sophia, 
 Duchess-Dowager of Hanover, be declared the next 
 in succession to the crown of England ; ' and a Bill 
 was immediately introduced in conformity to these 
 resolutions, and numerous restrictions and limita- 
 tions imposed upon the future inheritor of the 
 crown. The Bill passed with national applause, 
 but it had to encounter an opposition of a singular 
 nature, originating in a remote (?) quarter.*' Anne 
 of Orleans, Duchess of Savoy of the Blood B^oyal of 
 England, by Henrietta her mother, youngest daugh- 
 ter of Charles I., according to the law of hereditary 
 succession, was heiress of the crown of England on 
 the exclusion of James and his posterity. The am- 
 
 * Instead of being remote, it was the nighest quarter possible, 
 llapin himself admits this in the ensuing passage, so strangely does this 
 historian contradict himself ! 
 
16 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 bassador of Savoy delivered a paper to the Speaker 
 of the House of Commons, in which his mistress 
 declared that she gladly embraced the occasion 
 which offered to display to the people of England 
 the pride she took in the right she derived from her 
 descent to that august throne; and after stating 
 her incontestable pretensions, she concluded with 
 protesting against every deliberation and decision 
 ' which shall be contrary thereto.' This protest 
 was, however, deemed too insignificant for notice." * 
 In a note towards the end of the reign of George 
 III., Hapin adds: — "It is well known to every 
 reader of English history, that towards the end of 
 the reign of William III., upon the impending ex- 
 tinction of the Protestant posterity of Charles I., it 
 became necessary to have recourse to the descend- 
 ants of James I., the father of that prince. The 
 throne upon the accession of King "William being 
 limited to Protestants, the Princess Sophia, Elec- 
 tress and Duchess-Dowager of Hanover, was fixed 
 on as the root of a roval stock. She was the 
 youngest daughter of Elizabeth, Queen of Bohemia, 
 who was the daughter of James I., and the nearest 
 of the ancient blood royal, who was not incapaci- 
 tated by professing the Popish religion. On her 
 therefore and the heirs of her body, being Protest- 
 ants, the remainder of the crown expectant on the 
 death of King William III. and Queen Anne with- 
 
 * Rapin de Thoyras's History of England. 
 
OF THE STUARTS. 17 
 
 out issue, was settled by 12th & 13th William III. 
 She is the common ancestor through whom alone 
 the crown of Great Britain can descend. The 
 Princess Sophia dying before Queen Anne, the in- 
 heritance thus descended to her son and heir. King 
 George I.'' 
 
 But the total omission of all notice of the royal 
 family, and of the passing of the Act of Succession, 
 is reserved for Goldsmith ! Will it be credited that 
 this writer's first mention, even incidentally, of the 
 House of Hanover, is conveyed in a passing allusion 
 to the union of England and Scotland ? Speaking 
 on which he casually remarks, "that this treaty 
 stipulated that the succession to the United King- 
 doms should be vested in the House of Hanover,"* 
 he having previously omitted mentioning who the 
 princes of the House of Hanover were, or why they 
 were called to the throne, or in fact anything 
 concerning them. The startling and ridiculous 
 anomaly is thus presented of the House of Hanover 
 being brought suddenly on the tapis, in connexion 
 with the royal family of England, without any ex- 
 planation as to how that connexion originated ; for 
 it must be remembered there is no mention made in 
 history of the marriage which allied them to the 
 British crown, — we allude to that of the Princess 
 Sophia with Ernest Augustus, Duke of Hanover, 
 which engrafted the princes of the Guelph dynasty 
 on our old royal stem. 
 
 * Goldsmith's History of England, vol. iii. p. 214. 
 
 C 
 
18 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 Keiglitley, as an historian, is more explicit than 
 Goldsmith ; he, after narrating the death of the 
 Duke of Gloucester, thus writes: — "The next heir 
 to the crown was the Duchess of Savoy, daughter of 
 Henrietta, youngest child of Charles I. ; hut her 
 religion excluding her, the nearest Protestant to the 
 throne was Sophia, Dowager Electress of Hanover, 
 daughter of the queen of Bohemia, the sister of that 
 monarch. In the speech from the throne the sub- 
 ject was pressed on the attention of Parliament, and 
 no time was lost in preparing a Bill for that pur- 
 pose. The Act of Settlement, which was now passed, 
 limited the succession of the crown to the Princess 
 Sophia,and the heirs of her body being Protestants."* 
 
 The only mention we have found as to who first 
 prompted the bestowal of the crown on the Elec- 
 tress Sophia of Hanover, is contained in an old 
 work, published so far back as 1720, entitled a 
 " History of the Ducal House of Hanover."! It 
 is there stated, with what truth we will not vouch, 
 that it was Burnet who first entertained the idea. 
 The writer goes on to say that that prelate, being 
 on a visit to the Elector of Hanover, and finding 
 him disposed to espouse the side of Prance in pre- 
 ference to that of England, in the war then impend- 
 ing (this was towards the middle of the reign of 
 William III.), held out as a bait to him the pos- 
 sible reversion of the crown of England. He pointed 
 
 * Keightley's History of England, vol. ii. p. 425. 
 t It is dedicated to George I. 
 
OF THE STUARTS. 
 
 19 
 
 out to him the thinness of the English royal family, 
 William III. and Queen Anne, the only Protestant 
 members of it, being childless ; that all the inter- 
 mediate princes and princesses next in succession 
 were Roman Catholics, and the facility with which 
 Parliament, passing them over on that score, might 
 be induced to remit the crown to him and his 
 descendants. George, it is said, was convinced 
 by these arguments, espoused the party of Great 
 Britain, and as a necessary result became its 
 future sovereign. 
 
 This statement seems to receive further corrobo- 
 ration from Burnet himself, who says that at the 
 Revolution, when the succession was declared to be 
 vested in the issue of Queen Mary, Queen Anne, 
 and King William ; that the latter proposed to him 
 that Sophia, Duchess of Hanover, should be de- 
 clared the next in succession after them, and that 
 he (Burnet) should undertake to moot the question 
 to the House, ''because he had already set it 
 on foot, and the Duke of Hanover had now other 
 thoughts of the matter " (evidently implying that it 
 had been previously hinted to him), '' and was sepa- 
 rating himself from the interests of Prance.*'* 
 
 The writer of the " History of the Ducal House 
 of Hanover," as also Burnet and Halliday,t state 
 
 * Burnet, vol. iii. p. 16. 
 
 t Halliday's " History of the House of Guelph, or Eoyal Family of 
 Great Britain," The statements contained in this work would be 
 supposed to carry weight with them, from the fact that the writer 
 accompanied his Royal Highness the Duke of Clarence, afterwards King 
 
 c 2 
 
20 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 that the excluded members of the royal family 
 were, at the accession of George I., forty in num- 
 ber ; a computation, which although approxi- 
 mating to, is not strictly exact, as Macpher son's 
 Hanover Papers " more correctly estimate them at 
 fifty-seven.* 
 
 We have noAV quoted the various accounts of the 
 passing of the Act of Succession as related by 
 
 William IV. to Hanover, purposely to make explorations concerning 
 the history and genealogy of the royal house. It is, moreover, dedicated 
 to George IV. That the genealogical pedigrees in it are often most incor- 
 rect, is, however, undeniable. We shall afterwards call attention to 
 a few of these inaccuracies. 
 
 * They were fifty-three in number ; viz., the Prince of AVales ; Anne, 
 Queen of Sardinia ; Victor Philip, Prince of Piedmont ; Charles Ema- 
 nuel III., King of Sardinia; Louis XV., King of France; Louis L, 
 King of Spain; and Ferdinand VL, King of Spain. These seven were 
 Stuarts. The remainder, who were Stuart-Simmerens, were — Elizabeth 
 Charlotte, Duchess of Orleans ; Philip, the Regent Duke of Orleans ; 
 Louis L, Duke of Orleans ; Mary Louisa, Duchess of Berri ; Adelaide of 
 Orleans, Abbess of Chelles ; Charlotte, Duchess of Modena ; Louisa, 
 Queen of Spain ; Philippa of Orleans ; Elizabeth Charlotte, Duchess of 
 Lorraine ; Francis, Emperor of Germany ; Prince Charles of Lorraine ; 
 Elizabeth, Queen of Sardinia ; Charlotte of Lorraine, Abbess of Remi- 
 remont ; Louis, Prince of Salms ; Dorothy, Rhinegravine ; Elizabeth, 
 Princess of Ligne ; Christina of Salms ; Eleanor of Salms ; Anne, Princess 
 of Conde ; Louis IV,, Prince of Conde ; Charles, Count of CharoUois ; 
 Louis, Count of Clermont ; Mary of Conde, Abbess of St. Anthony des 
 Champs ; Louis Anne of Conde ; Louisa, Princess of Conti ; Mary 
 Ann of Conde ; Henrietta of Conde, Abbess of Beaumont ; Elizabeth of 
 Conde ; Mary Theresa, Princess of Conti ; Louis Armand, Prince of 
 Conti; Mary, Princess of Conde ; Louisa of Conti ; Louisa, Duchess of 
 Maine; Louis, Prince of Dombes; Charles, Count of Eu; Louisa of 
 Maine ; Mary Anne, Duchess of Vendome ; Benedicta, Duchess of 
 , Hanover ; Francis, Duke of Modena ; Prince John of Modena ; Bene- 
 dicta of Modena; Amelia of Modena; Henrietta, Duchess of Parma; 
 Wilhelmina, Empress of Germany; Josephine, Queen of Poland; and 
 Amelia, Empress of Germany. 
 
OF THE STUARTS. 
 
 21 
 
 our leading historians, and could crowd our pages 
 with the testimony of many others were it requisite ; 
 this, however, would be both tedious and superflu- 
 ous, since it is evident they would be mere repeti- 
 tions of what we have already advanced; enough 
 has been adduced to establish our proposition that 
 the Excluded Members of the Eoyal Pamily were 
 wholly ignored in the transaction, and they and 
 their posterity consigned to oblivion. In fact, 
 the details that are furnished, relating solely to the 
 passing of the Act, are so meagre and contradictory, 
 — some contending it was passed for the express 
 purpose of settling the crown on the House of 
 Hanover, others, and more correctly, that it was 
 only to confirm a prior right established at the 
 ^Revolution, — that were it not for the narrative of 
 Burnet we should have great difiiculty in reconcil- 
 ing these discrepancies. Prom him we learn that the 
 task of proposing the Princess Sophia, Duchess of 
 Hanover, as the next in succession to the English 
 crown after Queen Mary, Queen Anne, and King 
 William, was committed to him by the latter dur- 
 ing the session of 1689, as above narrated. On his 
 making this motion, "the Lords," he says, "at 
 once agreed to it, but the Commons refused to con- 
 cur with them, alleging that as there were many 
 nearer the crown in lineal succession (than the 
 Princess Sophia), who were Poman Catholics, it 
 would be only fair towards them if Parliament 
 refrained from personally naming the next heir to 
 
22 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 the throne after King William, Queen Mary, and 
 Queen Anne, in order that the opportunity might 
 be afforded them of renouncing the Popish faith, 
 which constituted their bar of exclusion. These ar- 
 guments, supported by the Tories and Republicans, 
 were regarded as so conclusive, that Burnet's mo- 
 tion was rejected; and the resolutions passed merely 
 enacted that "the crown should descend only to 
 Protestants," thus virtually, though not explicitly, 
 placing the Princess Sophia next in succession.* 
 Thus matters stood until the death of the Duke of 
 Gloucester, when the Electress Sophia was formally 
 declared heiress to the throne, none of the inter- 
 mediate princes having chosen in the interim to 
 renounce the Popish faith. This relation, which 
 appears to be a moderately correct one, of the 
 events of this momentous epoch, accounts for the 
 varying statements of historians, as it was the Act 
 of Succession which settled the crown on the House 
 of Hanover, though their right to it was established 
 at the E-evolution ; and thus are the seeming discre- 
 pancies of historians solved. 
 
 Before entering, however, into particulars relative 
 to the excluded members of the royal family, it is ne- 
 cessary to give some brief account of the illustrious 
 house from which they sprang, and the rather as 
 
 * Macaulay says this relation of Burnet's is " grossly inaccurate," and 
 that though his motion passed the Lords, it was rejected by the Com- 
 mons, nemine contradicente. — Vide Macaulaxfs and Hallani's Histories of 
 England. 
 
OF THE STUARTS. 
 
 23 
 
 historians, to serve party purposes, have not hesi- 
 tated in misstating and falsifying their pedigree — 
 in the hope, we can but suppose, of confusing in 
 the reader's mind the difference betwixt the lineal 
 representative and a lineal representative of a 
 monarch, than which nothing can be more diverse. 
 An instance will suffice to illustrate this : thus, for 
 example, the present Duke of Modena is the repre- 
 sentative of James I., though any of the other 
 European sovereigns can challenge the title of a^ 
 representative of that monarch, and deduce an un- 
 broken descent from him. This distinction should 
 always be borne in mind, or much confusion will be 
 engendered. We are sorry at being compelled to 
 add, that this is what some writers seem as if they 
 sought to create, to the utter destruction of historical 
 truth. Thus Halliday, not content with omitting 
 all notice of the excluded princes and princesses, 
 falls into the error of asserting that " the House of 
 Hanover is the representative of Egbert, our first 
 Saxon king, and that they have, even according to 
 the rules of hereditary right, a better title to the 
 crown than the descendants of Anne of Sardinia, 
 though the Act, of Succession had never existed! " 
 the very Act as all historians record, by virtue of 
 which they ascended the throne ! The assumption, 
 that in the House of Hanover is concentred the 
 representation of Egbert, though that of William the 
 Conqueror is perhaps" vested in the Duke of Mo- 
 dena, is a gross fallacy, for the Duke of Modena not 
 
24 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 only represents William the Conqueror, but he con- 
 centres in himself the lineal descent of that monarch 
 and Egbert.* His descent, which is that of the 
 House of Stuart, being thus deduced : — 
 
 Egbert, first King of England, d. 836. 
 
 Ethelwolf, d. 838. 
 
 Alfred, d. 901. 
 
 Edward I., d. 925. 
 
 Edmund I., d. 946. 
 
 Edgar, d. 975. 
 
 Ethelred, II., d. 1016. 
 
 Edmund II., d. 1016. 
 
 Edward (never reigned), d. 1057. f 
 
 Margaret (sister of Edgar Atheling), m. Malcolm III., King of Scotland, 
 by wbom sbe had issue David I., King of Scotland, ancestor of the Scottish 
 or senior line (in whom the representation of Egbert continues), and 
 
 * Hallam confirms this statement when he writes : — " The House of 
 Hanover derive not their right to the throne from the ancient families of 
 the Plantagenets and the Tudors. The blood, indeed, of Cerdic and the 
 Conqueror flows in the veins of her present Majesty. Our Edwards and 
 Henrys illustrate the almost unrivalled splendour and antiquity of the 
 House of Brunswick. But they have transmitted no more right to the 
 allegiance of England than Boniface of Este or Henry the Lion. That 
 rests wholly on the] Act of Settement, and resolves itself into the sove- 
 reignty of the legislature." — Hallam, vol. iii. p. 245. 
 
 t Prince Edward, though undoubted heir to the throne, never reigned 
 as king of England. The ascendancy of the Danish dynasty on the 
 death of his father Edmund II. became so complete, that Prince Ed- 
 ward, then of tender years, was banished by Canute to Hungary. On 
 the restoration of the Saxon dynasty, in the person of Edward the Con- 
 fessor, it was this Edward, generally styled the Outlaw, who should 
 have occupied his uncle's place, but he being far distant, in Hungary, 
 and his uncle close at hand (in Normandy), that prince was selected. 
 After he was seated on the throne, he sent a summons to his nephew to 
 
OF THE STUAUTS. 
 
 25 
 
 Matilda, wife of Henry I., King of England, progenitress of the English 
 or junior line (representing William the Conqueror), which branches, 
 after an interval of four hundred years, were reunited by the marriage of 
 Margaret, eldest daughter of Henry VH., King of England, to James IV., 
 King of Scotland : therefore, in their lineal descendant must remain the 
 representation of Egbert and William the Conqueror. It is thus appa- 
 rent that the ancient Saxon dynasty, banished by William the Conqueror, 
 regained its position by the accession of James I., who was the lineal 
 representative of both monarchs. 
 
 The descent of the Scottish Senior The descent of the English Junior 
 Branch : — Branch : — 
 
 David I., King of Scotland, d. 1153. Matilda, wife of Henry I., King 
 
 I of England, d. 1118. 
 
 Henry, d. 1152. | 
 
 I The Empress Matilda, d. 1167. 
 
 David, Earl of Huntingdon, d. 1219. | 
 
 I Henry II., King of England, 
 
 Isabella, Countess of Carrick, d. 1189. 
 
 d. 1267.* i 
 
 I John, d. 1216. 
 
 join him in England, intending to adopt him as his heir, which he was 
 only prevented doing by the premature death of Prince Edward, who 
 deceased immediately after his arrival in London, A.D. 1057. He left 
 issue a son Edgar, surnamed the Atheling, and two daughters, Margaret 
 and Christina. Prince Edgar, thus become his father's heir, made no 
 attempt to enforce his rights, and, strange to say, lived on the most 
 amicable terms with his formidable supplanters Williams I. and II. 
 He died succession perishing, on which his sister Margaret, wife of 
 Malcolm III., King of Scotland, became his heiress, as narrated. 
 
 * Isabella, Countess of Carrick, is always considered the heiress and 
 representative of David, Earl of Huntingdon, though that prince's 
 second daughter ; the reason being that the descendants of Margaret, 
 her elder sister, voluntarily renounced the rights conferred on them by 
 their birth. It was this David, Earl of Huntingdon, who was the father of 
 the three ladies whose sons disputed the Scottish throne with such per- 
 tinacity on the death of the Maid of Norway. Their disputes, which 
 entailed such miseries on their unfortunate country, originated thus : — 
 David, Earl of Huntingdon, dying 1219, left issue (besides three sons 
 and a daughter who died s. p.) three daughters, to wit : — 
 
 1. Margaret, married to Allan, Lord of Galloway. 
 
 2. Isabella, 
 
26 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 Robert Bruce, the competitor, Earl | 
 of Carrick, d. 1295. Henry HI,, d. 1272. 
 
 I I 
 
 Robert Bruce, Earl of Carrick, Edward I., d. 1307. 
 d. 1303. I 
 
 I Edward II., d. 1327. 
 Robert I., King of Scotland, d. 1329. | 
 
 I Edward III., d. 1377. 
 Marjory, d. 1316. | 
 
 I Lionel, Duke of Clarence, d. 1368. 
 Robert II., King of Scotland, | 
 
 d. 1390. Phillipa, Countess of March. 
 
 Robert III., d. 1406. Roger, Earl of March, d. 1398. 
 
 James I., d. 1438. Anne, Countess of Cambridge. 
 
 James II., d. 1460. ^ Richard, Duke of York, d. 1460. 
 
 James III., d. 1488. Edward IV., King of England, 
 
 d. 1482. 
 
 Elizabeth (wife of Henry VII.), 
 d. 1502. 
 
 I 
 
 James IV. married Margaret (elder daughter of Henry VII). 
 Issue. 
 
 James V., King of Scotland, d. 1542. 
 
 I 
 
 Mary, Queen of Scots, d. 1587. 
 
 James I., King of Great Britain, d. 1625. 
 This is the lineal descent of the Royal Family from Egbert and Wil- 
 liam the Conqueror to James I. 
 
 2. Isabella, married to Bruce, Earl of Carrick, in whom the represen- 
 tation of the royal family, consequent on the resignation of Margaret's 
 descendants, continued. 
 
 3. Ada, man-ied to Henry, Lord Hastings, who all laid pretensions to 
 the Scottish crown. Margaret, the eldest daughter, had issue by Allan, 
 Lord of Galloway, the celebrated Devergoil, mother of John Baliol, King 
 of Scots. She died 1290, when her indubitable pretensions vested in her 
 son John, who submitting them to the arbitration of Edward L, King of 
 England, in opposition to his cousin Bruce, Earl of Carrick, received the 
 award of that monarch in his favour. But this king, indignant at 
 
OF THE STUARTS. 
 
 27 
 
 It will hardly be credited that Halliday, in tracing 
 the pedigree of the House of Brunswick, endeavours 
 to confound it with that of the then royal family of 
 England. He pretends that because the princes of 
 the House of Hanover are the lineal representatives 
 of Matilda, eldest daughter of Henry II., and com- 
 bine with that a representation (not the representa- 
 tion) of James I., that "the union of these two 
 bloods renders their claim superior to every other, 
 
 the contumely heaped upon him by Edward, after a reign of four 
 years, voluntarily abdicated his throne to Bruce, thus effecting a legal 
 renunciation of his birthright. A similar case to this has occurred 
 in modern times, viz., that of the late Emperor Nicholas of Russia, who 
 ascended the throne in virtue of the renunciation of his brother Con- 
 stantine for himself and heirs, which renunciation has always been held 
 valid. King John Baliol afterwards retired into France, where he died 
 1314, leaving issue two sons, Edward and Henry. The former, unmind- 
 ful of his father's solemn abdication — for John Baliol had, of his own 
 accord, formally and in presence of his court, in Normandy, renounced 
 for himself and heirs the Scottish throne — seized the first favourable 
 opportunity which presented itself of usurping that dignity. The 
 coveted coronet, however, proved but a crown of thorns to him, so that 
 ultimately, like his father, he resigned the luckless diadem ; the income 
 of £2,000 per annum, a splendid sum in those days, offered him by 
 Edward III., not being without effect on his determination. This prince, 
 who had married a niece of the king of France, retired to his estates in 
 Normandy, where he died 1363 s. p. His brother Henry also left no 
 issue, so that the representation of the Baliol family centred finally in 
 the (reputed) youngest sister of John Baliol, Mary, wife of the Red 
 Comyn, who was murdered by Bruce. In whom they now vest it is im- 
 possible certainly to state, though in default of evidence to the contrary, 
 there is every reason to believe that to the Earls of Shrewsbury belong 
 the honour of being the lineal representatives of Egbert. In fact, Craw- 
 ford states, that any positive and undeniably correct information con- 
 cerning the descendants of the Baliols cannot now be ascertained ; and 
 Burke, in his " Patrician," writes : — *' The genealogy of the Baliol family 
 is most obscure and indeterminable, and is rather guessed at than satis- 
 factorily known." The following, after a careful collation of the various 
 authorities, is, we believe, the most correct that can be arrived at. 
 
28 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 though the Act of Succession had never existed as 
 if a descent from a daughter of a king, and that one so 
 
 It 
 I 
 
 f 
 
 I"' 
 St) 
 
 y 
 
 1^ 
 51 1. 
 
 C3 03 
 
 C5 P^ 
 
 III 
 
 am «. 
 
 P'TJI-H 
 
 fl a s 
 
 >- a, . 
 
 o 
 
 CO 
 
 1^ 
 
 I 
 
 O bo 
 
 ^ 5 
 
 CO! 
 
 § 
 
 I ^ 
 
 IP 
 
 ^ S 8 
 
 So o 
 
 13 ^5 ;m <U • 
 
 1^ 
 
 I? bo 
 
 I 
 
 o 
 
 ftp, 
 
 o a) 
 
 p ^ 
 
 ^ 'So 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 ^ OS 
 
 If 
 ^. I 
 fi PQ 
 
 - I 
 
 <i) is 
 
OF THE STUARTS. 
 
 29 
 
 remote as Henry IL, could possibly confer any lineal 
 title to the crown. If it were so indeed, and the true 
 succession vested in Matilda, she, in preference to 
 her brothers. Kings Richard and John, would have 
 been the lawful inheritrix of the crown of England. 
 Such reasoning is simply ridiculous, and Halliday 
 should have been aware, that were it adopted, any 
 sovereign in Europe could put in better pretensions 
 on such a score. We should not have noted this 
 inaccuracy, which may seem irrelevant to our subject, 
 were it not that Halliday leads his readers to suppose, 
 at least by implication, that his pedigree of the 
 royal family contains the lineal descent, for he says 
 he " considers it not the least interesting part of the 
 work, as the descent is direct and regular, without 
 doubt or interruption;" and there is nothing won- 
 derful in this, or deserving of particular attention, 
 were it not the lineal descent, as a lineal descent 
 might be pleaded in favour of any reigning European 
 prince. " Our illustrious Queen's right," as Miss 
 Strickland truly observes, " is founded on the sound- 
 est principles, both of constitutional freedom of 
 choice in the people, and legitimate descent from 
 the ancient monarchs of the realm." It was con- 
 ferred by the unsolicited suffrages of our ancestors 
 on her Majesty's progenitress, the Princess Sophia, 
 because she was the one, and the only one, of the 
 royal family who remained true to the faith of her 
 fathers, to that pure Protestant faith, which, ever 
 since the Reformation, has through good report and 
 
30 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 evil report, been consistently held by the majority of 
 Britons ; and which that princess's uncle, King 
 Charles I., shed his blood on the scaffold to main- 
 tain. How sad it is to reflect that the sons of such 
 a father should have proved so unworthy of their 
 sire ! "It hath been found," enacted Parliament in 
 1689, " that it is inconsistent with the safety and 
 welfare of this Protestant kingdom to be governed 
 by a popish prince and this maxim, undoubtedly a 
 correct one, constitutes her Majesty's right, for she 
 is the lineal descendant of both Egbert and "William 
 the Conqueror, professing the Protestant faith, and as 
 Blackstone writes, " the title to the crown is heredi- 
 tary, though not quite so absolutely hereditary as 
 formerly, for formerly the descent was absolute, now 
 the inheritance is conditional, being limited only to 
 those who are Protestant members of the Church of 
 England, and are married to none but Protestants."* 
 It was this latter clause which affected the title of 
 George IV., on the supposition of his being married 
 to Mrs. Eitzherbert, and gave his friends the oppor- 
 tunity of stating, that he was, and yet was not, 
 married to her, for since it was forbidden the heir to 
 the throne to espouse a papist, it followed, as he 
 was that heir, he could not have legally married her : 
 the inverse proposition was, though of course courtly 
 etiquette forbade its utterance, that, inasmuch as he 
 was married to a papist he was no longer heir to the 
 crown ! 
 
 * Blackstone on the King and his title. 
 
OF THE STUARTS. 
 
 31 
 
 Having thus shown her Majesty's indisputable 
 title to the crown, and the true grounds on which it 
 is founded, and rectified the errors which through a 
 false servility or partiality have crept into the pedi- 
 gree of the House of Stuart,* we proceed with our 
 
 * Perhaps the grossest example of Halliday's inaccuracy is conveyed 
 in the following absurd statement. He says, speaking of the descent 
 of Otho, the Infant, one of the Dukes of Brunswick, that " had he been 
 a Scotsman, his claim to that throne would have been as good as either 
 Bruce's or Baliol's." To show the fallacy of this assertion, a parallel 
 statement would be to say, that any descendants of the younger children 
 of her present Majesty would have as good a title to the crown as the 
 Prince of Wales and his descendants, provided only they were English- 
 men. Nay, according to this theory, nearly all the nobility might bring 
 forward some antiquated claim, if all the proof required of their right 
 were to consist in an uninterrupted descent from an English sovereign. 
 That Otho's relationship to the Scottish throne was merely on this foot- 
 ing will be seen from the following table. Malcolm III., King of Scot- 
 land, married Margaret, sister and heiress of Edgar Atheling, who was 
 the representative of Egbert, and had issue 
 
 I. I . . 
 
 David I., King of Scotland, Matilda, wife of Henry I., King 
 
 I of England, 
 
 Henry, Prince of Scotland, | 
 
 I The Empress Matilda. 
 
 David, Earl of Huntingdon, | 
 
 I Henry II., King of England. 
 
 Isabella, Countess of Carrick, I 
 
 I Matilda, Duchess of Saxony. 
 
 Robert Bruce, the Competitor, | 
 
 I William, Duke of Saxony. 
 
 Robert Bruce, | 
 
 I Otho, the Infant, Duke of 
 
 Robert (Bruce) I., King of Scot- Saxony, 
 land. 
 
 Thus it will be seen that, independently of Otho's descending from 
 a younger scion of the house, he was not, even as Halliday asserts, 
 in the same degree, *' sixth in descent " from Malcolm • so much for 
 the dependence to be placed on the genealogical deductions of this 
 historian. One very common error with many writers is the assertion 
 that Matilda, wife of Henry I., King of England, was her father's 
 heiress, to the prejudice of her brother, David I., King of Scotland. 
 
 That 
 
32 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 narrative at the period it has brought us down to ; 
 that is, to the times of King James I., who was the 
 father of Charles I., England^s sainted martyr king, 
 at mention of whose name, whose heart does not 
 beat with emotion ? Who has not vividly and cor- 
 poreally brought before him the lineaments of that 
 noble and sorrowful countenance, as handed down 
 in the immortal productions of Vandyke ? What a 
 proud and dignified expression is there in the glance 
 of that eagle eye ; yet, withal, so sad and mournful, 
 as if might be read in his very looks the solemn 
 martyrdom that awaited him ! But to those who 
 have no sympathy for the hapless monarch, who, 
 far from commiserating him, consider him only 
 to have suffered the just penalty of his political 
 offences, we would say a few words expiatory of his 
 public career. That Charles I. was a good man, 
 husband, father, and friend, is admitted by all; 
 though that he was not a good king is equally true, 
 for he was not harsh enough or brutal enough for 
 the times in which he lived, — we mean, if he would 
 have retained intact the authority God had given 
 him, and the privileges handed down to him by his 
 predecessors. Dare any of the most bigoted con- 
 That this statement was propagated during her lifetime is undoubt- 
 edly true ; for it was done with the avowed and perhaps laudable 
 object of inducing in the English nation the belief that she was the 
 heiress of lidgar Atheling, whose children would, of course, repre- 
 sent the old beloved Saxon dynasty. And so the delusion, perpe- 
 tuated, not unwisely at the time, for the law of succession was not 
 then so accurately defined as it is now, has been propagated by succeeding 
 historians, certainly, not creditably to their discriminative accuracy. 
 
OF THE STUARTS. 
 
 33 
 
 temners of the House of Stuart allege that Charles 
 encroached on our liberties, as handed down to him 
 by Henry VIII., Mary I., and Elizabeth? they 
 cannot, for we had none left to encroach upon. 
 The truth is, Charles died a martyr in defence of 
 our church and our laws; for it was he who de- 
 fended, whilst the Parliament attacked both. Charles 
 feU, and with him, in one common ruin, our 
 Anglican Church and State ! Not that Parliament 
 were altogether in fault, far from it; a collision 
 caused by the growing independence and enlighten- 
 ment of mankind, who refused any longer blindly 
 to submit to the tyranny of harsh, and often perse- 
 cuting statutes, was inevitable ; it came, but it does 
 not necessarily result that either Charles or the 
 Commons were to blame. To a certain extent, 
 indeed, both parties must be acquitted of evil, for 
 originally they were unconscious of their mutual 
 danger: that the contest was mainly engendered 
 by the furious zeal of the Commons on behalf of 
 Presbytery and their equally intense hatred of Pre- 
 lacy, there is little doubt. Still less can it be 
 doubted that Charles was, legally speaking, in the 
 right, and Parliament in the wrong ; for the domi- 
 nion exercised by Elizabeth surely exceeded that 
 which Charles or his predecessor ever wielded. In 
 justice to this monarch we cannot, as some, who 
 condemn him with the head, while they sympathise 
 from the heart with him, merely say, Place yourself, 
 reader, in his position, fancy his difficulties your 
 
 D 
 
34 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 difficulties, his afflictions your afflictions, and what, 
 could he have foreseen it, would have filled his cup 
 to the overflowing — the knowledge that that Church 
 for which he shed his blood would be endangered 
 by the Popery of his own children ; and that those 
 members who were one with him in his love for 
 it would be through the inscrutable providence 
 of God cut off in the flower of their days, as if to 
 show it was not human but divine instrumentality 
 that was to watch over and protect his church ; and 
 then say, Would you not have acted as he did ? 
 But what we do say is, that any one wishing to 
 impartially judge Charles I. must do so solely 
 from the data he had for his guidance, and not, as 
 is too often done, by the experience of the last two 
 centuries ; 1625, not 1855, furnishes the criteria 
 by which he should be tried ; for what knowledge 
 had Charles of Revolutions, or of the doctrine of" the 
 Rights of the People," as contradistinguished from 
 His own Rights as the vicegerent of his divine 
 Master, to whom alone he held himself responsible ? 
 The examples of subjects resisting their prince were 
 confined to what was then considered remote and 
 barbarous ages,* whilst the unqualified submission, 
 then almost universally rendered them, was viewed 
 as the natural consequence of enlightened and ad- 
 
 * Even the combined resistance of the barons and people to King 
 John when they wrested from the wily monarch that inestimable code 
 of laws, Magna Charta, was regarded, in the times of which we are 
 speaking, as a monstrous sample of rebellion to theu' Prince, indicative 
 of the barbarous ideas pervading a semi-civilized age. 
 
OF THE STUARTS. 
 
 35 
 
 vanced ideas, based upon those precepts of the New 
 Testament so uncompromisingly maintained by our 
 Anglican divines, who taught as an infallible dogma 
 "that it was by God alone kings reigned, and 
 princes executed justice." If fair allowance be 
 made for these principles, the dominant ones of the 
 day, and the dif&culties Charles had to contend 
 with be impartially considered, we are not certain 
 that there are not grounds for suspecting that this 
 prince has had his full share of the obloquy by 
 which all the Stuart family, root and branch, have 
 been assailed. But we must not linger here; yet 
 the countenance of Charles has stayed us, and that 
 sorrowful, reproachful glance, which seems so fear- 
 lessly and tranquilly to challenge the verdict of pos- 
 terity, has haunted us, and seemed to impel us to 
 utter a word in defence of him who is but too often 
 misjudged and calumniated, even by those who are 
 taught to pray "that his memory may be ever 
 blessed among us, and that we also may follow the 
 example of his courage and constancy, his meekness, 
 patience, and great charity." Yes; "though his 
 end seemed to be without honour, he is now in 
 peace ; for though he was punished in the sight of 
 men, yet was his hope full of immortality."* He- 
 turn we more immediately to our subject. 
 
 King Charles I. married, after an abortive nego- 
 tiation for the hand of the Infanta Mary of Spain 
 
 * Book of Common Prayer. Commemoration Service for the Martyr- 
 dom of the Blessed King Charles I. 
 
 D 2 
 
36 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 (in which, like a true knight errant, he went over 
 in person to court his lady love), the Princess 
 Henrietta of Prance, third and youngest daughter 
 of the great Henri Quatre. This union was solem- 
 nized immediately after his accession to the throne, 
 22nd May, 1625 ; and hy it he had, besides two 
 children who died in infancy, three sons and three 
 daughters ; viz. Charles, James, and Henry ; Mary, 
 Elizabeth, and Henrietta. It is necessary, in order 
 that the relation of the Excluded Members of the 
 Royal Eamily to the throne be clearly understood, 
 that we devote a short space to each of these 
 princes and princesses. 
 
 Charles, the eldest son, is so well known in his- 
 tory as England's Second Charles, that a few words 
 descriptive of his career will suffice. This prince 
 was born 29th May, 1630, and was consequently 
 but a youth of eighteen when his father's murder 
 inducted him into the nominal possession of his 
 legal rights ; though not until the death of Crom- 
 well did he actually realize them, his entry into his 
 capital taking place 29th May, 1660, his birthday, 
 amid the universal plaudits of his subjects. It is said 
 that, seeing the throng who pressed him on his route 
 to inherit the throne of his fathers, bedewing him 
 with their repentant tears and acclamations, Charles 
 gave vent to the touching exclamation of " What 
 has kept me so long from my people ? " what, 
 indeed, had, but the iron tyranny of Cromwell and 
 his myrmidons ? Charles espoused in the year 1662 
 
OF THE STUARTS. 
 
 37 
 
 the Princess Katherine of Portugal, daughter of 
 John, first King of the Braganza dynasty ; and this 
 union laid the foundation of that happy intimacy 
 which has, with few exceptions, subsisted to the pre- 
 sent day between Great Britain and Portugal. By 
 this princess Charles had, unfortunately, no issue ; 
 and dying, 1685, was succeeded on the throne by his 
 brother James, an avowed Roman Catholic. There is 
 too much reason to fear that Charles himself died, 
 even if he had not lived, in the communion of that 
 faith; the only difference betwixt his brother and 
 himself being that he did not care to risk his popu- 
 larity, may be his throne, by an open profession of 
 it. So much for the religious principles of the 
 degenerate eldest son of the Martyr King. 
 
 James, second son of Charles I., hitherto known 
 as the Duke of York, next ascended the English 
 throne, under the title of James II. This prioce was 
 born the Hth of October, 1633, but his career is so 
 notorious that we must be very brief in our com- 
 ments. On his father's escape from Oxford in 1646, 
 James fell, with other members of the court, into the 
 hands of the victorious Parliamentarians, by whom 
 he was consigned to the guardianship of the Duke 
 of Northumberland ; but this nobleman's vigilance 
 he managed so successfully to elude, that prior to 
 his father's death he effected his escape into Prance. 
 Arrived at Paris, he was beset by his mother with 
 the most importunate entreaties for his conversion 
 to the Eomish faith; but these overtures, to his 
 
38 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 credit be it said, he firmly rejected. He even gave 
 up, what was then no nominal sacrifice, home, 
 mother, and friends, rather than waver in his 
 allegiance to the Church of his fathers. Until his 
 brother's restoration, James wandered on the Conti- 
 nent without home or friends and almost penni- 
 less ; yet we must except from the censure of 
 deserting him his loving sister, the Princess of 
 Orange, who was beyond all praise in her efforts to 
 support and protect her exiled brothers. 
 
 In December, 1659, James contracted himself, 
 beiQg then in exile at Breda, in Brabant, to Anne 
 Hyde, daughter of the great Earl of Clarendon, and 
 three months after the Bestoration, he openly 
 espoused her in London. As Anne was one of the 
 maids of honour to his sister, the Princess of 
 Orange, it was only James's strict sense of honour 
 which induced him to espouse her, — an unfortunate 
 union, as it afterwards proved, both for himself and 
 his people. In 1671 James made an open profession 
 of the Bomish faith, but it is to be feared that he had 
 for some time been a secret convert. What prompted 
 him to an open avowal of his belief was the death 
 of his wife, which occurred at this time, and who on 
 her death-bed declared herself a Boman Catholic. 
 Doubtless no pains had been spared by the Papal 
 party to bring over to their Church the expected 
 inheritors of the crown of England ! We have 
 reason to be thankful that while man proposes, 
 it is God who disposes of events ; for certainly the 
 
or THE STUARTS. 
 
 39 
 
 Papists, could it have been predicted to them, would 
 liavc received with a smile of incredulity the start- 
 ling assertion that the Head of their own Church 
 would plot the overthrow of a Catholic King of 
 England, and the substitution of a Protestant in his 
 room ; yet so the providence of God had decreed it. 
 
 Two years after his first wife's death, on the 30th 
 of September, 1673, James married Mary Beatrice 
 of the far-famed house of Este, daughter of Alphonso, 
 Duke of Modena, — a princess whom le grand mon- 
 arque hesitated not in describing as the first lady 
 in Europe : "If you would know," said he one day, 
 addressing a princess of his family, " what a queen 
 should be like, you have only to see the Queen of 
 England." She was, indeed, a princess of unri- 
 valled charms, both mentally and corporeally. To- 
 wards the latter end of the reign of Charles II., 
 James underwent much obloquy and persecution at 
 the hands of the Whig party, whose bill for denud- 
 ing him of the succession they were all but success- 
 ful in passing. Twice was his brother enforced to 
 banish him, or his life would not have been secure, 
 to Holland and Scotland. Erom about the year 1680 
 he was, however, less molested. 
 
 It was on the 6th of Eebruary, 1685, that James 
 became, by his brother's death. King of England. 
 The events of his reign are engraven in history, and 
 do not need repetition. In consequence of a suc- 
 cession of ill-judged attempts to restore the Papal 
 domination in Britain ; or, as he solemnly avers to 
 
40 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 have been his only object, the bare toleration of his 
 own or any other religion in our country ; James was, 
 on the birth of a son, who would, of course, hare 
 been educated in his father's faith, driven from the 
 throne. He retii'ed into France, where, notmth- 
 standing several efforts to regain his lost kingdom, 
 he ended his days on the 16th September, 1701, 
 only six months before his ambitious son and sup- 
 planter AYilliam. 
 
 James had issue by his first wife, Anne Hyde, 
 besides six children who died in infancy ; two 
 daughters, Mary and Anne, born 1662 and 1664, 
 and both in rotation queens of England, who had 
 the unenviable honour of bringing down his grey 
 hairs in sorrow to the grave. By his second wife, 
 Mary Beatrice, besides four children who died in 
 infancy, he had a son, James, the innocent cause of 
 his father's deposition, born 10th June, 1688 ; and 
 a daughter, Louisa, born during his days of exile, 
 28th of June, 1692, at St. Germain's. This princess, 
 whom he viewed as given in answer to his special 
 prayers, he surnamed la Consolatrice, or " the Com- 
 forter ; " because now, he said, he had a daughter 
 who had never sinned against him." ^ It is sad to 
 think that all the good and noble qualities which 
 this monarch undoubtedly possessed were rendered 
 useless, nay, dangerous, to his people by the profes- 
 sion of an alien faith; but still more sad is it to 
 
 * Strickland's Queens of England, Life of Mary Beatrice of Modena. 
 
OF THE STUARTS. 
 
 41 
 
 reflect, that a certain class of writers, merely on 
 account of this difference of religious belief, have 
 systematically made a practice of vilifying the 
 actions of James. His courage, which the news of 
 the day has only to be read to be found unquestioned, 
 sneered at and disputed; his fatherly love for his 
 children designated as tyranny; and all his other 
 good qualities perseveringly explained away or 
 denied.^ What fairness there is in Protestant 
 writers thus practising the justly decried maxims 
 
 * It is amusing to observe with what partisan zeal Macaulay 
 labours to prove that all the good actions of James emanated 
 from vile motives, and that far from deserving praise for them, he 
 rather merited censure. Thus the magnificent income which James 
 settled on his daughter Anne, is only mentioned in order to cast 
 obloquy on him for not being equally liberal to Mary. But 
 Macaulay should have remembered, that the relative positions of 
 Mary and Anne were widely different. Anne was a member of her 
 father's court, and wholly dependent on his bounty for support. She 
 was retained at it by his too indulgent fondness, which prompted him 
 to make any sacrifice rather than part with his remaining child. Prince 
 George's income, moreover, was wholly inadequate to support Anne in 
 the state she had been accustomed to ; but surely some credit is due to 
 James for his indulgent care of this daughter, nor can he be justly cen- 
 sured simply for refusing to support Mary. Strange, indeed, would it 
 have been if James had been expected to aid Mary in accelerating his 
 own ruin, yet such would have been the case ! Still James, when she 
 applied to him on the subject, expressed himself not unwilling to 
 assist her, provided he was assured the money should not be used against 
 himself. A more reasonable answer could scarcely have been accorded. 
 It is certain, had James acceded to her wishes he would only have 
 been accounted an unsuspecting fool for his pains, as reliance on the 
 word of others is actually brought against him as a crime. Macaulay 
 says, " A propensity to suspicion was not among James's vices. Indeed, 
 the confidence which he reposed in professions of fidelity and attach- 
 ment was such as might rather have been expected from a good- 
 hearted and inexperienced stripling, than from a politician who was far 
 advanced in lite, — who had seen much of the world, who had suffered 
 
42 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 of Ignatius Loyola we leave to more ingenious 
 sophists than ourselves to determine ; but we would 
 ask those writers who so cruelly misrepresent the 
 actions and courage of James, what would be their 
 feelings, and where would be their courage, brave 
 though they might be under ordinary circum- 
 stances, supposing the members of their own house- 
 hold, or worse still, their loved and trusted chil- 
 dren, were to desert them in their direst extremity, 
 and actually hound on their enemies to attack 
 them ? Who will venture to tell the depths of 
 bitterness in that father's heart when he gave 
 vent to the agonizing exclamation of " God help 
 me, my own children have forsaken me ! " Well 
 might he be overwhelmed, that too fond and 
 trusting parent, for could he fail contrasting his 
 children's conduct to him in distress with his own 
 conduct to his father in affliction, when, amid all the 
 bitter ingredients in that father's cup, he had the 
 
 much from villanous arts " (unwittingly, we suspect, Macaulay has here 
 traced the truth), '-and whose own character was by no means a favour- 
 able specimen of human nature. It would be difficult to mention any other 
 man who, having himself so little scruple about breaking faith with others, 
 was so slow to believe that others could break faith with him." It would be 
 difficult, we think, for any one, excepting a partisan so blinded as 
 Macaulay, not to see that James had that confidence in others, because 
 he manifested the same himself. So forcible and irresistible is truth, 
 that Macaulay finds himself unconsciously tracing it, in the very lan- 
 guage he is seeking to deny its pow.er. When he says, " it is difficult 
 to find any one having so little scruple as James, who placed so much con- 
 fidence in others," he has unconsciously admitted the truth ; for such a 
 character as he has pourtrayed James is a moral impossibility. — Vide 
 Macaulay, vol. ii. p. 516. 
 
OF THE STUARTS. 
 
 43 
 
 consolation of being loved, aye, even unto death, 
 by his dutiful and afPectionate children ! * No ; 
 necessary as the Revolution of 1688 was in a poli- 
 tical point of view ; and praiseworthy as may have 
 been our ancestors' share in it — for they at least 
 violated no moral duties in its enforcement ; never 
 can the benefits which it conferred be held to afford 
 any excuse for the infamous conduct of its prime 
 originators — the heartless William, Mary, and Anne, 
 all recipients of a betrayed parent's bounty, though 
 even in their conduct minor gradations of guilt 
 may be observed ; for Anne was less culpable than 
 William, and William, perhaps, less culpable than 
 Mary. Palliate, as some writers may, the un- 
 natural conduct of the children of James II. in 
 their violation of the moral law of God, under the 
 shallow pretext of obeying its precepts ; we cannot 
 add to the number of those who excuse their con- 
 duct by that Jesuitical sophistry which teaches that 
 " the end justifies the means ; " surely, of all the 
 maxims of the followers of Ignatius Loyola, one of 
 the most detestable and diabolical. That the beha- 
 viour of Mary, in particular, was censured alike 
 by her friends and foes is universally admitted ; 
 though for Macaulay has the unenviable task been 
 reserved of wreathing in his most flowery lan- 
 guage an eulogy on her for her unnatural conduct, 
 — conduct which even her partisans have hitherto 
 
 * The Princess Elizabeth never recovered the shock occasioned by 
 her father's death. She died of grief eighteen months afterwards. 
 
44 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 refrained from palliating, and which, had they con- 
 sulted good taste or historic truth, they could not 
 have done better than remained silent on. 
 
 The theory on which Macaulay rests Mary's vin- 
 dication, is indeed so far-fetched and improbable, 
 that few will be disposed to give credence to it ; and 
 its falsity has only to be demonstrated in order to 
 establish, beyond contradiction, all the imputations 
 which the most virulent of Mary's enemies have 
 loaded her with. It may be judged, therefore, how 
 strenuously Macaulay contends for the theory on 
 which he bases the innocence of his heroine. Never- 
 theless, we are assured that his statement, founded 
 solely on the (as he himself admits) often grossly 
 inaccurate" dicta of Burnet, and which even that 
 writer, who considered Mary " an angel in human 
 form," refrains from stating he gave credit to, will 
 not be believed in opposition to the testimony of 
 Evelyn, Oldmixon, and the Duchess of Marlborough, 
 even if Burnet himself may not be added to the list. 
 What we are alluding to as the contested point in 
 Mary's conduct, is, the manner in which she com- 
 ported herself on taking possession of Whitehall, 
 her father's palace, which she entered on his ruin, 
 — that ruin having been consummated by herself 
 and her treacherous husband, who induced James 
 to flee his kingdom by threats tantamount to 
 endangering his life, and then with unparalleled 
 hypocrisy had the hardihood to declare he deserted 
 it ! Macaulay, vindicating Mary, thus defends her. 
 
OF THE STUARTS. 46 
 
 His theory has at least the merit of being novel and 
 ingenious. He says, " Mary's behaviour shocked 
 the Tories, and was not thought faultless even 
 by the Whigs.* A young woman placed by 
 a destiny as mournful as that which brooded 
 over the fabled house of Labdacus and Pelops, 
 in such a situation that she could not, without 
 violating her duty to her God, her husband, 
 and her country, refuse to take her seat on the 
 throne from which her father had just been 
 hurled " (by herself), " should have been sad, or at 
 least serious. Mary was not merely in high, but 
 extravagant spirits. She entered Whitehall, it was 
 asserted,f with a girlish delight at being mistress of 
 so fine a house ; ran about the rooms, peeped into 
 the closets, and examined the quilt of the state bed, 
 without seeming to remember by whom the stately 
 apartments had been occupied. Burnet who had 
 till thenX thought her an angel in human form, 
 could not on this occasion refrain from blaming her. 
 He was the more astonished, because when he took 
 leave of her at the Hague, she was, though fully 
 convinced she was n the path of duty, deeply 
 
 * Does Macaulay mean to imply that it was a failing in the Whigs 
 to perceive anything blameworthy in Mary ? The construction of the 
 sentence leaves it at least problematical ; or does he mean to insinuate 
 that Whigs have, or ought to have, a different moral standard of 
 judging right and wrong from Tories ? 
 
 t Why is the word " asserted" used here ? No one, not even Macaulay 
 himself, questions the fact : it is thus this writer endeavours to cast doubts 
 on well-authenticated circumstances. 
 
 X This " then " of Burnet's is curious, as showing that even his opinion 
 of her was shaken. 
 
46 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 dejected.^ To him as to her spiritual guide she 
 explained her conduct. William had written to 
 inform her that some of those who had tried to 
 separate their interests from his, still continued their 
 machinations : they gave out that she thought her- 
 self wronged ; and if she wore a gloomy countenance 
 the report would be confirmed. He therefore en- 
 treated her to make her first appearance with an air 
 of cheerfulness. Her heart, she said, was far indeed 
 from cheerful : but she had done her best, and as 
 she was afraid of not sustaining well a part which 
 was uncongenial to her feelings, she had over-acted 
 it. Her deportment was the subject of reams of 
 scurrility in prose and verse : it lowered her in the 
 opinion of some whose esteem she valued ; nor did 
 the world know, till she was beyond the reach of 
 praise and censure, that the conduct which had 
 brought on her the reproach of levity and insensi- 
 bility, was really a signal instance of that perfect 
 disinterestedness and self-devotion of which man 
 seems to be incapable, but which is sometimes found 
 in woman." t 
 
 * Observe how very obtuse Mary's conscience was ; for at the time 
 " she was so fully convinced she was in the path of duty," she was 
 writing letters replete with falsehoods to her father, protesting that her 
 husband had no idea of invading England! So lately as the 20th of 
 September, 1688, only six weeks before the Prince of Orange landed, 
 Mary wrote to her father to this effect : — Her cause for dejection was 
 her fear lest her husband's expedition might prove unsuccessful, when 
 the risks he would have encountered might have well appalled even a 
 heart less feminine than Mary's. It is evident from her after career 
 that it could not have been solicitude for her father's safety. 
 
 t Macaulay's History of England, vol. ii. pp. 658, 659. 
 
OF THE STUARTS. 
 
 47 
 
 Poor traduced Mary I how shamefully have his- 
 torians misrepresented her! — instead of being a hard- 
 hearted unnatural daughter, mindless of the sacred 
 ties of domestic life, she was one of whom the world 
 was not worthy ! one who prostrated her duty of 
 wifely submission to her husband so completely, that 
 it involved with her a total abnegation of self, an 
 abnegation so complete and devoted, that man is in- 
 capable of it, though woman, faithful woman, is some- 
 times found equal to the task ! We can only hope that 
 from that total abnegation of self, recommended by 
 Macaulay, involving a disregard of all the social rela- 
 tions of life, save that existing between husband and 
 wife, the wives and daughters of England may be 
 preserved. The monstrous doctrine, " that all divines 
 and publicists are agreed on the duty of a wife siding 
 with her husband in doing wrong," in preference to 
 opposing him in doing right, we join issue with 
 altogether; for it involves the odious assertion, 
 that the wife would be bound to side with her hus- 
 band in murdering her father and mother, instead 
 of opposing him in doing so ; for if all the com- 
 mandments of the moral law are equally binding on 
 Christians, who is to decide which may be safely 
 violated, or draw the line of demarcation between 
 them ? Such a distinction, even if not wrong, would 
 be impracticable. That law which says, "Do no 
 murder," says also, "Honour thy father and mother; " 
 but it does not add, " If thou hast a husband, this 
 command is nullified;" and it is certain that the 
 
48 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 wife's submission to her husband was never intended 
 to be antagonistic to her other duties. " Obey God 
 rather than man," is a command as binding on wives 
 as daughters ; and that " all divines and publicists 
 are agreed upon this," Macaulay might with truth 
 have asserted. Macaulay 's zeal in defending Mary 
 has entirely outstripped his discretion, for he never 
 could have believed that his statements regarding 
 her, in direct contravention of all historical evidence, 
 would be believed by any but the most superficial 
 and unlearned reader. It will be seen what Mary's 
 relatives and contemporaries, some of them too her 
 partisans, thought of her conduct. They surely 
 were the best judges of it, and their evidence is 
 strangely opposed to Macaulay' s fantastic theory. 
 If all agree in their relation, no doubt, we think, 
 can remain of their truthfulness. 
 
 Hear what Evelyn says : — " Queen Mary came to 
 Whitehall laughing and jolly as to a wedding, so 
 as to seem quite transported. She rose early the 
 next morning, and in her undress, as it is reported, 
 before her women were up, went about the palace 
 from room to room to see the convenience of it ; 
 lay in the same bed and apartment her unfortunate 
 step-mother had always used, and within a night or 
 two sat down to play at basset, as that princess had 
 been accustomed to do. She smiled upon and 
 talked to everybody, which carriage was censured 
 by many."* 
 
 * Evelyn's Diary, vol. ii. p. 6. 
 
OF THE STUARTS. 
 
 49 
 
 What says the Duchess of Marlborough ? — 
 ''Queen Mary wanted bowels. Of this she gave 
 unquestionable proof the first day she came to 
 Whitehall. She ran about it looking into every 
 closet and conveniency, and turning up the quilts of 
 the bed just as people do at an inn, with no sort of 
 concernin her appearance. Although at the time I was 
 extremely caressed by her, I thought it very strange 
 and unbecoming conduct. Por whatever necessity 
 there was of deposing King James, he was still her 
 father, who had been lately driven from that very 
 chamber, and from that bed ; and if she felt no tender- 
 ness, I thought, at least, she might have looked grave, 
 or even pensively sad, at so melancholy a reverse of 
 fortune."^ Thus even this bold intriguante, whose 
 husband's desertion had mainly accelerated King 
 James's deposition, felt more sympathy for him than 
 his heartless unnatural daughter. 
 
 What is the language of Burnet himself, on whose 
 assertions Macaulay grounds his fiction ? Why this. 
 That Mary's conduct on taking possession of her 
 father's palace elicited universal reprobation ;" — and 
 he then goes on to say, " I confess I was one of those 
 who censured her in my thoughts. I thought a 
 little more seriousness had done as well when she 
 came into her father's palace, and was to be set on 
 his throne the next day." And then follows the 
 groundwork of Macaulay' s elaborate romance. " I 
 had never seen," he says, " the least indecency in 
 
 * The Conduct of the Duchess of Marlborough, pp. 26, 27. 
 
 E 
 
50 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 any part of her deportment before, which made her 
 behaviour appear so extraordinary to me, that I took 
 the liberty of asking her, ' How it came that what 
 she saw in so sad a revolution (it will be seen that 
 almost every one seemed to feel for the unfortunate 
 J ames, excepting his children : Burnet was one of his 
 bitterest enemies, yet he calls it a sad revolution)* 
 in her father's person, made no greater impression 
 on her?' to which she answered with her usual 
 goodness, ' That she felt the sense of it very lively 
 in her thoughts, but that the letters which had been 
 sent to her, had exhorted her to put on a cheerful- 
 ness, in which perhaps she had gone too far, because 
 she was obeying directions not natural to her.'"t If 
 Mary was, as she pretended, only playing a part, 
 surely it would have been better to have under-acted 
 rather than over-acted it. It is too evident from 
 her after career, that the part she acted on this 
 occasion was natural — not assumed by her — as she 
 so adroitly pretended, when catechised by Burnet ; 
 possibly in consequence of a hint from her astute 
 husband, who might himself have been secretly dis- 
 gusted at her effrontery. It is evident Burnet dis- 
 believed her excuses, though he records them. Even 
 Oldmixon, her partisan, says, speaking of those who 
 asserted her conduct was feigned, " If they had seen 
 
 * One of the most popular, and certainly one of the most trite and 
 truthful Jacobite distichs of that era was, 
 
 " Mary and William, George and Anne, 
 Four such children never had man." 
 t Burnet's History of his own Times, vol. i. p. 781. 
 
OF THE STUARTS. 
 
 51 
 
 her as others did, they would not have ventured to 
 report such falsity ; so far from acting a part not 
 natural to her, there was nothing in her looks which 
 was not as natural and as lovely as ever there were 
 charms in woman,"* Macaulay cannot plead igno- 
 rance of Oldmixon's statements, for his work is 
 continually quoted by him. Why does he, on this 
 occasion, refrain from taking counsel with him, but 
 because his statements are adverse to his theory ? 
 and how can he justify his assertion of Mary's 
 innocence, after reading this solemn asseveration of 
 one of her partisans ? He has thus, to suit party 
 purposes, ignored on an important occasion the tes- 
 timony of one of his own witnesses ! How can 
 Macaulay reconcile this with historic truth? — for 
 his own authorities have, with strange prescience, 
 beforehand condemned his statement as false ! To 
 their judgment we are content to leave it ; for more 
 irrefragable proof of its being a genuine romauce 
 there cannot be. 
 
 One plea, and one only, if plea it may be called, 
 might Macaulay have ventured upon for Mary. That 
 he has not made it, we can well understand, for it 
 would have painted his hero, to whom even he would 
 sacrifice Mary, in any but the amiable light he has 
 represented him. It is this, that Mary had been so 
 thoroughly drilled into submission by her husband, 
 that she had no longer a will of her own. Her 
 spirit, broken by constant insult, had become so 
 
 * Oldmixon's History, p. 780. 
 
 E 2 
 
52 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 obtuse, callous and assimilated to his own, that the 
 amiable frailtv of human nature, involved in a resrard 
 for relatives and kindred, had been overcome in her. 
 Por Mary was not always the hard-hearted woman 
 she now appeared ; once she had been innocent and 
 guiltless, fondly attached to her father, her sister, 
 and the memory of her grandfather. In February 
 1689 she was changed, but that change had not been 
 wrought in her without an efPort. Seven dreary 
 years of apprenticeship had she served her husband, 
 before all marks of natural affection were wholly 
 eradicated in her ; before the once amiable Mary of 
 York became the unnatural Marv of Orano^e. Well 
 had William performed his task, and thoroughly 
 had he changed her once ingenuous nature.* His 
 marriage with her in the first instance had been 
 wholly determined by political considerations : it was 
 the heh'ess of the British throne he had wedded, and 
 determined he was, come what might, and violate 
 what duties he might, in the accomplishment of his 
 object, that she should be the heiress. She was the 
 stepping-stone by which he hoped to vault into his 
 
 * The little daughter of Lord Preston, Tvhen that nobleman was con- 
 demned to death for his attachment to the cause of his old master 
 (James II.) threw herself at the feet of Queen Mary to intercede for her 
 father's life. Struck by the peculiar expression on the child's counte- 
 nance, Mary asked her what she was thinking about so earnestly. " I 
 was only thinking," replied the little girl, " how very strange it is that you 
 should want to take away father's life, only because he loves i/ours 
 so well ! " What tragedy could surpass in impassioned grandeur the 
 sublime pathos of this reply ? Even so, the most laboured arguments 
 of the greatest authors fail in carrying conviction with them when 
 opposed to the unconscious truthfulness of childhood I 
 
OF THE STUARTS. 
 
 63 
 
 uncle's seat, and it was absolutely necessary for that 
 purpose that he should first eradicate all sparks of 
 natural alFection from her breast in order that she 
 might become the unresisting instrument of his poli- 
 tical views. This he accomplished, and James lost 
 his throne through his confidence in the lying 
 protestations of his eldest daughter, who, after she 
 had lost all feelings of natural afi'ection for him, 
 still deceived him with the semblance of them, and 
 kept up a show of pretended affection and endearing 
 intercourse until her husband's armament was ready 
 to invade his shores. Well did she act her part, and 
 surely did she, even in this world, meet with her 
 reward ! This is the woman, who, because she called 
 herself a Protestant, is designated " Good Queen 
 Mary" by partial historians, who have moreover the 
 audacity (or innocence) to assert, in the face of 
 these facts, that, when William sailed for Ireland to 
 encounter his uncle James, " she was distracted with 
 anxiety for her father's safety."* Mary's capa- 
 bilities of acting a part must, indeed, have been dis- 
 played to perfection if she appeared so ! The repre- 
 senting her as " torn with anxiety for the safety of 
 her father," is the bitterest satire upon her conduct 
 which could have been penned ; it was so natural a 
 feeling for even the most reprobate of mankind to 
 indulge in, that historians have taken it for granted 
 that Mary should have experienced it ; but when we 
 look for any authority for this statement, there is 
 
 * Smollett's History of England, vol. xi. p. 88. 
 
54 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 none ; on the contrary, there is not a particle of evi- 
 dence to show that Mary, from the commencement 
 of her downward career, ever evinced the slightest 
 anxiety for the safety of her injured parent. She 
 never exhibited any such feeling, no, not even on 
 her dying bed, but actually busied herseK previously 
 to her decease, in burning all her papers.* What 
 tell-tale evidence would not these papers have dis- 
 closed ! And yet this woman, whom Madame de 
 Sevigne so aptly terms " a second TuUia, who would 
 boldly have driven over the body of her father,"t is 
 eulogised by Burnet, in the panegyric he pronounced 
 on her, as " one of whom the world was not worthy, 
 and whom God took, because had she lived, she 
 would have been too great a blessing to it." 
 
 How opposed is the verdict of God to this partial 
 encomium of one who was — we confess it with sorrow 
 — a Bishop in the Anglican church. God says, " Cur- 
 sed is she that setteth light by her father and 
 mother," J short shall her days be in the land, if she 
 honour them not ; maledictions which were in this 
 case speedily verified. Whether is the Jacobite 
 clergyman's discourse, in which he admonished his 
 hearers to " Go, bury this cursed woman, for she was 
 a king's daughter;" or the adulatory language of 
 Burnet, most in consonance with the text above 
 quoted ? 
 
 * Burnet : Strickland, vol. xi. p. 306. 
 
 t Vide Letters of Madame de Sevigne, for the year 1688. 
 
 X Deuteronomy xxvii. 16. 
 
OF THE STUARTS. 
 
 55 
 
 How miserably do those writers pervert the morale 
 of history who confuse in their readers* minds by 
 ingenious sophisms the moral difference betwixt 
 right and wrong, by teaching that such characters 
 as WilKam and Mary are entitled to the admiration 
 of posterity ; characters whom in vain they strive 
 to portray as perfect, when the simple narration of 
 their actions suffices to condemn them, even with a 
 child ! "What a parallel does the conduct of such 
 historians afford to that of the Pharisees rebuked by 
 Christ, when he told them that God commanded, 
 saying, " Honour thy father and mother ; he that 
 curseth father or mother, let him die the death ; 
 but ye say, Whosoever shall say to his father and 
 mother, It is a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest 
 be profited by me, and honour not his father and 
 mother, he shall be free thus have ye (and you, O 
 ye writers of the Burnet school) made the Word of 
 God of none effect by your traditions.* 
 
 If all the bishops of the Anglican church had been 
 like their heavenly-minded primate and the sainted 
 author of the vesper hymn, what a beautiful struc- 
 ture would the Church of England have exhibited ! 
 All honour to those noble men, who suffered obloquy, 
 persecution, and bonds, rather than obey the un- 
 lawful behests of their sovereign James — and who 
 refused riches, honour, and what to them was 
 more dear, the cure of souls committed to them, 
 rather than prostitute themselves by unhallowed 
 
 * Matthew XV. 4-6. 
 
56 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 oaths to William — when a conscience void of offence, 
 and their duty towards God and man alike prohibited 
 their forswearing themselves ! Little did the world 
 understand or appreciate them, if it mistook them 
 for priestly agitators ! They not only preached, but 
 they practised, the doctrines prescribed them by their 
 beloved Church. Yes ! if all the bishops of the 
 Church of England had been of one mind with San- 
 croft, Ken, Lake, White, and Lloyd, names immor- 
 talized in the annals of the Church, and of the world, 
 what a noble attitude would that Church have 
 assumed ! then, indeed, would she have won for her- 
 self even the homage and admiration of the world, 
 for it would have been manifest of her, from her 
 sublimity and moral grandeur as the exponent of 
 the precepts of her lowly Master, that she was of a 
 verity " the joy of the whole earth ; " her conduct 
 evincing it was the immutable principle of rectitude, 
 arising from a life " hid with Christ," which enabled 
 her successfully to combat and overcome the princes 
 and powers of this world ! 
 
 But to return to the daughters of James II. It 
 has been said that Anne's conduct was somewhat 
 less blameable than Mary's — and it was so on the 
 whole, because she afterwards repented of her sins : 
 not that but during the first crisis of the Eevolution, 
 her behaviour was not even more criminal than her 
 sister's, for she enjoyed many advantages which 
 Mary had not. She was idolized by her father, who 
 retained her at his court, even after her marriage, so 
 
OF THE STUARTS. 
 
 67 
 
 loth was he to part with her. She was in the place 
 of his favourite elder daughter, lost to him, though 
 happily he knew it not, by the wiles of her treacherous 
 husband. An income of £32,000 a-year, an unpre- 
 cedentedly liberal one in those days, as compared 
 with what her predecessors had enjoyed, was settled 
 on Anne by her indulgent father, who moreover, on 
 any application from her, invariably discharged her 
 personal debts.* Neither had Anne the excuse that 
 she had a husband to force her into doing what was 
 wrong, for Prince George of Denmark was a perfect 
 nonentity. " I have tried George drunk, and I have 
 tried him sober, and drunk or sober, I can make 
 nothing of him," t once said Charles II. ; a speech of 
 the witty monarch's which conveys a terse estimate 
 of George's character. The question naturally sug- 
 gests itself. How could Anne benefit by a Kevolu- 
 tion ? — truly a difficult one to answer had this 
 Princess been a rational woman, accountable for 
 her actions. Such, however, she was not, for she 
 was governed, body and soul, by that bold intriguante, 
 the Duchess of Marlborough, whose political inspi- 
 rations she unhesitatingly followed. J Sarah saw, 
 though her mistress did not, who would be winner 
 in the contest, and played her cards accordingly. 
 Probably had Anne been unbiassed by external in- 
 fluences, she would have remained neutral. Certain 
 
 * Strickland's Queens of England, vol. x. p. 344. Macaulay, vol. iii. p. 562. 
 t Dartmouth's note on Burnet, vol. i. p. 643. Macaulay, vol. ii. p. 519. 
 X Vide Macaulay's statements respecting her, assertions corroborated 
 by all historians, vol. ill. pp. 562-6. 
 
58 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 it is, that she never displayed that adaptability for 
 intrigue and consummate powers of deception when 
 unaided ; for, shocking as it is to relate, she succeeded 
 in deceiving her father by the very means she accused 
 her innocent step-mother of practising ; viz., by pre- 
 tending to be with child ! " Good God !" said her 
 uncle, Lord Clarendon, when informed by her hus- 
 band of the ruse she had practised, " there has been 
 nothing but lying and dissimulation."* Anne's 
 pretended escape from her father at the crisis, was 
 undoubtedly concocted by Sarah of Marlborough; 
 and what proves that it was owing to the favourite's 
 influence (notwithstanding her haughty disclaimer), 
 is her admission that such a step was necessary for 
 her interests ! "Who can doubt after this, whether — 
 in the poor faithful Morley's — or the domineering 
 Mrs. Ereeman's brain originated " the sudden and 
 unconcerted affair ?" f 
 
 Queens Mary II. and Anne, though apparently 
 prospering in the sight of men, were not allowed to 
 go unpunished by the just vengeance of God. Of 
 Anne's seventeen children, not one survived to in- 
 herit the guilty parent's coronet; one, William 
 Duke of Gloucester, lived to be eleven years of 
 age, only to render his loss the more afflicting 
 to his bereaved mother, who, in the agony of 
 spirit caused by that sad event, wrote to her 
 injured father confessing she had sinned against 
 
 * Lord Clai-endon's Diary, vol. ii. p. 16. 
 
 t The Conduct of the Duchess of Marlborough, p. 19. 
 
OF THE STUARTS. 
 
 59 
 
 him. Yes ! Anne, who had by her conduct drawn 
 that bitter cry from her parent of " My God, 
 help me, for my own children have forsaken me," 
 was destined by the retributive justice of God to be 
 bereaved of all her children : and when we find her 
 in later years overcome by infirmities, yet struggling, 
 though unsuccessfully, against the cabals of her con- 
 tentious ministers, it is difficult to refrain from 
 feelings of commiseration for her hard fate; for 
 verily, as she had sown, so she reaped ! 
 
 It is some slight palliation of Anne's conduct to 
 believe that her devotion to the Church of England 
 was at least sincere. The Duchess of Marlborough 
 admits this, though she says it was a bigoted attach- 
 ment beyond her (the Duchess's) comprehension; an 
 assertion we can readily credit coming from Sarah 
 Jennings, for, assuredly, both piety and superstition 
 were equally removed from this Lady. Had it not 
 been for the evidence afforded by Anne's letters, it 
 might have always remained a disputed point, whether 
 it was her zeal for the Church, or jealousy of her 
 brother, which actuated her political conduct. Un- 
 fortunately for her reputation, fortunately for histo- 
 rical truth, they remain silent witnesses of her deceit 
 and perfidy. Still, there is little doubt that Anne in 
 later years, when conscience reproached her for past 
 transgressions, and she found herself childless and 
 bereaved, would gladly have restored her brother 
 his lost inheritance, could she have done so without 
 prospective danger to the Anglican Church. After 
 
60 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 all she had dared, to what exact extent for that 
 Church, or herself, must be left to her conscience: it 
 would indeed have been sad to have undone all, 
 although we dare hardly have censured her, as a 
 sister, had she adopted a contrary course, and openly 
 made her brother's interests her own. It would at 
 least have been a tardy reparation for the many 
 injuries she had inflicted upon him. In fact, it was 
 only her being so suddenly cut ofiP, which prevented 
 her restoring him to his place in the succession ; and 
 with this opinion all modern historians coincide.* 
 
 Torn between her wish to make amends to her 
 brother for her injustice to him — yet dreading his 
 appearance in England, as the signal for a counter 
 revolution and her own dethronement — sincerely 
 desirous to protect the Church of England, and keep 
 away from the country her dreaded heiress Sophia, 
 it is no wonder that Anne lived a life of constant 
 worry and excitement ; and it was doubtless, as she 
 herself declared, this agitation which caused her 
 death, which occurred from a fit of apoplexy, 1st of 
 August, 1714, the very day she was to have installed 
 in office a Jacobite Premier : thus we see that the 
 crown which Anne so madly grasped at proved to 
 her a very crown of thorns. 
 
 It shows in a preeminent way the paths of God 
 in history, that though for his own wise purposes, 
 and the accomplishment of a necessary end, he per- 
 mitted the success of the Eevolution of 1689 ; yet, 
 
 * Vide Lord Mahon's History of England. 
 
OF THE STUAKTS. 
 
 61 
 
 that those who violated all natural ties of duty and 
 affection in seizing upon a throne, at best they should 
 but reluctantly have accepted, were surely punished, 
 even in this world, for their ambition. Mary, 
 who was certainly the most culpable, died at 
 the early age of thirty-two, within six years of 
 her accession to the throne. Her husband followed 
 her shortly afterwards, his death being occasioned by 
 a fall from his horse: neither left children to inherit 
 their ill-gotten dominions. Anne, after burying her 
 seventeen children, died of a broken heart, caused by 
 the incessant disputes of her ministers. Very dif- 
 ferent from the conduct of James's undutiful children 
 was that of his cousin Sophia, the parliamentary 
 heiress ; though this lady was by no means devoid of 
 ambition, and, moreover, not closely related to him, 
 it was only after repeated remonstrances that she 
 consented to accept the proffered crown : the letter 
 which she wrote, begging that the prior claims of 
 le pauvre Frince de Galles might not be overlooked, 
 is designated the Electoress Sophia's Jacobite letter. 
 
 We have entered — perhaps, too discursively — on 
 the personal characters of the actors in the Revolution 
 of 1689; a desire that the true characters of William, 
 Mary, and Anne should be accurately delineated, 
 must plead our excuse ; and we have the rather been 
 incited to the task, on account of the very incorrect 
 portraiture of them by many historians, who seem 
 rather to have painted them as they should have 
 been, than as they were. The writings of Macaulay, 
 
62 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 in particular, render it absolutely incumbent on all 
 who AYOuld vindicate the cause of historical truth, 
 that the real, not fictitious, characters of "William, 
 Mary, and Anne should be faithfully portrayed, for 
 too long has their "Protestant reputation" been 
 held to expiate their moral offences and cover a mul- 
 titude of sins. It is unfeignedly to be deplored that 
 Macaulay should have prostituted his brilliant talents 
 and the beautiful, though careless and elegant 
 minutiae with which he chronicles events to this 
 purpose, and have sacrificed at the altar of political 
 expediency, what should have been held sacred, the 
 immortality of truth, to the fancied wants of a finished 
 romance. It is his enthusiastic advocacy of the 
 Revolutionary party which has led him to deify the 
 authors of it, and even call evil good, and good evil, 
 according as they are affected by the relation. His 
 attempt to glorify William, Mary, and Anne by 
 throwing a fictitious lustre over their justly exploded 
 reputations, reminds us of the last expiring ray of 
 light which illumes with an illusive splendour what 
 will shortly be enveloped in darkness. Tantamount 
 to this, and as transitory, is the meretricious praise 
 bestowed on the trio by their admirer, for who that 
 has read their correspondence dare affirm that it was 
 their love for the laws of Protestant England (the 
 only legitimate excuse which can be proffered for 
 them) which led them to uncrown their father ? 
 
 It must ever be regretted that a work, which from its 
 unrivalled powers of description, might have ranked 
 
OF THE STUARTS. 
 
 63 
 
 as a standard history of England, should have deroga- 
 ted from this high position by its avowed subserviency 
 to party purposes, though far better is it, its relation 
 should be glaringly partial, than that by a seeming 
 impartiality it should have deceived even the learned, 
 and thereby have corrupted the fount of historical 
 truth. That this eulogy of the Uevolutionary actors, 
 despite all evidence to the contrary, was to be ex- 
 pected from Macaulay is certain, for his work is, what 
 it was surmised it would be, a life-long defence of 
 the Whig party. Without William, that party 
 might not have existed; that Macaulay should have 
 'elevated him to the pedestal of a demi-god, therefore, 
 need excite no surprise ; though taken on his own 
 showing, it is not difS.cult to discover that William 
 was a very different character from what he is osten- 
 sibly represented. The only ground on which Mac- 
 aulay might have based William's vindication, with 
 strange perversity, he has done what he could to de- 
 monstrate the falsity of. It might be — and posterity 
 grateful for what he unconsciously achieved, have 
 thought too rashly that it was — that William of 
 Orange came over to protect the oppressed laws and 
 liberties of Protestant England : — for such an object, 
 and devoid of interested motives, he would have de- 
 served the admiration of posterity ; but was it so ? 
 Alas ! that a condemnation of this theory should come 
 most forcibly from the pen of Macaulay ! What, ac- 
 cording to this writer, was it that William desired ? 
 The security of the Protestant Church of England ? 
 
64 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 No ! for he detested and abused it. The predomi- 
 nance of the Presbyterian Church of Scotland ? No ! 
 for he loved that even less. The preservation of the 
 laws of England ? No ! for hear from the lips of his 
 panegyrist, that " William was by nature as covet- 
 ous of power and impatient of restraint, as any of 
 the Stuarts."* His ardent affection for the English 
 people, to become whose monarch he would not 
 stickle at a violation of the law of nations ? No ! 
 again ! for he hated England, and would gladly have 
 bid her shores an eternal adieu, t provided he could 
 have replenished his coffers from her magnificent 
 stores.J What, in despair, it may be asked, did- 
 William of Orange want ? The answer is short and 
 emphatic ; — it was Power ; — power to wield the des- 
 tinies of this mighty Empire, and render them sub- 
 servient to his great design, that of abasing Louis 
 XIV., his jealousy and detestation of whom amounted 
 to absolute frenzy. § It was for this noble 
 object that, according to Macaulay, he invaded 
 England, and for which, wisely and righteously," 
 he used every machination to dethrone his father ; 
 for says Macaulay, "had there only been concord 
 
 * Macaulay, vol. ii. p. 189. 
 
 f William saved England, it is true ; but he never loved her, or ob- 
 tained her love. To him she was always a land of exile, visited with 
 reluctance, and quitted with delight. Even when he rendered to her 
 these services, of which, at this day, we feel the happy effects, her wel- 
 fare was not his chief obje'ct. Whatever patriotic feeling he had, was 
 for Holland. Macaulay, vol. ii. pp. 182-3. 
 
 \ This fact which has sometimes been considered doubtful, is proved 
 sine duhitatione by Macaulay. See vol. iii. pp. 529-30. 
 
 § Macaulay, vol. ii. pp. 183-4. 
 
OF THE STUARTS. 
 
 65 
 
 between the Tlirone and the Parliament of England, 
 William would have been satisfied." If England 
 would only have joined the European coalition 
 against Eranee, William would have been content 
 with any sovereign upon the British throne. When 
 the Exclusionists gained the upper hand in Charles's 
 reign, William advised compliance with their de- 
 mands and the exclusion of his father-in-law from 
 the throne ; advice which it must be remembered was 
 not disinterested, as William would, in such an event, 
 have become heir-apparent. Macaulay pretends 
 that he was secretly averse to such an elevation, and 
 that he rejoiced when the Exclusionists were over- 
 thrown, — a statement which, looking at William's an- 
 tecedents and after-career, we confess ourselves unable 
 to credit. That he was a doubly masked conspirator, 
 regardless of his family's or England's interests, pro- 
 vided he could only carry out his own selfish plans, 
 is proved from the fact, that he sent over a special 
 ambassador to Charles, to congratulate him on the 
 overthrow of the Exclusionists — and express abhor- 
 rence of their damnable practices. No wonder that 
 the Republicans, when he afterwards became King, 
 refused to place confidence in such a deceiver. Yet 
 this is the man, whom, in this boasted nineteenth 
 century, we are commanded by the learned exponent 
 of Whiggism to fall down to and worship — a man 
 who, even according to the testimony of his admirer, 
 cared not for our country, our laws, our religion, 
 or his own relatives ; and whose sole merit consisted 
 
 F 
 
66 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 (as a set-oflp against these unamiable qualities) in 
 being a statesman, — a statesman who sacrificed all 
 principles of right and wrong to a policy worthy of 
 Machiavel. It is difficult to read the history of 
 "William's intrigues, without feelings of profound 
 disgust and indignation for the petty artifices he had 
 recourse to ; artifices which a man of aov nohilitv of 
 soul would have scorned, and which are emblemati- 
 cal only of a mind utterly devoid of all principle. 
 How James took William's friendly advice to his 
 brother Charles, to denude him of his place in the 
 succession, Macaulay does not inform us; though, 
 judging from the context, we should imagine he 
 ought to have felt grateful for the well-meant 
 advice. This scheme, however, failed, and the star 
 of Charles becoming again in the ascendant, "William 
 as quickly reversed his late policy, and to curry favour 
 with his uncle, feted Monmouth, whom, notwith- 
 standing his disgrace, he knew to be secretly dear to 
 him. But lo I another change is at hand — Charles, 
 ia the meridian of life, expires suddenly ; and the 
 Duke of York, so lately a fugitive, ascends peacefully 
 and triimiphantly his brother's thi'one. Then, again, 
 all is changed with William ; he banishes the lately 
 idolized Monmouth from his dominions, and makes 
 abject professions of attachment to James ; and if 
 that monarch and his parliament had only agreed, 
 whether in destroying or upholding the laws and 
 religion of England, was immaterial, so that they 
 were d' accord, AVilliam would never have iaterfered, 
 
OF THE STUARTS. 
 
 67 
 
 and any idea of defending the oppressed Protestants 
 of England would, if ever entertained, have been 
 summarily banished.* 
 
 Such, however, was not destined to be the case. 
 James, by what train of reasoning matters not, had 
 arrived at the conclusion — and admitting that he had 
 not done so without a struggle, it seems all the more 
 likely that he was sincere — that perfect religious 
 liberty was the true policy for this country to adopt. 
 That he was primarily influenced to this opinion by 
 his zeal for the interests of his own party, it would 
 be folly to doubt; still, as the lucid Mackintosh 
 remarks, " It does not render the cause of religious 
 liberty the less beneficent and sacred, because it came 
 from James ; whom, in forming an estimate of his 
 character, it is impossible to deny had a certain su- 
 periority in the comparison of abstract principles, "f 
 That the "Whigs, now, as then, have no real idea of 
 liberty beyond what suits their own interests and 
 popularity, is abundantly proved by the partial work 
 of Macaulay : as in 1688, so in 1857, they have no 
 notion of freedom extending beyond the precincts of 
 their own party ; with liberty on their lips, monopoly 
 and persecution are too often in their hearts ; and 
 if any doubts could have existed of this, surely the 
 glaring manner in which Macaulay palliates their 
 worst excesses must dispel the illusion. " The Revo- 
 lution which proscribed Ludlow and pensioned Gates, 
 
 * Macaulay, vol. ii. pp. 162 — 195. 
 
 t Continuation of Sir J. Mackintosh's Hist, of England, vol. viii. p. 308. 
 
 F 2 
 
68 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 bespeaks too truly its real character ;* and we must 
 enter our decided protest against the way in which 
 Macaulay has — to use the least objectionable word 
 — painted the events of those days. To quote the 
 language of an able reviewer, in a paper having 
 a very influential circulation! — and we do so 
 because it would be impossible in more concise 
 phraseology to express our opinions — His story has 
 disappointed conscientious readers of English history; 
 he has, since the publication of his prior volumes, 
 mended in art, but we doubt whether he has 
 improved in sincerity ; he falsifies no real dates, mis- 
 describes no actual occurrences, he omits little ; but 
 he heavily loads his narrative with portraits of men 
 and women who have lived, done, and suffered ; and 
 these portraits are frequently virtual falsehoods, 
 themselves. The question naturally suggests itself. 
 Is William himself a true portrait ? Has the part 
 he played in the general politics of Europe in no 
 degree warped Mr. Macaulay' s judgment ? We are 
 asked to call it the most satisfactory epoch of our 
 history, when England owed her political regenera- 
 tion and her military rescue to Holland ; the date is 
 one of the least splendid in our annals, and even our 
 author's magnificent language and glowing partisan- 
 ship fail to reconcile us to the humiliating benefit." 
 And, again, Mr. Macaulay' s regard for the past 
 history of the Whigs is more akin to filial piety 
 
 * Sir J. Mackintosh's History of England, vol. viii. p. 309. 
 
 t Hlustrated London News' re\dew of Macaulay's Hist, of England. 
 
OF THE STUARTS. 
 
 69 
 
 than to philosophic approval, or even political ad- 
 miration, while William he has exalted more to the 
 pedestal of a demigod than a hero." Immediately 
 the question (caused by Macaulay's gross partiality) 
 occurs, Who will write a pendant to his work? 
 In the meanwhile, and until that be done, we would 
 recommend, as a favourable counterpoise, Agnes 
 Strickland's Queens of England ;* where, in volumes 
 tenth, eleventh, and twelfth, will be found, traced 
 from incontrovertible sources, the real, not fictitious 
 characters of Mary and Anne ; much, also, concern- 
 ing William's will be found en passant. 
 
 That Macaulay's work is miscalled a history of 
 England, is evident; for history pre-supposes the 
 truthful narrative of events, and never have they 
 been more distorted in a work professing to deal 
 with them as such than in this instance. Without 
 entering further on the question of Macaulay's 
 historical accuracy, suffice it to say, that out of his 
 own mouth will we condemn him, for enunciating, 
 as he does, a perverse theory at the outset, every- 
 thing is regarded by him in its false and illusory light. 
 Quote we his words when we write :t "The best 
 historical portraits, perhaps, are those in which there 
 is a slight admixture of caricature, and we are not 
 certain that the best histories are not those in which 
 a little of the exaggeration of fictitious narrative is 
 judiciously employed. Something is lost in accuracy, 
 
 * " They combine all the fascinations of a romance with the inte- 
 grity of history."— Tmes. 
 
 t We quote from the " Times " review of Macaulay's History. 
 
70 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 but much is gained in effect. The fainter lines are 
 neglected, but the great characteristic features are 
 imprinted on the mind for ever." Now after this 
 avowal of opinion, so ingenuously and nonchalantly- 
 made, can we be surprised at any fanciful portraiture 
 of character — however untruthful — that Macaulay 
 may indulge in, when he hesitates not in stating 
 that a little exaggeration and caricature judiciously 
 (whiggishly ?) employed, renders history more inte- 
 resting, and impresses it more deeply on the memory; 
 confessing, moreover, that "it does lose something in 
 accuracy " — which, as he considers, is compensated 
 by increased effect. What is this but a plain admis- 
 sion that romance is preferable to history? In 
 fact, Macaulay, though he shuns to avow it openly, 
 implies as much, at least by implication, when he 
 says (speaking of Sir Walter Scott's productions), 
 " He saw how striking an effect might be produced 
 by pictures of Highland life. Whatever was repul- 
 sive was softened down, whatever was graceful and 
 noble was brought very prominently forward. Some 
 of these works were executed with such admirable 
 skill, that, like the historical plays of Shakespeare, 
 they superseded history." Now this is precisely 
 the plan that Macaulay adheres to in his narrative, 
 forgetting with a strange obliquity that Sir Walter 
 Scott's writings never pretended to historical accu- 
 racy — whilst his own, clothed in the garb, and 
 assuming the solemn impartiality of history, are 
 distorted by fancies which, however justifiable, nay 
 
OF THE STUARTS. 
 
 71 
 
 laudable, in a romance (for therein consists its 
 success), become criminal in a work of a higher 
 character. Thus, whatever is graceful and noble in 
 Macaulay's personages is brought very prominently 
 forward, whilst whatever is repulsive is more than 
 softened down, it is either left invisibly in the back- 
 ground, or omitted altogether. In William, for 
 instance, pre-eminently Macaulay's "Hero;" whom 
 from the outset he has determined shall be so attrac- 
 tive a personage, that nothing odious nor repulsive 
 shall dim the lustre of his character, all the good 
 qualities he possessed — strangely exaggerated — are 
 brought very prominently forward, whilst all his 
 defects are sedulously concealed. As a foil to him, 
 Macaulay presents Marlborough, the greatest captain 
 of the age, for whom he has conceived a peculiar 
 detestation, and whom he exultingly styles, "a great 
 arch-traitor and monster of turpitude;"^ and why — 
 because such was the fact ? not at all, but simply 
 because Marlborough wavered in his political allegi- 
 ance between James, ''a fatuous monster," and 
 William, "the Hero."t "Alas for our poets!" says 
 
 * For Marlborough's character, as pourtrayed by Macaulay, see more 
 particularly vol. iii. pp. 438, 9, and vol. iv. pp. 52—64, 158—165. 
 
 t We do not mean to say that Marlborough's character is so over- 
 drawn, excepting by comparison ; but what we do say is, that Macaulay 
 would not have dilated upon his faults with such vindictive satisfaction 
 had he not endangered the security of William's throne. Marlborough's 
 chief, perhaps sole merit, consisted, like William, in being a states- 
 man ; and every word uttered against him tells with double eflFect 
 against the latter, for Marlborough was at least innocent of con- 
 spiring against his own relatives. 
 
72 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 the ''Times;" " neither are they spared." '' Dryden 
 is a guilty apostate,* because he changed his religion 
 — and, still more inexplicable offence in Whig eyes 
 — refused in his translation of Virgil to furnish the 
 pictures of Eneas with the hook-nose of William." 
 Nor are the ladies of the Revolution, whom it was to 
 be hoped would have escaped party malice, better 
 treated. Anne Hyde, James's first consort, has 
 "coarse features," because she is James's wife;t 
 whilst Mary Beatrice, his second consort, to whose 
 personal charms even the fastidious taste of Macaulay 
 could not have objected — is simply " a Popish 
 woman," J because she labours under the same disa- 
 bility. How poor Mary Beatrice's beauty would 
 have been dilated upon, had she been fortunate 
 enough to have been William's wife, may be judged 
 from Macaulay' s painting Mary II. as a paragon of 
 beauty, § for no other reason than because she was 
 wedded to William. What a pang it must have 
 caused Macaulay when he reflected that William's 
 wife was James's daughter! Arabella Churchill is 
 worse than Anne Hyde, or Mary Beatrice; and 
 Catherine Sedley is "lean, ugly, painted, haggard, 
 and plastered," |1 because they are James's mistresses ; 
 while Elizabeth Villiers has " great powers of mind," 
 because she is William's mistress. We may observe, 
 en passant, how delicately Macaulay treats William's 
 liaison with this lady, veiling it, as he does, in the 
 
 * Macaulay, vol. iii. p. 24- f Ibid. vol. ii. p. 68. 
 
 I Ibid. vol. ii. p. 314. § Ibid. vol. ii. p. 52. || Ibid. vol. ii. pp. 68, 9. 
 
OF THE STUARTS. 
 
 73 
 
 following obscure language : " William in difficult 
 conjunctures frequently applied to her for advice and 
 assistance, for she had talents which well fitted her 
 to partake his cares." ^ And again, with a plaintive 
 lament, admitting that Mary knew William was 
 not always strictly faithful to her.f Now we are 
 told by authorities better qualified than Macaulay 
 to judge impartially of the beauty of these ladies, 
 being their contemporaries to boot, that " Arabella 
 Churchill had certain qualifications of exquisite 
 beauty," while "Elizabeth Yilliers squinted like 
 a dragon," which latter piece of information 
 Macaulay admits was the opinion of Swift. 
 
 One more specimen of Macaulay' s partialities, and 
 perhaps the most atrocious^ will suffice. He says, 
 speaking of the cold-blooded massacre of Glencoe, 
 perpetrated by William's orders, and which St. 
 Bartholomew's only rivalled in barbarity, that the 
 author and perpetrator of it, the Master of Stair, 
 " was a very good-natured man ; he contemplated a 
 truly great and good end by the massacre of all the 
 Macleans, the Camerons, and the Macdonalds, those 
 set of thieves," (for so the heroic Highlanders are 
 stigmatized for their adherence to the House of 
 Stuart ;) "he considered their extermination a great 
 act of justice, nay, of charity ; he was an enlightened 
 and politic gownsman," and the horrid massacre 
 was only a proof of "ill-regulated public spirit" on 
 his part ; a spirit to which, according to Macaulay, 
 
 * Macaulay, vol. iv. pp. 471, 2 ; vol. ii. p. 174. f Ibid. vol. iii. p. 52. 
 
74 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 all the atrocities that have disgraced humanity are 
 to be attributed. Nor is William more culpable in 
 the matter than the Master of Stair. That " the 
 man of God's right hand, whom he made so strong 
 for himself, ""^ would have authorized the massacre in 
 cold blood of the Jacobite Highlanders, we do not 
 believe, but that he intended them to be attacked 
 and put to the sword in open conflict there can be no 
 doubt ; the order which he gave for their extirpation 
 running thus, As for M'' Ian of Glencoe, and that 
 tribe, if they can well be distinguished from the 
 other Highlanders, it will be proper for the vindi- 
 cation of public justice to extirpate that set of 
 thieves." What is the natural meaning of this 
 command, but that the Glencoe men should be 
 extirpated, and what can " extirpated" mean but 
 " rooted from the face of the earth ?" the very words, 
 if they can be well distinguished from other High- 
 landers," imply it; that it meant simply, "that 
 some of the most active members of the tribe were 
 to be transported to other countries" is an idea so 
 perfectly modern and ludicrous, that it could scarcely 
 have suggested itself but to the fertile brain of a 
 Macaulay; certain we are, it would not have oc- 
 curred to the hardy soldiers on whom the execution 
 of the bloody mandate devolved, f We should have 
 
 * Burnet, vol. iii. p. 338. 
 
 f Macaulay, vol. iv. pp. 186 — 217. What makes Macaulay's attempted 
 apology for William's and the Master of Stair's conduct, in relation to 
 the massacre of Glencoe, the more indefensible is, that in another place 
 
OF THJ: STUARTS. 75 
 
 thought party prejudices could not have gone further 
 than this, had it not been for the following, which 
 hear, O ye members of the Anglican Church, and 
 then, if ye will, commit yourselves to the guidance 
 of your (pretended) Whig friends, when ye hear from 
 the lips of their impassioned advocate the deliberate 
 assertion, that " Had the Episcopal Church been 
 upheld in Scotland, New Lanark would still have 
 been a sheep walk, and Greenock a fishing hamlet." 
 So deadly an incubus would Episcopalianism have 
 proved to Scotland ! 
 
 One word in conclusion, in relation to the policy 
 of the Stuart kings, so unsparingly condemned by 
 Macaulay in his History. That he should stigmatize 
 it in unmeasured terms as base, cowardly, and 
 pusillanimous, can excite no surprise when it is 
 remembered that the condemnation of Charles and 
 James's policy is the justification of William's. Let 
 us see on what grounds the long re-echoed charges 
 of the Whig party, condemnatory of the policy 
 of the Stuart princes, are based ; and whether they 
 harmonise with the general teaching of history on 
 this point. Whether, in fact, the Stuart princes 
 are amenable to the charges so lavishly brought 
 against them, or whether they are not the mere 
 
 he accuses James of the crime of assassination on much slighter grounds. 
 Will it be believed that this historian translates " extirpate," as meaning 
 simply transportation, when applied to William, and seizing or carrying 
 away, as assassination, when applied to James. What is transportation 
 in the mouth of a Whig, becomes assassination in that of a Tory ! — 
 See Macaulay, vol. iv. pp. 205 and 567. 
 
76 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 calumnies of party, unsupported by the more 
 matured experience of modern times. 
 
 The princes of the House of Stuart, of mild and 
 clement dispositions, attached and devoted husbands 
 and fathers,* naturally prone as such natures are to 
 form ardent and extreme friendships, with highly 
 cultivated minds and lovers of the fine arts, were 
 totally unfitted, these being their leading charac- 
 teristics, to sway a nation accustomed to the brutality 
 of a Harry, and the tyranny of an Elizabeth. Deeply 
 impressed with the notion that, for the dignity they 
 enjoyed as sovereigns de jure, they were solely ac- 
 countable to God for their actions, they expected to 
 be implicitly obeyed by their subjects, yet dreaded 
 the compulsion necessary to subjugate them. Highly 
 educated even for sovereigns, and with minds of a 
 superior order, they were aware of the blessings of 
 peace, but then little regarded. This is testified by 
 all writers as the distinguishing trait of the first 
 Stuart, King E^obert II., of Scotland. It was also 
 conspicuous in Charles and James II. These latter 
 princes, consanguineously allied to Louis XIV., 
 
 * Of course, it vrill be understood in these remarks on the characters 
 of the Stuarts, that we are speaking of them generally, not individually, 
 as a family. Undoubtedly there were exceptions to the descriptions 
 here given. Charles II., par exemple, whom no one could describe as 
 an attached and devoted husband. James I., who was certainly an 
 undutiful and hard-hearted son (though partial excuses for his conduct 
 are not wanting), and Queens Mary II., and Anne, whose barbarity and 
 ingratitude towards an unfortunate, and but too loving father, history 
 cannot sufficiently reprobate. Still taking them as a whole, we think 
 our portraiture of them will be considered correct by impartial judges. 
 
OF THE STTJAllTS. 
 
 77 
 
 who was their cousin, were the further inclined to 
 his interests by the kindnesses they had received at his 
 hands during their enforced exile in Prance. Their 
 mother, Henrietta, moreover, during the eleven 
 dreary years of her widowhood, which elapsed from 
 1649 to 1660, had been wholly dependent on the 
 Erench court for support. Thus every sentiment of 
 gratitude combined with their relationship to render 
 them favourably disposed towards the Prench 
 monarch, at whose hands they had received nought 
 but kindness and good offices. Undoubtedly, the 
 Duchess of Orleans was the connecting link between 
 the courts ; and after her death, we admit that Louis 
 occasionally derogated from the chivalrous code of 
 honour he had prescribed himself, by seeking to 
 embarrass the government of his brother sovereign. 
 We allude to his bribery of English members, the 
 "patriot," Algernon Sydney, 'par exemple, for the 
 purpose of discomposing Charles's government, and 
 throwing him more completely into his power. Still, 
 that Louis, notwithstanding these hostile demonstra- 
 tions, entertained at heart a good feeling towards 
 Charles is evident from the "Private Memoirs," 
 penned by that monarch for his son ; ^ which, as he 
 never expected would be exposed to the public eye, 
 may fairly be taken as an expression of his genuine 
 opinions. He there says, speaking of the war he 
 was forced to enter upon with England, on behalf of 
 the Dutch, that " he charged the Queen Mother (of 
 
 • Private Memoirs of Louis XIV., written by himself. 
 
78 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 England), Henrietta Maria, with the commission of 
 going over to England with his compliments," and 
 that " she was to assure the king (Charles II.) of 
 the singular esteem which he entertained for him, 
 and to tell him that he felt himself exceedingly- 
 afflicted by the resolution into which he was forced, 
 by having particularly engaged his word ; which 
 seemed to the Queen Mother," he says, " so noble and 
 so candid, that she not only promised to advise her 
 son, but she even thought he ought to be obliged to 
 me." " And, in fact," continues the monarch, " I 
 may fairly say that this conversation was perfectly 
 congenial to my thoughts ; for in truth I had always 
 entertained a very particular esteem for the King of 
 England, as I am well persuaded that, with respect 
 to the origin of this war, he was led more by the 
 suffrages of his subjects than by his own private 
 opinion ; so that in the misunderstanding of our 
 respective states, I had less reason to be offended 
 with him, personally, than to pity him."=^ When 
 it is considered that these expressions were the 
 genuine sentiments of the Erench monarch, it can- 
 not excite surprise that the Stuart kings preferred 
 his alliance to that of the Emperors of Germany, the 
 Kings of Spain, or the Princes of Holland, whom 
 after-circumstances truly proved were their bitter and 
 inveterate enemies ; whereas, if adversity, as is said, 
 be the test of friendship, what more noble than the 
 behaviour of Louis Quatorze to James II. ? Nor 
 
 * Private Memoirs of Louis XIV., written by himself, vol. i. p. 47. 
 
OF THE STUARTS. 
 
 79 
 
 was Louis actuated in his conduct solely by political 
 motives, for that nobler considerations than mere state 
 polity influenced him is witnessed even by Macaulay, 
 who says, In truth, Louis's conduct towards James 
 was marked by a chivalrous generosity, such as had 
 not embellished the annals of Europe since the 
 Black Prince had stood behind the chair of King 
 John, at the supper on the field of Poictiers."* So 
 imprudently generous indeed was Louis, that, con- 
 trary to all rules of sound polity, he, on the death of 
 James 11. , recognised his son as James IIL, thereby 
 involving himself in an arduous contest with William, 
 which, had not unforeseen circumstances intervened, 
 would have ruined both his family and his country. 
 
 The future proved, at all events, the prescience 
 of the Stuart princes, in allying themselves with 
 Prance; for that country alone of the European 
 powers, proved constant and faithful to them in 
 adversity. Yet such was the hostility then exist- 
 ing between England and Prance, that this alli- 
 ance, at once so judicious and beneficial, was 
 regarded as pusillanimous and unnatural. It 
 will easily be perceived with what difficulties 
 the Stuarts had to contend, in governing a nation 
 so naturally warlike, that thay deemed a pacific 
 policy as timorous and degrading. These princes 
 saw, which their subjects did not, the necessity 
 of an intimate union with Prance ; and has not 
 posterity ratified their decision? What have we 
 
 * Macaulay's History of England, vol. ii. p. 601. 
 
80 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 gained from the wars undertaken at the expense of 
 so much blood and treasure by William III. and 
 Queen Anne ? — An immense national debt, without 
 commensurate benefit ; and for the result, that our 
 country is (as we would fain hope) indissolubly 
 allied with that very Erance we were then so madly 
 bent on destroying. The truth is, the Stuart princes 
 were infinitely in advance of the age in their ideas ; 
 they acted more in consonance with the received 
 maxims of the present era than those of their own 
 day ; they lived in amity with their neighbours, 
 and left the country unsaddled with debt ; — but, say 
 some, they thereby degraded it into a second-rate 
 power, lived for the gratification of their personal 
 pleasures, in disgraceful subserviency to Prance, and 
 were as unmindful of the best interests of Europe as 
 they were of their own country. To these objectors 
 we would reply, that the statements so unhesita- 
 tingly hazarded by some historians (and on which 
 these opinions are grounded), that Charles and James 
 were only the satellites of Louis, are assertions as un- 
 warranted as they are incapable of proof ; for as our 
 greatest historian, Hume, observes, " The popular 
 notion that Charles sought to render himself absolute 
 by the aid of Louis is evidently chimerical ; for such a 
 hope could scarcely have been entertained by a prince 
 of Charles's penetration; and as to pecuniary subsidies 
 (about which such an outcry was raised by the very 
 men who were themselves in receipt of the wages of 
 agitation), he surely spent much greater sums in 
 
OF THE STUAUTS. 
 
 81 
 
 one season, during the second Dutch war, than were 
 remitted him from France during the whole course 
 of his reign. I am apt, therefore, to imagine that 
 Charles was in this particular guided chiefly by 
 inclination, and by a prepossession in favour of the 
 Erench nation. He considered that people as gay, 
 sprightly, polite, elegant, courteous, devoted to their 
 prince, and attached to the Catholic faith, and for 
 these reasons he cordially loved them. The opposite 
 character of the Dutch rendered them the objects 
 of his aversion;"* — and we may add, the ungenerous 
 treatment he received from them during his exile, 
 coupled with their servility when they heard of his 
 expected restoration, must have greatly tended to 
 induce in him this feeling of contempt for them. 
 We contend that the alliance of Erance and Eng- 
 land, far from being, as it was at the time con- 
 sidered, unnatural and revolting, was the true policy 
 for this country to have adopted ; for were not the 
 Emperor, Spain, and Holland, let alone the minor 
 powers, a sufficient counterpoise to Erance and 
 England ; moreover the latter, though nominally 
 allied with Erance, seldom interfered in her con- 
 tinental conflicts, that substantially it was France 
 alone confederated Europe confessed herself unable 
 to oppose ; and if it were so, on whom, single- 
 handed Erance or united Europe, rested the dis- 
 grace ? t In truth, the vaunted ambition of Louis 
 
 * Hume's History of England, vol. viii. p. 213. 
 
 t All Europe was confederate against France except Russia, Portugal, 
 
 G 
 
82 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 XIV. was but a pretext for attacking him : what 
 the adverse powers aimed at was the subjugation, or 
 at least the dismemberment, of his dominions, and 
 they were enraged with England, mthout whose 
 aid they could not succeed, for refusing to join in 
 the unhallowed crusade. That the policy of the 
 Stuarts was the true policy for this country to have 
 adopted ; and that that of the Eevolution, which 
 inaugurated a diametrically opposite one, was un- 
 called for, imprudent and proved futile, is evident 
 from the fact, that the Grand Alliance — which might 
 be termed the culminating point of the new policy 
 — and which embraced as allies, Great Britain, 
 Austria, Portugal, Holland, and Sardinia, failed 
 in effecting its object, though it enumerated in the 
 list of its splendid victories those of Ramilies, 
 Oudenarde, Malplaquet, and Blenheim. This war, 
 which commenced in 1702, by the rupture of the 
 Peace of Byswick, and which was terminated in 
 1713 by the Peace of Utrecht, cost this country a 
 greater expenditure of blood and treasure than any 
 it has been involved in, save that waged against 
 Napoleon. And the humiliating result was, as 
 Marshal Villars truly observes, " that after a war of 
 fourteen years, during which the Emperor and the 
 King of Prance had nearly quitted their respective 
 capitals ; Spain seen two rival kings in Madrid, 
 and almost all the petty states of Italy changed 
 
 and some of the minor Italian states, and of these, Portugal afterwards 
 acceded to the Grand Alliance. 
 
OF THE STUARTS. 
 
 83 
 
 their sovereigns, that peace was concluded almost 
 on the very terms which might have been procured 
 at the commencement of hostilities."* 
 
 The present alliance, moreover, of our Gracious 
 Majesty and the Emperor Napoleon is a tacit 
 condemnation of the policy of the Revolution. 
 Only twice previously to this event has any cor- 
 diality prevailed between the two countries since 
 the Revolution; once by the temporary alliance 
 of the Regent Duke of Orleans with George 
 I. ; and again, when Louis XVIII. allied him- 
 self to George lY. Louis Philippe affected an in- 
 timacy with this country, but after circumstances 
 demonstrated the insincerity of his professions. 
 The two nations have certainly paid the penalty 
 of their mutual antipathies; for, had it not been 
 for the assistance rendered by Prance, our American 
 colonies would still have remained to us, whilst 
 failing our opposition, that Power might have 
 vanquished the Continent under Napoleon. Thus 
 it will be seen that as the antagonism between 
 Prance and England was reciprocal, the antagonism 
 between England and the Stuarts must have been 
 reciprocal also ; for whilst the former was opposed 
 to and hated Prance, the latter^ biassed by domestic 
 ties, favoured and loved her. Charles I. was brother 
 to Louis XIII; Charles II. and James 11. were 
 cousins to Louis XIV. These kings sided with 
 Prance. William III., Anne, and the sovereigns 
 
 * Coxe's House of Austria, vol. iii. p. 96. 
 
 G 2 
 
84 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 of the House of Brunswick were unallied with that 
 Power ; and this simple fact sufficiently accounts for 
 the wars we have been so continuously plunged in 
 with her under these princes. Not that we would 
 be understood to impute to the sovereigns per- 
 sonally this hostile spirit ; for happily in our free 
 country the sovereign cannot wage war in defiance 
 of a large majority of the people : we mean, simply, 
 that they have not been unwilling to act at the 
 bidding of the vox populi, which the Stuarts, for 
 the reasons above enumerated, were undoubtedly 
 averse to. That the latter, as a race of monarchs, 
 were the most amiable recorded in history, is evi- 
 dent, if we compare their characters with that of 
 other sovereigns. Nor is this a bare assertion in- 
 capable of authentication by the testimony of our 
 most competent historians. Tytler, Eobertson, 
 Pinkerton and Scott, though differing on other 
 points, all agree on this ; and with one voice pro- 
 claim the personal virtues of the Stuart Princes. 
 The character of the founder of that dynasty, King 
 Eobert II. of Scotland, is one that has commanded 
 even the unwilling praises of his enemies ; for 
 Buchanan, an historian notoriously inimical to him, 
 yet in his summary of his character finds himself 
 unable to condemn him. His language runs thus : 
 " All say he (Robert II.) was a very good man, 
 and in the arts of peace comparable with the best 
 of kings. He administered justice diligently and 
 impartially to all, he severely punished robberies, 
 
i 
 
 OF TUE STUARTS. 85 
 
 in his actions he was constant, in his words faith- 
 ful, he came to the government in troublous times, 
 yet he settled things at home, appeased discords, 
 and governed with great equity and justice."* 
 Holinshed's testimony is to the same eflPect. He 
 says : " He (Eobert II.) was a prince of such con- 
 stancy in promise that he seldom spake the word 
 which he performed not ; such an observer also was 
 he of justice that whenever he removed from any 
 place he would cause proclamation to be made that 
 if any men or officers had taken away anything 
 unpaid for, the party to whom the debt was due 
 should come before him, and immediately he should 
 be satisfied. He willingly heard the complaints of 
 the poor, and was no less diligent to see their 
 wrongs redressed." t Sir Walter Scott says, " Eobert 
 II. had all the virtues of a pacific sovereign, being 
 just, benign, clement, and sagacious." J And in 
 like terms, were it necessary, could we write of 
 nearly all the succeeding Stuarts. 
 
 We proceed with our relation of the remaining 
 members of the House of Stuart, commencing with 
 Henry, Duke of Gloucester, the third son of 
 Charles I., who was born 8th July, 1640, at 
 Oatlands in Surrey. When quite a child Henry 
 fell into the hands of the Parliamentarians, 
 by whom he was consigned to the charge of the 
 
 * Buchanan, Book ix. p. 423. 
 
 t Holinshed's Chronicle. 
 
 \ Scott's History of Scotland , vol. i. p. 220. 
 
86 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 Duke of Northumberland at Sion House. This was 
 the little Prince whom his father took on his knees 
 the eve of his execution, and exhorted so solemnly 
 never to be made king while his brothers Charles 
 and James were alive. The spirited rejoinder of 
 the little fellow, " I would rather be torn in pieces 
 first," evincing a courage and determination beyond 
 his years, greatly comforted his afflicted father. 
 The king's prescience was remarkable, for in 1654i 
 the question of calling the Duke of Gloucester to 
 the throne with limited powers was seriously 
 debated, when the greatest compliment that could 
 have been paid Charles I. was made by one of the 
 republican orators, the regicide Henry Martin, who 
 said, "If we are to have a king I would as soon 
 have had the last gentleman as any on record."* 
 The Duke of Gloucester was eventually released 
 from confinement on the death of his sister Eliza- 
 beth, when he rejoined his banished relatives on the 
 Continent. He always exhibited the greatest con- 
 stancy in his adherence to the Protestant faith, and 
 was once actually turned out of doors by his mother 
 on refusing to join her communion. " He was a 
 prince accomplished, religious, learned, valiant, and 
 wise above his years; a dutiful and affectionate 
 brother, a good master, and a kind friend." t He 
 died, to the great grief of the nation ; to whom he 
 was fondly endeared for his many promising quali- 
 
 * Jesse's Court of England under the Stuarts, vol. i. p. 471. 
 t Pyne's Royal Residences, vol. i. p. 153. 
 
OF THE STUARTS. 
 
 87 
 
 ties, only three months after the Restoration, 24th 
 September, 1660, of small-pox (that fated disease 
 to the house of Stuart), in the twenty-first year 
 of his age, and unmarried. 
 
 Mary, Princess Royal, eldest daughter of Charles 
 I., was born 4th November, 16^1, and christened 
 after her great grandmother, Mary, Queen of Scots. 
 She was married at the early age of ten years to 
 William Henry, Prince of Orange. The misfor- ^ 
 tunes which even then loomed so threateningly over 
 her devoted father necessitated this early alliance, 
 which was one rather of compulsion than of choice, 
 on the part of the parents of the juvenile bride. 
 The Prince of Orange had originally made over- 
 tures for a younger daughter of Charles I., not 
 daring to aspire to the hand of the Princess Royal, 
 but the exigencies of her parent's circumstances 
 became so imperative that she was, to the great 
 joy of the expectant bridegroom, substituted for 
 her sister. Mary having often declared she would 
 never marry any one who was not a Protestant, a 
 higher alliance could hardly have been secured for 
 her, unless, indeed, she had married a Romanist. 
 The Prince of Orange was then, although nominally 
 Stadtholder of Holland, invested with very limited 
 authority; and there is little doubt his original 
 motive in desiring the alliance, was to augment his 
 family influence by this connexion with the then 
 powerful King of England. Unfortunately for 
 Mary, her husband was cut off in the flower of his 
 
88 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 days (27th October, 1650), leaving her a widow 
 when only nineteen years of age. She had only 
 a posthumous son, born shortly after his father's 
 death, who afterwards rose to great notoriety in 
 history as William III., King of England. 
 
 Mary was a very warm-hearted princess, and her 
 affection for her family was ardent and sincere. It 
 speaks much for the happiness of Charles I.'s do- 
 . mestic circle, that the little princess, though 
 separated from her family before she had attained 
 her tenth year, ever retained the liveliest affection 
 for them ; and when, after her father's death, her 
 brothers became wanderers on the Continent, she 
 spared no pains in rendering them all imaginary 
 honours : the many squabbles she involved her- 
 self in with the States, in consequence of her 
 espousal of their interests, being as amusing as they 
 are creditable to her. She was to a great extent 
 thwarted in all her measures for their benefit by 
 her mother-in-law, Amelia of Orange, with whom 
 she did not live on the best of terms. Her excur- 
 sions with her brothers in Germany (consequent 
 on their banishment from Holland by the ruling 
 powers), and her visit to them at Paris, denote the 
 unchangeableness of her love, and in fact, says 
 Walker, " Her tender love and zeal to the king 
 (Charles II.) in his afflictions deserve to be written 
 in brass, and graven with the point of a diamond." 
 The upholding of the fallen dignity of her family, 
 and the maintenance of the Protestant religion. 
 
OF THE STUARTS. 89 
 
 were the two ruling principles of her existence. 
 By her aunt Elizabeth, Queen of Bohemia, who 
 resided at the Hague, she was ever considered as a 
 daughter. One very vigorous dispute she had with 
 the States, was consequent on the naming of her 
 son ; Mary wished him to be named Charles after 
 his grandfather, while the States and her mother- 
 in-law insisted on William ; and Mary was re- 
 luctantly compelled to yield. In all the joy of 
 the Restoration she shared, and how exultingly, 
 may be judged from her enthusiastic character. 
 Three months after that event, having arranged 
 all her domestic afiPairs, she sailed for England, 
 where the first intelligence that greeted her on 
 landing was the death of her brother Henry. This 
 unexpected shock greatly upset her : her meeting 
 with her brothers — an event how fondly anticipated ! 
 was with tears ; their presence, by recalling the 
 image of the lamented Gloucester, brought vividly 
 before her their loss. Whether it was that the 
 shock which her nerves sustained on this occasion 
 rendered her more liable to attack or not, we are 
 unable to determine ; but certain it is, that within 
 three months after her brother's death she was 
 attacked by the same fell disease. Owing mainly 
 to the unskilful treatment of the physicians she 
 succumbed to its fatal influence 24th of De- 
 cember, 1660, when only twenty-nine years of 
 age. On her death-bed she commended her little 
 boy, with affectionate earnestness, to the care of his 
 
90 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 uncles. Could her fond heart have foreseen that his 
 repayal of their kindnesses would be evinced by his 
 effectuating the final dethronement of her family ; 
 that family, whose dignity it had been the one long 
 effort of her life to uphold, she would — we feel 
 assured — have rejoiced, that she, the pattern of all 
 that is good, noble, chivalrous, devoted, and chris- 
 tian in our English princesses, was taken from the 
 evil to come. 
 
 Elizabeth, second daughter of Charles I., was 
 born 8th December, 1635, at St. James's Palace. 
 She was the most gifted of that monarch's children, 
 and great hopes were entertained by her parents of 
 her forming some powerful alliance ; desires which 
 might possibly have been realized, had they not 
 been frustrated by her early death. Originally she 
 was destined for the bride of the Prince of Orange, 
 had not her father's misfortunes compelled the 
 substitution of her sister in her room. Parted in 
 1642 from her mother, she never again beheld her, 
 as shortly afterwards she fell into the hands of the 
 victorious Parliamentarians. This is the princess 
 whose affecting interview with her father on the 
 eve of his execution is recorded in history; her 
 little brother Gloucester and herself being the only 
 members of the unfortunate monarch's family who 
 had the sad felicity accorded them of remaining 
 with him until the last. On her father's death 
 Elizabeth was confided to the charge of the Earl of 
 Leicester; the sum of £2,500 per annum being 
 
OF THE STUARTS. 
 
 91 
 
 allotted for her maintenance. The cruel afflictions 
 she had suflPered, in beholding almost before her 
 eyes, the execution of a much-loved parent, visibly- 
 affected her spirits ; but what gave the death-blow 
 to her susceptible heart, was the being removed by 
 her gaolers to Carisbrooke Castle, the scene of his 
 imprisonment and attempted escape from captivity. 
 The depression this event caused her, coupled with 
 a cold she took on the journey, proved too much for 
 her debilitated frame. She died there 19th Sep- 
 tember, 1650, in the fifteenth year of her age and 
 unmarried, and was buried privately at Newport. 
 
 Henrietta, youngest daughter of Charles L, and 
 eventually through failure of her elder brother's and 
 sister's issue, his heiress, was born 10th June, 1644, 
 at Exeter, amid all the din and tumult created by 
 the civil wars. Such were the exigencies of her royal 
 mother's circumstances, that within a fortnight of 
 her birth, she was compelled to abandon her infant 
 babe and flee to Prance, where Henrietta herself 
 was shortly afterwards conveyed by the astuteness 
 of her governess. Lady Dalkeith, who managed suc- 
 cessfully to elude all the Parliamentary espionage ; 
 and there she was educated by her mother, very 
 much to the detriment of her future rights ^ as a 
 Koman Catholic. The Queen pleaded for this mani- 
 fest contravention of her deceased husband's wishes, 
 his promise, that their youngest born should be 
 educated in her mother's faith ; but there is great 
 reason to doubt the veracity of this statement. At the 
 
92 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 early age of sixteen Henrietta espoused her cousin 
 Philip, Duke of Orleans, only brother of Louis XIV. 
 Her personal appearance at this period is thus de- 
 scribed by Madame de Motteville : " She was," says 
 that lady, ''of moderate height, and her shape, 
 which was not faultless, did not then appear as im- 
 perfect as it really was ; her beauty was not of the 
 most perfect order, but her whole person, although 
 she was not well made, was still very engaging on 
 account of lier charming manners. She had a very 
 delicate and white complexion, mixed with a natural 
 carnation, like the blending of the rose and the 
 jessamine ; her eyes were small, but soft and 
 brilliant, her nose was not bad, her mouth was rosy, 
 and her teeth as white and well shaped as could be 
 desired ; but her face, which was too long, and her 
 thinness, seemed to threaten a rapid decay of her 
 beauty. She dressed herself and her hair in a 
 manner which was very becoming,"* 
 
 Henrietta's marriage was not a happy one, 
 although originally quite a love-match. Her hus- 
 band was not devoid of good qualities, but he was 
 weak-minded, ridiculously vain of his personal 
 appearance, jealous of his importance in the State, 
 and, like all weak-minded men, governed by his 
 favourites. Henrietta's talents, unfortunately for 
 her, were very superior to her husband's, and the 
 deference Louis XIY. evinced for her political 
 opinions, wonderfully disquieted Monsieur. Still 
 
 * De Motteville's Memoirs of Anne of Austria, 
 
OF THE STUARTS. 
 
 93 
 
 their first few years of married life passed with 
 comparative happiness, until the banishment by the 
 king of Philip's favourite, the Chevalier de Lorraine, 
 renewed their political dissensions ; as Philip thought 
 that if Henrietta was all powerful with his brother, 
 she could have obtained the Chevalier's recall had she 
 desired it. Pending these difiPerences, Henrietta was 
 despatched by the Prench king on a confidential 
 mission to her brother, Charles II., when so skil- 
 fully did she manage matters, that within a week 
 she brought them to a triumphant issue. Her 
 success was, however, her ruin ; the Chevalier de 
 Lorraine, despairing of recovering his influence 
 whilst she lived, and seeing the vast increase of 
 power she had acquired, leagued with the Marquis 
 D'Effiat, a member of the duke's household, and 
 also an enemy of the duchess, to effect his purpose 
 by poison. A subtle mixture containing a deadly 
 preparation was forwarded by the Chevalier to his 
 confidant from Home; when the Marquis seizing 
 his opportunity rubbed the contents in a goblet 
 from which Henrietta was accustomed to drink 
 succory water ; this was on the 29th of June, 1670 : 
 on the following day Madame was a corpse. 
 Henrietta herself fully believed she was poisoned, 
 and constantly asserted so to the attendants who 
 surrounded her, who, however, could not bring 
 themselves to believe it. Louis XI Y. and his 
 Queen, being hastily summoned from Versailles, 
 visited the dying princess; there they found the 
 
94 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 assembled company apparently unaffected, though 
 the hand of death was even then to be seen visibly 
 impressed upon her features. She noticed their 
 indifference with tears in her eyes; the king 
 seeming to be the only person who was affected ; 
 Monsieur was as unconcerned as usual. The Eng- 
 lish ambassador, Sir Ralph Montague, being ad- 
 mitted, she desired the most loving messages to her 
 brother, Charles II., saying, " You see the sad con- 
 dition I am in, I am going to die ; how I pity the 
 king, my brother, for I am sure he loses the person 
 in the world that loves him best." To his inquiries 
 whether she believed herseK poisoned she only 
 shrugged her shoulders; drawing a ring off her 
 finger she begged him to present it to her brother 
 as a token of her dying love. She repeatedly asked 
 for a Cure to whom she could confess. Shortly 
 before her death the celebrated Bossuet, Bishop of 
 Comdon, arrived ; but she had already confessed to 
 M. Peuillet, a Jansenist priest, a good and pious, 
 though exceedingly austere man. Bossuet says, I 
 found her fully sensible, speaking and doing every- 
 thing with ease, without ostentation, effort, or 
 violence, but so well and properly, with so much 
 courage and piety, that I am yet transported with 
 it; from the very first moment of feeling herself 
 struck she spoke only of God, without evincing the 
 least regret, although she knew that her death 
 would be very agreeable to God, as her life had 
 been very glorious by the friendship and confidence 
 
OF THE STUARTS. 
 
 95 
 
 of two great kings," (alluding to Charles II. and 
 Louis XIY.) She assisted herself as much as she 
 could in taking courageously all the remedies, but 
 she never uttered a word of complaint at their want 
 of effect, only saying it was proper to die in due 
 form.* It was about two o'clock in the morning 
 of the 30th of June, that convulsive shrieks were 
 heard through the ancient Palace of St. Cloud of, 
 " Madame is dying, Madame is dead!" And so it 
 was, the unfortunate, highly-gifted Henrietta had 
 ceased to exist within twelve hours after the com- 
 mencement of her attack. She was buried with all 
 imaginary funereal honours at the Abbey of St. 
 Denis; that favourite resting-place of the Erench 
 Royal Pamily. The king, queen, and all the princes 
 and princesses were present at the solemnity, whilst 
 the eloquent Bossuet, preaching the funeral dis- 
 course, terminated it with those striking and appli- 
 cable words of Scripture, " The king shall weep, the 
 princes shall be desolate, and the hands of the 
 people shall fail with grief and astonishment." f 
 Henrietta left issue two daughters, Mary Louisa 
 (some particulars of whom will be found in the 
 biography of Elizabeth Charlotte, Duchess of 
 Orleans), who died childless ; and Anne, after- 
 wards Queen of Sardinia, whose life as the Third 
 
 * Bossuet's Oraison Funebre de Henriette Anne D'Angleterre, 
 Duchesse D' Orleans. Green's Princesses of England, vol. vi. Life of 
 Henrietta, Duchess of Orleans. 
 
 t Bossuet's Oraison Funebre de Henriette Anne D'Angleterre, 
 Duchesse D'Orleans, pp. 85-6. 
 
96 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 member of the Royal Pamily excluded the crown 
 of England by the act of succession, forms a 
 separate memoir of itself. 
 
 The life of Henrietta, Duchess of Orleans, ter- 
 minates our relation of the House of Stuart. It is 
 the descendants of this lady alone who concentre in 
 themselves the pretensions of our ancient royal line. 
 The remaining princes and princesses to be treated 
 of belong to the junior dynasty of Stuart Simmeren ; 
 the progenitrix of whom was Elizabeth, Queen of 
 Bohemia, sister of Charles I., and the ancestress of 
 our present gracious Majesty. This queen, the only 
 daughter of James I. and his wife, Anne of Den- 
 mark, was born at Ealkland Palace in Scotland, in 
 the year 1596. Into the detail of her history, 
 which is exceedingly interesting, space precludes 
 us entering; moreover, it will be found minutely 
 chronicled, both in Green's " Princesses of Eng- 
 land," and Benger's " Queen of Bohemia." Suffice it 
 to say, that she married in 1613 Erederick, Count 
 Palatine of the Bhine ; and that her husband, im- 
 prudently accepting the Bohemian crown (proffered 
 him by the Protestant party, then in revolt against 
 the Emperor Eerdinand 11. , of Austria), was ulti- 
 mately vanquished by that prince, and had the 
 further misfortune of being expelled from his own 
 electoral dominions. Elizabeth and he then took 
 refuge in Holland, in which country he died, a.d. 
 1 632. Elizabeth remained there until the Bestora- 
 tion, when she came over to England, and took up 
 
OF THE STUARTS. 
 
 97 
 
 lier residence at Sion House, Strand, the abode of 
 her chivalrous friend, Lord Craven, who was, by some, 
 but incorrectly, believed to be her husband. This 
 removal she did not long survive, dying there, Feb- 
 ruary 13th, 1662, in the sixty-sixth year of her age. 
 She left issue, besides three children who died in 
 infancy, six sons and four daughters, viz. — Henry 
 Frederick, Charles Louis, Robert, Maurice, Edward, 
 Philip, Elizabeth, Louisa, Henrietta — and Sophia. 
 Of these, the eldest son, Henry Frederick, named 
 after his uncle, Henry, Prince of Wales, and his 
 father, was born January 2nd, 1614. He was con- 
 sidered by his contemporaries a youth of great 
 promise, but unfortunately his career was short. 
 He was drowned crossing Haarlem Mere, in Holland, 
 the boat he was in being upset, January 7th, 1629, 
 when in the sixteenth year of his age. 
 
 Charles Louis, the second son, become by his bro- 
 ther's death his father's heir, was born at Heidel- 
 berg, December 22nd, 1617. This Prince was, in 
 every respect, a contrast to his deceased brother, 
 Henry Frederick, and indeed to all his family — his 
 conduct as son, husband, brother, and nephew being 
 every way contemptible. To his illustrious mother, 
 in particular, his behaviour was as mean as it was 
 revolting. Restored by the peace of Westphalia 
 (1648) to his electoral dominions, he was avaricious 
 enough to engross all the revenues for himself, whilst 
 he suffered his mother and sisters to remain in 
 absolute want, dependent on the precarious charity 
 
 H 
 
98 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 of foreign princes. During the civil commotions 
 consequent on the disputes between his uncle, 
 Charles I. and his Parliament, Charles Louis came 
 over to England, in which country he is generally 
 known as " The Prince Palatine." Here he scrupled 
 not espousing the side of the Parliament, on account 
 of the pecuniary advantages accruing to himself, 
 although his brothers — B;upert and Maurice — were 
 fighting under his uncle's banners in the opposite 
 ranks. To the heart-breaking reproofs of his mother, 
 and the remonstrances of his other relatives, he turned 
 alike a deaf ear; his conduct affording a striking 
 proof of that excessive regard for his personal interest 
 which always actuated him. " Though he stopped 
 short of murder," remarks the Baroness de Bury, 
 the calculations which led him to adopt the side 
 of the question that could not be his own, were the 
 same that actuated his great-great-grandson, Philip 
 Egalite."* Charles Louis waited on his uncle, 
 Charles I., on the eve of his execution, and requested 
 a parting interview with him ; but this was refused 
 him by the king, partly on account of the pressure 
 of time, and partly because he cared not again to see 
 one so nearly related to him, who had played so 
 dastardly a part. A bad son seldom makes a good 
 husband; and this was fully exemplified in the fate 
 of Charles Louis's wife, the unfortunate Charlotte 
 of Hesse-Cassel, who, after submitting to every 
 
 * Baroness de Bury's Life of the Princess Palatine. 
 
OF THE STUARTS. 
 
 99 
 
 species of insult and indignity, was at length for- 
 mally compelled to separate from him, which she 
 had no sooner done than he contracted a morganatic 
 or left-handed alliance with his mistress, the 
 Countess of Dagenfeld : hy this woman he had issue 
 a numerous family, who were, of course, regarded as 
 illegitimate. Charles Louis dragged on an unenvied 
 existence till the year 1682, when he died, leaving 
 hehind him an only son and daughter, Charles 
 Louis, born 1651, who succeeded his father in his 
 dominions, but died, succession perishing 1685 ; and 
 Elizabeth Charlotte, afterwards Duchess of Orleans, 
 whose life, as the Fourth member of the Royal 
 Family excluded the English throne by the passing 
 of the Act of Succession, forms the subject of a sepa- 
 rate biography. As we have freely remarked on the 
 dark points in Charles Louis's character, it is but 
 fair to give him credit for the good he was permitted 
 to be the unconscious instrument in accomplishing. 
 This was, the maintenance of Protestantism, under 
 the Calvinistic form, in his states, of which faith he 
 professed himself an ardent votary. As a Romanist 
 was but too soon to succeed him, who overthrew all 
 his ancestors had so zealously laboured to effect, his 
 reign was long remembered by his people, as one in 
 which they had enjoyed, and been protected in the 
 exercise of, their religious liberties. 
 
 Robert, more commonly known as Rupert, the 
 Queen of Bohemia's favourite son, was born I7th 
 December, 1619, at Prague, during his parents' 
 
 H 2 
 
100 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 short-lived prosperity in that country, and named in 
 compliment to its ancient kings. As Prince Rupert, 
 the gay and dashing cavalier, his career is so well 
 known that it would be waste of time recapitulating 
 it. Coming over to England when quite a young 
 man, he adopted it as his native country, as, except- 
 ing during the temporary usurpation of Cromwell, he 
 always resided here. By his uncle, Charles I., he was 
 created, in reward for his eminent services, Duke of 
 Cumberland, Earl of Holdernesse, and Baron Kendal. 
 Had he lived two years longer, he would have suc- 
 ceeded his nephew as Elector Palatine, a dignity he 
 was by no means ambitious of enjoying. Prince 
 Ilobert died at London, 29th November, 1682. He 
 was never married, although there are recorded 
 several ladies of princely dignity who were willing 
 to receive his addresses. The gallant Lothario's 
 courage, however, seems to have failed him at the 
 decisive moment, for once at least he set out with 
 the intention of demanding the lady's hand, and 
 returned without doing so. 
 
 Maurice, the Queen of Bohemia's fourth son, 
 was born at Custrin, in Prussia, during his parents' 
 direst extremity, on the sixth day of January, 1620. 
 In the year 1642 he came over to England with 
 his brother Bobert, and enlisted under the banners 
 of his uncle. His career, as " Prince Maurice," is 
 well known. He was shipwrecked in a hurricane 
 off the West Indies, whilst in command of a rem- 
 nant of the English fleet, which had remained 
 
OF THE STUARTS. 
 
 101 
 
 steadfast in loyalty to Charles II., a.d. 1654. He 
 was never married. 
 
 Edward, the fifth son of the Queen of Bohemia, 
 was born in Holland, the 6th of October, 1625. He 
 was early sent with his younger brother Philip to 
 Paris for his education, a circumstance which, 
 though trivial in itself, not only affected his future 
 life, but governed in a direct degree the destinies of 
 his descendants. As the father of three ladies who 
 were excluded the throne of England for being 
 Catholics, Edward is decidedly a person of more 
 importance than the other members of his family, 
 though so little is said of him in history. This 
 omission is mainly to be ascribed to his peculiarly 
 inoffensive disposition, for he interfered so little 
 in politics, that, although his wife was, without 
 exception, one of the most distinguished diplo- 
 matistes of the day, his name is never mentioned 
 in these transactions. This wife, to gain whom, 
 Edward, mindless of the earnest entreaties of his 
 family, embraced the Homish faith, was Anne de 
 Gonzague, second daughter of the Duke of Nevers 
 and Mantua, one of the petty Italian potentates. 
 The appearance of this lady is said to have been 
 eminently graceful and majestic, and her manner 
 and address those of a queen. What wonder that 
 so fascinating a woman should have captivated 
 the affections of an ardent susceptible youth like 
 Edward ; and that to obtain this object of his love 
 he should have renounced the faith of his childhood. 
 
102 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 to which his family had hitherto so tenaciously 
 clung, rather than abandon her? Whether he 
 would have done so could he have foreseen that it 
 would deprive his descendants of the triple crown 
 of Britain, it is difficult to determine ; but it must 
 be remembered that his abjuration was, at the time, 
 an event apparently most conducive to his temporal 
 interests. Prom being penniless, obscure, and 
 despised, he found himself courted, respected, and 
 in affluent circumstances ; for, glorying in the con- 
 version of this son of a Calvinist queen, king and 
 courtiers vied with each other in caressing him, 
 and in drawing the happiest omens from what they 
 termed this auspicious event for the Palatine House ; 
 expectations unfortunately destined to be speedily 
 realized. Edward himself ascribed his conversion 
 to the arguments of Am able de Bourseil, a learned 
 priest ; but even supposing such to have been the 
 case, there can be no doubt that it was the fair eyes 
 of Anne de Gonzague which primarily influenced 
 him to enter the arena of controversy. It was 
 Edward's wife, who, under the designation of the 
 Princess Palatine, played so prominent a part in 
 the stirring times of the Eronde, as the confidential 
 agent of Anne of Austria, in her negotiations with 
 Cardinal de Retz, who was also a friend of the 
 Princess Anne's. In them she is said to have dis- 
 played so much astuteness and sincerity that the 
 cardinal deliberately expressed it as his opinion 
 that Queen Elizabeth had not more capacity for 
 
OF THE STUARTS. 
 
 103 
 
 conducting affairs of state than she had." " I 
 have seen her," continues he, "in times of faction, 
 I have seen her in the cabinet, and everywhere she 
 was to be depended on for sincerity."* We shall 
 have occasion to speak more particularly of the 
 romantic career of the Princess Anne, in noticing 
 those of her daughters. Prince Edward died at 
 Paris the 13th of March, 1663, in the thirty-ninth 
 year of his age. He left issue three daughters, 
 Louisa, Anne, and Benedicta, the eldest of w^hom 
 dying young left three children her representatives ; 
 whilst the two younger, Anne, and Benedicta, were 
 the Eighth and Ninth members of the Boyal Eamily 
 of England who were excluded the throne for 
 being Catholics. 
 
 Philip, sixth son of the Queen of Bohemia, was 
 born in Holland the 16th of September, 1627. He 
 was sent when young to Paris with his brother 
 Edward for his education, but the premature per- 
 version of the latter prince so alarmed his family 
 for Philip that he was instantly recalled on that 
 event. Charles Louis, who, as head of the family, 
 specially patronised the younger branches, next 
 took Philip under his protection, and being hand 
 and glove then with the Puritan party, obtained an 
 order from them appointing Philip commander of a 
 fleet which he was empowered to raise for them at 
 Venice. Unforeseen obstacles, however, prevented 
 the fulfilment of this plan ; for the Republicans 
 
 * Memoirs of T)c lietz. 
 
101 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 reflecting on maturer consideration that Philip was 
 young and untrusted, and that possibly his brothers', 
 Rupert's, and Maurice's influence, might counteract 
 Charles Louis's, revoked the appointment they had 
 made, and refused to fulfil their engagement. Nor 
 were their fears groundless, for there is little doubt, 
 that had Philip succeeded in raising a fleet, he 
 would have been unable to withstand his family's 
 entreaties, and would have carried it over to the 
 king, his uncle ; for Philip was not of the sordid 
 calculating nature of Charles Louis, but on the 
 contrary, a high-spirited chivalrous youth, like his 
 brother Rupert. Palling this appointment, Philip 
 retired to his mother's residence in Holland ; but 
 here his stay was destined to be short. Becoming 
 involved in some foolish quarrel with a Prench 
 officer, whom, in an ungovernable fit of passion, he 
 assaulted in the public streets, Philip, enraged by 
 some fresh insult, plunged his dagger into his 
 antagonist's bosom. The unfortunate man fell 
 mortally wounded, when Philip repenting his te- 
 merity, and perceiving too late the danger he had 
 incurred, saved himself by a hasty flight. The only 
 excuse which can be offered for this action, which 
 throws a dark shade over Prince Philip's character, 
 is, that he acted under circumstances of great pro- 
 vocation, and that the attack was evidently unpre- 
 meditated. His mother loaded him with invectives 
 and reproaches, but Charles Louis, who, strange to 
 say, pretended to the character of a saint, openly 
 
OF THE STUARTS. 
 
 105 
 
 justified liis guilty brother.* Philip next engaged 
 in the civil wars of Prance, adopting the party of 
 the Pranco- Spaniards, in whose service he fell at 
 the battle of Rhethol, a.d. 1655. He was never 
 married. 
 
 The Princess Elizabeth, or as she is more generally 
 styled, the Princess Palatine, the eldest of the Queen 
 of Bohemia's four daughters, was born at her 
 father's ancient palace of Heidelberg, on the 26th 
 day of December, 1618. But, alas! those palmy 
 days of splendour during which she saw the light 
 remorseless time was fast hurrying away from the 
 Palatine family. During the stormy period which 
 intervened while her parents were contending for 
 the Bohemian crown, Elizabeth was confided to the 
 care of her grandmother, the talented Juliana of 
 Nassau, but the fortunes of war speedily rendering 
 Heidelberg an unsafe residence, Juliana was com- 
 pelled to flee into Holland with her infant charge, 
 where she rejoined the other members of her family. 
 Elizabeth has acquired a wide- world renown as the 
 most learned princess whom royalty has given 
 Europe ; and justly does her biographer observe, 
 " Her noble descent, the blood of the Nassau and 
 Stuart races, might alone render her illustrious; 
 her learning and high intelligence, in an age when 
 learning and research were unknown to the fair sex, 
 and to be met with only among bearded professors, 
 would equally make her name celebrated ; but the 
 
 * Benger's Queen of Bohemia. Green's Princesses of England. 
 
106 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 high esteem in which, both for virtue and genius, 
 she was held by such men as Descartes, Leibnitz, 
 and Malebranche, as well as a host of minor literati, 
 must for ever render her an object of admiration in 
 foreign lands."* And yet has Elizabeth a higher 
 claim to the homage of Englishmen, for — though 
 fallen from her high estate, poor, friendless, and 
 unaided — she manfully fought the battle of the 
 Protestant faith ; and by example, no less th an by 
 precept, so successfully instilled its principles into 
 her younger brothers and sisters, as earned for them, 
 though their spiritual protectress foresaw it not, 
 the glorious destiny of sovereigns of Britain; — for 
 decidedly to the Princess Palatine is primarily due the 
 praise of having, in conjunction with her illustrious 
 mother, thoroughly imbued her family with her 
 ardent Protestant feelings. Yes ! when others shrunk 
 from, the contest, or, blinded by worldly interest, 
 yielded to their adversaries, Elizabeth still main- 
 tained her ground, and refused to concede an iota 
 of her principles — for the Protestant faith sacrificed 
 she relatives and friends — for the Protestant faith 
 renounced she earthly greatness — and for the Pro- 
 testant faith would she have laid down her life. Truly 
 did she pourtray in her character the impress of the 
 footsteps of her Divine Master ; for, with all who 
 bore his name and who shadowed forth in their lives 
 any resemblance to the great Original, she loved to 
 consort and associate. Rare example of liberality 
 
 * Baroness de Bury's Princess Palatine. 
 
OF THE STUARTS. 
 
 107 
 
 in an age which persecuted mercilessly all who 
 differed from them, Elizabeth held out the right 
 hand of fellowship to all, who, whatever their creed 
 or denomination, loved the Lord J esus in sincerity. 
 Perhaps a Roman Catholic was the only Christian 
 she felt an instinctive repugnance to ; but, if the 
 unparalleled hardships which her family had under- 
 gone from that party are considered, some excuse 
 may be found for this semi-political dislike; 
 though, be it recollected, the most intimate of her 
 friends, the philosopher Descartes, was a zealous and 
 uncompromising E^omanist. 
 
 . It has been said that Elizabeth renounced all 
 hopes of earthly grandeur rather than waver in her 
 adherence to the Protestant faith ; and this her re- 
 nunciation of Ladislas the Eourth, king of Poland, 
 who afterwards married her sister-in-law's sister, 
 Mary de Gonzague, sufficiently proves. The history 
 of this abortive attempt on the part of Ladislas (who 
 was one of the greatest sovereigns Poland has pro- 
 duced) to win Elizabeth at the expense of her 
 religious principles will be found minutely chronicled 
 in the Baroness de Bury's "Life of the Princess 
 Palatine." Suffice it to say, that Ladislas became 
 so enamoured of his elected bride, that he would 
 have married her, malgre their differing faiths, could 
 he have gained the consent of the Estates of Poland ; 
 but this, after wearisome and futile efforts, he could 
 never accomplish ; for Poland has always been cele- 
 brated for its intense Catholicism and hatred of 
 
108 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 dissidents, and even the final death throes of that 
 unfortunate country, before its incorporation with 
 the neighbouring powers in 1795, were provoked 
 and originated in these unhappy dissensions. The 
 matrimonial alliance with Ladislas having proved 
 abortive, Elizabeth was next courted by Prince 
 Waldemar, a younger brother of the King of Den- 
 mark ; but this negotiation also came to nothing, 
 principally from the opposition Waldemar' s family 
 made to his marrying a portionless Princess.* How 
 blind and ignorant men often are in their fancied 
 wisdom and foresight is proved by this event ; for 
 had Waldemar married Elizabeth, and had children, 
 they, in preference to the Princess Sophia's, would 
 have succeeded to the crown of Great Britain. So 
 that a younger brother of Denmark was forbidden 
 to marry an illustrious English princess on account 
 of her fancied poverty, when in reality he would 
 have espoused, had she lived long enough, the future 
 queen of England ! With her mother the Princess 
 Palatine is said, but we think unfoundedly, not to 
 have lived happily ; for theu' differences, if so they 
 may be designated, appear solely to have arisen from 
 their very opposite dispositions, and probably the 
 ex-queen's poverty was the only cause of their 
 separation. This occurred in 1653, when, in 
 company with Sophia, Elizabeth left the maternal 
 roof, and went to reside with her brother, Charles 
 Louis, at Heidelberg. There she was so unhappy at 
 
 * Green's Princesses of England. Life of Elizabeth, Queen of Bohemia. 
 
OF THE STUARTS. 
 
 109 
 
 witnessing his treatment of his wife, that, powerless 
 to redress Charlotte's grievances, she determined on 
 removing with her to Cassel. This she effected in 
 1662, after a nine years' residence at Heidelberg ; 
 when Charlotte of Hesse, wearied out with her 
 husband's tyranny, escaped from what had long 
 been a prison to her, and, accompanied by her sister, 
 took refuge at Hesse-Cassel ; and there Elizabeth 
 remained until her election as Abbess of Hervord, 
 a Protestant town and chapter of Germany, having 
 all the immunities of a free city, by no means an 
 unenviable dignity for a princess so destitute as 
 Elizabeth. It was here, among other celebrities, 
 the new abbess became acquainted with the Quaker 
 Penn, with whom she formed a close and intimate 
 friendship. Her mind yearning for spiritual things 
 was charmed with the simplicity and piety of this 
 heavenly-minded man, who, disdaining the conven- 
 tionalities and fashions of a world in which the 
 Palatine Princess had played an important though 
 not a conspicuous part, displayed to her the beauty 
 of religion in its truth and power ; for Penn's was 
 an earnest and practical faith, sanctifying and 
 governing all his actions, and speaking in unmis- 
 takeable language the depth and sincerity of his 
 convictions. This reality and persistency won the 
 heart of the gentle abbess of Hervord, who, al- 
 though she refrained from any public profession of 
 the Quaker tenets, openly espoused the interests of 
 that persecuted sect. "With Penn she corresponded 
 
110 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 to the last, the earnestness of her letters to him 
 bespeaking her progress in the heavenward course. 
 The last meeting of the missionary and his royal 
 convert took place in 1677, only three years before 
 the death of the pious abbess. Her final words to 
 her friend were, Remember me, though I live so far 
 away from you, and shall never see you more," — 
 (was this a presentiment ?) — "I thank you for the 
 few happy days we have passed together, and know 
 and am certain that although I am by position 
 exposed to many temptations, my soul feels a strong 
 desire for what is best." And that she did in reality 
 attain this happy state may be judged from a pas- 
 sage in one of her letters, where she says, " I can 
 with all truth and sincerity say, ' Thy will be done, 
 0 Lord,' for I really wish it were so ; but I cannot 
 yet say with entire truth that I possess that entire 
 devotion which is agreeable in his sight — my house 
 and my heart are ever open to those who love him." 
 And so will we conclude our notice of this gentle 
 princess, who, as her biographer remarks, may, rarest 
 of all praises, be truly described as " Invicta in 
 omni fortuna."* Elizabeth died at Hervord, in the 
 abbey of which she lies interred, lltli February, 
 1 680, in the sixty-third year of her age, and four- 
 teenth of her reign as its abbess. 
 
 Louisa, second daughter of the Queen of Bohemia, 
 was the Tenth Member of the Royal Pamily who 
 was excluded the throne of England for her 
 
 * Baroness de Bury's Princess Palatine. 
 
OF THE STUARTS. 
 
 Ill 
 
 adherence to Catholicism ; and as such is noticed 
 in the order of succession. 
 
 Henrietta, third daughter of the Queen of 
 Bohemia, was born in 1626. She married, May 
 1650, George Eagotsky, Prince of Transylvania, 
 and died within three months of her nuptials, in 
 September of the same year, aged twenty-four. 
 But little is recorded of this princess in history. 
 She is said to have inherited all the amiable qualities 
 of her mother, " the Queen of Hearts," without 
 possessing the abilities and talents of her elder 
 sisters. 
 
 Sophia, fourth and youngest daughter of the 
 Queen of Bohemia, the mother of our George I., 
 and the princess on whom the English crown was 
 settled by Act of Parliament, was born in Holland, 
 the 16th of October, 1630. She married, 1658, 
 Ernest Augustus, titular Bishop of Osnabruck, and 
 youngest brother of the reigning Duke of Hanover ; 
 a very derogatory alliance, as it was considered at 
 the time. This match was brought about by 
 Sophia's eldest brother, the Elector Palatine, who, 
 as he had the maintenance of his sister, was not 
 very particular as to how he disposed of her ; although 
 Sophia, of all his relatives, was dignified by his 
 peculiar regard. The Queen of Bohemia, their 
 mother, strongly opposed what she considered so 
 unsuitable an alliance for her youngest child ; but 
 without effect, for Charles Louis was not the one 
 to retrograde when once he had made up his mind. 
 
112 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 Sophia's marriage, however, turned out a more 
 prosperous one than could have been anticipated; 
 for her husband's three elder brothers all dying 
 without heirs male, he ultimately succeeded to the 
 Duchy of Hanover, and in 1692 even received a 
 further accession of dignity by the transfer of his 
 duchy into an electorate. For this last increase of 
 power he was indebted to the good will of the 
 reigning emperor, Leopold I., who was determined 
 on rewarding the services Ernest Augustus had ren- 
 dered him. Great opposition was raised at the 
 time by his brother electors to his advancement, but 
 they ultimately withdrew their opposition. In 
 1680 was established the right of primogeniture, 
 by which the crown was to descend only to males ; 
 and it was this law which enforced the separation of 
 Hanover from England, which occurred at the ac- 
 cession of Her Gracious Majesty, who, as daughter 
 of the fourth son of George III., ascended the throne 
 of Great Britain; whilst Ernest Augustus, though 
 that monarch's fifth son, acceded to that of Hanover. 
 Sophia is said to have been one of the most fascina- 
 ting women of her age, and to have combined with 
 " the attraction of beauty and talent an elegant form, 
 an understanding richly cultivated, learning embel- 
 lished with elegance, and wit polished by the Graces;" 
 and so charmed was one of her admirers with her 
 various perfections, that he openly declared there 
 was not another woman to be found point d' esprit 
 plus charmanf than Sophia. She was in truth a 
 
I 
 
 OF THE STUARTS. US 
 
 genuine Stuart, and fully merited the eulogistic 
 praise accorded her of being " the most perfect lady 
 in Europe." She was particularly ambitious of 
 living to become Queen of England, and often de- 
 clared that could she live to have " Sophia, Queen of 
 Great Britain " inscribed on her coffin, she would 
 die content ; but this last aspiration was not destined 
 to be realized by the great-grand -daughter of Mary, 
 Queen of Scots. She died rather suddenly, only six 
 weeks before Queen Anne (whom, had she outlived, 
 she would have succeeded on the English throne), 8th 
 June, 1714, whilst walking in the gardens of her 
 palace of Herenhausen. It was a stormy day, and 
 the Electress being caught in a shower of rain, 
 hastened to retrace her homeward steps, when on 
 entering the palace, she was observed to stagger and 
 suddenly fall forwards; her attendants hastened 
 to her aid, but in vain ; her spirit had fled its 
 earthly mansion, almost before her retainers were 
 aware she was attacked ; her advanced age, for she 
 was eighty-four, renders it less surprising she should 
 never have rallied. By some her death was ascribed 
 to the agitation caused her by receipt of a letter of 
 rebuke from Queen Anne, but this cannot certainly 
 be determined ; — it might, or might not have been 
 the case, for at her time of life any excitement 
 might have proximately occasioned death ; and the 
 aged Electress could ill brook to be thwarted in her 
 political plans. Sophia was truly honourable in her 
 conduct amid all the trying scenes through which 
 
 I 
 
114 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 she was called to pass, relative to the disputed 
 possession of the British crown ; and it was only in 
 compliance with the reiterated entreaties of Parlia- 
 ment that she consented to receive it at their hands. 
 It has seldom been sufficiently considered what a 
 concatenation of fortuitous circumstances must have 
 been required to raise the Princess Sophia, the 
 youngest of the Queen of Bohemia's thirteen chil- 
 dren, to the thrones of Great Britain and Hanover : 
 to men, indeed, it must have seemed almost an 
 impossibility ; yet so the unerring Disposer of 
 events, who holds all things in the hollow of his 
 hand, had determined it ; and this obscure, penniless 
 daughter of an exiled, beggared queen was chosen 
 by Him to rule the destinies of the mightiest nation 
 in the world ; her husband also being called, though 
 in the more natural course of events, to govern his 
 native country. And was it by chance that all this 
 was accomplished? Bather let it be ascribed to 
 God, who so wonderfully and gloriously ruled these 
 events, that they who sought to upraise themselves 
 were debased, whilst those who humbled themselves 
 were exalted ; insomuch that the constancy of Sophia 
 in adhering firmly to the faith her illustrious mother 
 had instilled into her mind, was destined, even 
 in this world, to meet with its reward ; whilst the 
 tergiversations of other members of her family, who 
 in the blindness of their hearts renounced their an- 
 cestral faith and embraced the adverse tenets of the 
 Church of Bome, hoping thereby to improve their 
 
OF THE STUARTS. 
 
 115 
 
 political prospects, were doomed to be as surely dis- 
 appointed. Sophia's husband expired some years 
 previously to herself in 1698. Her issue by him 
 were six sons and one daughter, viz. — George I., 
 King of England, Frederick, Maximilian, Charles, 
 Christian, Ernest, and Sophia, of whom all, except- 
 ing George and Sophia, died unmarried. 
 
 The history of Sophia terminates our cursory 
 notice of the careers of the Princes and Princesses 
 of the Houses of Stuart and Stuart- Simmeren ; the 
 children of Charles I., King of England, and Eliza- 
 beth, Queen of Bohemia ; and from whom directly 
 emanated the Ten Members of the Eoyal Eamily 
 who were excluded the British throne by the Act of 
 Succession. How it came to pass that all the descend- 
 ants of "the Martyr King" and ''the Defendress 
 of the Protestant faith," excepting one, abandoned 
 the principles for which their ancestors had suffered 
 "all things," has been also shown; for of the 
 princes of the House of Stuart (the six children of 
 Charles I.) who would take precedence in the order 
 of succession of those of Stuart-Simmeren, three, 
 viz. King Charles II., Henry, Duke of Gloucester, 
 and the Princess Elizabeth, died issueless; while 
 Mary, Princess Royal, had only one son, William 
 III., who also died, succession perishing; so that 
 by a singular fatality it happened that whilst the 
 four Protestant children of Charles I. died sine 
 prole, the two Catholic ones, James II. and Hen- 
 rietta of Orleans, had each families ; that of 
 
 I 2 
 
116 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 James II. enumerated (as before mentioned), a son 
 and three daughters, named respectively, James, 
 Mary, Anne, and Louisa. Of these, James, Prince 
 of Wales, his father's heir, was excluded the throne 
 of Great Britain by the base fiction of his being a 
 supposititious child ; a fallacy which only the malig- 
 nity of party faction could have devised or success- 
 fully imposed on its followers ; but which, for the 
 credit of human nature, has long been abandoned 
 by its pretended dupes as an untenable theory. This 
 prince, after the abortive attempts of 1708-15-19, 
 seems to have abandoned all idea of regaining his 
 lost inheritance, though the brilliant heroism of his 
 son, the daring Young Pretender, in 1745 cast a 
 meteoric gleam of splendour over his fallen cause. 
 " Por him alone," touchingly remarks Madame de 
 Maintenon, in one of her letters, " is there no revo- 
 lution, but an eternal continuance of misfortunes." 
 James married, 1719, the Princess Clementine, 
 grand-daughter of Poland's great warrior-monarch, 
 John Sobieski ; by whom he had issue two sons, 
 Charles, born 31st December, 1720, and Henry, 
 born 6th March, 1725; the former of whom is 
 immortalized in our annals as the Gallant Hero of 
 1745. That his conduct in this undertaking was 
 not the rash daring of a heedless boy (as his 
 maligners have so pertinaciously and for a time so 
 successfully led his countrymen to imagine), but 
 the maturely digested plan of a sagacious and 
 chivalric captain, is proved by recent authorities; 
 
OF THE STUARTS. 
 
 117 
 
 for it now appears from the writings of Lord 
 Mahon and others that had Charles marched on 
 from Derby, London would have fallen into his 
 power, as six thousand men only, posted on Finchley 
 Common, -were prepared to defend the metropolis 
 and crown of George II., — that the ministers were 
 in consternation — it being reported that the Duke 
 of Newcastle shut himself up for a day, debating 
 whether he should not be the first to proffer his 
 allegiance to the expected victor ; that the crown 
 jewels were packed up in a vessel lying in the 
 Thames, awaiting the w^ord of command to sail 
 for the shores of Hanover ; and that a large number, 
 if not a majority of the Londoners, not excluding 
 even the mavor and aldermen, were Jacobites, 
 and only tarrying the advent of their chief to de- 
 clare for " bonnie Prince Charlie the " Prince 
 Hegent," as he signed himself in his proclamations 
 to his intended subjects.* Whether Charles's suc- 
 cess would have proved as complete as has been 
 confidently predicted, it is now impossible to decide, 
 for, as he did not march on to London, but on the 
 contrary (although from no fault of his own), re- 
 traced his steps into Scotland, all these successes, 
 if such they would have proved, were lost to him ; 
 and thus for ever vanished from the hapless Stuarts 
 the chance of recovering their ancient kingdoms. 
 Prince Charles married late in life (1773) the 
 
 * Vide Lord Mahon's History of England, and Klose's Memoirs of 
 Prince Charles Stuart. 
 
118 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 Princess Louisa Stolberg ; but this union did not 
 conduce to his domestic happiness. By it he had no 
 issue, and dying at Rome, 30th January, 1788 (the 
 anniversary of the execution of his unfortunate 
 grand-father), he was succeeded in his nominal 
 honours by his brother Henry, who in 1747 had 
 taken orders in the Romish Church, and was now 
 Cardinal of York. This Prince, on his accession to 
 the British throne, had medals cast in his honour, on 
 which were inscribed " Henry, by the Grace of God, 
 King of Great Britain, Prance and Ireland, but not 
 by the will of men." This harmless assumption of 
 power was the only step Henry took in maintenance 
 of his claim to the regal dignity, which, unlike his 
 father and his brother, he never publicly assumed. 
 Prom this he was disqualified by his position as 
 a member of the Romish Priesthood and Sacred 
 College of Cardinals, which forbad his assumption 
 of a temporal dignity without a dispensation or 
 renunciation of his benefices. In his old age Henry 
 was despoiled by the Prench Republicans (those 
 insatiable locusts who swallowed up all that came 
 in their way), of the riches and curiosities which 
 still remained in the possession of this last -surviving 
 descendant of James II., which are said to have 
 been of considerable value ; and so reduced was he 
 by these misfortunes that he gladly accepted a 
 pension, liberally accorded him by his successful rival 
 George III. ; the good feeling and nobility of soul 
 thus displayed by the actual and titular sovereigns 
 
OF THE STUAKTS. ' 110 
 
 being alike honourable to both.* Henry died at 
 Rome, where, with his father and his brother, he 
 lies interred, in June, 1807. In the Vatican may 
 be seen monuments to the memory of James III., 
 Charles III., and Henry IX., Kings of England, 
 melancholy inscriptions to departed titular greatness. 
 
 Thus perished, with Henry Benedict, Cardinal 
 of York, the last surviving descendant of James II., 
 whom members of the English Houses of Parlia- 
 ment, by a solemn farce, are still called upon 
 to abjure. It is a farce, for what can be more 
 ridiculous than to forswear homage to the descend- 
 ants of James II. when none exist? for illegitimate 
 scions are nonentities in the genealogy of royalty ; 
 and whether they exist or not is immaterial, as, 
 probably, natural descendants of nearly all our 
 monarchs may still be found. In point of fact, if 
 illegitimate heirs of James II. do exist (a Count 
 of Albany has been sometimes mentioned), they 
 descend from Prince Charles's mistress, Clementina 
 Walkenshaw, whose children, even had Charles 
 married her, and been king, de facto, would have 
 been incapacitated, as the offspring of a commoner, 
 from inheriting the regality of their father. 
 
 The inconsistency of abjuring the descendants of 
 James II. when none exist, has lately been the subject 
 of much and rather angry discussion in Parliament, 
 but herein the error seems to lie in retaining the 
 
 * Klose's Memoirs of Prince Charles Stuart. 
 
120 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 Oath of Abjuration and limiting its application 
 to the descendants of James II., when those of 
 Charles I. should be clearly substituted ; for if this 
 were done, there would be no incongruity in the 
 Act. If it be necessary to abjure the Catholic 
 Stuarts, and there is no reason why it should be 
 less imperative now than it has ever been, it is 
 plainly the descendants of Charles I., and not 
 James II., who should be abjured ; and this simple 
 alteration in the oath should in equity satisfy those 
 so seemingly anxious to get rid of it, as well as those 
 so desirous, at whatever cost, of retaining it in its 
 present form. 
 
 King James II.'s three daughters, Queen Mary, 
 Queen Anne, and the Princess Louisa, all died 
 issueless : so that James's issue having failed with 
 Henry of York, the representation of the Stuarts 
 became vested in the descendants of Charles I.'s 
 youngest daughter and eventual Heiress, Henrietta 
 of Orleans. This princess had only two daughters, 
 Mary Louisa, and Anne, but the former of these 
 princesses, one of the most loveable recorded in 
 history, and who became the bride of the imbecile 
 Charles II. of Spain, died, succession perishing 
 (1689) ; so that in her younger sister Anne (who 
 was the third princess of the Koyal Family excluded 
 the Throne of England for being a Catholic) ulti- 
 mately vested the sole representation of the House 
 of Stuart ; and in her descendants accordingly has 
 it continued, even to this day. In her place in the 
 
OF THE STUAHTS. 
 
 121 
 
 succession will be found a notice of the Princess 
 Anne of Orleans and her descendants. 
 
 There now remains only the Princes of the House 
 of Stuart- Simmeren, whose proximity to the reign- 
 ing dynasty of the Stuarts forms an exact parallel 
 to that afforded by the House of Orleans to the 
 Bourbons. It will be recollected that of this family 
 (the children of Elizabeth of Bohemia) seven died, 
 succession perishing. These were Henry Prederick, 
 Robert, Maurice, Philip, Elizabeth, Louisa, and 
 Henrietta. Three only had issue, viz. Charles 
 Louis, Edward, and Sophia. Of these Charles 
 Louis, the Elector Palatine, had only a son and a 
 daughter, of whom Charles ' Louis, the son, died, 
 succession perishing 1685 ; whilst Elizabeth Char- 
 lotte, the daughter, became the wife of Philip, 
 Duke of Orleans, and by so doing, though she 
 knew it not, renounced her future position as Queen 
 of England. Elizabeth Charlotte was the senior 
 Princess of the House of Stuart- Simmeren who 
 was excluded the British Throne, and the fourth 
 Member of the Eoyal Eamily in succession who 
 refused the fair inheritance proffered her. The 
 history of this princess will be found in her place 
 in the order of succession. 
 
 Edward, the only other son of the Queen of 
 Bohemia who married, died in the prime of life; 
 and long before a glimmering of the anticipated 
 grandeur which might, but for his perversion, have 
 awaited his family appeared in the distant horizon. 
 
122 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 His three daughters, who inherited his place, were 
 named Louisa, Anne, and Benedicta; but of these 
 Louisa, the eldest, like her father, died early in life. 
 She married Louis, Prince of Salms, a German 
 prince, who held the responsible situation of gover- 
 nor to the Emperor J oseph I. of Germany. Louisa 
 died in 1679, leaving three young children, her 
 representatives, and inheritors of her claims to the 
 Crown of England. They were named Louis, Louisa, 
 and Eleanora. This prince, and two princesses, so 
 totally unnoticed in history, held nevertheless in 
 right of their birth, the rank of being the Eifth, 
 Sixth, and Seventh members, in proximity to the 
 Crown who were excluded the throne of England 
 on account of their faith. The Princesses Anne 
 and Benedicta, the two younger daughters of 
 Edward, and aunts to the three last-named, were 
 the eighth and ninth members of the Boyal Eamily 
 who were barred the throne by their profession of 
 Bomanism. Their history will be found related in 
 order of succession. The excluded members of the 
 Boyal Eamily, then, to enumerate consecutively, 
 would be ; of the dynasty of Stuarts, notre ancienne 
 Maison Roy ale. 
 
 1. James Prince of Wales ) riu-u ^ t tt 
 n m, -r. . t • i Children of James IL 
 
 2. Ine Princess Louisa ) 
 
 3. Anne, Queen of Sardinia, daughter of Henrietta Duchess of 
 Orleans. 
 
 Of the dynasty of Stuart-Simmeren. " branche 
 cadette." 
 
OF THE STUARTS. 
 
 123 
 
 1. Elizabeth Charlotte, Duchess of Orleans. Daughter of Charles 
 
 Louis, Elector Palatine. 
 
 2. Louis, Prince of Salms 
 
 3. The Lady Louisa of Salms 
 
 4. The Lady Eleanora of Saims 
 
 5. Anne, Princess of Conde 
 
 6. Benedicta, Duchess of Hanover 
 
 Grandchildren of Prince 
 Edward, 
 
 Daughters of Prince Edward. 
 7. The Princess Palatine Louisa, daughter of Elizabeth of Bohemia. 
 
 It will thus be perceived that in point of fact 
 only four Eoyal Personages were excluded by the 
 Act of Succession, as all these princes and princesses, 
 with the exception of the Princess Palatine Louisa, 
 had for progenitors either James II.; Henrietta, 
 Duchess of Orleans; Charles Louis, Elector Pala- 
 tine; or Prince Edward. Of these James II., 
 Elizabeth Charlotte (daughter of Charles Louis), 
 and Prince Edward, as also the Palatine Princess 
 Louisa voluntarily embraced the Eomisli faith, 
 whilst Henrietta, Duchess of Orleans, was bred in 
 it from infancy by her mother. Sophia, the heiress 
 to the Crown of England, was the only remaining 
 descendant of James I. who had issue beyond 
 those just enumerated as excluded; but her pro- 
 geny we have erst this narrated. Her eldest son, 
 George Louis, ascended the English throne on the 
 death of his cousin Queen Anne, and figures in 
 our annals as King George 1. ; of his brothers, 
 two, viz. Erederick and Charles, entered the service 
 of the Emperor of Germany, in whose service they 
 fell fighting against the Turks, 1690. Of the others, 
 Maximilian, the third son, embraced the tenets of 
 
124 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 the Church of Rome. He died in 1726. Christian, 
 the fifth son, died in 17 03 ; and Ernest Augustus, 
 the youngest, who was titular Bishop of Osnaburgh, 
 in 1728. All these princes were unmarried. Sophia, 
 the only daughter and her mother's namesake, 
 espoused Frederic I., King of Prussia, by whom 
 she became ancestress of the present Royal Family, 
 the heir to whose monarchy is so shortly to be 
 united to England's fairest floweret, the eldest 
 daughter of our amiable queen. 
 
 It is curious to observe that had Sophia, Duchess 
 of Hanover, been like the rest of her kindred a 
 Romanist, she being the last remaining descendant 
 of the House of Stuart, Parliament would have had 
 to have travelled back to secure a Protestant heir 
 to the times of Henry VIII., even to the de- 
 scendants of that monarch's younger sister Mary, 
 to whom, in preference to his elder sister Margaret 
 (the ancestress of the House of Stuart), it may 
 be recollected the royal tyrant demitted his crown, 
 failing heirs of his own body. Lady Jane Grey 
 it was who based her title to the crown on her 
 descent from this Mary, as also on the Act of 
 Parliament, then unrepealed, which settled the 
 crown on her family. Our forefathers, however, 
 less tractable than their successors, would not 
 consent to this substitution of parliamentary for 
 hereditary riglit ; hence poor Lady Jane expiated 
 her innocent ofiPence (if we may so use words 
 apparently paradoxical) on the scaffold. It is 
 
OF THE STUARTS. 
 
 125 
 
 curious to note that so far back as the times of 
 Edward VI., the idea of excluding a Eoman Catholic 
 sovereign prevailed, but it is still more extraordinary 
 that Elizabeth, whose very title depended on her 
 adherence to the Protestant faith, should not have 
 enacted some statute by which the throne should be 
 foreclosed against Romanists. Her hatred of Mary 
 Queen of Scots alone, it would be thought, would 
 have prompted such a measure. Was it that even 
 she, in all the plenitude of her power, feared that 
 Parliament would refuse to register such an edict ? 
 for after all that body was not so subservient to her 
 as to her father; or was it that she feared, by 
 questioning the Divine hereditary right of kings, 
 her own title would be jeopardized, and the claims 
 of her cousin, Lady Katherine Grey, be brought 
 into unenviable notoriety? Whatever her reason, 
 it cannot sufficiently be regretted that some such 
 provision was not made, for it would then have 
 evaded the invidiousness of a personal rather than 
 a general application, and would have saved the im- 
 mense amount of blood and treasure expended from 
 1688 to 1746. While upon the subject of the 
 claims of Mary Tudor and her descendants (which 
 include in consequence those of her grand-daughters 
 the ladies Jane and Katherine Grey), it may be as 
 well to dissipate a report sometimes hazarded, that 
 failing issue of the Queen and her family, the pre- 
 sent Duke of Buckingham is the next heir to the 
 throne, he being this Mary's lineal representative. 
 
126 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 This assertion, though correct in the phraseology of 
 royalty, is not so in the sense usually attributed to 
 it, which will be perceived when we state, that, in 
 the phraseology of royalty is understood by the 
 words, " the Queen's family," all the princes and 
 princesses descending from her Majesty's direct 
 ancestress, the Princess Sophia; whilst the vulgar 
 acceptation of the term circumscribes it to her 
 Majesty's immediate relatives, the children of her 
 grandfather, George III.* Hence the miscom- 
 prehension innocently enough has arisen. The 
 Duke of Buckingham claims only after all the 
 descendants of the Princess Sophia, and as they count 
 at the present time about a hundred in number, his 
 prospective vista of royalty is a contingency which 
 (humanly speaking) can never be realized. 
 
 The Ten Members of the Royal Pamily of England 
 who were excluded the Throne of Great Britain by 
 their non-compliance with the Protestant Church 
 as by law established, were, 
 
 I. 
 
 James, Prince of Wales, — son and heir of King 
 James II., born the tenth of June, 1688, who 
 
 * A case in point suggests itself, familiar doubtless to our readers ; 
 we allude to that afforded by the late ex-king of the French, Louis 
 Philippe, who, in royal phraseology, was always termed the cousin of 
 Charles X., whereas, in common parlance, he was not even distantly 
 related to him; his sole bond of aiBnity being his descent from one 
 common ancestor Louis XIII. If we might be allowed to coin language, 
 apparently unknown to Johnson, we should designate him as a " ninth 
 cousin " of Charles Dix. 
 
OF THE STUAKTS. 
 
 127 
 
 married, 1719, Clementina, daughter of Prince James 
 Sobieski, of Poland, by whom he had issue two 
 sons, 
 
 James, Prince of Wales, died on the first day of 
 January, 1766, at Eome. 
 
 The Princess Louisa, youngest daughter of King 
 James II., was born at St. Germain's, in Prance, on 
 the eighteenth of June, 1692, and died there (un- 
 married), eighth day of April, 1712, in the twentieth 
 year of her age. 
 
 b. 31st December, 1720, 
 Charles, 
 m. 1773, the Princess Louisa 
 
 Stolberg, 
 d. s. p. 30th Januaiy, 1788. 
 
 When the representation of King^ 
 James II. failed. 
 
 b. 6th March, 1725, 
 Henry, 
 
 Cardinal of York, 
 d. s. p. June, 1807. 
 
 II. 
 
128 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 III. 
 
 ANNE, QUEEN OE SARDINIA, 
 
 Nee Anne of Orleans. 
 
 This princess, the second daughter of Philip of 
 Orleans hy his first wife Henrietta of England, was 
 born at St. Cloud, on the thirty -first day of August, 
 1669. She received the names of Anne Mary after 
 her cousin La Grande Mademoiselle, who, with the 
 Dauphin, son of Louis XI Y., were her sponsors. 
 
 Hardly had the little Anne reached a twelvemonth 
 old when she had to mourn, or speaking more 
 correctly to sustain, for she was as yet incapable of 
 feeling her loss, the death of her fascinating mother ; 
 an event which has been previously noted, and which 
 led to the elevation, twelve months afterwards, of 
 her cousin Elizabeth Charlotte as her mother-in- 
 law. This lady confided the charge of her little 
 step- daughter to the Marchioness of Clerembault, an 
 unhappy choice as afterwards appeared, for the 
 Marchioness, who was of a harsh repulsive disposi- 
 tion, never succeeded in gaining the affections of 
 either Anne or Mary Louisa.* To this sister, who 
 
 * The Marchioness of Clerembault succeeded Madame de St. Chaumont 
 as the Instructress of these Princesses on the dismissal of the latter by 
 their father, who was jealous of her attachment to the person of the 
 first Madame. She was as much beloved by her pupils as the Mar- 
 chioness of Clerembault was detested. The Marchioness was, however, 
 eventually superseded by Madame de Grancey, a woman of low dissolute 
 manners, whose appointment the second Madame strenuously but in- 
 effectually opposed. ^ 
 
OF THE STUARTS. 
 
 129 
 
 was eight years older than herself, Anne was warmly, 
 nay, passionately attached, and her separation from 
 her, consequent on Mary Louisa's elevation to the 
 throne of Spain, cost her many a bitter flood of tears. 
 It is one of the innumerable penalties associated 
 with royalty, that its members, however fervently 
 attached to each other, must expect in the common 
 course of events to be parted ; and how often has 
 the separation of the loved ones, little as they have 
 foreseen it, been for eternity ; or if more haply they 
 have survived, and a good old age has been accorded 
 to them, what conflicting and jarring interests have 
 not often arisen, marring and weakening, if not de- 
 stroying, the force of that sweet primeval love which 
 once seemed undying and inextinguishable ! Not so, 
 however, fortunately, or unfortunately as it may be 
 deemed, was it destined to be with Anne and Mary 
 Louisa. The beauty of this fondly loved sister had 
 singled her out, from among even the beauties of the 
 most splendid court in Europe, as the object of uni- 
 versal admiration, and forms an inexhaustless theme 
 of enthusiastic eulogy with Erench writers ; nor was 
 it her outward charms alone which attracted, as her 
 mental qualifications combined with her amiability 
 of disposition to render her a general favourite. It 
 was surmised, and not without reason, that Louis 
 XIV. had destined her for the dauphin ; but this 
 monarch, whatever his private wishes, never suffered 
 them to interfere with his political interests. His 
 brother-in-law, Charles II., King of Spain (the last 
 
 K 
 
130 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 prince of his house) was weak, imbecile and child- 
 less. He wanted a wife, and it was indispensable 
 for the success of Louis's projects that he should 
 wed a Prench princess. Poor Mary Louisa, as the 
 only marriageable one, was therefore fixed upon ; 
 though neither her own nor her father's feelings were 
 consulted. Louis declared it was his pleasure that 
 the alliance should take place, and this settled 
 it ; for Monsieur was far too obedient a brother to 
 dispute his sovereign's commands. It was generally 
 believed at the time that Mary Louisa was 
 passionately in love with her cousin, the dauphin ;^ 
 and so deeply did this opinion take root, that it 
 forms the subject of endless romance with Prench 
 writers, who, under feigned appellatives, touchingly 
 commemorate the passion of the youthful pair. 
 On dit that one day, on Le Grand Monarque re- 
 marking to Mary Louisa, that he could not have 
 done more for his daughter than make her Queen 
 of Spain, the princess responded, " Ah ! sire, you 
 might have done more for your niece." It grieves 
 us to be compelled to cast doubts on, if not wholly 
 to deny, the truth of this pretty theory ; but we are 
 afraid that Mary Louisa's reluctance to the Spanish 
 match arose more from her unwillingness to leave 
 the gay court of her childhood, than from any pre- 
 dilection which she entertained for her cousin. He 
 
 * Vide Madame de Se-vigne's Letters, Memoirs of Mademoiselle de 
 Montpensier. Memoirs of the Marquis de Dangeau. Taylor's House of 
 Orleans. Memoires de Due de Saint Simon. Pardoe's Com-t of France, &c. 
 
OF THE STUARTS. 
 
 131 
 
 certainly was not of a disposition to captivate her 
 alfections, if we may give credence to the testimony 
 of her mother-in-law : — " All that was good in the 
 dauphin," says this princess, "came from his pre- 
 ceptor, all that was bad from himself. He never 
 either loved or hated any one much, and yet he was 
 very wicked. His greatest pleasure was to do some- 
 thing to vex a person, and immediately afterwards, 
 if he could do something very pleasing to the same 
 person, he would set about it with great willingness. 
 In every respect he was of the strangest disposition 
 possible ; when one thought he was good-humoured 
 he was angry, and when one supposed him to be 
 ill-humoured he was in an amiable mood. No one 
 could ever guess him rightly, and I do not believe 
 that his like ever was, or ever will be, born. It 
 cannot be said he had much wit ; but still less was 
 he a fool."* Not the prince, gentle reader, to cap- 
 tivate the affections of a mild loveable girl like Mary 
 Louisa, who, if she ever entertained any tender feel- 
 ing for him, must have been effectually cured of it 
 by his indifference at their coming separation. 
 
 Anne was present at the ceremony of her sister's 
 nuptials, which were celebrated with gorgeous mag- 
 nificence at Fontainebleau on the 31st day of 
 August, 1679, the Prince de Conti acting as proxy 
 for the Spanish bridegroom. The bride submitted 
 to the ordeal coldly and impassively, but when all 
 the horrors of a separation from those she so fondly 
 
 * Memoirs of the Duchess of Orleans. 
 
 K 2 
 
132 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 cherished began to press upon her with its hideous 
 realities, her grief was boundless. She threw her- 
 self at the feet of the king and refused consolation ; 
 in fact, her distress was so great that it became the 
 common talk of the Parisians ; the dismay of the 
 proud Spaniards at this awkward contre temps may be 
 better imagined than described.* One day the king, 
 to rid himself of Mary Louisa's importunities, which 
 detained him beyond his hour of going to mass, said 
 to her, " It would be strange, indeed, madame, if 
 her Catholic majesty should prevent his most Chris- 
 tian majesty going to mass." The good-hearted 
 Parisians were so affected at their beloved prin- 
 cess's excessive grief, that they believed her father 
 would never suffer her to leave him in such distress ; 
 but this, even had the duke been inclined to, it was 
 wholly beyond his power to prevent. The bride's 
 parting with the king, her uncle, was most heart- 
 rending ; they embraced each other over and over 
 again with tears and sighs, without having courage 
 to separate ; though the king, mindful even in 
 affliction of his niece's interests, failed not to warn 
 her that the unhappiest thing which could happen 
 for her would be for them ever to meet again. His 
 warning was, however, needless ; as the poor princess 
 never revisited the fondly cherished land of her 
 nativity. Anne, with her father and mother, ac- 
 companied her sister as far as Amboise, where they 
 parted, never more to meet in this world. Mary 
 
 * Letters of Madame de Sevigne. 
 
or THE STUARTS. 
 
 133 
 
 Louisa met her husband at QuintinapaUa, near 
 Burgos, where the second nuptial ceremony took 
 place. Whatever the king's prejudices against the 
 French — and they are said to have been so excessive 
 that he even commended the Duchess de Terra Nova 
 for strangling her parrot because it could only speak 
 Prench — he received his bride with affection, and 
 warmly embraced her. Eorgetful for the moment 
 of etiquette, or perhaps openly setting it at defiance, 
 he rushed into her presence on her arrival, and 
 catching her in his arms before she could throw 
 herself at his feet, passionately exclaimed, ''My 
 queen, my queen 
 
 It is strange that amid the numerous correspon- 
 dence of the writers of that age so little is said of 
 the Princess Anne of Orleans, for both her mother 
 and her sister engross no small share of their 
 attention. Still, lacking this information, it is not 
 difficult to discover that Anne's was a peculiarly 
 attractive disposition ; and that she inherited to their 
 full extent those persistent charms of her lamented 
 mother by the fascination she exercised^ over those 
 whom she came in contact with. By her mother-in- 
 law she is described as one of " the most amiable 
 and virtuous of women ;"t and by Madame de 
 Maintenon as one of " the best and most indulgent 
 of mothers;" J strong testimony to her extreme 
 amiability and moral worth. 
 
 * Taylor's House of Orleans. f Duchess of Orleans, 
 
 t Correspondence of Madame de Maintenon. 
 
134 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 There is not to be found in the Prench records 
 any notice of another suitor for the Princess Anne 
 than he whom she afterwards married, King Victor 
 Amadous 11., of Sardinia ; but who then only bore 
 the title of Duke of Savoy. This match was effec- 
 tuated by the profound policy of her uncle, Louis 
 Quatorze, who sought to win over to his interests 
 by this alliance with his family the powerful and 
 able Sardinian king, for Victor Amadous is said to 
 have been — and this is no slight boast of one whose 
 ancestors had ruled uninterruptedly their native 
 country for century after century — the most able, 
 the most warlike, and the most ambitious monarch 
 of his race, or even of Christendom 
 
 Anne was only in her fifteenth year when she 
 espoused the Duke of Savoy (her cousin the Due du 
 Maine acting as that prince's proxy), at the Chapel 
 Royal, 10th April, 1684 ; but her marriage was 
 attended with none of that eclat which signalized 
 the celebration of her sister' s.f This was mainly 
 attributable to the inferior position of her spouse ; 
 for Victor Amadous, who was then only a duke, had 
 even this title challenged him by the vanity of the 
 Prench generals, who familiarly styled him Monsieur 
 de Savoie; a liberty which the haughty prince 
 never forgave, as appeared from his subsequent con- 
 
 * Gallenga's History of Piedmont. 
 
 t Mary Louisa's nuptials had been celebrated with the most gorgeous 
 magnificence; indeed, her father, the Duke of Orleans, had a narrative 
 drawn up which minutely recounts its splendid pageantries. 
 
OF THE STUARTS. 
 
 135 
 
 duct. As soon as the ceremony was over, the future 
 queen, now styled Madame Royale, set out for Savoy, 
 accompanied by the Princess de L'lUebonne as her 
 lady in waiting ; and on the frontier she was met by 
 the expectant bridegroom, who conveyed her to 
 Turin, his capital and future residence.''^ 
 
 The country to which Anne was introduced was 
 one that had long furnished husbands for the 
 princesses of Prance ; and even the grandmother 
 of Victor Amadeus himself, Christina, was the 
 daughter of a Prench king, Henri Quatre. This 
 gallant little state, which has lately distinguished 
 itself by its bold adhesion, at whatever cost, to the 
 policy of the Western Powers, is one that must 
 always command the admiration and interest of 
 Englishmen, always ready to sympathise with and 
 uphold a daring and loyal minded power. Hemmed 
 in by Prance on the one side and Germany on the 
 other, it has been only by dint of great exertions, 
 not unmixed with political chicanery, that Sardinia 
 has managed to retain her independence ; this, how- 
 ever, she has not only done, but by a display of 
 talent on the part of her princes, unrivalled by any 
 other European family, she has succeeded in even 
 gradually extending her possessions. That the 
 Dukes of Savoy were ever actuated in their measures 
 with the hope of becoming kings of Lombardy was 
 a fact perfectly understood by diplomatists, who 
 scrupled not to play on their fears by alternately 
 
 * Marquis de Dangcau's Memoirs of the Court of France. 
 
136 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 withdrawing or holding forth to them tlie coveted 
 prize. Victor Amadous, however, wiser or more 
 experienced than his ancestors, was perfectly con- 
 vinced that Lombardy was, as he expressed it, "like 
 an artichoke, which could only be obtained leaf by 
 leaf." * 
 
 These princes of the House of Savoy, (from the 
 time of Victor Amadous II., of Savoy- Stuart,) 
 have ruled their country in a splendid and unbroken 
 line of descent from the earliest ages to the present 
 era ; and are now the only European dynasty, who, 
 in an uninterrupted succession of male princes, have 
 continued to sway their native country. But a 
 prouder and nobler boast of the Savoyard monarchs 
 is this, — that their rule has extended over a willing, 
 loyal, and industrious people, ever ready at the word 
 of command to start up in their sovereign's behalf, 
 and die, if needs be, in defence of their king. Truly 
 a noble and a grand boast in these anarchist and 
 revolutionary days ! Nor was this feeling unre- 
 ciprocated by their rulers; for beautifully does a 
 recent writer f remark on this, that the Piedmontese 
 princes were, even " in the worst devices of their 
 crooked policy, national at heart," for they could at 
 least say, " After all, everything was done and 
 suffered for the people's own sake." "It was a 
 beautiful reproach conveyed against the memory of 
 
 * Coxe's Memoirs of the House of Austria. Gallenga's Piedmont, 
 f Gallenga. 
 
OF THE STUARTS. 
 
 137 
 
 Victor Amadeus I by his courtiers, that he was as 
 niggardly to his servants as he was lavish to his 
 people:" and nothing would satisfy Charles Emanuel 
 II., but he must gather the whole population of 
 Turin round his death-bed, so that he might die 
 at home among them. While Victor Amadeus II., 
 the prince of whom we are writing, when he saw 
 the poor peasantry driven from their homes by the 
 merciless French on their invasion of Piedmont, 
 broke his collar of the order of the Annonciade into 
 pieces, and distributing it among them, as he descried 
 from afar the flames which consumed his villa of 
 Rivoli, exclaimed, " Would to Heaven I saw all my 
 castles in ashes, so the enemy would only spare the 
 huts of the poor !" And that these people were 
 worthy of their sovereign's attachment is evident, 
 for it was no idle boast of Charles Emanuel I., that 
 he could rely on as many soldiers as he numbered 
 subjects ; and pleasantly did one of the nobles rally 
 his sovereign when he talked of abandoning them 
 for a more powerful kingdom: — " What new subjects 
 would you be looking for ? such good-natured people 
 as we are you will find in no part of the world."* 
 Into the details of the tortuous policy which 
 Victor Amadeus was compelled to adopt with Erance 
 and Austria it is not necessary to enter ; suffice it 
 to say, that by a display of generalship unrivaDed 
 by any European monarch, he not only managed to 
 
 * Gallenga. 
 
 * 
 
138 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 come scatheless out of the fray, but even to obtain 
 a large augmentation of territory. In the first war 
 which broke out after his accession, 1690 to 1696, 
 Victor Amadeus, notwithstanding his recent alliance 
 with Erance, sided with the allies against that power. 
 To this he was mainly incited by his jealousy of 
 Louis XIV., and the arrogance with which that 
 monarch treated him personally. Pinding, however, 
 that the allies were equally exorbitant in their 
 demands, and that they afforded him but little real 
 succour, Victor Amadeus decided on deserting them, 
 and uniting his forces with those of Prance. This 
 manoeuvre he executed so successfully, that he ranged 
 his army alongside with that power at the very time 
 his old friends the allies expected he was acting in their 
 favour. The price of Victor's alliance was the hand 
 of his daughter, the Princess Adelaide, a princess so 
 redundant in personal charms, that her equal has 
 seldom been witnessed. She was married to the 
 Duke of Burgundy, grandson of Louis XIV., and as 
 the most beauteous of the dauphines, Adelaide de 
 Bourgoyne must be familiar to our readers. At the 
 time of her betrothal, she was but a child of thirteen 
 years of age, notwithstanding which, the Duke of 
 Saint Simon avers that "never did a better educated 
 princess, or one who had profited more skilfully by 
 the lessons of her instructors make her entree at 
 the Prench court. Perhaps the following letter 
 from Madame de Maintenon to her mother, Queen 
 
 * St. Simon. 
 
OF THE STUARTS. 
 
 139 
 
 Anne, affords the best proof of the estimation she 
 was held in by her adopted family. 
 
 From Madame de Maintenon to Queen Anne : — 
 " A letter of this sort little suits the respect I owe 
 your Hoyal Highness ; but I believe you will pardon 
 it on account of our excessive joy at the treasure 
 we receive. She (the Princess Adelaide) need not 
 open her mouth to show us her wit; her way of 
 listening, and all the emotions of her countenance 
 sufficiently show that nothing escapes her notice. 
 Your Koyal Highness will scarcely believe, though 
 we can aver it to you, how much the king is de- 
 lighted with her. He told me yesterday that he 
 constrained himself, lest his joy should appear 
 excessive. The princess is polite to a degree that 
 does not let her say anything disagreeable. Yester- 
 day I wanted to decline her caresses, and put her off 
 by telling her I was too old ; but she assured me, 
 ' Oh, not so old ! ' When the king left the room 
 she ran to embrace me. She then made me sit 
 down, after observing my difficulty in standing, and 
 placing herself with great condescension almost on 
 my knees, she said to me, ' Mamma has charged me 
 to give you a thousand demonstrations of her friend- 
 ship, and to beg yours for myself. Pray instruct me 
 well in everything whereby I may please the king.' 
 These were her words, Madam; but the gay, the 
 sweet, the graceful air with which they were uttered 
 are not to be expressed in a letter."* 
 
 * Letters of Madame de Maintenon. 
 
140 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 Pour years after the marriage of his elder daugh- 
 ter, Victor Amadeus was fortunate enough to marry 
 his second and only remaining one to Philip Y., 
 King of Spain, younger brother of his daughter 
 Adelaide's husband, the Duke of Burgundy. This 
 princess, Mary Louisa by name, is said to have 
 equalled her sister in political talent, although 
 slightly inferior to her in personal charms. Louville, 
 the Prench ambassador, in describing her, says, " The 
 queen is very small, and rather pretty without being 
 handsome; she has much wit, and is even said in 
 this respect to equal her sister, the Duchess of 
 Burgundy." The popularity of Mary Louisa was so 
 great, and so captivated were the Spaniards by her 
 chivalrous conduct, that years after her death, and 
 when another queen sat in her place on the throne 
 of Spain, the people used to shout out the name of 
 their lamented idol, in lieu of her actually before 
 them : — touching proof of their love for this cherished 
 princess, which time itseK seemed unable to efface. 
 
 The poor Queen of Sardinia was destined to ex- 
 perience, though in a different form to that which 
 attended the other members of her House, the pro- 
 verbial ill fortune of the luckless Stuarts. Prosperous 
 as regarded her temporal interests, she was doomed 
 to witness her two beauteous and fondly cherished 
 daughters— for beautiful and highly talented in a 
 preeminent degree they were — fall a prey to the 
 destroyer in the bloom of their youth ;md beauty ; 
 and — what is more lamentable to relate — within two 
 
OF THE STUARTS. 
 
 141 
 
 years of each other ; " Princesses, who," as Madame 
 de Maintenon touchingly remarks, " lived only long 
 enough to make themselves lamented." * How I 
 should pity the poor Queen of Sardinia, had she 
 known them as they were!" writes this lady to the 
 Princess des Ursins. The dauphiness first suc- 
 cumbed, on the 12th of Pebruary, 1712; and the 
 blank caused by her premature death may be better 
 imagined than described. "All is dead here," 
 writes Madame de Maintenon; "life has fled from 
 us; — our lost princess was the soul of everything. 
 The court is as wretched as myself; — all is blank 
 and void; — there is no longer any joy or occupation." f 
 The dauphin survived his wife only a week, falling 
 a victim to his grief for her irreparable loss. Of the 
 three sons of this amiable pair, only one, he, who 
 was afterwards King Louis XY., survived. The 
 Queen of Spain outlived her sister barely two years, 
 dying, February, 1714. By a singular coincidence, 
 these princesses, who married two brothers, died in 
 the same month, at the same age, and within a 
 twelvemonth of each other ; while, to complete the 
 resemblance, they each bore their husbands three 
 sons : though of Mary Louisa's, more fortunate than 
 Adelaide's, two lived to reach years of maturity, and 
 under the titles of Louis I. and Ferdinand VII. 
 reigned successively as kings of Spain. 
 
 * Correspondence of Madame de Maintenon with the Princess des 
 Ursins. 
 t Ibid. 
 
142 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 Hardly had the bereaved Sardinian queen began 
 to surmount the loss of her lamented daughters, 
 when her eldest son, Victor Philip, Prince of Pied- 
 mont, a promising youth of sixteen, and heir to 
 his father's throne, died suddenly, in March, 1715 ; 
 so that of all her once numerous family, one only, 
 Charles Emanuel, Duke of Aosta, survived. This 
 prince, afterwards known as Charles Emanuel 
 III., King of Sardinia, now assumed the title of 
 Prince of Piedmont. 
 
 Into the domestic relations of Queen Anne, in 
 connexion with her position as eventual Heiress of 
 the House of Stuart, we have, as yet, made no 
 mention ; though it must not be forgotten that the 
 position she occupied was much less important than 
 when, by the death of Henry of York, in 1807, her 
 descendants became the representatives of Charles I. 
 Nevertheless, in the second great war which deso- 
 lated Europe under Victor Amadeus, commencing 
 1701, Queen Anne of England, mindful of her 
 relatit)nship to her cousin and namesake Queen 
 Anne of Sardinia, strenuously exerted herself in 
 favour of her Catholic cousins, and even endeavoured 
 to obtain for them the thrones of Spain and the 
 Indies in lieu of their little Duchy of Savoy ; but 
 this she was unable to accomplish. On the first 
 outbreak of hostilities, Victor Amadeus, flattered by 
 his daughters' recent alliance with two grandsons of 
 Erance, and hemmed in by the Erench and Spanish 
 forces, had espoused the interests of those powers, 
 
OF THE STUARTS. 
 
 143 
 
 and even headed their united armies as Commander- 
 in-chief. Disgusted, however, with the arrogance of 
 the Erench generals, and above all with the Castilian 
 superciliousness of his son-in-law, the King of Spain, 
 Victor soon repented his impolitic engagements, and 
 meditated an early retreat from them. As he had 
 before forsaken the allies for Prance, so did he now 
 desert that power for the allies. This time, at all 
 events, he managed to range himself on the winning 
 side, insomuch that on the conclusion of hostilities 
 by the peace of Utrecht, he not only obtained the 
 crown of Sicily for a reward, but even the prospective 
 reversion of that of Spain. These advantages he 
 owed solely to the goodwill of Anne of England, 
 who, from feelings of personal regard for Victor's 
 wife, did all which lay in her power to facilitate 
 their interests. 
 
 Hardly, however, as Gallenga remarks, had the 
 diadem been laid on Victor's brow and that of 
 Anne of Orleans at Palermo, December 21st, 
 1713, when the death of their daughter, the Queen 
 of Spain (which has been before noted), and the 
 marriage of her husband with Elizabeth Earnese, 
 a princess of Parma, endangered the acquisition 
 of Savoy and peace of Europe. The new Spanish 
 queen, haughty, bold, and intriguing, had attained 
 her position by consummate powers of deception 
 which had imposed on the most skilful diplomatists. 
 Under a feigned simplicity and mildness of dis- 
 position she concealed a haughty aspiring spirit, and 
 
144 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 had signalized her entree into Spain by the dismissal 
 of the Princess des Ursins, the old and attached 
 friend of her husband and predecessor.* This was 
 a mark of peculiar ingratitude on her part, inas- 
 much as it was this lady who had gained her the 
 lofty position she now inherited. Leagued with 
 Cardinal Alberoni (a man of immense talent, and 
 who had raised himself from the station of a' 
 gardener to the highest ofGices in the state; and 
 whose designs, had they succeeded, would have 
 acquired for himself an eternal renown, but who, 
 insomuch as from unforeseen circumstances they 
 failed, has been unduly deprecated to posterity), 
 the new queen determined on winning back for the 
 Spanish throne the acquisitions it had so recently 
 lost. Pacific measures having failed to obtain the 
 restoration of Sicily, and Victor Amadeus not 
 entering into her views, she at once ordered the 
 occupation of that island, which was effected with 
 little opposition, a.d. 1718. Unable to regain it 
 by force of arms, Victor appealed to England, 
 Austria and Prance for assistance; but the two 
 latter powers had never cordially acquiesced in his 
 aggrandizement, and in Anne, Queen of England, 
 he had lost the best and most constant of his 
 friends. A German dynasty inimical to his interests 
 now ruled in Great Britain, determined at all costs 
 
 * Madame de Main tenon's Correspondence with the Princess des Ursins. 
 Coxe's Kings of Spain of the House of Bourbon. 
 
OF THE STUARTS. 
 
 145 
 
 on adhering to the emperor, who was bent on re- 
 gaining possession of Sicily. The rival claims of 
 Spain and Savoy were therefore equally ignored 
 by the other powers, now cemented together in 
 a bond of unity by the quadruple alliance con- 
 cluded at London. By this compact the Sicilian 
 diadem, malgre the opposition of Victor and Philip, 
 was handed over to the emperor ; the former 
 receiving in lieu of his forced renunciation the 
 island of Sardinia in exchange ; which, although 
 inferior to Sicily in size and advantages, partly 
 compensated by its greater proximity to his conti- 
 nental dominions. It was only in consequence of 
 his inability to resist the demands of the allies that 
 Victor acceded to this arrangement ; but, exposed 
 as he was to the combined attacks of England, 
 Erance and Austria, it would have been madness 
 to have longer resisted. The King of Spain, or 
 rather his turbulent and ambitious wife, still 
 refused all offers of accommodation ; and deter- 
 mined on resistance though they stood alone. A 
 year however sufficed to bring them to reason, and 
 the fall of their prime minister, Alberoni, was 
 destined to herald a general pacification. Victor 
 had acceded to the quadruple alliance, 2nd Novem- 
 ber, 1718, and on the 25th of January, 1720, it 
 was finally signed by Philip V. And thus was 
 peace, after a long conflict of twenty years, at last 
 given to palpitating Europe. 
 
 Henceforth the life of Queen Anne passed more 
 
146 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 tranquilly, if not more happily. Undisturbed by 
 the unceasing warfare which had raged around her 
 since her marriage, she must have enjoyed and 
 appreciated this unwonted repose. Her husband 
 in his later years became more devout than he had 
 formerly been, and in truth his new-born devotion, 
 and the change it effected in his once impetuous 
 disposition, created some sensation in the circles of 
 royalty. He discarded his mistresses, who had once 
 had great influence over him, and returned with 
 increasing affection to the society of the wife he 
 had so long neglected. This good Queen, a pattern 
 of every conjugal and domestic virtue, had patiently 
 and uncomplainingly borne his numerous infi- 
 delities; nor suffered them, much as she felt 
 them, to lessen the constancy of her affection for 
 him : and she now beheld — with what pleasurable 
 feelings may be conceived — his renewed love for 
 the wife of his youth. 
 
 It is a striking proof of the influence which this 
 amiable Queen exercised over her daughters, that 
 these princesses, though separated from her at so 
 tender an age, unceasingly manifested the utmost 
 affection for her ; and this notwithstanding they were 
 tended in their adopted families with more than 
 maternal solicitude. After the death of the eldest of 
 her daughters, the Dauphiness,it was discovered from 
 the papers which this Princess left behind her that 
 she had constantly informed her parents of Louis 
 XIV. 's military projects. The King, who had dearly 
 
OF THE STUARTS. 
 
 147 
 
 loved her, when these proofs of his favourite's 
 treachery were placed in his hands, only smiled, and 
 turning to Madame de Maintenon, said, The little 
 jade then deceived us.""^ Anne did not long sur- 
 vive the new increase of domestic happiness ac- 
 corded her. She died at Turin on the 28th of 
 November, 1728, in the sixtieth year of her age, and 
 was buried at Superga, a magnificent mausoleum 
 for the Eoyal Pamily of Savoy, erected by her 
 husband in fulfilment of a vow he made in 1706 
 when Turin was besieged by the Prench.t 
 
 It may truly and without flattery be affirmed of 
 Queen Anne, that she possessed in their highest 
 perfection all those domestic virtues and amiable 
 qualities, which even their worst enemies have 
 usuaUy conceded the possession of to the House 
 of Stuart : her conduct as wife, mother, and Queen 
 being every way unexceptionable. More fortunate 
 than the rest of her family, she experienced a 
 greater share of temporal greatness and felicity 
 than perhaps any other member of her luckless race. 
 With her, may be truly said, died all the glory and 
 greatness of Victor Amadous. Fascinated by the 
 Countess of St. Sebastian, a lady of mature years, 
 whom it is said he had been attached to in his 
 youth, Victor determined on espousing her, despite 
 their differing positions; and on the 12th of 
 August, 1729, within a year of his wife's death, 
 
 Dangeau. 
 
 I Gallenga. 
 
 L 2 
 
148 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 their marriage took place privately. As it was 
 impossible, however, to raise this lady to the 
 dignity of a Queen, Victor, with all the impetu- 
 osity of a youthful lover, determined on resigning 
 his crown for her society. Calling all the ministers 
 and officers of State around him at his Palace 
 of Rivoli (3rd September, 1730), he pathetically 
 lamented to them his increasing years and infir- 
 mities, which incapacitated him, he said, from 
 longer performing his functions. All around him, 
 touched with the spectacle, and remembering the 
 many conflicts in which their sovereign had led 
 them on to victory, fell on their knees, and burst- 
 ing into tears, begged of him to recall his deter- 
 mination. But Victor Amadeus was immoveable. 
 Ordering his prime minister, the Marquis del Borgo, 
 to read aloud an act di^awn up by himself, in which 
 he resigned his kingly authority to his son, now 
 Charles Emanuel III., he reserved for himself only 
 a pension of fifty thousand crowns per annum, on 
 which to live in retirement at Chambery. But 
 hardly had he completed his abdication and retired 
 to the residence he had voluntarily allotted himself, 
 when he repented the folly he had been guilty of. 
 His wife, moreover, who was of an ambitious tem- 
 perament, had set her heart on being a queen ; and 
 urged on, as is supposed, by her importunities, Victor 
 was guilty of the greatest extravagancies. He 
 even endeavoured to resume the kingly authority 
 he had so solemnly divested himself of ; and when, 
 
OF THE STUARTS. 
 
 149 
 
 by the unanimous advice of the young king's 
 ministers, it became necessary to place him 
 under restraint, his rage and indignation were 
 boundless. 
 
 Victor Amadeus did not long survive the com- 
 pulsory indignities he had brought upon himself. 
 Worn out by the turbulence of his feelings and 
 the exciting scenes he had passed through, he sank 
 into a deep melancholy, from which he never re- 
 covered. He died at Moncallier, on the 31st of 
 October, 1732, in the sixty-seventh year of his age, 
 and thirtieth from his accession to the throne ; 
 surviving his abdication only two years. " Sad 
 termination," writes Balbo, " of one of the longest, 
 greatest and happiest reigns for Piedmont ! " Victor 
 had issue by his wife, Queen Anne, besides two 
 children who died in infancy, two sons and two 
 daughters, viz. — 
 
 b. 1699. b. J •,■(»!. b. 1685. b. 1688. 
 
 Victor Philip, — ' hurles Emanuel in — Adelaide, m. Louis, — Mary Louisa, 
 Prince of Piedmont, King ol' Sardinia Duke of Burgundy, m.PhilipV.,KingofSpain, 
 d.s.p. 1715. d. 17r;j. d. 1712. d. 1714, 
 
 leaving issue. 
 
 b. 1706. b. 1713. 
 
 Louis L — Ferdinand VI. 
 King of Spain, King of Spain, 
 d. s. p. 1724. d. s. p. 1759. 
 
 Charles Emanuel, Anne's second son, in whom 
 the representation of the Stuart family vested, 
 succeeded his father, Victor Amadeus, on the 
 
150 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 Sardinian throne a.d. 1730, by virtue of the Act 
 of Abdication. This Prince was thrice married. By 
 his first wife Anne, a Princess of the House of 
 Stulsbach, and who died within a year of her 
 nuptials, he had no issue. By his second, Polyxena, 
 of Hesse Rhinefield, he had a son (afterwards 
 Victor Amadeus III.,) and three daughters. By 
 his third wife, Elizabeth of Lorraine, sister of the 
 Emperor Erancis I. of Germany, he had a son 
 Benedict, Duke of Chablais, of whom his mother 
 deceased in childbed 1741. Charles Emanuel died 
 after a long and prosperous reign of forty-three 
 years, a.d. 1773. His issue were: 
 
 b. 1741. b. 1728. b. 1729. b. 1730. 
 
 Benedict, — Eleanora, — Louisa, — Felicita, 
 Duke of Chablais, d. s, p. d. s. p. d. s. p. 
 
 m. his niece, 
 Anne of Sardinia, 
 d. s. p. 
 
 h. 1726. 
 Victor .\jnadeu.s 111.. — 
 King of Sardinia, 
 d. 1796. 
 
 Victor Amadeus III. succeeded his father on the 
 Sardinian throne 1 773. He was a warlike and chival- 
 rous prince, and under his auspices the Savoyard 
 army was raised into a high state of efficiency and 
 prowess ; yet his reign, so prosperous in the out- 
 set, was destined to set amid storm and tempest. 
 He married, 1750, the Infanta Mary Antoinette, 
 daughter of Philip V., King of Spain. By alliance 
 moreover with the powerful King of Erance, he had 
 to all human appearance so cemented his power 
 as to have placed himself beyond reach of human 
 
OF THE STUARTS. 
 
 151 
 
 ills, yet his strength was destined to be his weak- 
 ness. His alliance Avith Prance was a triple one. 
 His eldest son, Charles Emanuel having married 
 the Princess Clotilda, sister of Louis XVI., whilst his 
 two eldest daughters, the Princesses Josephine and 
 Theresa, had espoused that monarch's younger 
 brothers, the Comtes de Provence and D'Artois, after- 
 wards Louis XVIIL, and Charles X. On the out- 
 break of the Prench Eevolution, Victor Amadeus at 
 once declared for his injured relatives, the Counts 
 of Provence and Artois taking refuge in his 
 dominions ; but the Republic, then in the zenith of 
 its furor, was not to be estopped in its career by a 
 puny state like Sardinia. Victor Amadeus' s troops 
 were defeated in encounter after encounter by 
 the Prench, who, under the guidance of the re- 
 nowned Bonaparte, were now become irresistible. 
 That general, after having overrun the country, 
 advanced to Cherasco, within ten miles of Turin, 
 from whence he dictated a peace by which Coni 
 and Tortona, the keys of the Alps, were to be sur- 
 rendered into his hands. Utterly helpless, Victor 
 was compelled to assent even to this humiliation ; 
 but the wounds he had received were of too rank- 
 ling a nature to permit his ever recovering them. 
 He died of a broken heart, within a few days of 
 signing the treaty of Cherasco, a.d. 1796, in the 
 seventieth year of his age. So little is known of 
 the family of Victor Amadeus, that the following 
 portraiture of them by Mr. Swinburne, an English 
 
152 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 traveller, who visited the court of Turin in 1779, 
 may not be found uninteresting. He says, Charles 
 Emanuel (afterwards Charles Emanuel IV., of 
 Sardinia,) is thin and sickly like a worn-out man; 
 his wife, Madame Clotilda of Erance, is as fat as 
 butter, very merry and good-natured. She has 
 no children. The Duke of Cliablais (Victor Ama- 
 deus's brother,) seems to be a mere driveller; the 
 rest of the princes are absolute Corsican fairies 
 (alluding to a famous dwarf so styled). The 
 substance and strength of the stock seem 
 quite exhausted in them. They are the smallest 
 underformed things I ever saw, the Corsican fairy 
 excepted. The Q,ueen looks like an old woman 
 of ninety. She has had twenty-one children. The 
 Duchess of Chablais is pretty like her sister, the 
 Comtesse D'Artois. The youngest princess, Mary 
 (afterwards wife of the late king Anthony of 
 Saxony,) is very pretty, light and elegant, but 
 very short."* In justice to the family of his 
 Sardinian Majesty, we must add, that the Baroness 
 D'Oberkirch, by no means an incompetent judge, 
 speaks in high terms of the beauty of Mesdames, 
 the Comtesses de Provence and D'Artois, that 
 monarch's eldest daughters ;f and certainly from 
 original portraits, in our possession, of these prin- 
 cesses, we are inclined to think Mr. Swinburne is 
 
 * Swinburne's Courts of Europe at the close of the last century, 
 t Baroness D'Oberkirch's Memoirs of the Courts of Europe, previous 
 to the French Revolution. 
 
OF THE STUARTS. 153 
 
 too severe in his criticisms. Victor Amadeus's 
 children were : 
 
 b. 1751. b. 1759. ^ b. 1762. 
 
 Charles Emanuel IV.,— ^Victor Emanuel I.,— Maurice, — 
 Kinp; of Sardinia, m. King of Sardinia, m. Puke of Montferrat, 
 1775 Clotilda, grand- 1790 Theresa, daugh- d. s. p. 1799. 
 daughter of Louis ter of Archduke Fer- 
 XV., King of France, dinand of Austria, 
 
 d. s. p. 1819. d. 1824. 
 
 b. 1765. b. 1766. b. 1753. 
 
 Charles Felix I., — Joseph Benedict, — Josephine, — 
 
 King of Sardinia, m. Count of Maurienne, m. Louis XVIII,, 
 
 Christina, daughter of d. s. p. 1802. King of France, 
 
 Ferdinand I., King of d. s. p. 1810. 
 
 Naples, I 
 
 d. s. p. 1831. I 
 
 I 
 
 b. 1756. b. 1757. b. 1761. 
 
 Theresa, — Anne, — Mary, 
 
 m. Charles X., m. the Duke of Chablais, m. Anthony, 
 
 King of France, d. s. p. King of Saxony, 
 
 d. 1805. d. s. p. 1782.' 
 
 Victor Emanuel I., second son, in whom the 
 Stuart representation continues (his elder brother, 
 Charles Emanuel, having died without issue), 
 ascended the Sardinian throne on his brother's abdi- 
 cation in 1802. His sway was, however, restricted 
 solely to the Isle of Sardinia, as the continental 
 dominions appertaining to his House had been 
 wrested from his brother by the Erench, and formed 
 into the Cisalpine Republic ; which, though nomi- 
 nally independent, was indirectly under the control 
 of Bonaparte. By the Congress of Vienna, in 1814, 
 Victor Emanuel's dominions were restored to him 
 intact. There, for seven years, he reigned peacefully, 
 until in 1821, disturbances of a liberal character 
 breaking forth, he, fatigued with the cares of royalty, 
 
154 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 abdicated in favour of his brother, Charles Eelix, 
 who incontinently ascended the Sardinian throne. 
 Victor Emanuel did not long survive his abdication, 
 dying in 1824. 'By his wife Theresa, eldest daughter 
 of Eerdinand, Duke of Modena (brother of the Em- 
 perors Joseph and Leopold of Germany), he had 
 four daughters; but, failing male issue, the crown 
 descended on his brother's death, in 1831, to the 
 junior dynasty of Savoy-Carignan. Our ancient 
 Stuart princes, therefore, reign no longer in Sardinia, 
 the lineal succession remaining in the daughters of 
 Victor Emanuel. These were : 
 
 b. 1803. b. 1803. b. 1812. 
 
 Beatrice ~ Theresa, — Anne, — Christina, 
 
 m Francis iV Charles II., m. Ferdinand, m. Ferdinand II., 
 
 Duke of Modena Duke of Parma. Ex-Emperor of Austria, reio^iinp King of 
 
 ' has no children. the Two Sicilies. 
 
 d. 1836. 
 
 b. 1792. 
 
 d. 1840. 
 
 Beatrice, Victor Emanuel's eldest daughter, in 
 whom the Stuart representation continues, was born 
 in 1792. She married, June 20th, 1821, Erancis 
 IV., Duke of Modena, by whom she had two sons 
 and two daughters. The richness of the Duke of 
 Modena' s family in lineal pretensions is unrivalled 
 by any other dynasty in Europe, which will be per- 
 ceived when we state, that the Duke of Modena 
 himself is the representative of Charles L, his niece, 
 Mary Theresa, the next in succession, being his 
 heiress; while his elder sister, Theresa, married to 
 Henry V. (Comte de Chambord), is titular Queen of 
 Erance ; and his younger, Mary, married to Don John 
 
OF THE STUARTS. 165 
 
 of Spain, brother of Charles VI. (Conde de Monte- 
 molin), inherits the pretensions of that prince 
 to the Spanish monarchy, pretensions, which, if 
 recent occurrences may be judged from, will shortly 
 be changed into realities. It is curious to observe 
 that the lineal heirs to the three greatest kingdoms 
 in Europe, Great Britain, Erance, and Spain, are to 
 be found in the House of Modena; but it is still 
 more curious to note, that had not the Stuarts and 
 Bourbons been respectively superseded in England 
 and Erance, these countries would probably have 
 been temporarily united under the sway of the 
 Count and Countess of Chambord (the latter being 
 heiress to her brother after her little niece, the Prin- 
 cess Mary Theresa) ; and on the decease of the latter 
 without issue, England and Spain would then have 
 been united under the regality of her younger sister, 
 Mary. It can excite no surprise, that, with these 
 high lineal pretensions, the Duke of Modena should 
 have been almost the only European potentate who 
 refused to recognise the sovereignty of Louis Philippe; 
 the grandeur of his family depending more on their 
 lofty pedigree and unsullied descent, than the position 
 they actually inherit as sovereigns of a petty Italian 
 Duchy. The Duchess Beatrice, of Modena, died, 
 1840, her husband surviving tiU 1846. She left issue, 
 
 FHANCIS THE FIFTH, BUKE OF MODENA, 
 THE LINEAL HEIR OF THE STUARTS, 
 
 Born 1st June, 1819, married 30th March, 1842, 
 Adelgonde, daughter of Loms, King of Bavaria, 
 by whom he has no children. 
 
156 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 The Duke had an only brother who died in 1849, 
 
 and two sisters who are living, as under : 
 
 I 
 
 b. 1821. b. 1817. b. 1824. 
 
 Victor, — Theresa, — Mary, 
 
 m. 1847, Elizabeth, m. 1846, Henry V., m. 1847, John of Spain, 
 
 daughter of titular King of France brother of the 
 
 Archduke Joseph, (Comte de Chambord). Count of Montemolin. 
 
 of Austria, Issue, 
 
 d. 1849, I 
 leaving issue. 
 
 I I 
 
 b. 1849. b. 1848. b. 1849. 
 
 Mary Theresa, Charles, — Alphonso. 
 
 Heiress Presumptive Heir Apparent. 
 
 to her Uncle, These princes inherit the pretensions of 
 
 the Duke of Modena, the Carlos Family to the Throne of Spain, 
 
 and probable future 
 representative of the 
 House of Stuart. 
 
 Theresa, second daughter of Victor Emanuel, mar- 
 ried, the 15th of August, 1820, Charles II., Duke of 
 Parma, who abdicated his throne during the revolu- 
 tionary disturbances of 1849. By him she had issue, 
 an only son, Charles III., Duke of Parma, born 1823. 
 He married on the 10th of November, 1845, Louisa, 
 daughter of the Due de Berri, and grand-daughter of 
 Charles X., King of Prance. He was assassinated 27th 
 
 March, 1854, by whom is unknown. He left issue — 
 
 1 
 
 b. 1848. b. 1851. b. 1847. b. 1849. 
 
 Robert, reigning — Henry — Marguerite — Alice. 
 Duke of Parma. 
 
 Christina, fourth daughter of Victor Emanuel, 
 married, 21st of November, 1832, Perdinand II., 
 reigning king of the Two Sicilies. She died in 
 childbed, 31st January, 1836, leaving issue an only 
 son, Prancis, Prince Boyal, born 1836, now, dit on, 
 on the eve of betrothal to a princess of Bavaria. A 
 petition has been lately presented to the congre- 
 gation of Rites at Rome, for the beatification of 
 this deservedly lamented princess. 
 
OF THE STUARTS. 
 
 157 
 
 Theresa, second daughter of King Victor Amadeus 
 III., and the only one of that monarch's numerous 
 family, besides his second son, Victor Emanuel, who 
 had issue, married, 1773, the Count D'Artois, after- 
 wards Charles X. By him she had issue, two sons, 
 Louis, born, 1775, Due D'Angouleme, then Dauphin, 
 for a moment Louis XIX. of Prance, who married 
 his cousin, Mary Theresa, daughter of Louis XVI., 
 and died, succession perishing, 1844; and Charles, 
 Due de Berri, who married after the Restoration, 
 1816, Caroline, daughter of Ferdinand I., King of 
 the Two Sicilies. By this princess the Due de 
 Berri had issue a daughter, Louisa, born, 1819, 
 married to the late Duke of Parma, and who now 
 rules that Duchy as Begent for her infant son, 
 Robert; and a son, Henry, posthumous, born, 1820, 
 and heir to the throne of Prance, but who was ex- 
 patriated by the Revolution of 1830, and has since 
 assumed the title of Comte de Chambord. He 
 married, 1S46, Theresa, daughter of Prancis IV., 
 Duke of Modena, but has no issue. The Due de 
 Berri was assassinated by Louvel as he was coming 
 out of a Parisian Theatre, Pebruary, 1 820. 
 
 The descendants of Adelaide, eldest daughter 
 of Anne, Queen of Sardinia, Progenitress of the 
 second offshoot from the House of Stuart, curiously 
 enough, by her marriage with the Duke of Burgundy, 
 grandson of Louis XIV., commingled with, and be- 
 came absorbed in that of Bourbon. The only son of 
 Adelaide who survived was Louis XV., King of 
 
158 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 Erance, who was born in 1710, and who married, 
 1725, Mary Lezsinska, daughter of Stanislaus, the 
 dethroned King of Poland. Louis XV., who died, 
 1774, had issue by this princess. 
 
 b. 1729. b. 1727. b. 1732. 
 Louis, — Mary Louisa, — Henrietta, — ■ 
 m. Josephine of Saxony, m. Philip, Duke of Parma, d. s. p. 
 d. 1765. d. 1759. 
 
 b. 1732. b. 1733. b. 1734. b. 1737. 
 
 Adelaide, — Victoria, — Sophia, — Louisa, 
 d. s. p. d. s. p. 1799. d. s. p. d. s. p. 1787. 
 
 Louis, Dauphin of Prance, only son of King 
 Louis XY., was born 1727. He married, firstly, 
 1744, Mary Antoinette, daughter of Philip V., King 
 of Spain, who died in childbed, 1746. Secondly, 
 he espoused 1751, Josephine, daughter of Augustus 
 III., King of Poland. This prince vividly recalled 
 by his many virtues the memory of his grandfather, 
 the Duke of Burgundy, but like him he was 
 destined to frustrate the hopes raised by his 
 amiable character, as he died nine years before 
 his father, a.d. 1765. His issue, by Josephine of 
 Saxony, his second wife, were : 
 
 b. 1754. b. 1755. b. 1757. b. 1759. b. 1764. 
 
 Louis XVI., Louis XVIII.,— Charles X., — Clotilda, — Elizabeth, 
 
 King of Prance, King of France, King of France, m. Charles Eman- mise i ifiort 
 
 m. Mary Antoi- m. Josephine, m. Theresa, uel IV., King of at Paris, 
 
 nette, daughter daughter of Vic- daughter of Vic- Sardinia, s. p. 1794. 
 
 of Mary Theresa, tor Amadeus tor Amadeus d. s. p. 1802. 
 
 Empress of Au3- IIL, of Sardinia, III., of Sardinia, 
 
 tria, mise amort d. s. p. 1824. d. s. m. 1836. 
 at Paris, 1793, 
 leaving issue. 
 
 I 
 
 b. 1778. b. 1785. 
 
 Maiy Theresa, — Louis XVII., 
 m. the Duke of King of France, 
 Angouleme, son d. s. p. 1795. 
 
 of Charles X., 
 
 d. s. D. 1852. 
 
OF THE STUARTS. 
 
 159 
 
 Mary Louisa, eldest daughter of King Louis XV., 
 was born 1727. She married Philip, Duke of Parma, 
 on whom that duchy was settled by the Treaty of 
 Aix-la-Chapelle, 1748. Philip was the son of 
 Philip v., King of Spain, by his second wife Eliza- 
 beth Parnese ; and it was in right of his mother 
 that he inherited Parma as the last surviving de- 
 scendant of the House of Parnese. Mary Louisa, 
 who died 1759, left issue — 
 
 i 
 
 b. 1751. b. 1741. b. llsi. 
 
 Ferdinand, — Elizabeth, — Louisa, 
 
 Duke of Parma, m. the Emperor Joseph IL m. Charles IV., 
 
 m. Amelia, daughter of the of Austria, King of Spain, 
 
 Empress Mary Theresa d. s. p. 1763. d. 
 
 of Austria, 
 
 d. 1802, 
 leaving issue. 
 
 b. 1773. b. 1770. b. 1774. b. 1777. 
 
 Louis, — Caroline, — Mary Antoinette, — Charlotte, 
 
 King of Etruria, m. Duke Maximilian d. s. p. d. s. p. 
 
 m. Mary Louisa, of Saxony, 
 
 daughter of d. 1804. 
 
 Charles IV., 
 King of Spain, 
 d. 1803. 
 
 I 
 
 b. 1799. b. 1802. 
 
 Charles II. Duke of Parma, — Louisa, 
 m. Theresa, daughter of m. Duke Maximilian of Saxony, 
 Victor Emanuel I. of Sardinia, s. p. 
 
 s. m. 
 
 Caroline, born 1770, eldest daughter of Perdi- 
 nand, Duke of Parma, married Duke Maximilian, 
 brother of Prederick Augustus IV. and Antony, 
 kings of Saxony. Maximilian resigned his rever- 
 sionary right to the Saxon throne, 1830, in 
 favour of his son, the late Prederick Augustus V. 
 The Eoyal Pamily of Saxony constitute another, 
 through this princess, of the reigning European 
 dynasties who claim descent from Charles I. The 
 
THE DESCENDANTS 
 
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OF THE STUARTS. 
 
 161 
 
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 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
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OP THE STUARTS. 
 
 163 
 
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164 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 Antoinette, Grand Ducliess of Tuscany, born 
 1 814i, has issue : 
 
 b. 1835. — b. 1839. — b. 1847. — b. 1852. — b. 1834. 
 
 Ferdinand, Charles. Louis. John. Isabella, 
 m. 1856, Anne, m. 1850, Francis, 
 
 daughter of King Count of Trapaui 
 
 John, of Saxony. s. m. 
 
 The following are the Descendants of Anne of 
 Sardinia, at present living ; arranged in the order of 
 succession they would have exhibited to the British 
 Throne, had they not been excluded by their pro- 
 fession of Roman Catholicism. In these royal per- 
 sonages alone concentres the Hepresentation of the 
 House of Stuart; which, as will be seen, vests 
 primarily in that of the reigning Dynasty of 
 Modena, and after that in those of Parma, Naples, 
 Saxony, Spain, Brazil, and Portugal (and the legiti- 
 mate Bourbon dynasty of Prance) consecutively : — 
 
 The Ducal Farmly of Modena. 
 
 1. Francis V., Duke of Modena, representative of Charles I., b. 
 
 1819, s. p. 
 
 2. Mary Theresa, Princess of Modena, b. 1849 (heiress apparent). 
 
 3. Theresa, Queen of France de jure, nee Princess of Modena, b. 
 
 1817, s. p. 
 
 4. Mary, wife of Don Juan of Spain, nee Princess of Modena, b. 1824. 
 
 5. Theresa, Ex-Duchess of Parma, nee Princess of Sardinia, b. 1803. 
 
 6. Anne, Ex-Empress of Austria, nee Princess of Sardinia, b. 
 
 1803, s. p. 
 
 7. Francis, Prince Royal of the Two Sicilies, b. 1836. 
 
 The Royal Family of France. 
 
 8. Henry V., titular King of France, b. 1820, s. p. 
 
 9. Louisa, Regent Duchess of Parma, nee Princess of France, b. 
 
 1819, s. m. 
 
 b. 1845. 
 Louisa. 
 
OF THE STUARTS. 
 
 105 
 
 The Ducal Family of Par7na. 
 
 10. Charles II., Ex-Duke of Parma, b. 1799, s. m. 
 
 11. Louisa, Dowager Duchess of Saxony, nee Princess of Parma, 
 
 b. 1802, s. p. 
 
 The Royal Family of Saxony. 
 
 12. John, King of Saxony, b. 1801. 
 
 13. Amelia, Princess of Saxony, b. 1794, s. p. 
 
 14. Maiy, Dowager Duchess of Tuscany, nee Princess of Saxony, 
 
 b. 1796, s. p. 
 
 15. Augusta, wife of Prince Leopold of Bavaria, nee Princess of 
 
 Tuscany, b. 1825. 
 
 The Royal Family of Spain, 
 
 16. Isabella XL, Queen of Spain, b. 1830. 
 
 17. Louisa, Duchess of Montpensier, nee Princess of Spain, b. 1833. 
 
 18. Charles VI., titular King of Spain, b. 1818, s. p. 
 
 19. John, Infant of Spain, b. 1822, s. m. 
 
 20. Ferdinand, Infant of Spain, b. 1824. 
 
 21. Francis de Paula, Infant of Spain, b. 1794. 
 
 The Royal Families of Brazil and Portugal. 
 
 22. Pedro II., Emperor of Brazil, b. 1825. 
 
 23. Pedro V., King of Portugal, b. 1837. 
 
 24. Louis Philip, Duke of Oporto, b. 1838. 
 
 25. John, Duke of Beja, b. 1842. 
 
 26. Ferdinand, Duke of Saxe-Coburg Gotha, b. 1846. 
 
 27. Augustus, Duke of Saxe-Coburg Gotha, b. 1847. 
 
 28. Mary Anne, Princess of Portugal, b. 1843. 
 
 29. Antoinette, Princess of Portugal, b. 1845. 
 
 30. Januaria, Countess of Aquila, nee Princess of Brazil, b. 1822. 
 
 31. Frances, Princess de Joinville, nee Princess of Brazil, b. 1824, 
 
 32. Miguel I., Ex-King of Portugal, b. 1802. 
 
 33. Theresa, titular Dowager Queen of Spain, nee Princess of Brazil, 
 
 b. 1793. 
 
 34. Anne, Marchioness de Louie, nee Princess of Brazil, b. 1806, s. p. 
 
 ITie Royal Family of the Two Sicilies. 
 
 35. Ferdinand IL, King of the Two Sicilies, b. 1810. 
 
 36. Charles, Count of Capua, b. 1811, s. p. 
 
 37. Leopold, Count of Syracuse, b. 1813, s. p. 
 
 38. Louis, Count of Aquila, b. 1824, s. m. 
 
 39. Francis, Count of Trapani, b. 1827. 
 
166 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 40. Christina, Dowager Queen of Spain, nee Princess of the Two 
 
 Sicilies, b. 1806, s. m. 
 
 41. Antoinette, Grand Duchess of Tuscany, nee Princess of the Two 
 
 Sicilies, b. 1814. 
 
 42. Amelia, wife of the Infant Sebastian of Spain, nee Princess of 
 
 the Two Sicilies, b. 1818, s. p. 
 
 43. Caroline, titular Queen of Spain, nee Princess of the Two Sicilies, 
 
 b. 1820, s. p. 
 
 44. Theresa, Empress of Brazil, nee Princess of the Two Sicilies, 
 
 b. 1822, 8. m. 
 
OF THE STUARTS. 
 
 167 
 
 IV. 
 
 ELIZABETH CHAILLOTTE, 
 DUCHESS OF OELEANS, 
 Nee Princess Palatine. 
 
 The life of Elizabeth Charlotte, Princess Palatine 
 of the Eliine, presents greater facilities for the pen 
 of her autobiographer than that of any of her 
 cotemporaries, for with such naivete has this lady 
 pourtrayed herself in her writings, that little doubt 
 can remain as to the genuineness of her character.''^ 
 When we inform our readers that this Princess 
 spent nearly the whole of her time in letter writing, 
 some idea may be formed of her voluminous cor- 
 respondence. Every day witnessed a regular series 
 emanate from her pen, which she divided between 
 her aunt Sophia, Electress of Hanover, to whom she 
 wrote on Sundays and Thursdays; her step-daughters, 
 Mary Louisa, Queen of Spain, and Anne, Queen of 
 Sardinia, to whom she devoted Mondays; her 
 daughter, Elizabeth Charlotte, Duchess of Lorraine, 
 who engrossed Sundays, Tuesdays, and Eridays ; and 
 her grand-daughter, Charlotte, Duchess of Modena, 
 for whom she reserved Wednesdays ; on Saturdays 
 she brought up the arrears of the week. " Some- 
 times," she says, "after having written twenty 
 sheets to the Princess of Wales, t ten or twelve to 
 
 * See Memoirs of the Duchess of Orleans. 
 
 t Afterwards Queen Caroline, wife of George 11. 
 
168 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 my daughter, and twenty to the Queen of Sicily,'* 
 I am so tired that I can hardly set one foot before 
 another an assertion we can readily credit. 
 
 This indefatigable princess, to whose writings 
 posterity is so indebted, was the only daughter of 
 Charles Louis, Elector Palatine, by his wife, the in- 
 jured Charlotte of Hesse-Cassel,and first saw the light 
 in her father's ancient ancestral palace of Heidelberg, 
 on the seventh day of July, 1652. She was baptized 
 according to the rites of the Protestant Church, 
 and received the names of Elizabeth Charlotte, the 
 former in compliment to her grandmother, the Queen 
 of Bohemia, and the latter after her mother. 
 
 We have casually noticed, in our relation of the 
 father of this princess, the unhappy disputes between 
 her parents, consequent on the Elector's undisguised 
 liaison with Mademoiselle de Dagenfeld, the daughter 
 of a Suabian officer, and one of the electress's filles 
 d^honneur. Whatever were the charms of the fair 
 commoner, and they are said to have been of a supe- 
 rior order, they in no wise excuse the elector's con- 
 temptuous treatment of his lawful wife. That the 
 latter was a woman of spirit there is little reason to 
 doubt ; but that her eccentricities, if such they may 
 be termed, were provoked by the ill conduct of her 
 spouse, is equally certain. What could be more 
 mortifying to the poor Electress than to find herself 
 supplanted in her household by one of her own 
 
 * Afterwards Queen of Sardinia, but who for some years bore the title 
 of Queen of Sicily. 
 
 ) 
 
OF THE STUARTS. 
 
 169 
 
 maidens? Yet, such was actually the case, for so 
 infatuated did Charles become with his charmer, 
 and so lost to all sense of decorum, that in 1658 he 
 publicly espoused her at the castle of Heidelberg 
 (by a left-handed contract of marriage, then common 
 among the German princes), and that whilst his 
 injured wife remained an inmate confined to her 
 apartments by his orders. 
 
 The much decried conduct of Louis Quatorze, in 
 so openly displaying to the world the ascendancy 
 exercised over him by his mistresses, yet afibrds no 
 parallel to that of Charles Louis ; for the former 
 paid his wife every public mark of attention, and 
 caused the same to be exacted for her from others ; 
 whilst Charles Louis openly neglected his, banished 
 her from his presence, and installed his mistress in 
 her place. 
 
 One day the unfortunate Charlotte, enraged by 
 some fresh proof of her husband's infidelity, drew 
 forth a pistol and pointed it at her successful rival, 
 but was prevented from doing her any injury by 
 Count Hohenlohe, who dashed the weapon from her 
 hand, finally, wearied with vain importunities, 
 which served rather to alienate than to reclaim her 
 spouse, Charlotte appealed to the Emperor for re- 
 dress ; but he, after patiently hearing a statement 
 of her grievances, was unable or unwilling to in- 
 terfere. We may mention, to avoid interruption 
 to our narrative, that the Electress ultimately 
 escaped from her husband's court, where she 
 
170 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 had long been detained as a prisoner, and took 
 refuge with her brother,^the Elector of Hesse-Cassel; 
 from whence she never returned. In later years, 
 and when all hope of a successor to the princely line 
 of Simmeren was deemed hopeless, Charles Louis 
 endeavoured to urge upon her the necessity of a 
 formal divorce, but to this proposal she positively 
 refused to accede. Her sister-in-law, Elizabeth, who 
 vainly tried to mediate between the parties, incurred 
 much odium at the time, by her well-meaning, 
 though somewhat injudicious attempts to further 
 this negotiation.* 
 
 This princess, who until her sister's escape had 
 resided at Heidelberg, took her departure with her ; 
 so that henceforth Mademoiselle de Dagenfeld, since 
 her marriage created a countess, reigned supreme, 
 and received all the honours due to the exalted 
 station, which, whether willingly or unwillingly, 
 she had usurped. 
 
 It is evident that snch a home must have been avery 
 improper one for the little Lizette ; and so convinced 
 was even her father of this, that he took the first 
 opportunity which presented itself of removing her 
 from its contaminating influences. At the time we 
 are alluding to, his sisters, Elizabeth and Sophia, 
 resided with him at the castle of Heidelberg ; with 
 the former he was never on good terms, for she 
 was a woman whose life evinced the rectitude of 
 her principles, governed and sanctified by religion ; 
 
 * Baroness de Bury's Life of Princess Palatine. 
 
OF THE STUARTS. 
 
 171 
 
 and her tastes but little accorded with those of her 
 licentious brother, notwithstanding he cloaked his 
 failings under the specious mask of religious zeal. 
 Indeed, so opposed were his practices to his profes- 
 sions, that Elizabeth openly lectured him for his 
 inconsistency, and her arguments had so much the 
 greater weight, as they were corroborated by the 
 unsullied purity of her life. This lecturing parti- 
 cularly annoyed the Elector, who, as he was unable 
 to rebut his sister's charges, felt all the more 
 chagrined with her for exposing him. 
 
 With Sophia he was on very different terms ; she 
 was ten years younger than Elizabeth, and whilst 
 possessing all the charms and personal graces of her 
 elder sister, she combined with them a sprightliness 
 and naivete which endeared her to all beholders. On 
 two points only was she inferior to Elizabeth; she 
 possessed not her ardent religious faith, and she was 
 devoid of her intense love of learning. She was 
 decidedly the Elector's favourite sister, and it was in 
 compliance with his wishes, or rather orders, that she 
 accepted the addresses of Prince Ernest Augustus, 
 youngest brother of the Duke of Hanover, a match 
 considered every way disproportionate to her.* She 
 was married in 1658, and on her departure from 
 Heidelberg, Charles Louis confided his little daughter 
 to her care. 
 
 * See the letters addressed by the Queen of Bohemia to her son, in 
 which she bitterly reproaches him for consenting to so unsuitable an 
 alliance for his youngest sister. — Bromley's Iloyal Letters. Benger's 
 Queen of Bohemia. 
 
172 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 It is to be lamented that the Elector did not give 
 the preference to his elder sister, for had he done so 
 the future career of Elizabeth Charlotte might have 
 been very different from what it was, it being difficult 
 to conceive that a woman so thoroughly pious as 
 Elizabeth would not have imbued her pupil with 
 her own religious principles ; and be it remembered, 
 if the Princess Palatine had remained steadfast to 
 her ancestors' faith, the fair inheritance of the crown 
 of England would have been her portion. Not 
 that we would insinuate that Sophia neglected her 
 little charge; on the contrary, we believe that, 
 as far as she was able, she sought diligently to 
 qualify her for the position she might subsequently 
 fill. This is abundantly evident from the after 
 career of her pupil, for to her aunt's instructions, 
 and those of her gouvernante, Madame d'Harling, 
 may be fairly attributed that love of learning and 
 contempt for frivolous employments which through 
 life distinguished the Princess Palatine. Yet though 
 Sophia was herself a firm Protestant, she lacked 
 that sense of genuine religion which pervades the 
 heart of those who give themselves unreservedly 
 to God. This feeling of luminous devotion shone 
 forth conspicuously in Elizabeth, who was one of 
 the most pious ladies of the day ; nor was her faith, 
 if we except, perhaps, her intense dislike of Roman- 
 ism, a bigoted one, for with all who bore the name 
 of Protestants, and who shadowed forth in their lives 
 
or THE STUARTS. 
 
 173 
 
 any resemblance to the Divine Original, she loved to 
 consort and associate.* The celebrated Penn was 
 of the number of those whom she especially loved 
 and honoured; so that there is every reason to believe, 
 had her niece been confided to her care, she would 
 hardly have embraced a religion so repugnant to her 
 aunt, that its adoption was viewed as more terrible 
 than death ; for so, on the conversion of her brother 
 Edward to Romanism, does this princess express 
 herself to the philosopher Descartes, himself, too, a 
 Romanist ! It is to be regretted that a disposition 
 so naturally amiable as Elizabeth Charlotte's, should 
 not have received better cultivation, and that, failing 
 the inculcation, or perhaps we should in justice say, 
 reception of sound religious principles, she should 
 have forfeited the prospective privileges conferred 
 upon her by her birth. Her taste for masculine 
 amusements ought also to have been more effectually 
 checked ; though, perhaps, her governess was not 
 wholly in fault here, as it does sometimes happen 
 that persons of this princess's stubborn tempera- 
 ment refuse to mould themselves into any but their 
 natural bent, and stamp with their distinctive im- 
 press the manners and customs of an age ; and such 
 assuredly would have been the case with Elizabeth 
 
 * Elizabeth's dislike of Romanism partook more of the character of a 
 political than a religious prejudice. If the insults and indignities her 
 family had suffered at the hands of the Romanist party be considered, 
 it can hardly excite surprise, that by an unnatural process of logic 
 she should have confounded together the persons and ritual of her 
 persecutors. 
 
174 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 Charlotte, had she been called upon to occupy a 
 position of regal dignity. 
 
 While under her aunt Sophia's tuition, Elizabeth 
 generally resided at Hanover, varying the monotony 
 of her residence there by an interchange of visits 
 with her grandmother, the Queen of Bohemia, at the 
 Hague. It will be remembered, that the Princess 
 Royal of England, daughter of Charles I., had 
 married the Prince of Orange, and been early left a 
 widow. She then held her court at the Hague 
 with all the pomp of a dowager princess ; and the 
 difference between her circumstances and those of 
 her portionless cousins caused some little jealousy 
 to the latter. Tliis being premised, Elizabeth's ac- 
 count of a visit she paid her cousin^ in the company 
 of her grandmother, will be found both piquant 
 and interesting. She thus, in her unsophisticated 
 language, narrates it : — " My aunt, our dear Electress 
 of Hanover, being at the Hague, did not visit the 
 princess royal, but the Queen of Bohemia did, and 
 took me with her. Before I set out, my aunt said 
 to me, ' Lizette, now take care not to behave as you 
 generally do (an admonition we fear much needed), 
 and do not wander away so that you cannot be 
 found ; — follow the queen step by step, so that she 
 may not have to wait for you.' 'Oh aunt,' I 
 replied, / you shall^ hear how well I will behave 
 myself!' When we arrived at the princess royal's, 
 whom I did not know, I saw her son, whom 
 
OF THE STUAUTS. 
 
 175 
 
 I had often played with.* After gazing for a 
 long time at his mother, without knowing who she 
 was, I went hack to see if I could find any one who 
 would tell me her name. Seeing only the Prince of 
 Orange, I accosted him thus, ' Pray can you tell me 
 who is that woman with so tremendous a nose ?' 
 He laughed, and answered, 'That is my mother, 
 the princess royal.' t I was quite stupefied. That 
 I might compose myseK, Mademoiselle Hyde t took 
 me with the prince into the princess's hedchamher, 
 where we played all sorts of games. I had told 
 them to call me when the queen was ready to go, 
 and we were rolling on a Turkey carpet when I was 
 summoned ; I arose in great haste and ran into the 
 hall, but the queen was already in the antechamber. 
 Without losing a moment, I seized the robe of the 
 princess royal, and making her a curtsey at the 
 same moment, placed myself directly before her, and 
 followed the queen step by step into her carriage ; 
 everybody was laughing at me, but I had no idea 
 what it was for. When we returned home, the 
 queen sought out my aunt, and seating herself upon 
 the bed, burst into a loud laugh. ' Lisette,' said she, 
 'has made a delightful visit;' and then she re- 
 counted all I had done, which made the Electress 
 laugh even more than her mother. She called me 
 
 * Wmiamlll. of England. 
 
 t The Princess of Orange, nee Princess Royal, was so proud of her 
 original title, that she retained it even after her marriage with the 
 Prince of Orange. 
 
 First wife of James II. 
 
176 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 to her and said, ' Lisette, you have done right, you 
 have revenged us well for the haughtiness of the 
 princess.' 
 
 One of the most pleasing traits in Elizabeth Char- 
 lotte's character was her devoted affection for her 
 instructresses. She constantly corresponded with 
 them, and scarcely does she mention her aunt's 
 name without accompanying it with some loving 
 epithet. Proof of this will be found in her asser- 
 tion, that she would have married our William III. 
 (her games with whom we have just been recount- 
 ing), for the sake of remaining near her dear 
 Electress of Hanover. Although the compliment 
 to her would-be spouse in this assertion is dubious, 
 the affection it betrays for her aunt is unmistake- 
 able, and bespeaks more truly the innate goodness 
 of her heart than any laboured panegyric or funeral 
 oration. 
 
 When Elizabeth's education was completed, which 
 was conducted under the auspices, if not the direct 
 teaching of her aunt Sophia, she returned to the 
 paternal roof, where she had long been a stranger. 
 It was not the happiest of homes ; for her mother 
 had been long banished from it, and her father's new 
 wife had presented him with a numerous family, 
 whose claims naturally jostled with those of his 
 legitimate children. Nevertheless Madame de Da- 
 genfeld, who was of an amiable disposition, gained 
 her step-daughter's regard ; and Elizabeth, in after 
 
 * Memoirs of the Duchess of Orleans. 
 
OF THE STUARTS. 
 
 177 
 
 years oft reverted with regret to the home of her 
 dear fatherland. 
 
 As the Princess Palatine advanced in years 
 suitors for her hand were not wanting, albeit her 
 want of personal attractions was notorious ; but 
 whether they were won by the goodness of her heart 
 or captivated by her dowry is questionable. She her- 
 self believed it to be the latter. In her writings she 
 gives a humorous account of them, with the feminine 
 tactics she adopted. Let us, however, iBrst describe 
 the person of our heroine, which we will do in her 
 own words, merely premising that Elizabeth, unlike 
 many of her cotemporaries, has underrated rather 
 than overdrawn her pretensions. She says, " I am 
 unquestionably very ugly ; I have no features ; my 
 eyes are small, my nose is short and thick, my lips 
 long and flat : these do not constitute much of a 
 physiognomy. I have great hanging cheeks and a 
 large face ; my stature is short and stout ; my body 
 and my thighs, too, are short ; and, upon the whole, 
 I am truly a very ugly little object. If I had not 
 a good heart, no one could endure me. To know 
 whether my eyes give token of my possessing wit, 
 they must be examined with a microscope, or it 
 will be difficult to judge. Hands more ugly than 
 mine are perhaps not to be found in the whole globe. 
 The king has often told me so, and made me laugh 
 at it heartily ; for not being able to flatter myself 
 that I possessed any one thing which could be called 
 pretty, I resolved to be the first to laugh at my 
 
 N 
 
178 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 own Ugliness. This has succeeded as well as could 
 be wished ; and I must confess that I am seldom at 
 a loss for something to laugh at." This portrai- 
 ture of the princess, with due allowances for her 
 modesty, seems a tolerably correct one; though it 
 may not be amiss to state, that other writers formed 
 a somewhat higher estimate of her personal charms. 
 
 Having thus given our readers a resume of the 
 princess's personal attractions, let us turn to her 
 suitors in the order in which they presented them- 
 selves. Pirst and foremost among them was Ere- 
 derick. Margrave of Baden Dourlach,* a lover 
 recommended by the powerful advocacy of her 
 brother ; but to him Elizabeth objected that he 
 was affected, which she could not bear. This prince, 
 before marrying, sent to ask her whether he ought 
 not to obey his father, and marry another princess ; 
 to which somewhat novel request she replied, that 
 he could not do better than obey his father; that 
 he had promised her nothing, nor did she consider 
 herself pledged to him ; but that, nevertheless, she 
 was obliged to him for the conduct he had thought 
 fit to pursue towards her ;" and this, she informs 
 us, is all that passed between them. Another of 
 her suitors was Erederick Casimir, Duke of Cour- 
 land,t a prince recommended by her aunt Elizabeth, 
 abbess of Hervord, who seems to have been some- 
 what partial to this family, as a few years after we 
 
 Born 1648. 
 
 t Born 1650. 
 
OF THE STUARTS. 
 
 179 
 
 find her again advocating an alliance between her 
 brother Rupert and the Princess Charlotte of Cour- 
 land.* Unfortunately this prince was in love with 
 the Princess Mary Anne of Wirtemburg (the ne- 
 glected, though sometime chosen, bride of James 
 
 II. ) ; but his union with this lady was opposed by 
 his father and mother, who wished him to marry 
 Elizabeth Charlotte. " When, however," this lady 
 writes, "he came back from Prance, on his way 
 home, I made such an impression on him, that he 
 would not hear of marrying, but requested permis- 
 sion to join the army." And thus was the unfortu- 
 nate Mary Anne of Wirtemburg twice forsaken by 
 her lovers. Disconsolate at her misfortunes, this 
 princess ultimately relinquished the world, and 
 entered the Ursuline convent at Lyons, where she 
 died, 1698.t 
 
 These negotiations having failed, and William 
 
 III. , whom Elizabeth would have so obligingly 
 espoused for the sake of her aunt's company, not 
 coming forward, a suitor at length presented himself, 
 who was considered by her father and her family an 
 eligible wooer, albeit the price of his alliance was 
 her renunciation of the Protestant faith. This was no 
 other than Philip, Duke of Orleans, the only brother 
 of Louis Xiy., and heir to the Prench monarchy 
 after that king's son, the Dauphin. He was the 
 widower, moreover, of her deceased cousin Hen- 
 
 * Baroness de Bury's Princess Palatine, 
 t Memoirs of the Duchess of Orleans. 
 
 N 2 
 
180 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 rietta, who had been poisoned only a year previously. 
 That Elizabeth received his addresses unwillingly, 
 and then only in compliance with the expressed 
 will of her father is certain, for she says, " If my 
 father had loved me as well as I loved him, he 
 would never have sent me into a country so dan- 
 gerous as Erance, to which I came through pure 
 obedience, and against my own inclination." This 
 assertion of hers is corroborated by the Due de St. 
 Simon, who informs us that " she always pretended 
 to have conferred an obligation on her husband by 
 marrying him." Madame de Sevigne must have 
 been misinformed, when she says, that Elizabeth 
 was " quite dazzled with her grandeur though, in 
 fact, this lady only records it as an on dit, and not 
 as the result of her own personal observations. That 
 Philip was not the lover to captivate the affections 
 of the frank and intrepid Princess Palatine is 
 clear, for though handsome, brave, and not devoid 
 of good qualities, he was vain, weak-minded, and 
 effeminate ; in other words, a good sort of a man, 
 notwithstanding his weaknesses," which oftener," 
 as his wife cuttingly remarks, "excited her pity 
 than her anger." She thus describes his personal 
 appearance and pursuits : Monsieur," she says, 
 " without having a vulgar air is very small, his hair 
 and eyebrows are quite black, his eyes are dark, 
 his face long and narrow, his nose large, his mouth 
 small, and his teeth very bad ; he is fond of play, 
 of holding drawing-rooms, of eating, dancing, and 
 
OE THE STUARTS. 
 
 181 
 
 dress, in short, of all that women are fond of; he 
 affects large parties and masquerades, and though 
 his brother is a man of great gallantry, I do not 
 believe my husband was ever in love during his 
 life. He dances well, but in a feminine manner, 
 he cannot dance like a man, because his shoes are 
 too high-heeled (this was to conceal his low^ness of 
 stature). Excepting when he is with the army, he 
 never gets on horseback. The soldiers say he is more 
 afraid of being sunburnt and of the blackness of 
 the powder than of the musket-balls, and it is very 
 true. He is particularly fond of hearing the ring- 
 ing of bells, so much so that on All Souls Day, 
 when the bells are rung throughout Paris during 
 the vigils, he goes there expressly to hear them ; 
 for this he is often laughed at by his friends. He 
 writes so badly that he is often puzzled to read his 
 own letters, when he will bring them to me to 
 decipher, saying laughingly, ' Here, madame, you 
 are accustomed to my writing, be so good as to read 
 me this, for really I cannot tell what I have been 
 writing.' He is of a good disposition enough, if 
 he did not yield to the bad advice of his favourites. 
 He is fond of talking, although the king his 
 brother is very taciturn, and the latter sometimes 
 says, that 'Monsieur's eternal chattering puts him 
 out of conceit with talking.' He is very affable, 
 and is more generally liked at Paris than the king, 
 though he does not possess that power of making him- 
 self so specially agreeable to particular people as his 
 
182 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 brother does."* This statement is corroborated by the 
 Duke of St. Simon, who says, " All the court loved 
 Monsieur ; it was he who chose its amusements, and 
 was the soul of its pleasures; and when he was 
 taken from it all life and energy seemed extinct. 
 He had learned and well retained from the Queen, 
 his mother, the art of pleasing, and without suffer- 
 ing any diminution of his grandeur he carried 
 perfect liberty wherever he went, and it was in 
 this manner that the crowd was always to be found 
 at the Palais Eoyal."t Madame gives it as her 
 opinion, that " Monsieur was not really fond of 
 women, though not to be out of fashion, and to 
 please the king his brother, he sometimes pretended 
 to be so, though even then he could not long keep 
 up a deception so contrary to his natural character. 
 His education had been so completely neglected by 
 Cardinal Mazarine that he could scarcely read or 
 write, for being naturally a cleverer man than his 
 brother it was feared he might supplant him had 
 his talents been cultivated; the consequence was 
 he was incapable of anything. Never," says the 
 Duke of St. Simon, " was seen a person of his rank 
 with so little spirit, or who was weaker, more timid, 
 or more easily misled, and governed by favourites." + 
 Such was the man whom Elizabeth was forced to 
 wed, and for whom her father with unparalleled 
 effrontery compelled her to renounce the Protestant 
 faith. Could the mean-spirited Elector have fore- 
 
 * Duchess of Orleans. f Simon. X St. Simon. 
 
OF THE STUARTS. 
 
 183 
 
 seen that she was thereby signing away her future 
 dignity of Queen of England, how eagerly would he 
 have retarded what he now sought to enforce ! 
 Her marriage with the Duke of Orleans had been 
 primarily suggested by her aunt Anne (the widow 
 of her uncle, Prince Edward Palatine), and to this 
 lady, who resided at Paris, the King of Prance 
 confided the management of the negotiation on the 
 part of his brother ; the Marquis de Bethune being 
 chosen on that of the Elector Palatine. 
 
 All preliminaries having been settled between 
 the two plenipotentiaries, the Elector conducted 
 his daughter as far as Strasburg ; and on her 
 arrival at Metz she was met by her aunt. Her 
 equipage was but a sorry one, and of the most 
 conspicuous of the party was Pather Jourdain, a 
 Jesuit priest entrusted with the mission of her 
 conversion.* This sole remaining obstacle to her 
 marriage was, alas ! too easily adjusted. There 
 cannot be a doubt on the minds of those who 
 have perused her correspondence, that, before setting 
 out from Germany, Elizabeth had fully deter- 
 mined on abjuring the Protestant faith ; in fact, 
 her renunciation of it was one of the first 
 articles in her marriage contract. To save ap- 
 pearances, however, three bishops were despatched 
 to meet her at Metz, ostensibly to labour for her 
 conversion. The ready wit of the princess soon 
 detected the varying opinions of these men, glorying 
 
 * Memoirs of Mademoiselle de Montpensier. 
 
184 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 in mere outward observances ; so taking the quint- 
 essence of their tenets she formed a religion of her 
 own.* It is plain that her conversion, such as it was, 
 was insincere : possibly she thought if she subscribed 
 to those articles of the E^omish faith common to 
 all good Christians, and repudiated the erroneous, 
 she was justified in a nominal conformity ; although 
 there is too much reason to fear that either creed 
 was alike indifierent to her. 
 
 Yet what a melancholy example does Elizabeth 
 present of the constancy of those who were deemed 
 the champions of Protestantism ! That Charles 
 Louis was infinitely more to blame than his too 
 obedient daughter is obvious ; for who could Lave 
 believed that the elector, when he loaded his brother 
 Edward with invectives, saying, " He knew he 
 (Edward) could not be well persuaded of the 
 
 * Perhaps at no period has the Romish Church been more rent with 
 di\T.sions than during the reign of Louis XIV. The paper war which 
 raged between the Jansenists and the Jesuits was as furious as it was 
 interminable ; but the former party, though infinitely superior to their 
 adversaries in doctrine, morality, and learning, were ultimately van- 
 quished by the powerful influence of Madame de Maintenon and the 
 king's confessors, which latter were invariably selected from the Jesuits. 
 The celebrated Fenelon, preceptor of the Duke of Burgimdy, was 
 considered, and justly so, as the most talented of the Jansenists ; but 
 this prelate, though at first favoured and even promoted to the Arch- 
 bishopric of Cambray, died disgraced and iu exile from the court. 
 Bossuet, Bishop of Meaux, preceptor of the Grand Dauphin, was the 
 great rival and antagonist of this good man. Duclos relates it as a 
 curious circumstance, that nearly all the members of the Royal Family 
 changed their Jesuit for J ansenist confessors on their death-beds ; 
 Henrietta, Duchess of Orleans, the Grand Dauphiness, and the Duchess 
 of Burgundy among the number. No wonder that Elizabeth Charlotte 
 found diversity of opinion among her would-bc instructors. 
 
OF THE STUARTS. 
 
 186 
 
 fopperies of the Church of Rome, having heen so 
 diligently instructed to the contrary,"* would have 
 sanctioned, nay urged upon his daughter her adoption 
 of the repudiated faith ? yet so it was, for so strong 
 was Charles Louis's love of money, that it silenced 
 in him all considerations of common honesty. f 
 
 Elizahetli having made her public renunciation of 
 Protestantism, been received into the bosom of the 
 Romish Church, and communicated according to its 
 rites, espoused, on the same day, the Duke of Orleans ; 
 the Marshal du Plessis acting as that prince's proxy : 
 a proceeding upon which La Grande Mademoiselle 
 wittily remarks that " Elizabeth effected much in a 
 day." 
 
 As soon as the ceremony was over a courier was 
 despatched to Monsieur with the intelligence, who 
 on receipt of it set out for Chalons, there to await 
 his expected bride ; and there on Elizabeth's arrival 
 the second nuptial ceremony took place on the 
 twenty-first of November, 1671. 
 
 Erom Chalons the bride and bridegroom set out 
 for the Chateau Nerf, the duke's Paris residence 
 (which has since been destroyed by fire), stopping 
 
 * Bromley's Royal Letters. Benger's Queen of Bohemia. 
 
 t It must be remembered that the Elector, who so contentedly wit- 
 nessed what he must have deemed his daughter's perversion, had (during 
 the civil commotions in England) sat in the Assembly of Divines at 
 Westminster, where he distinguished himself by his zealous advocacy 
 of Calvinism. He had, moreover, offered to fight under the Parliamentary 
 banner, and enlisted the services of his brother Philip for that party ; 
 although the latter, wise in their generation, had rejected from sus- 
 picious motives his proffered assistance. 
 
186 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 on their way at Villars-Cotterets, where they were 
 visited by the king. 
 
 Elizabeth's public introduction at the Prench 
 court which next followed, a formidable affair at 
 the best of times, was doubly so to the poor 
 German Princess, who could with difficulty com- 
 prehend its language. Nothing in fact could be 
 more unenviable than her situation, for excepting 
 the king who stood her friend she had no ex- 
 traneous support to rely upon, as Monsieur, far from 
 assisting, rather impeded and insulted her forlorn 
 position. As we cannot hope to rival her graphic 
 description of the difficulties she encountered, we 
 quote her account of her reception, with the trou- 
 bles she surmounted on that occasion. Happily 
 hers was not a disposition to quail under per- 
 plexities ! 
 
 "When I arrived at St. Germain," she says, "I 
 felt as if I had fallen from the clouds. The Princess 
 Palatine" (her aunt) " went to Paris, and there fixed 
 me. I put as good a face upon the affair as was 
 possible ; I saw very well that I did not please my 
 husband, and indeed that could not be wondered at, 
 considering my ugliness ; however, I resolved to con- 
 duct myself in such a manner towards him that he 
 should become accustomed to my attentions, and 
 eventually enabled to endure me. Immediately on 
 my arrival, the king came to see me at the Chateau 
 Nerf, where Monsieur and I lived ; he brought with 
 him the Dauphin, who was then a child about ten 
 
OF THE STUARTS. 
 
 187 
 
 years old. As soon as I had finished my toilette the 
 king returned to the old chateau, where he received 
 me in the guards' hall, and led me to the queen, 
 whispering at the same time, ' Do not be frightened, 
 Madame, she will be more afraid of you, than you 
 of her.' The king felt so much the embarrassment 
 of my situation, that he would not quit me ; he sate 
 by my side, and whenever it was necessary for me 
 to rise, that is to say, whenever a prince or a duke 
 entered the apartment, he gave me a gentle push in 
 the side without being perceived." 
 
 Of the glories and gallantries of the brilliant 
 court to which Elizabeth was here introduced 
 the life of this princess is not the place to descant 
 upon. A full account of its splendours, its rivalries, 
 and its courtly intrigues will be found in the 
 memoirs of the day.* Suffice it if we briefly 
 enumerate those members of the royal family, with 
 whom more particularly the new madame would 
 associate. 
 
 Pirst and foremost was the king, the renowned 
 Louis Quartorze, whose reign, unprecedented in 
 magnificence, inaugurated the ancient regime, and 
 before whom, so revered, so beloved, so adored, bent 
 in lowly submission the proud nobles of Prance; 
 those nobles, who, 'mid the wars of the League and 
 the Fronde, had dictated to their country a sove- 
 
 * See Memoires du Due de St. Simon, Mesdames de Maintenon, de 
 Sevigne, de Caylus, La Grande Mademoiselle, and the Marquis de 
 Dangeau. 
 
188 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 reign,* and ruled as monarclis themselves. Now 
 how changed their position, Kow fallen their renown ! 
 for whilst the lately despised king ruled with an 
 authority unknown since the days of Charlemagne, 
 a prince whom he affected to consider as his 
 great prototype ; they, on the contrary, suhmitted 
 to the slightest intimation of their sovereign's 
 will, and openly gloried in their passive obedience 
 to his commands. Never, perhaps, has monarch 
 with such unlimited authority ruled more in con- 
 sonance with the wishes of his people, or been more 
 readily and cheerfully obeyed. Sooth to say, the 
 nation, wearied with its eternal contests, gratefully 
 acknowledged the benefits resulting from his sway. 
 Nor, it is pleasing to reflect, was their attachment 
 misplaced, for when we consider the homage, bor- 
 dering more on idolatry which Louis received, it is 
 impossible not to admire the zeal with which he 
 laboured for the public interests ; and the assiduity 
 with which, despite all temptations to the contrary, 
 he regularly attended and judged for himself of the 
 most important national concerns. Truly did he 
 earn and deserve the glorious epithet of "Le Grand !" 
 His reign of seventy-two years, unparalleled for dura- 
 
 * Charles X., uncle of Henry IV., whom the party of the League nom- 
 inated to the throne on the death of Henry III. This prince never 
 actually reigned, as he was a prisoner in the hands of the opposite (the 
 Protestant) party at the time of his election. He died shortly after his 
 elevation, and as his title wasnever universally recognised, is only known 
 as the Cardinal de Bourbon. He was the thud brother of Anthony, 
 King of Navarre, of whom the youngest was Louis, first prince of the 
 House of Conde. 
 
OF THE STUARTS. 
 
 189 
 
 tion in Christian annals, attests the clemency of his 
 disposition, as only one execution for high treason 
 marred its dignity and serenity ; whilst the absence 
 of a single conspiracy against his life affords the best 
 proof of his wisdom and popularity. His only 
 political fault, for his other failings scarcely deserve 
 so harsh a name, was his persecution of the Hugue- 
 nots. This, which, as a consummate diplomatist 
 once observed, " was even worse than a fault, 
 for it was a blunder," cannot sufficiently be 
 condemned; though be it remembered in extenua- 
 tion of his error that he only acted in consonance 
 with the maxims of the age, which enjoined on the 
 civil ruler the duty of prescribing the religion of 
 his people, from which public profession of faith no 
 divergence was permitted. Revenom nous to the 
 monarch personally. 
 
 Louis, at the period we are speaking of, had just 
 completed his thirty-third year, and was in all the 
 pride of manly vigour so natural to that period of life. 
 " He was," says his sister-in-law, the finest man in 
 his kingdom ; no one could have a better appearance, 
 or more agreeable figure than he had ; his legs were 
 well made, his feet small, his voice pleasant ; he was 
 lusty in proportion, and in short, no fault could be 
 found with his person." Although, writes another 
 author, " there were assembled at his court all the 
 most beautiful of women, and the most elegant of 
 men, yet did he surpass them all in the dignity 
 of his person, and the noble expression of his 
 
190 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 features." The sound of his voice alone sufficed to 
 engage those hearts whom liis presence seemed to 
 awe : more striking exemplification of which could 
 not be found than that afforded in the case of the 
 lovely Louise de la Valliere. In the chains of this 
 fair charmer Louis had long been enslaved, though 
 the witty talented Athalais de Montespan had 
 already commenced that dangerous rivalry which 
 ended in her supplanting her lovely predecessor. 
 " Mademoiselle de la Valliere had been no light mis- 
 tress, as her after penitence sufficiently proved ; but 
 an amiable, gentle, kind, and tender woman, who 
 loved the king for his own sake, and never loved any 
 but him."^ 
 
 Louis had espoused, when twenty years of age, 
 the infanta Mary Theresa of Spain, daughter of 
 Philip III. ; a princess amiable and pious, though 
 of somewhat an insipid disposition. The young 
 king at the time of his marriage was desperately 
 in love with one of the fair Mancini sisters, 
 and it required the utmost importunities of his 
 mother to wring from him an unwilling assent to 
 this match. Nevertheless he became attached to his 
 young wife, and though he never could, and never 
 did feel for her the affection he entertained for his 
 early love, he invariably treated her with every mark 
 of respect. The king was much to be pitied in his 
 connexions, for we have the authority of Madame for 
 asserting that he was not naturally fond of change. La 
 
 * Duchess of Orleans. , 
 
1 
 
 OF THE STUARTS. 191 
 
 Valliere, ever repentant of her illicit connexion, drove 
 liim from her by her lears, whilst De Montespan 
 alienated him by her pride and haughtiness.* To 
 De Maintenon, whom he espoused, he ever remained 
 faithful ; and it speaks something for the constancy of 
 his disposition, that after a lapse of thirty years he 
 retained the same affection for her that he manifested 
 at the commencement of his attachment. 
 
 Besides the King and Queen ; Madame' s husband ; 
 and her two step-daughters ; the B>oyal Pamily com- 
 prised within its limits the Dauphin, only son of 
 that monarch, a prince " sans vice ni vertus Made- 
 moiselle de Montpensier, the king's cousin, better 
 known from her enormous wealth as La Grande 
 Mademoiselle, the daughter of his uncle Gaston 
 of Orleans, by his first wife, Mary of Bourbon ; the 
 two half sisters of this lady, the Grand Duchess 
 of Tuscany, and the Duchess of Guise; Louis, 
 Prince of Conde, surnamed the Great, who went 
 by the appellation of Monsieur le Prince ; his son 
 Henry Julius, Duke of Bourbon, otherwise Mon- 
 sieur le Due, who had married Madame' s cousin 
 Anne (daughter of her uncle. Prince Edward 
 Palatine) ; and the Princes of Conti and Roche sur 
 Yon, junior members of the House of Conde. 
 
 The reflection naturally suggests itself — how 
 was the plain ungainly Elizabeth Charlotte re- 
 
 * Madame de Montespan treated the king so ill and so unkindly, that 
 he was delighted to get rid of her. — Memoirs of the Duchess of 
 Orleans. 
 
192 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 ceived by that brilliant court, which had been so 
 lately fascinated by her elegant predecessor, Hen- 
 rietta ? Strange to say, not unfavourably, for the 
 courtiers were so charmed with her sang froid and 
 esprit that they condoned her want of personal 
 attractions ; while by her ingenuous confession of 
 inferiority to her predecessor, she secured the good 
 will of those who might otherwise have ridiculed 
 her. But what is most surprising of all, the king 
 was not less smitten with her. When we consider 
 the admiration, not to say gallantry which he 
 had evinced for the late duchess, it is incompre- 
 hensible to find him regarding the new one as her 
 superior; yet such was actually the case, for we have 
 the authority of his cousin for asserting that " Louis 
 was charmed with the good qualities of the new 
 Madame, that he considered she possessed esprit, 
 and that in figure she was superior to the old one."''^ 
 Madame de Sevigne corroborates this, when she 
 states that " the king evinced an anxiety to divert 
 the new Madame which he never did for the other, "-f 
 The truth was that Louis, wearied with the 
 insipidity of his courtiers, joyfully -welcomed the 
 duchess into his family, for he discerned in her 
 that sound common sense, piquancy and origi- 
 nality, so sadly lacking in the majority of those 
 who surrounded him. Her dry outspoken remarks, 
 plain and to the point, helped to enliven and 
 
 * Memoirs of Madmoiselle de Montpensier. 
 f Letters of Madame de Sevigne. 
 
OF THE STUARTS. 
 
 193 
 
 dissipate his moments of ennui, and for this, if 
 for nothing else, he was grateful. She was more- 
 over almost the only member of the royal family 
 who made a practice of habitually conversing with 
 him. "At table," she writes, "the king was 
 almost obliged to talk to me, for the others said 
 scarcely a word. — In the cabinet after supper, no one 
 but the duchess* and I spoke to him. If he wished 
 to reprove any one, he would always address himself 
 to me, for he knew I never restrained myself in 
 conversation, and that amused him infinitely." It is 
 undeniable that from their first introduction Louis 
 conceived a profound esteem for her, which it is 
 pleasing to find was not unreciprocated on her part, 
 as throughout her Memoirs she invariably speaks 
 of him with respect and affection ; indeed to such 
 lengths did she carry her adoration, that many 
 writers attributed it to a tenderer feeling than 
 regard, a charge for which there seems to have 
 been no foundation, as her language, though warm, 
 is never passionate. She appears to have looked up 
 to liim as to a father, and to have gloried in 
 viewing him in that light ; for if her feelings had 
 partaken of a tenderer nature she would not have 
 paraded them as she did. That the Prench should 
 have miscomprehended this platonic feeling can 
 excite as little surprise as that they should have 
 misappreciated it. It must be remembered that 
 Madame was a German princess, had been brought 
 
 * Madame's cousin, Anne, Duchess of Bourbon. 
 
 O 
 
194 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 up in a different school from her adopted country- 
 women, and as such would express herself with 
 more warmth of feeling than possibly the Prench 
 would care to do, where feelings of platonic admi- 
 ration only were concerned. It seems to have 
 been solely her language when speaking of the king 
 that gave rise to these reports ; what she says is, 
 
 If the king had been my father, I could not have 
 loved him better than I did, I was always pleased 
 to be with him ; " whilst Louis on his part, in later 
 years, when increasing age and infirmities caused 
 his family to seek convenient pretexts for deserting 
 him, used to say, Madame is the only one who does 
 not abandon me."* 
 
 The favourable impression which Elizabeth Char- 
 lotte created was by no means restricted to the king. 
 The interesting Countess de Sevigne, writing to her 
 daughter, the Countess de Grignan, and narrating a 
 visit she paid at the Palais Uoyal, says, " I was 
 greatly surprised at the wit of the present Madame, 
 not so much for the sprightliness of her humour, as 
 for the good sense. She was rallying the ridiculous 
 conduct of M. de Mecklenburg in being in Paris at 
 such a time as this (Prance was then at war with 
 Holland), and I assure you, no one could have 
 expressed what she said better than she did. She 
 is very obstinate and determined, and certainly a 
 person of discernment. "f 
 
 * Duchess of Orleans. 
 
 t Letters of Madame de Sevigne. 
 
OF THE STUARTS. 
 
 195 
 
 Although Elizabeth Charlotte captivated the court 
 on her entree by her sang froid and frankness, yet 
 she never became a general favourite, on account of 
 her essentially German ideas ; as the preference she 
 evinced for her own countrymen wounded the amour 
 propre of the Prench ; always peculiarly susceptible 
 on this point : while her contempt for their frivo- 
 lities, and her love of more rational amusements, 
 lessened her still further in their estimation. 
 
 Wedded to a husband whose ideas were so little in 
 consonance with her own, and from whom she could 
 expect no real companionship, Elizabeth passed her 
 time in writing to her friends, and kindred literary 
 avocations. This legitimate way of improving herself 
 appeared totally inexplicable to the giddy Erench, as 
 even the Due de St. Simon, a sworn partizan of the 
 House of Orleans, sarcastically remarks of her, "that 
 she passed her days in her cabinet, the windows of 
 which were at least ten feet from the ground, con- 
 templating the portraits of Palatines and other 
 German princes, with which she had hung it, and in 
 writing whole volumes to them, copies of which she 
 herself made and carefully kept. Nor could her hus- 
 band," he adds, " induce her to lead a more sensible 
 life." This statement of the duke's, though in a mea- 
 sure correct, bears rather hardly upon the princess, for 
 though letter writing was her favourite occupation, 
 she was equally attached to other literary pursuits. 
 Her collection of books and medals were unique and 
 extensive, and attest the inquisitiveness of her dis- 
 
 o 2 
 
196 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 position. Wherever information was to be gained, 
 there was the duchess to be found. The Czar Peter 
 of Russia, when introduced to her, was overwhelmed 
 by questions of all he had seen, done, or heard, and 
 she suffered not a moment's pause in the conversa- 
 tion during the whole of the time he remained mth 
 her. Let us hear how she herself describes, her 
 avocations and pursuits. " Although," she says, 
 "I do not play, (which she elsewhere remarks was 
 the prevailing vice of the court), I am never dull, 
 because I can always find something to employ me 
 in my cabinet. I possess a fine series of medals in 
 gold, my aunt has given me an equal number in 
 bronze and silver ; I have from two to three hundred 
 carvings in stone, and a collection of engravings, of 
 which I am very fond; besides which, as I love 
 reading, the time never seems long to me."* 
 Another writer describes the duchess as being very 
 affable ; she talked," he says, " a great deal, and 
 well, and loved above all things to converse in her 
 own language, which more than fifty years' residence 
 in Prance had not made her forget ; for this reason 
 she was always delighted to meet with German 
 nobles, and to maintain with them an epistolary 
 correspondence. She was extremely punctual in 
 writing to the Electress of Hanover, and many 
 other personages in Germany. She did nothing but 
 write from morning till night. Immediately after 
 
 * Memoirs of the Duchess of Orleans. 
 
OF THE STUARTS. 
 
 197 
 
 rising, which was always about ten, she sat down 
 to her toilette, thence she passed to her cabinet, 
 when, after having spent some time in prayer, she 
 continued writing until the hour of mass. After 
 mass she wrote until dinner, where she did not 
 spend much time ; she returned to write, and re- 
 mained thus engaged till ten in the evening. To- 
 wards nine o'clock she would be seen in her cabinet 
 seated at a large table surrounded by papers ; near 
 her was placed an ombre table, where the ladies of 
 her household were playing, when occasionally she 
 would look on, and sometimes advise on the game 
 as she continued writing. At other times she 
 would converse with the persons who formed her 
 court. I have seen her go to sleep, and a minute 
 afterwards awake suddenly and fall to writing 
 again."* 
 
 It was about two years after her marriage that 
 Madame, to her husband's great joy, presented him 
 with a son. This heir, so anxiously desired, had 
 long been denied to the House of Orleans, for 
 though by his first wife, Henrietta, the duke had 
 had a boy, he lived to be only two years of age. 
 Gaston, of Orleans, his uncle, had vainly sighed 
 for a male heir, though favoured with no less than 
 four daughters. The prince, whose advent had been 
 so fondly anticipated, was destined to frustrate the 
 expectations raised, as he died at three years of age. 
 
 * Introduction to Memoirs of the Duchess of Orleans. 
 
198 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 He had been christened Alexander, and taken the 
 title of Duke of Y alois, an unfortunate one, as it now 
 began to be considered, for his family. His loss was, 
 however, compensated during the ensuing year by 
 the birth of a second son, who was named Philip after 
 his father, and lived to rule his country as the Regent 
 Orleans. Finally, in 1676, Madame gave birth to a 
 daughter, who was named Elizabeth Charlotte after 
 her mother. These two children, with her step- 
 daughters, completed her family. 
 
 It will be seen that by a rather singular 
 coincidence, the second wife of Philip of Orleans 
 presented him with just the same family as her 
 predecessor had done ; and to complete the resem- 
 blance, each of the Duchesses lost a child in infancy, 
 whilst two lived to reach years of maturity. The 
 only point of dissimilarity was, that, whereas, Hen- 
 rietta's living progeny consisted of two daughters, 
 Elizabeth Charlotte's, on the contrary, enumerated 
 a child of each sex. 
 
 It would be impossible, without trenching on the 
 limited space we have prescribed ourselves, to enter 
 into a detailed history of the Eoyal Eamily of 
 Prance. The life of Madame's younger step-daugh- 
 ter, the Princess Anne, has been previously re- 
 counted ; while that of Mary Louisa, the elder, is 
 included in the series of "the Queens of Spain." 
 A detailed history, moreover, would perforce become 
 that of the Court of Prance, and this has been pre- 
 viously traced by the skilful hand of Miss Pardee. 
 
OF THE STUARTS. 
 
 199 
 
 Be it our place to note those whose careers promi- 
 nently bore on the Duchesse d' Orleans, and with 
 whom more particularly she was accustomed to 
 associate. 
 
 Elizabeth's greatest friend at the court was the 
 Dauphiness Mary Anne, who was like herself a Ger- 
 man, and a native of Bavaria.* This princess, who 
 had espoused the dauphin in the spring of 1680, 
 assimilated more closely to her in disposition than 
 any other member of the royal family. Like 
 Madame, she was fond of rational amusements, and 
 despised the frivolities commonly indulged in by the 
 court. Though she had omitted no opportunity of 
 raising herseK to the station she occupied, yet she 
 displayed great independence of character when she 
 had attained it. Eancy the astonishment of the 
 courtiers when they inquired of her, ''Would her 
 highness please to play?" at her replying point 
 blank, " No, I do not like games." " Perhaps, then, 
 her highness would choose to hunt?" By no 
 means, she never took pleasure in that exercise." 
 
 * Sometimes styled the " Grand Dauphiness." As neither the sou 
 or grandson of Louis ascended the throne of France, the former prince 
 was known as " The Dauphin," and the latter as " The Duke of Bur- 
 gundy ;" but when on the death of the former previously to his son, 
 the latter in turn assumed the title of dauphin, French writers, to 
 prevent the mistakes that would necessarily have been engendered, 
 styled the first dauphin " The Grand Dauphin," and the second (so long 
 known as Duke of Burgundy,) as " The Dauphin." The title of dauphin 
 was first assumed by the heirs presumptive to the French throne on 
 the cession of the province of Viennois by the last of its princes, who 
 ceded it to the King of France in perpetuity, on condition that the 
 eldest son of the monarch should bear the title. 
 
200 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 What, it may naturally be asked, did her highness 
 take pleasure in ? Well, then, she was fond of con- 
 versation, of reading, both in poetry and prose, of 
 music, dancing, needlework, and walking. She would 
 pass four or five hours alone in her apartment with- 
 out irksomeness, and expressed surprise at the diffi- 
 culty other people found in amusing themselves. 
 She made herself very popular on her entree by her 
 conformity to Prench manners, which she adapted 
 herself to with such facility that they seemed as 
 natural to her as if she had been bred in them. Her 
 behaviour to the king was also much commended, as it 
 evinced gratitude without servility. Her personal 
 appearance is described by Madame de Sevigne as 
 being " universally admired, for though," writes that 
 lady, "her face is plain, and there is something 
 about her nose and forehead rather too low in pro- 
 portion to the rest of her face, and which has a bad 
 effect at first sight, yet her hands and arms are so 
 beautiful, her figure so fine, her neck and teeth so 
 white, her hair so luxuriant, she has so much good 
 sense and good nature, and possesses so many fas- 
 cinating qualities, that the first glance must be par- 
 doned. In fact," continues the lively countess, 
 " she is a perfect miracle of wit, understanding, and 
 good education : in short, a complete being." * 
 
 It is to be regretted that the poor dauphiness had 
 not a better husbd^nd ; his strange incomprehensible 
 character has been already described. When the 
 
 * Letters of Madame de Sevigiic. 
 
OF THE STUARTS. 
 
 201 
 
 first novelty of his espousals were over, he treated 
 his intellectual bride with great neglect and in- 
 attention ; and if Madame' s testimony may be re- 
 lied upon, she was fairly worried to death. She 
 never enjoyed good health after the birth of her 
 first child.* The king, who was of a robust tem- 
 perament, and fancied every one must be as well 
 as himself, evinced no sympathy for the delicate 
 princess, and she was compelled to exert herself as 
 strenuously as if she had been perfectly well. The 
 fatigue this constant dissimulation engendered was 
 too much for her debilitated frame, and she rapidly 
 sank under its weakening influences : her death, as 
 she sadly remarked, was necessary for her justifi- 
 cation. She lived ten years after her marriage, 
 but the last four of it were passed in perfect seclu- 
 sion, as after the birth of her youngest boy she 
 became a confirmed invalid. She was much attached 
 to one of her maidens, a girl named Bessola, whom 
 she had brought with her from Germany, but the 
 treacherous favourite was unworthy of her mistress's 
 regard, as she made a practice of betraying her 
 secrets to Madame de Maintenon (with whom the 
 dauphiness was not on good terms) ; and to crown 
 her ingratitude received the wages of that lady for 
 intimidating her. The poor dauphiness could never 
 be convinced that Bessola deceived her ; she thought 
 it impossible that any one who had been brought up 
 with her from childhood could be so treacherous ; and 
 
 * The Duke of Burgundy, born 1682. 
 
202 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 when Madame remonstrated with her on the im- 
 propriety of heing so intimate with such a girl, 
 and the ridicule it excited at court, she would only- 
 laugh and say, " Everybody has some weakness : 
 Bessola is mine." Madame describes her friend as 
 " ugly, but agreeable from her extreme politeness." 
 
 She was not," she says, " haughty, but as it had 
 become the fashion to blame everything she did, 
 she was somewhat disdainful. She loved the 
 dauphin more like a son than a husband. He loved 
 her very well, but wished to live with her in an 
 unceremonious manner, which she, to please him, 
 agreed to." She was very devout, and on her first 
 introduction at court was considered to eclipse even 
 the pious Mary Theresa; for this, as was to be 
 expected, Madame much ridiculed her. 
 
 This opinion of the dauphiness's extreme piety is 
 corroborated by Madame de Maintenon, who says 
 that ''she set an example to the court which 
 was much more admired than followed. Some- 
 times," writes this lady, " she admits me to her 
 pious exercises, and I can with truth assert no heart 
 is more attached to God than hers. She makes it 
 a point of conscience to labour daily for the king's 
 conversion."* On her death-bed the dauphiness em- 
 braced her little boy, and said to him, " I love you 
 very much, my dear Berri, though you have cost 
 me so dear," alluding to the continued ill-health 
 
 * Letters of Madame de Maintenon. 
 
OF THE STUARTS. 
 
 203 
 
 she had suffered from his birth.* As the court, 
 from her continued complaints, had come to the 
 conclusion she was crazy, she observed just before 
 her death, " I shall convince them to-day that I was 
 not mad in complaining of my sufferings." She 
 died easily and calmly, though " she was as surely 
 put to death," remarks Madame, "as if she had 
 been killed by a pistol shot." She used to remark 
 to Madame that they were two unhappy persons, but 
 that there was this difference between them : " You," 
 she continued, " did all you could to avoid coming 
 here, while I determined to do so at all events ; 
 I have therefore deserved my misery." 
 
 The Dauphiness was little regretted either by her 
 husband or the court : her continued ill health had 
 destroyed her popularity, and she had begun to be 
 considered as an incumbrance rather than an or- 
 nament to it. So perished the only member of the 
 royal family for whom Madame appears to have 
 entertained any real affection. 
 
 Although the Duchess of Orleans sedulously held 
 herself aloof from politics, from the conviction that 
 the less women interfered in such matters the 
 better, yet did she innocently originate the war 
 which devastated her loved native country, and 
 caused the name of Prance to be held in general 
 execration throughout Germany. It happened 
 
 * The dauphiness had issue three sons ; viz., Louis, Duke of Burgundy, 
 born 1682 ; Philip, Duke of Anjou, afterwards Philip V., King of Spain, 
 born 1683 ; and Charles, Duke of Berry, born 1686. 
 
204 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 thus : — Her only brother, Charles Louis, the last 
 Priuce of the House of Simmeren, dying without 
 issue,* his dominions were claimed by the rival 
 families of Newburgh and Weldentz. After a short 
 contest, the former dynasty, the head of whom was 
 brother-in-law to the emperor, were declared the 
 legitimate claimants, and installed accordingly ; but 
 Madame, as the late elector's only sister, claimed 
 under the title of allodials, all his personal posses- 
 sions, and gradually extended her claim till it in- 
 cluded even the cannon and munitions of war 
 throughout the fortresses, f These demands, which 
 excited great consternation in Germany, being 
 vigorously opposed by the new elector, who appealed 
 to his fellow-princes for assistance, Louis threat- 
 ened to enforce his sister's claims by force of arms ; 
 and the elector exhibiting no signs of compliance, 
 he at once poured his troops into the Palatinate. 
 This unfortunate district, which had only some 
 thirty years previously recovered its pristine pros- 
 perity, was destined to suffer anew, and that to a 
 frightful extent, all the miseries and horrors of war. 
 Louvois,- who was then Louis's prime minister, ad- 
 vised as the surest means for its reduction that the 
 country should be laid waste and the towns burnt, 
 which barbarous decree was carried into execution 
 with great severity. Even Heidelberg, the Duchess's 
 
 * He died June, 1685. Madame firmly believed that he was poisoned, 
 but succeeding historians have not justified this imputation. 
 I Coxe's House of Austria. 
 
OF THE STUARTS. 
 
 205 
 
 birth-place, was not spared. It must not be sup- 
 posed that these atrocities took place with her 
 connivance ; on the contrary, she bitterly lamented 
 them. "When," she says, "I think of conflagra- 
 tions, I am seized with a shivering fit, for I re- 
 member how the Palatinate was ravaged for more 
 than three months. Whenever I went to sleep I 
 used to think I saw Heidelberg all in flames, and I 
 very narrowly escaped an illness in consequence of 
 these outrages." Notwithstanding all these horrors, 
 however, Madame failed to obtain her property, and 
 her pretensions remained unadjusted till the Peace 
 of Ryswick, signed sixteen years afterwards, when 
 Louis was tacitly compelled to forego her claim. 
 It was, indeed, nominally submitted to the Pope's 
 decision, but not until it had been previously ascer- 
 tained that he would give judgment in favour of the 
 Elector Palatine. All she ever received as com- 
 pensation was the sum of three hundred crowns, 
 a sorry substitute for such a claim. She complained 
 bitterly of the injustice done her, nor if we may 
 credit her testimony, was the Pope less repentant 
 of his decision ; for when informed that the Grand 
 Duke of Tuscany had bribed his advisers with five 
 hundred crowns to induce them to give judgment 
 against the Duchess, he wept and said, " Am I not 
 an unhappy old man to be obliged to place con- 
 fidence in such persons 
 
 Madame, though she brought her husband a 
 
 * Memoirs of the Duchess of Orleans. 
 
206 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 good dowry, which she believed, and not untruly, to 
 have been her chief recommendation, was always 
 inconvenienced by her limited income. Her allow- 
 ance, from the date of her marriage till that of her 
 mother's death, only amounted to a hundred louis 
 d'or per annum. On that event Monsieur, in conse- 
 quence of money he received from the palatinate, 
 gave her an extra hundred. To the time of her 
 son's marriage, that is, for the first twenty years of 
 her wedded life, the king presented her annually 
 with a thousand louis; but this sum she forfeited 
 by her opposition to that event. Her predecessor, 
 Henrietta, had been more liberally treated; but 
 this was because she was the sister of the king of 
 England, with whom, despite all assertions to the 
 contrary, Louis earnestly desired to be at amity. 
 
 Just previously to the outbreak of the palatinate 
 war, the royal family of Prance had suffered an 
 irreparable loss in the death of the amiable and vir- 
 tuous queen. The patience with which she had 
 submitted to the numerous infidelities of her hus- 
 band had won for her the respect of the nation, and 
 she was sincerely and unfeignedly lamented. Ma- 
 dame, in particular, had always sympathised with, 
 and endeavoured to uphold this princess in the 
 exercise of her legitimate influence. She was one 
 of the most ignorant, but kindest and most vir- 
 tuous of women ; and though she failed to engross 
 her husband's affections, she invariably commanded 
 his esteem. In person she was of low stature, with 
 
OF THE STUARTS. 
 
 207 
 
 a tendency to embonpoint ; but these defects, if so 
 they may be termed, were compensated by the 
 exquisite fairness of her skin, and the lustre of 
 her beautiful azure eyes, which, though slightly 
 deficient in animation, wore a peculiarly tranquil 
 expression. " She had been bred in the strictest 
 forms of Spanish etiquette, and invariably adhered 
 to the manners and customs of her country. She 
 was devotedly attached to the king, and if he only 
 looked at her kindly, was observed to be in good 
 spirits for the rest of the day, and displayed so much 
 satisfaction when he quitted his mistress's society 
 for her own that it was generally remarked upon 
 by the court. She minded not being joked on the 
 subject, but would on such occasions laugh, and 
 wink, and rub her little hands.* She died of an 
 abscess under the arm, which being unskilfully 
 treated by her physicians, caused her death. Her 
 husband, when informed that his patient, forgiving 
 consort " had gone to that bourne from whence no 
 traveller returns," burst into tears, and passionately 
 exclaimed, " It is the first grief she has ever caused 
 me 1" Ah, how many pangs might he have saved 
 that confiding heart, had he been equally tender of 
 her when living^. 
 
 Mary Theresa's funeral oration was pronounced 
 by Bossuet, Bishop of Meaux, who, in it, most infe- 
 licitously complimented the king on the government 
 he had maintained over his passions, when it was 
 
 * Memoirs of the Duchess of Orleans. 
 
208 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 notorious, not only to himself hut to his auditors, that 
 Louis was at the very time living in open adultery 
 with Madame de Montespan ! So much for the 
 vaunted boldness of the Eomish prelates in preach- 
 ing the truth even before kings ! 
 
 Hitherto Madame had lived on harmonious terms 
 with the royal family, although refraining from any 
 peculiar intimacy ; but the death of Mary Theresa, 
 by opening the avenues of power to Madame de 
 Maintenon,* proved an irrevocable blow to her 
 family interests. The dislike and open hatred 
 which she manifested for this new wife of the king 
 (for that Madame de Maintenon was actually 
 
 * The life of Madame de Maintenon is a perfect romance. She was the 
 daughter of M. Constant d'Aubigne, Baron of Surinau (whose ancestors 
 ranked among the foremost champions of Protestantism), by a Bourdelais 
 lady. As was to be expected, they were both Calvinists ; an imputed 
 crime, to which they owed their imprisonment, on a charge of heresy, 
 in the prison of Niort, in Poitou. Here the Kttle Frances, the subject of 
 this notice, was born, 27th November, 1635. On her parents' liberation, 
 which did not occur until four years afterwards, they sailed for America, 
 where M. d'Aubigne died in 1646, leaving his wife with two children in 
 indigent circumstances. So reduced indeed was the poor widow, that 
 the only means by which she could return to Europe was by leaving 
 her daughter as a pledge in the hands of her creditors. There Frances 
 remained until she had attained her twelfth year, when she recrossed the 
 seas for the old continent, and her mother dying about this time, she was 
 adopted by her aunt, Madame de Villete, who educated her as a Protestant. 
 This excited the anger of the State, always anxious to interfere with the 
 Calvinists, and an order was obtained from the Court, transferring her to 
 the charge of another aunt, Madame de Neuillant, a bigoted Romanist. 
 Here, after undergoing many hardships, Frances was induced to make 
 an open profession of the Catholic faith. The ill treatment she received 
 from this relative earned for her the compassion, soon generating into a 
 tenderer feeling, of M. Scarron, a man of letters, descending from an 
 ancient family, who visited at her aunt's. In the following homely 
 
OF THE STUARTS. 
 
 209 
 
 wedded to Louis admits of not the shadow of a doubt) 
 involved her in continual fracas with the monarch, 
 
 strain was this future consort of a king, under the appellation of Iris, 
 courted by her aged adorer : 
 
 " Whilst I was with you every day, 
 
 My dove, my blooming fair, 
 I view'd your charms, I heard your wit, 
 
 Regardless of the snare. 
 But from your sight when once debarr'd. 
 
 What tortures I endured ! 
 Too fierce, too violent, alas ! 
 
 By reason to be cured. 
 
 Parting, which ought to give relief, 
 
 But added to my pains, 
 For in your chains still faster link'd, 
 
 I struggled still in vain. 
 Obdurate Iris ! cruel fair ! 
 
 To kindle such a flame. 
 To make me burn, consume and long 
 
 For what I durst not name. 
 Should I my passion once reveal. 
 
 Your anger 'twould procure. 
 And should I keep my secret close, 
 
 My dissolution's sure. 
 Luckless dilemma ! death or your disdain, 
 With patience die, rather than live in pain." 
 
 He concludes, " Love me, and I shall be cured of all my ills :" an 
 aspiration to which Frances returned a favourable answer notwith- 
 standing his age, weakness, and many infirmities. They were married 
 in 1651, Mademoiselle d'Aubigne being then only in her sixteenth year. 
 Henceforth the home of Monsieur Scarron became the rendezvous of the 
 literati of Paris ; some attracted by the burlesque humour of the master, 
 others by the spirituelle fascinating hostess. In 1660, by the death of her 
 husband, Frances became a widow ; an event which was productive of 
 much inconvenience to her, as she thereby lost the pension she had been 
 in the habit of receiving, and which expired on the death of Monsieur 
 Scarron. Fortunately, through the influence of the Marchioness d'Albret, 
 it was restored to her, although, to "complete her misfortunes, she forfeited 
 it again on the death of the Queen Dowager, shortly afterwards. These 
 repeated afflictions were the means of leading her to God, and she adopted 
 
 r 
 
210 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 and embittered the remainder of her existence. 
 She confesses that in her opinion all the glory 
 
 a life of religious seclusion, taking the Abbe Gobelin as her spiritual 
 director. Whilst in this state of penury and discomfort she received the 
 unexpected offer, through Madame de Thiange (Madame de Montespan's 
 sister), to undertake the education of that lady's children by the king. 
 Undecided as to whether to accept it, she thus, in a letter to a friend, 
 describes her hesitation : '* I am," she says, " sensibly affected with the 
 honour intended me, but I own that I think myself absolutely unfit for it. 
 I live quietly, and is it proper for me to sacrifice both my repose and my 
 liberty ? Besides, that mysterious behaviour, that profound secrecy 
 which they require of me, without positively giving me the key of it, may 
 induce my friends to think a snare is laid for me. However, if the chil- 
 dren belong to the king, I consent to it (evidently intimating she con- 
 sidered herself bound to obey her sovereign's commands). I should have 
 great scruples in taking charge of Madame de Montespan's children ; 
 therefore the king himself must order me to do it. This is my resolution, 
 and I have written pretty much to the same effect to Madame de 
 Thiange." Madame de Maintenon's detractors have adduced her ac- 
 ceptance of this post as derogatory to her principles and her character ; 
 but it will be seen that it was only in compliance with the expressed 
 order of her sovereign, whose commands she felt herself bound to obey, 
 that she undertook the task. Neither did she conceal her opinion from 
 Madame de Montespan, for she wrote pretty much to the same effect to 
 Madame de Thiange, that lady's sister ; so that her alleged ingratitude 
 is easily disproved. That she did not live very harmoniously with 
 Madame de Montespan, is true; but it was caused by the haughty 
 overbearing disposition of the favourite, who could ill brook the slightest 
 opposition to her will. Over and over again did Madame de Maintenon 
 express her wish to retire from her onerous duties, which she was as often 
 prevented from doing by Madame de Montespan and the king. No 
 arriere pensee could have then lurked in her mind, as the Queen was 
 still alive. That Madame de Maintenon achieved the king's conversion 
 there is no reason to doubt. His dying words, uttered under the con- 
 viction that he was about appearing before his Judge, are proof positive. 
 " My nephew," he said, turning to the Duke of Orleans, *' I recommend 
 Madame de Maintenon to your care ; she has been useful to me in all 
 respects, but chiefly in turning me to God, and labouring for my salva- 
 tion. She never gave me any but good counsels, and I repent my having 
 not always followed them." Such was the woman whom some historians 
 have so delighted in vilifying and misrepresenting! 
 
OF THE STUARTS. 
 
 211 
 
 of France expired with the deceased queen; but 
 the Duchess is here a prejudiced witness ; and there 
 are grave, nay, conclusive reasons displacive of her 
 evidence. Allowing that Madame de Maintenon 
 by a misguided course of policy entailed great evils 
 upon Prance, yet she certainly purified the court of 
 many of its prevailing corruptions. The open con- 
 cubinage of the monarch with a succession of mis- 
 tresses, and the laxity of morals it necessarily 
 engendered, was now no longer to be witnessed. All 
 faces bore at least the outward semblance of pro- 
 priety and decorum. It was one of Madame de 
 Maintenon' s maxims, that une grande passion only 
 Was sinful ; therefore a little dalliance and innocent 
 coquetry was not absolutely interdicted. Still it 
 was something for the court to maintain even an 
 outwardly moral appearance ; and that it did 
 wear a decidedly improved aspect is admitted by 
 all writers not so blindly prejudiced as Madame. 
 The hatred of this princess for Madame de Main- 
 tenon amounted to an absolute frenzy, and partook 
 more of the character of a monomania than a preju- 
 dice. No epithet was too bad for the traduced wife 
 of Louis in the mouth of the proud German prin- 
 cess. She hated her for reasons ad infinitum. She 
 disliked her for her marriage with the king, which 
 she considered as alike degrading and dishonour- 
 able, and a blot impossible to be effaced. She 
 detested her for patronising the king's illegitimate 
 children, to the prejudice of the Princes of the 
 
 p 2 
 
212 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 Blood,* and, lastly, she hated her with an undying 
 hatred, because she, a parvenu upstart, favoured 
 the alliance of Mademoiselle de Blois, Louis's na- 
 tural daughter by Madame de Montespan, with 
 her, the proud Madame' s only son, the veritable 
 Philip the second of Orleans, future regent of 
 France. This last offence alone was one impossible 
 to be forgiven ; but Madame de Maintenon aggra- 
 vated her offences, if such indeed were possible, 
 by the suggestion of a second marriage between 
 h^v protege, the Due de Maine (Louis's eldest son by 
 Madame de Montespan), whom she had reared with 
 the affection of a mother, and Madame' s only 
 daughter, Elizabeth Charlotte ; thus by one fell stroke- 
 endeavouring to cement the disgrace of the Orleans 
 family. Had these two propositions been simulta- 
 
 * The bastards, or legitimated children of Louis XIV. were, by the 
 Duchess de La Valliere, Louis, Count of Vermandois, a prince never 
 liked by his father, born 1667, and died 1683, at the age of sixteen ; and 
 Mary Anne, Mademoiselle de Blois, born 1666. This princess, who was 
 the king's favouiite daughter, was one of the most beautiful and amiable 
 on record, as she inherited all the attractions of her fascinating 
 mother, La Valliere. She married 1680, Louis Armand, Prince of Conti, 
 who died 1685. She survived him fifty-four years, dying 1739. She never 
 married again, but devoted herself, like her mother, to works of charity 
 and devotion, becoming in her later years quite a recluse. The Emperor of 
 Morocco fell in love with her from seeing her portrait, and actually sent 
 to demand her as his wife, although she was married ; a novel request, 
 which excited great merriment at the French Court. — See Memoirs de 
 Dangeau. The King's children by Madame de Montespan were, Louis 
 Augustus, Duke of Maine, born 1670, died 1736 ; a great favourite of his 
 father's and Madame de Main tenon's. Louis Alexander, Count of 
 Toulouse, born 1678, died 1737 ; Louisa, Mademoiselle de Nantes, born 
 1673, died 1743, the wife of Louis III., Prince of Conde; and Frances, 
 Mademoiselle de Blois, born 1677, the wife of the Regent Duke of 
 Orleans — she died 1749. 
 
OF THE STUARTS. 
 
 213 
 
 neously made to Madame, we would not vouch for 
 the reception she would have accorded the luckless 
 messenger ; but, fortunately, such an affront was not 
 destined her, for Mesdames de Montespan and De 
 Maintenon having conversed unguardedly together 
 on the subject in public, were frightened by the 
 hint of a bystander, that to attempt such a thing 
 was to tempt Madame to effect their own removal ; 
 which wily suggestion so scared them that they 
 summarily abandoned the idea. One part of it, 
 however, was only dropped, the original intention of 
 contracting Mademoiselle de Blois to the Duke of 
 Chartres still remaining in force. 
 
 The rage and indignation of Madame, when she 
 first gained intelligence of even this modified 
 intrigue, can be better imagined than described. 
 Judge, then, what effect the double proposals would 
 have had upon her. Summoning her son to her 
 presence, she exacted from him a solemn promise 
 that he would not submit to such voluntary 
 degradation, fortifying his promise by an oath. 
 The youthful prince (he was but seventeen) was 
 sincere; but on being confronted with the king 
 and his father, whom he was accustomed to see 
 implicitly obeyed, and threatened with imprison- 
 ment at Villars-Cotterets, in case of refusal, he 
 yielded his assent, dependent, he said, upon his 
 father's and mother's. The former, who was pre- 
 sent at the interview, previously won by the wiles 
 of the Chevalier de Lorraine, who had been brought 
 
2M THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 over by the king, nodded his assent: but not so 
 easily to be obtained was that of his proud and 
 haughty wife. " If," she indignantly protests, " by 
 the shedding of my blood I could have prevented 
 my son's marriage, I would have done so." Even to 
 the humiliation of prayers, tears, and entreaties, did 
 she descend in vain. The fiat Le roi le veut had 
 gone forth, and resistance was unavailing. Prom 
 the Memoirs of the Due de St. Simon we learn that 
 it was feared some public explosion of her rage 
 would take place on the public announcement of 
 l^he intended marriage. He says, I saw her on the 
 evening of that day promenading the galleries of the 
 palace with Madame de Chauteauthiers, her confi- 
 dante, and deservedly so, whom it had in vain been 
 endeavoured to deprive her of. She was walking 
 rapidly, taking long strides, her handkerchief in 
 her hand, weeping without restraint, gesticulating 
 violently, and looking for all the world like Ceres 
 when, deprived of her daughter Proserpine, she 
 sought her furiously, and demanded her from J upiter. 
 Every one out of respect made way for her, and only 
 passed her to enter the saloon. At the supper-table 
 her conduct was eveu more outrageous. The king 
 was there as usual ; the Duke of Chartres sat next 
 his mother, who never looked at him nor at her hus- 
 band. Her eyes were full of tears which overflowed 
 from time to time, as she vainly essayed to wipe 
 them away ; she looked earnestly at everybody, as 
 if seeking to divine their thoughts from their coun- 
 
OF THE STUARTS. 
 
 215 
 
 tenances. Her son's eyes were also very red, and 
 neither of them ate scarcely anything. I noticed that 
 the king offered her of almost every dish which was 
 set hefore him ; but she repulsed him with a brusque 
 air of disdain, which had not the effect of repressing 
 his kindness and attention to her. It was remarked 
 that, on leaving the table, his Majesty made her a very 
 low bow, during which she wheeled round so nicely 
 upon her heel, that when he raised his head, he saw 
 nothing but her back advanced a step towards the 
 door. 
 
 The next day a still more remarkable scene was 
 enacted. On the usual levee of the council being 
 held after mass, Madame, who was present, was 
 addressed by her son, who coming up, as was his 
 custom, to kiss her hand, received such a slap on 
 the face, that it was heard by the whole court, and 
 the poor prince retired covered with confusion, amid 
 the laughter and jeers of the spectators. Notwith- 
 standing all these ebullitions of rage, Madame was 
 eventually forced to succumb, as matters had now 
 advanced too far to admit of the king's receding 
 with dignity ; so that, malgre his own and his 
 parents' wishes, the Duke of Chartres was forced 
 to wed Mademoiselle de Blois. Their nuptials 
 were celebrated with great magnificence at the 
 Chapel Royal, Easter Monday, 1692, by Cardinal 
 de Bouillon; the king and all the princes and 
 princesses assisting at the ceremony. 
 
 The union proved, as was to be expected, a most 
 
216 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 unhappy one. The bridegroom was celebrated for 
 his dissolute manners, and had, even at seventeen, 
 all the precocity in vice of a man of sixty. His 
 morals had been contaminated by his preceptor, the 
 Abbe Dubois, who, instead of restraining, encou- 
 raged his youthful extravagances, which have ren- 
 dered him so notorious, that the phrase, " the orgies 
 of the regency," is as familiar as household words. 
 His open disregard of the mysteries of religion 
 shocked the prejudices even of the irreligious Prench, 
 and he was suspected of the most atrocious and 
 unheard-of crimes. Louis's excuse for the union of 
 his daughter with the Due de Chartres was, that, on 
 account of his belligerent relations with foreign 
 powers, he could neither match her nor his 
 nephew as he wished, and that, consequently, the 
 only resource which remained to him was inter- 
 marriages between members of his own family. 
 But this was a flimsy pretext; for it might satis- 
 factorily be objected that the Duke of Chartres 
 evinced no inclination for the married state, and 
 that, even had he been at peace with other powers, 
 no foreign princes would have espoused his natural 
 daughters. 
 
 In person the Duke of Chartres was plain, and 
 of unprepossessing appearance, being short, stout, 
 and ruddy. His manners corresponded with his 
 exterior; they were unpolished and ungallant, 
 and savoured strongly of those of his mother and 
 maternal grandfather. His redeeming qualifica- 
 
OF THE STUARTS. 
 
 217 
 
 tions were his straightforwardness and candour ; he 
 was totally incapable of finesse, and was good- 
 hearted, sincere, and generous. He was devotedly 
 attached to the arts and sciences, particularly che- 
 mistry, of which he was a great proficient.* His 
 wife was of a totally different temperament. She 
 was proud, lazy, and conceited, and thought so much 
 of being a king's daughter, that she forgot she bore 
 the same relationship to a harlot. This amused 
 the wits of the court, who, making merry at her 
 expense, compared her to Minerva, who boasted of 
 having sprung from Jupiter without the intervention 
 of a mother. She, however, possessed some good 
 qualities, was of a graceful form, lively wit, and 
 irreproachable virtue, though her mother-in-law, 
 who never did her justice, had by no means so com- 
 plimentary an opinion of her. She says, " Madame 
 d'Orleans' physiognomy does not please me; her 
 nose and cheeks are somewhat pendant, and her 
 forehead shakes like an old woman's; she paints 
 beyond all measure, so that she is often quite red. 
 She has always a fictitious malady in reserve, and I 
 believe all her weaknesses arise from her always 
 laying in bed or on a sofa. She eats and drinks 
 reclining, through mere idleness. She never could 
 bring herself to eat with the king her father, for 
 then it would be necessary for her to sit upon a 
 stool ; and she likes better to loll upon a sofa or sit 
 
 * Memoirs of the Duchess of Orleans. Memoires du Due de Saint 
 Simon. Memoires Secrets de Duclos. 
 
218 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 in an arm-chair at a small table. She is so indolent, 
 that she will not stir; she would like, I believe, 
 larks to drop ready roasted into her mouth ; she 
 walks and eats slowly, the latter enormously. It is 
 impossible to be more idle than she is ; this she her- 
 self admits, though she takes no pains to correct it. 
 She does not think that there is her equal in the 
 world for beauty, wit, and perfection. I always 
 compare her to Narcissus, who died of self-admira- 
 tion. She piques herself on being considered ex- 
 tremely pious ; but does not consider that lying and 
 deceit are the works of the devil, and not of God. 
 Ambition, pride, and selfishness have entirely spoilt 
 her, and I fear she will make no good end. My 
 son, in allusion to her pride, calls her Madame Lu- 
 cifer," a title which, the Duke of St. Simon observes, 
 it was believed did not displease her. " She is so 
 excessively vain of her birth," continues Madame, 
 
 that she will not hear a word said against it ; she 
 will not see the difference between legitimate and 
 illegitimate children. These notions were instilled 
 into her by Mesdames de Montespan and De Main- 
 tenon, and ih.Q femmes des cliamhresT^ 
 
 This portraiture of the Duchess of Chartres by 
 her mother-in-law sufficiently proves that she was not 
 considered much of an acquisition by her adopted 
 family. That mother and daughter lived only on 
 bare terms of civility with each other is not sur- 
 prising; for with two women, each ridiculously 
 
 * Memoirs of the Duchess of Orleans. 
 
OF THE STUARTS. 
 
 219 
 
 proud in her way, what better could be expected ? 
 That Madame's opinion of her daughter-in-law 
 conveys an unfair estimate both of her personal 
 attractions and mental capabilities, is proved by 
 the observations of the Duke of St. Simon, cer- 
 tainly no prejudiced admirer of the house of 
 Mortemart. This nobleman says, "The Duchess 
 was tall, and in every way majestic; her com- 
 plexion, throat, arms, and eyes were admirable; 
 her mouth, which was not faultless, served to dis- 
 play a beautiful set of teeth; whilst her cheeks, 
 though too large and pendant, sufficed not to impair 
 her personal beauty. The greatest drawback to her 
 appearance were her eyebrows, which were thin and 
 reddish. Her eyelashes, however, were fine ; and 
 her hair, which was of an auburn hue, grew very 
 becomingly. Without being precisely crooked or 
 hunchbacked, one side was larger than the other; 
 and this defect, which impeded her gait, caused 
 her much inconvenience* in society. She had not 
 less humour than her husband ; but more than him, 
 she had such an uninterrupted flow of spirits, so 
 much natural eloquence, justness of expression, and 
 singular felicity in the choice of language she em- 
 ployed, which seemed to flow naturally from her, 
 that she invariably took you by surprise ; resem- 
 bling strongly in this respect Madame de Mon- 
 tespan and her sister. She said all she wished to 
 say precisely as she would have said it, with force, 
 delicacy, and agrement, continuing this easy style 
 
220 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 until she finished, and making every one listen to 
 her, according to the measure and precision she 
 employed; but her manner of speaking, from her 
 voice being husky, was so slow, so impeded, so difB.- 
 cult to ears not accustomed to it, that this defect, 
 which surprised you from not expecting it, greatly 
 detracted from what she said." * 
 
 The marriage of Madame' s only daughter, Eliza- 
 beth Charlotte, with Leopold, Duke of Lorraine, 
 which took place five years after her son's, was 
 a much pleasanter event to her than his had been ; 
 for although the alliance contracted was hardly 
 equal to those which her step- daughters had formed, 
 it was compensated by the bridegroom's being, in 
 her estimation, almost a German prince. 
 
 Elizabeth Charlotte was in person plain and 
 unprepossessing, and decidedly deficient in those 
 graces which sat so easily on her half sisters ; but 
 she was vii'tuous and good, which, as her mother 
 sagely remarks, is better 'than being "pretty and 
 profligate." She was much attached to her hus- 
 band, though he little merited her regard, as he 
 devoted himself almost wholly to one of her filles 
 cVhonneur, Mademoiselle de Ligneville, and ulti- 
 mately married the young lady to Monsieur Craon, 
 a rich old man attached to his court. Erom thence- 
 forth, strange to say, he appeared as much infa- 
 tuated with the husband as .the wife; ridiculous 
 beha\dour, which justly mortified Elizabeth Char- 
 
 * St. Simon. 
 
OF THE STUARTS. 
 
 221 
 
 lotte, who saw herself neglected for one wholly infe- 
 rior to her in position. Madame Craon, never- 
 theless, was not a woman unworthy the Duke's 
 regard ; she was, even according to the testimony of 
 Madame, " full of agreeable qualities, and although 
 not a regular beauty, had a good shape, a fine skin, 
 and a very white complexion. Her greatest charms 
 were her mouth and her teeth." " When she laughs," 
 says the duchess, "it is in a very pleasing and 
 modest manner; she behaves respectfully in my 
 daughter's presence; and, in truth, it is not sur- 
 prising she should be loved, for she richly deserves 
 it." Poor Madame Craon was much mortified if she 
 was taken for the duke's mistress : it happened 
 that once, when on a visit to Paris with her cJier 
 ami, she was crossing the hall of the palace, when a 
 bystander observed, " There goes the Duke of Lor- 
 raine with his mistress ; " a speech which so affected 
 her, that she burst into tears, and insisted on the 
 duke's complaining to the regent of the insult of- 
 fered her. This he did, — when that profligate prince, 
 instead of commiserating her, only burst out laugh- 
 ing, and gaily responded, " Why the king himself 
 could not have prevented it. You should despise 
 such inuendos, and pretend not to hear them."* 
 
 We have been somewhat anticipating events in 
 relation to the ducal family of Orleans. In Peb- 
 ruary, 1689, Madame had sustained a grievous loss 
 in the death of her step-daughter, the Queen of 
 
 * Duchess of Orleans. 
 
222 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 Spain, who fell a victim to poison, administered at 
 precisely the same age as had proved fatal to her 
 unfortunate mother. There can be little doubt 
 that the Countess of Soissons, by whom the fatal 
 draught was given, was bribed by the Spanish 
 party adverse to Prench interests : in fact, the 
 Count of Oropeza and the Count of Mansfeld dis- 
 dained to justify themselves from the imputation.* 
 It appears that Mary Louisa having expressed a 
 wish for some milk, then a luxury in Madrid, the 
 Countess of Soissons officiously volunteered to fetch 
 some, which she pretended to have in her apartments. 
 It was in vain that Mary Louisa had been warned 
 against this woman ; her intense love for her country- 
 men had surmounted even her repugnance to the 
 Countess's character. The sequel we have narrated, 
 the poor queen expiring the same night. When 
 the sad intelligence was communicated by the king 
 to her father and mother, the latter was so over- 
 whelmed that she gave vent to her grief in loud 
 cries, and even the usually impassable Philip seemed 
 affected by the tragic fate of his beauteous daughter; f 
 for the Duke of Orleans, with all his failings, was 
 fond of his children, and Mary Louisa, in particular, 
 had been the object of his special regard : a statement 
 for which we have the authority of his wife, who says, 
 " My husband, with all his faults, was passionately 
 
 * According to Duclos, only the Count of Mansfeld was suspected of 
 the crime. Memoires Secrets de Charles Dineau Duclos. 
 t De Dangeau. 
 
OF THE STUARTS. 
 
 223 
 
 fond of his children, particularly of his eldest daugh- 
 ter ; but he loved them with the foolish fondness of a 
 parent who feared to maintain a due authority over 
 them. If he wished to reprove them for anything, 
 he would come with his tale to me, and beg me take 
 them to task. ' But, Monsieur,' I would reply, Hhey 
 are your children as well as mine, why do you not 
 correct them ?' 'Oh,' he would say, 'I know not 
 how to scold them ; and besides, they would not 
 mind me if I did, they care for no one but you.' 
 He used," continues Madame, "always to threaten 
 the children with me, and keep them in constant 
 fear of me, for the truth was, he was afraid of their 
 loving me better than himself, and it was for this 
 reason he told them that I disapproved of all they 
 did, but I never pretended to see through his 
 contrivance."* 
 
 Bereft by death or removal of his children, to 
 whom in his way he had been fondly attached, 
 the heart of the Duke of Orleans now began to 
 yearn with increasing affection towards his long 
 tried partner, whom hitherto he had treated with 
 such indifference. He daily sought her society 
 more and more, and laboured to conform himself 
 to her habits, evincing as much pleasure in her 
 company as formerly he had displayed aversion. 
 He made her the confidante of all his grievances, 
 and warmly espoused her part in any disputes. 
 Unfortunately this blissful state of things was not 
 
 * Duchess of Orleans. 
 
224 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 destined to be of long continuance. On the evening 
 of the eighth of June, 1701, the Duke, whilst 
 sitting down to supper at Saint Cloud, was seized 
 with a fit of apoplexy, and notwithstanding the 
 remedies that were instantly applied, he expired the 
 following morning. The proximate cause of his 
 attack was the vexatio qncestio of his son's marriage. 
 Louis, unable any longer to shut his eyes to his 
 nephew's open infidelities, and vexed that his 
 daughter's happiness should have been so sacrificed, 
 expostulated with his brother for not taking his 
 son to task for his irregularities. Monsieur re- 
 torted that, " Fathers who led the same lives 
 themselves, could not expect to possess much 
 authority over their children." On this, Louis was 
 silent, when Monsieur, following up his advantage, 
 taunted his brother for not having fulfilled the 
 promises which had induced him to consent to the 
 marriage. A long altercation ensued, which was 
 only terminated by dinner being announced. At 
 this meal Monsieur appeared flushed and feverish, 
 although he ate well, and afterwards returned to 
 supper at St. Cloud. During this repast he was 
 observed to speak thick, and make strange gestures 
 with his hands, and almost immediately afterwards 
 he fell senseless into the arms of his son in a fit of 
 apoplexy. He was placed upon a sofa and bled, 
 but without effect; the medicines administered 
 afforded him no relief, and before twelve the next 
 morning he was a corpse : his illness having only 
 
OF THE STUARTS. 
 
 225 
 
 lasted fourteen hours.* The king had arrived at 
 three in the morning to visit his brother, but 
 Monsieur was unconscious when he was announced. 
 The Duchess remained with him until five, when 
 finding him insensible to her presence, she left him 
 and retired to her own room. 
 
 The king felt his brother's loss very severely — 
 he had always loved him, though they were of 
 such diflPerent temperaments ; it was this very 
 contrariety which made them such friends, 
 for Louis was amused with his brother's chat- 
 tering and fastidious ways : he knew that he 
 was not really ambitious, and that he was devoid of 
 political capacity ; he could, therefore, love without 
 fearing him. The only differences they ever had 
 arose either from the king's opposition to his 
 brother's favourites, or from his refusing him the 
 separate government of provinces, which no en- 
 treaties could induce him to yield his assent to : he 
 believed, and justly so, that it was a practice most 
 detrimental to the national welfare ; and he had 
 too much regard for the interests of his kingdom to 
 permit of such an anomaly. 
 
 Poor Madame, though she sincerely lamented her 
 husband's death, yet suffered not her grief at this 
 event to render her oblivious of her future interests : 
 she was horrified at the idea of entering a convent, 
 or retiring to the castle of Montargis, the only 
 
 * Dangeau's Memoirs of the Court of France. Taylor's Memoirs of 
 the House of Orleans. 
 
 Q 
 
226 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 alternatives presented by her marriage settlement ; 
 and when the king sent to inquire which course she 
 would pursue, she adroitly declared her resolu- 
 tion to remain near his majesty, from whom she 
 foimd it impossible to exist with comfort. The 
 king was flattered with the compliment, and gave 
 her leave to follow her inclinations, merely stipu- 
 lating that she should live on better terms with 
 ^ladame de Maintenon, to whom, ordinarily speak- 
 ing, she was barely civil. This she agreed to do, 
 and the public reconciliation of the two enemies took 
 place on the eleventh of June.* Madame' s account 
 of it is amusino^ enousrh. She savs, "The kino^ told 
 me that I hated Madame de Maintenon, to which 
 I replied that I did, but that it was only on account 
 of my attachment to his majesty, and because she 
 wronged me to him; but that, nevertheless, if it was 
 agreeable to him I would be reconciled to her. 
 He then made Madame de Maintenon come forward, 
 and said to her, ' Madame is willing to make fi'iends 
 with you we then embraced, and the scene ended." 
 " It mattered not to me," explains the duchess, 
 whether I lived at Montargis or not ; but I would 
 not have the appearance of doing so because I was 
 disgraced, or as if I had committed some crime for 
 which I was driven from the Court. I feared, 
 moreover, that at the end of two days' journey, I 
 might be left to die of hunger, and to avoid that 
 risk, I chose rather to be reconciled to the king: 
 
 * Dangeau. 
 
OF THE STUARTS. 
 
 227 
 
 as for going into a convent I never dreamed of such 
 a thing."* 
 
 The year 1701 proved an eventful one to the 
 Duchess of Orleans. Just previously to her hus- 
 band's death the Act of Succession had been 
 passed in England, which debarred her of her 
 contingent reversion of the British crown. It 
 is strange that, throughout her published corre- 
 spondence., she makes no mention of this event, 
 so pregnant with important consequences to her 
 family; although had the suggestion of her aunt 
 Sophia been adopted, Parliament would certainly 
 have made her a formal proffer of the crown, 
 dependent upon her renunciation of the E^omanist 
 faith. This advice it is notorious was not followed, 
 and those members of the royal family who from 
 choice had become Eomanists, were as effectually 
 precluded as those who had been bred up in that 
 faith; nor was the opportunity afforded them of 
 returning into that church, which, as from motives 
 of self-interest they had abandoned, the same 
 reasons might have again induced them to embrace. 
 
 What would have been the result had the crown 
 been tendered the matter of fact Duchess of Orleans, 
 must always remain matter for conjecture. That 
 she would not have objected to renouncing the 
 Romish faith is obvious, for she had never sin- 
 cerely embraced it ; though that she would not 
 have accepted the crown to the detriment of the 
 
 * Duchess of Orleans. 
 
 Q 2 
 
228 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 legitimate heir, or of her aunt, the Parliamentary 
 heiress, is almost equally certain, as a passage in 
 her writings seems corroborative of this opinion. 
 She says, I wish the King, James III., was in 
 possession of England, because the kingdom belongs 
 to him, whilst I would rather the Elector (George I.) 
 was Emperor of Germany, knowing well the desire 
 he had to be king of that country."* Not a word, 
 it will be perceived, of her own claims. In truth, 
 on James III. and George I., the representatives of 
 a principle and a faith, public opinion was so con- 
 centred, that the pretensions of the other members 
 of the Eoyal Eamily remained in abeyance, scarcely 
 remembered even by themselves. And yet it is 
 matter of interesting conjecture, What would have 
 been Great Britain's destiny under Elizabeth II. ?" 
 for as such the Duchess of Orleans would have 
 reigned, had she been called to ascend the throne of 
 her forefathers. It is strange that this princess, 
 the representative of the once idolized Queen of 
 Bohemia, and the daughter of the ultra-Protestant 
 Charles Louis, who so signalized himself by his 
 adhesion to the Parliamentary cause, should have 
 been so quietly abandoned by the party of the 
 Revolution, though no doubt can exist that had 
 the Elector himself been living, a very different 
 course of policy would have been pursued. With his 
 daughter, however, other considerations prevailed ; 
 for in the first place she had abandoned her father's 
 
 * Duchess of Orleans. 
 
OF THE STUARTS. 
 
 229 
 
 faith, in itself an insuperable obstacle ; and secondly, 
 she had become a member of the Royal Pamily of 
 Erance, and was the sister of that Louis whom the 
 insane fury of the times denominated as the disturber 
 of the peace of Europe ; and whom the English, or 
 to speak more correctly the Anglo-Dutch party in 
 particular, regarded as their natural and inveterate 
 enemy. Moreover, the Duchess's only son stood in 
 close proximity to the Erench throne, and should 
 he, by a not improbable contingency, be called on 
 to ascend it. Great Britain would have reckoned 
 as its monarch the detested sovereign of Erance. 
 Strange that any prince w^ho stood a chance of 
 being not only de jure but de facto King of Great 
 Britain, Erance, and Ireland," should be so abomi- 
 nated. All these considerations, weighing with the 
 politicians of the day, rendered them averse to the 
 Duchess's claim; nor were they wrong in their 
 decision, for when the unpopularity of our Dutch 
 and German monarchs is considered, how much 
 worse would not a Erench one have fared ? 
 
 The tranquillity of the widowed Duchess of 
 Orleans was not destined to be interrupted 
 until ten years after her husband's death, when 
 changes fraught with eventful consequences 
 surprised the Orleans dynasty. The year 1711 
 was ushered in by the death of Louis's son, 
 the Grand Dauphin, who expired from an at- 
 tack of small-pox ; leaving his place in the 
 succession to be filled by the Duke of Bur- 
 
230 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 gundy, now become Dauphin. This prince had 
 espoused Madame' s grand-daughter, the beauteous 
 Adelaide of Sardinia;* at once the most se- 
 ductive, the most interesting, and the most talented 
 of the Dauphines ; and alike the idol of her hus- 
 band, Madame de Maintenon, the king, courtiers, 
 and the nation. In February, 1712, Adelaide was 
 attacked with an epidemic then prevalent at Paris, 
 which, though at first considered of a trivial nature, 
 quickly proved fatal to the delicate princess. 
 Her husband, who was suffering from the same 
 disease, when informed of the loss he had sustained, 
 at once declared he should not survive, an astrologer 
 having predicted that he would die within a week 
 of his wife. This prediction was unhappily ful- 
 filled ; the Dauphin and Dauphiness dying within 
 six days of each other. 
 
 Hardly had the public recovered from the shock 
 occasioned by these sudden catastrophes, when the 
 eldest son of the hapless pair, in his turn become 
 dauphin, died also, leaving betwixt the Orleans 
 family and the throne only the Due dAnjou, a 
 sickly infant of two years of age, and who was 
 the fourth dauphin who had succeeded to the title 
 within a twelvemonth, f These events, so appa- 
 rently fortuitous for the Due d' Orleans, yet 
 concealed behind them greater calamities than 
 
 * Daughter of Madame's stepdaughter, Anne, Queen of Sardinia, 
 t The Duke of Berry was at the time alive ; but he died shortly after- 
 wards. May, 1714. 
 
OF THE STUARTS. 
 
 231 
 
 advantages, as the imprecations and murmurs of 
 the populace at the losses they had sustained 
 were all vented upon his luckless head, who, 
 because he was the gainer by the late events, was un- 
 justly suspected of being the author of them.* On 
 one point only were all agreed, viz. that the Grand 
 Dauphin had died a natural death. That of the 
 second, on the contrary, was viev ed with infinitely 
 more suspicion, aaid by the lower orders, in par- 
 ticular, he was almost universally believed to have 
 been poisoned. These reports, which if they had 
 been uncorroborated by material evidence would 
 have been quickly consigned to the tomb of the 
 Capulets, received confirmation from the unguarded 
 statements of Pagon and Bourdin, the court phy- 
 sicians : these gentlemen, either believing the 
 prince's death was not attributable to ordinary 
 causes ; or swayed by the vox populi who were 
 universally of that opinion ; or wishing to 
 please Madame de Maintenon, . by casting obloquy 
 on the Orleans family, declared in the report which 
 they presented to the king that the dauphin had 
 been poisoned, f In vain did Marechal, the premier 
 
 * The friends of the Orleans family, who, however, were very few 
 in number, endeavoured to divert suspicion from him by casting obloquy 
 on the Due du Maine, and attributing to him greater advantages from 
 the death of these princes than could possibly be derived by the Due 
 d'Orleans. As the Due du Maine was all-powerful with his father and 
 Madame de Maintenon, it may be imagined these reports were circulated 
 strictly suh rosa. — See Memoires du Due de St. Simon. 
 
 t That humpbacked old Fagon used to say that he disliked Chris- 
 tianity because it would not allow him to build a temple to Maintenon, 
 and an altar to worship her. — Memoirs of the Duchess of Orleans. 
 
232 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 surgeon, combat their statements : nothing could 
 divest the populace of the idea that their favourite 
 had been unfairly dealt vdih ; and the Duke of 
 Orleans, as the suspected party, was exposed to 
 imminent danger from these surmises, He could 
 neither venture out in public nor indulge in the 
 most innocent recreations without furnishing fresh 
 evidences of his guilt to the distorted imaginations 
 of the multitude. At Paris, in particular, he was 
 assailed with the most odious cries and imprecations. 
 It must be confessed that his manner of life was not 
 the best calculated to dispel suspicion. By openly 
 mocking the verities of the Catholic faith, and 
 making game of all generally held sacred by 
 Christians, he shocked the prejudices of even the 
 worldly-minded, and seemed to court rather than 
 evade their accusations. His ardent devotion, more- 
 over, to chemistry, alchymy, and other pursuits, 
 then considered as dabblings in the black art, 
 swelled considerably the number of his enemies. 
 Despairing of justifying himself, shunned and 
 evaded by the courtiers, the duke took the bold 
 resolution of challenging a public inquiry into his 
 conduct. Presenting himself suddenly before the 
 king, he demanded of him, as a personal favour, 
 that his character should be submitted to a public 
 ordeal. Louis, taken by surprise, really loving his 
 nephew,* and knowing him to be innocent of the 
 
 * The king loved my son as if he was his own, but he never cared 
 for the girls." — Memoirs of the Duchess of Orleans. 
 
OF THE STUARTS. 
 
 233 
 
 crimes imputed to him, hesitated as to yielding 
 his request; but Mareehal, whom he informed of 
 his nephew's offer, strongly dissuaded him from 
 acceding to it : he pointed out the light in which 
 it would be regarded by the public, who would 
 view it as a corroboration of their suspicions : 
 that even the duke's necessary acquittal would not 
 justify him in their eyes, for how could the nephew 
 of a king be convicted as a murderer, even if guilty ? 
 By these and similar arguments Marecha] so in- 
 fluenced the mind of Louis that he positively refused 
 to assent to the duke's request : the object of the 
 latter was, however, gained; he had challenged 
 his accusers, and they had shrunk from denouncing 
 him. Henceforth he rose visibly in the estimation 
 of the courtiers, although the popular prejudice 
 against him did not wholly subside until his advent 
 to power. ^'^ 
 
 It must not be supposed that these calumnies 
 against a son whom she so dearly loved were unfelt 
 by the widowed Duchess of Orleans; on the contrary, 
 she acutely suffered from the indignities heaped upon 
 her family, which she attributed, though unjustly, 
 to the machinations of her ancient foe, Madame 
 de Maintenon. Whether this lady really credited 
 the reports circulated, is doubtful; but that 
 she promulgated them and prejudiced the king's 
 mind against his nephew, is an accusation wholly 
 unfounded ; as the uniform tenor of her life, and the 
 
 * Memoires Secrets de Duclos. Memoires du Due de St. Simon. 
 
234 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 high terms in which she speaks of the duke through- 
 out her correspondence, alike discountenance the vile 
 suspicion. Of one thing we are assured, that hy no 
 possibility could her hatred of the Orleans Eamily 
 equal that which the duchess entertained for her ! 
 The following account of a scene which passed be- 
 tween Madame' s son and Madame de Maintenon, 
 when the star of the latter paled its ineffectual fires 
 before that of the calumniated Duke of Orleans, 
 receives its best confutation from the letter imme- 
 diately succeeding it — for if Madame' s relation be 
 correct, she stands convicted of hypocrisy, if not of 
 falsehood. The latter is the most probable suppo- 
 sition, if we may judge from the following anecdote. 
 
 It happened that one day a letter of the Duchess 
 of Orleans, in which Madame de Maintenon was 
 reviled in the grossest language, fell into the hands 
 of that lady, who thereupon took the first oppor- 
 tunity which presented itself of questioning Madame 
 as to whether she ever spoke of her in such 
 terms; this the former (unaware of the proofs 
 of her treachery Madame de Maintenon had in her 
 possession), denied in the strongest language. Her 
 dismay and confusion may be better imagined than 
 described, when Madame de Maintenon, putting her 
 hands into her pocket, coolly drew forth the offend- 
 ing missive. 
 
 The dependence to be placed upon the following 
 relation by the Duchess of an interview which took 
 place between her son and the widow of Louis 
 
OF THE STUARTS. 
 
 235 
 
 must be judged by the reader. She says, " My son 
 asked Madame de Maintenon what were her motives 
 in propagating the reports that were spread against 
 him, asking her to put her hand upon her heart, 
 and say whether her calumnies were true. To this 
 she replied, ' I said so, because I believed them.' 
 ' But,' said the Duke, 'you could not believe them, 
 because you knew to the contrary.' 'Is not the 
 Dauphiness dead ?' she arrogantly replied. ' Is it 
 my fault,' rejoined the Duke, ' that she is dead ? 
 Was she immortal ?' ' Well,' she replied, ' I was 
 so much distressed at the loss that I could not help 
 detesting him whom I was told was the author of 
 it.' ' But, Madame,' said the Duke, ' you knew 
 from the report that was presented the king, that I 
 was not the cause of it, and that in fact the Dau- 
 phiness was not poisoned.' ' I do know it,' she 
 replied, ' and will say nothing more about it.' " 
 
 If Madame really believed this relation, the follow- 
 ing letter from her to Madame de Maintenon must 
 have been strangely at variance with her real 
 feelings, and does little credit to her assumed frank- 
 ness of disposition. " I have to acquaint you, 
 Madame," she writes, " with my joy at a new favour 
 I have received from the king, which is, that he 
 allowed me to see him yesterday in his closet. As 
 I am indebted to you for all my favours; and as it 
 is by your means that my reconciliation with the 
 king has been made, my gratitude to you increases 
 every day, and my friendship will very soon equal 
 
236 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 the esteem which is due to you."* What Madame's 
 professions of friendship and gratitude were worth 
 may be estimated from the narratives preceding this 
 letter. 
 
 The death of the king, which took place on the 
 1st of September, 1715, had been long anticipated ; 
 for the life of a monarch whose lengthened reign 
 had been coeval with those of our Charles I., Oliver 
 Cromwell, Charles II., James II., William III., 
 and Mary II., Anne, and George I., could not, in 
 accordance with the ordinary laws, of nature, have 
 been much longer prolonged. He had been pre- 
 ceded to the tomb by his youngest grandson, the 
 Duke of Berry, who had espoused Madame' s eldest 
 grand- daughter, the Princess Mary Louisa of 
 Orleans ; so that of the once numerous family of 
 Bourbon there remained only the dauphin, after- 
 wards Louis XV. ; Philip V., King of Spain, who, 
 on succeeding to the Spanish throne, had solemnly 
 renounced that of Prance ; and the Duke of Orleans, 
 afterwards Begent. Louis le Grand proved by his 
 death that he was really a great man, for notwith- 
 standing the sufferings he endured he expired with 
 calmness and fortitude. He was so weakened by a low 
 fever, from which he had suffered for three months 
 preceding his death, that he was reduced to a perfect 
 skeleton. - The immediate cause of his decease was 
 a gangrene in the leg, which appeared only ten 
 days previously. Madame, with all the other mein- 
 
 * Letters of Madame de Maintenoii. 
 
OF THE STUARTS. 
 
 237 
 
 bers of the Bourbon family, excepting the Princess 
 of Conti and Duchess of Vendome (daughters of 
 Henry Julius, Prince of Conde), and his legitimated 
 daughter, the Grand Princess of Conti, were present 
 at his deathbed. Calling them around him, the 
 dying monarch pathetically exhorted his natural 
 children to live together on terms of concord 
 (an admonition much needed), when Madame think- 
 ing he spoke to her said, " Sire, you shall be obeyed." 
 
 Madame," said the king, in a stern voice, " you 
 thought I spoke to you ; no, no ! you are a sensible 
 person, and I know you; it is to the Princesses 
 (meaning his natural children, and alluding to their 
 constant dissensions) that I spoke." 
 
 The character and policy of Louis XIV. have 
 been unjustly traduced by English writers, but the 
 Erench — who ought to be better judges of what 
 most conduced to their country's welfare — have 
 formed a much truer estimate of his personal merits. 
 It must never be forgotten that it was his generous 
 hospitality to James II. (unrivalled, as Macaulay 
 admits, by any other monarch of modern times), 
 which earned for him the hatred of the Anglo-Dutch 
 party, in their own estimation sole representatives 
 of England; they it was who spread malicious 
 reports of his vast ambition, criminal designs, and 
 boundless power, the latter to their imagina- 
 tions grossly exaggerated ; they it was who leagued 
 together the European states against him, and then 
 complained of his lawless proceedings in originating 
 
238 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 a war they had themselves provoked.* The fault 
 which some Erench writers find with Louis for not 
 concluding peace sooner than he did, when he found 
 the fortunes of war were against him, is a charge 
 which cannot be borne out by facts ; for is it — or is 
 it not the truth — that he more than once offered the 
 largest concessions, which the allies, adding insult 
 to injury, contumeliously rejected ? Was the con- 
 dition, we demand, that Louis should unite his forces 
 with theirs in order to drive his grandson from the 
 throne of Spain, intended by them to herald a general 
 pacification, or was it not more truly suggested as 
 the surest obstacle to that event ? Even if, as we 
 deny, Louis originated the war that disturbed the 
 peace of Europe, on his head, at all events, rests 
 not the sin of having prolonged the strife ; for 
 it was impossible for him without dishonour to 
 have concluded peace sooner than he did. The dire- 
 ful state to which his kingdom was reduced is alone 
 proof of this, even if the secret letters of Madame 
 de Maintenon had not revealed it to the public eye.f 
 It is impossible for any one, not wilfully blind, to 
 peruse these epistles without arriving at the firm 
 conviction that Louis and Madame de Maintenon 
 would have made any reasonable sacrifice to insure 
 peace, and that, in fact, they used every exertion 
 to conclude it years before it took place. 
 
 * The League of Augsburg, formed 1688 ; and for his refusal to be a 
 party to which, James II. lost the throne of England. 
 
 t See the Secret Correspondence of Madame de Maintenon with the 
 Princess des Ursins. 
 
OF THE STUARTS. 
 
 239 
 
 One other blot upon Louis's character demands a 
 passing allusion — we allude to his persecution of the 
 Huguenots ; and here let us not be misinterpreted as 
 justifying for one moment his conduct in reference 
 to that direful calamity — for calamity, in every 
 sense of the word, it was — not only for the unfor- 
 tunate beings who were denuded of their homes, 
 but for him who by strict retributive justice stood 
 convicted as the author of these atrocities. We 
 shall merely offer a few remarks, slightly palliative 
 of his bigotry, which may not generally be taken 
 into account, when forming an estimate of his per- 
 sonal character. We will quote from Madame, cer- 
 tainly not a prejudiced or interested witness, on this 
 point. She says, ''It was impossible for a man to 
 be more ignorant of religion than was the king. I 
 cannot understand how his mother could have 
 brought him up v»^ith so little knowledge on this 
 subject. He believed all the priests said to him, as 
 if it came from God himself. Old Maintenon and 
 Pere la Chaise persuaded him that all the sins he 
 had committed with Madame de Montespan would 
 be pardoned, if he persecuted and extirpated the 
 professors of the Reformed religion, and that this 
 was the only path to heaven. The poor king believed 
 it fervently, for he had never seen a Bible in his life." 
 (Here Madame is mistaken, for Madame de Main- 
 tenon, who must necessarily have been better in- 
 formed, says, "The king abounds with good senti- 
 ments ; he sometimes reads the Bible, and considers 
 
THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 it the finest of all books."*) " It was immediately 
 after this that the persecution of the Huguenots 
 commenced. He knew no more of religion than 
 what his confessors chose to tell him, and they had 
 made him believe that it was not lawful to investi- 
 gate in matters of religion, but that the reason 
 should be prostrated in order to gain heaven" (the 
 old tale, be it observed). He was, however, earnest 
 enough himself, and it was not his fault that 
 hypocrisy reigned at court. It was formerly the 
 custom to swear horridly on all occasions, but the 
 king detested this .practice, and soon abolished it."t 
 Prom this narrative of Madame' s it is evident that 
 Louis's erroneous policy in religious matters was 
 the result rather of ignorance than of bigotry. When 
 we consider how much he accomplished, notwith- 
 standing the limited education he had received, we 
 may fairly infer what he would have done, had 
 he enjoyed the benefits of a good education, and 
 such preceptors, for example, as he appointed for his 
 son and grandson. Peace be to the ashes of the 
 old king ! for the good he accomplished sprang from 
 the innate goodness of his heart, whilst the evil was 
 attributable to his imperfect education. 
 
 The death of the king brought Madame into 
 greater notoriety as the mother of the Regent of 
 Prance, but it brought with it no accession of poli- 
 tical influence, as she carefully refrained from 
 meddling in State affairs. Her son had had issue 
 
 * Letters of Madame de Maintenon. 
 t Duchess of Orleans. 
 
or THE STUARTS. 
 
 241 
 
 a numerous family, consisting of a son and six 
 daughters. Two of her grand-daughters, the Prin- 
 cesses Adelaide and Charlotte, constantly resided 
 with her ; though they evinced no more love 
 for her society, than she did for theirs. They 
 liked her, however, better than their mother, and 
 this seems to have contented her : it . was their 
 resemblance to the hated family of Mortemart 
 which annoyed her, by reminding her of her son's 
 ignominious marriage. With her eldest grand- 
 daughter, the Duchess of Berry, she was never on 
 good terms, for her licentious manners but ill ac- * 
 corded with Madame's correct notions.* Her next 
 grand-daughter, Adelaide, greatly in opposition to 
 her wishes, entered a convent. She selected that of 
 Chelles, where she made her profession as sister 
 Bathilda. The Baroness d'Oberkirch says she was 
 induced to take this step by some disappointment in 
 a love intrigue, and that she was enamoured of a 
 handsome footman, t Madame earnestly, though 
 ineffectually, endeavoured to dissuade her from it. 
 It is curious to find her even terming Adelaide's 
 vocation, "a diabolical project;" proof sufficient, 
 if any were needed, of the little respect in which she 
 held her adopted religion. The Princess Adelaide 
 was the most beautiful of her grand-daughters, and 
 
 * The eldest daughter of the Regent, Mary Louisa, had espoused the 
 Due de Berri, youngest grandson of Louis Quatorze. Madame was 
 delighted at the marriage, as it brought her grand-daughter within the 
 pale of legitimate royalty. 
 
 t Memoirs of the Baroness d'Oberkirch. 
 
 R 
 
242 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 the only one for whom she entertained any real 
 affection. Her third grand-daughter Charlotte, by 
 no means one of her favourites, espoused the Duke 
 of Modena. This young lady, who strongly re- 
 sembled the Duchess of Berry in her amorous 
 propensities, was suspected of an intrigue with the 
 Due de Eichelieu : to stop the reports which were 
 afloat respecting her, her father insisted on her 
 marrying the Duke of Modena, which she consented 
 to do, on condition that he should release her lover, 
 whom he had imprisoned. This he agreed to, and 
 the Princess Charlotte's settlement was determined 
 upon. It is amusing to find how afflicted the Prench 
 princesses were at the idea of leaving their own 
 country to espouse a foreigner; for in their eyes 
 an alliance with any of the blood-royal, however 
 distantly removed from the crown, was considered 
 preferable to marrying an independent sovereign, 
 however potential. La Grande Mademoiselle ; Mary 
 Louisa, Queen of Spain ; and the Grand Duchess 
 of Tuscany, are noted examples of this partiality. 
 The Princess Charlotte was destined to add another 
 to the list of these perverse ladies. " Never," 
 says her grandmother, " have I seen a bride more 
 sorrowful; for the last three days she has neither 
 eaten nor drunk, and her eyes are filled with 
 tears. I believe she wishes to see everything 
 and anything except her husband. It may truly be 
 said, she has eaten her white bread first. The 
 
 * Duchess of Orleans. 
 
OF THE STUARTS. 243 
 
 princess journeyed so slowly out of France, although 
 the bridegroom was aAvaiting her on the frontiers, 
 that her father sent her peremptory orders to 
 use more dihgence. Fortunately she liked him better 
 than she expected, though this did not deter her 
 from returning to France to end her days : a course 
 invariably adopted by the regent's daughters. Of 
 Madame' s remaining grand-daughters, Louisa, the 
 next eldest, espoused Louis I., King of Spain, 
 the youthful monarch in whose favour his father 
 Philip abdicated the throne in 1724. It was an 
 ill-assorted union, for the bride was proud, sulky, 
 and uncomplying, and irritated her husband by her 
 hauteur. A separation was talked of, which w^as 
 probably only prevented by the death of the youth- 
 ful king ; who, seized with small-pox, and unskil- 
 fully treated by his physicians, sank under the 
 disease, 31st of August, 1724, in the eighteenth 
 year of his age. His bride, so soon become a 
 widow, returned to France, where she died, a.d. 
 1743. The next sister, Philippa, was betrothed 
 to the deceased Louis's half-brother, afterwards 
 Charles III., King of Spain; but the marriage 
 never took place, as the premature decease of the 
 Duke of Orleans prevented such good settlements 
 for his younger daughters. Elizabeth, the youngest 
 of the six sisters, was fortunate enough to secure 
 the Prince of Conti : an alliance her eldest sisters 
 much envied her. This princess died very young, 
 barely attaining her twentieth year. Her husband 
 
 n 2 
 
244 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 survived her half a century. Madame was not 
 very partial to her grandson, the only brother of 
 these princesses ; for he was fond of his mother — 
 the only one of his family who was, — and was, 
 moreover, of too religious and gentle a temperament 
 to assimilate with her notions. His education had 
 been confided to the care of the abbe Montgault, 
 who worthily performed his duty to his distin- 
 guished pupil; it being said that the duke owed 
 his religious principles entirely to the instructions of 
 this excellent man. He was surnamed the Pious Duke 
 of Orleans, and was incomparably the best prince of 
 his house. His romantic admiration for the equally 
 pious Mary Letzsinska, queen of Louis XV., is 
 matter of notoriety. To this princess, had not the 
 king espoused her, he would have been married. 
 He died in 1752, leaving behind him, what perhaps 
 no other prince of the House of Orleans has done — 
 an unsullied reputation. He was as much neglected 
 and misunderstood by his father as his grandmother ; 
 which is not to be wondered at when we consider their 
 different habits. It is said that one day on some 
 one hinting to the regent Orleans, that he might get 
 rid of his youthful sovereign, and open his own way 
 to the throne, he turned round, and pointing to his 
 son, said, " Do you think I would get rid of a noble 
 young sovereign like ours for such a simpleton as 
 that ?" The duke was sincere in his remark, as he 
 really loved his nephew better than his son. 
 
 The Duchess of Orleans had attained her seventieth 
 
OF THE STUAllTS. 
 
 24.5 
 
 year without feeling any of the infirmities usual to 
 her period of life; but, ultimately, symptoms of dropsy 
 appeared, indicating that her mortal career was 
 swiftly drawing to a close. Her last appearance in 
 public was at the coronation of the youthful king at 
 Eheims. On her return from thence it became 
 apparent that she was rapidly sinking under her 
 disease. Courageous to the last, she showed no fear 
 of the king of terrors. " It is ridiculous," she sagely 
 remarks, " to think that God cares more for us 
 people of rank, than for those of commoner degree ; 
 for myself, I have no such illusion. I know that 
 my hour is fixed, and that I shall not live a moment 
 beyond it." Embued with these sentiments, Ma- 
 dame met her fate with dignity and composure. She 
 had a last interview with her son, little thinking that 
 six months would not elapse before he would follow 
 her ; and then, all earthly affairs being transacted, 
 she prepared herself for her final departure. She 
 died on the eighth day of December, 1722, at St. 
 Cloud ; and in the communion of the E^omish 
 Church, of which, at her marriage, she had 
 become a votary. She was interred, with other 
 members of her race, at St. Denis ; that favourite 
 resting-place of the Eoyal Family of Prance. Mas- 
 sillon, Bishop of Clermont, pronounced her funeral 
 oration : in it he dwelt, rather infelicitously, on her 
 strict adherence to the Roman ritual, the very point, 
 had he consulted good taste, he would have remained 
 silent upon; since her writings furnish abundant 
 
246 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 evidence that she secretly adhered to the religion of 
 her ancestors. To the assertions of Massillon, " that 
 she never relapsed into the faith she had left, for she 
 had embraced it from conviction/'* we would oppose 
 her own testimony, where she says, " I perform all 
 outward ceremonies ; I go to mass with the king 
 every week ; but that does not deprive me of the 
 edifying consolation of the Lutheran prayers." And 
 again, " Falsehood and superstition were never to my 
 taste." Or if further proof be needed, we find her 
 terming her grand- daughter Adelaide's wish to 
 enter a convent, " a diabolical project," and speak- 
 ing of it as ''that accursed cloister :" neither can 
 she disguise her surprise that Prince Maximilian, 
 of Hanover, brother to George I., should have 
 changed his religion without any temporal advan- 
 tage accruing to him; for she says, " I cannot con- 
 ceive why Duke Maximilian changed his religion, 
 as he had little faith in general, and none of his 
 relations solicited him to do so, and he was induced 
 by no per son al interest . " t This language sufficiently 
 proves that, to Madame, either religion, speaking 
 abstractedly of their points of divergence, was im- * 
 material ; and this much we think may be gathered 
 from her writings. Voltaire, more truthful than 
 Massillon, remarks, " that she renounced Calvinism 
 in order to marry Monsieur, but that she ever 
 
 * Massillon's Oraisoii Funebre d'Elizabeth Charlotte, Princesse Pala- 
 tine du Khin, Duchesse d'Orleaus. 
 t Duchess of Orleans. 
 
OF THE STUARTS. 
 
 247 
 
 retained a secret attachment for it," which," he 
 naively remarks, "it is difficult to divest oneself of 
 when early prejudices have impressed it on the 
 heart;"* a statement which conveys a fair impression 
 of the points at issue. The children of Madame 
 and Philip of Orleans, senior representatives of the 
 House of Stuart -Simmeren, were : 
 
 b. 1764. 
 PhiUp II., 
 Duke of Orleans, 
 , Mademoiselle de Blois, 
 natural daughter of 
 Louis XIV., 
 d. 1723. 
 Issue, 
 
 b. 1676. 
 Elizabeth Charlotte, 
 m. Leopold, the good 
 Duke of Lorraine, 
 d. 1744. 
 
 b. 1703. 
 Louis I., 
 Duke of 
 Orleans, m. 
 Augusta, 
 daughter 
 
 of the 
 Margrave 
 of Baden, 
 d. 1752. 
 
 b. 1695. 
 
 Maiy 
 Louisa, 
 m. Charles, 
 Duke of 
 Berry, 
 grandson of 
 Louis XIV., 
 d. s. p. 
 1719. 
 
 b. 1698. b. 1700. b. 1709. b. 1714. 
 
 - Adelaide, — Charlotte, — Louisa, — Phihppa, 
 
 Abbess of m. Francis m. Louis I., Made- 
 
 Chelles, d'Este, King of moiselle 
 
 d. s. p. Duke of Spain, de Beau- 
 
 Modena, d. s. p. jolais, 
 
 d. 1743. d. s, p. 
 
 b. 1716. 
 — Elizabeth, 
 m. Louis, 
 Prince of 
 
 Conti, d. 
 1736. Had 
 issue Louis, 
 last Prince 
 of Conti, b. 
 1734, who 
 
 d. s. p. 
 
 Voltaire's Age of Louis XIV. 
 
248 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
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 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
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 251 
 
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252 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 Perdinand, born 1769, second son of the Emperor 
 Leopold ir., of Germany, inherited the duchy of 
 Tuscany from his father. He married Amelia, 
 daughter of Perdinand I., King of the Two Sicilies, 
 and dying 1824, left issue by lier : — 
 
 I 
 
 b. 1797. 
 Leopold, 
 Reigning 
 Grand Duke of Tuscany, 
 m. Istly, Mary Anne, 
 daughter of 
 Duke Maximilian of Saxony 
 2ndly, 1S33, Antoinette, 
 daughter of 
 Francis I., King of Naples, 
 s. m. 
 
 b. 1798. 
 Louisa, 
 d. s. p. 1857 
 
 i 
 I 
 
 b. 1801. 
 Theresa, 
 m. 1817, Charles Albert.. 
 King of Sardinia, 
 d. 1855. 
 Issue, 
 
 b. 1820. 
 Victor Emanuel IL, 
 Reigning 
 King of Sardinia, 
 m. 1842, Adelaide, 
 daughter of 
 Archduke Regnier of Austria. 
 Has issue, 
 I 
 
 b. 1822. 
 Ferdinand, 
 Duke of Genoa, 
 m. 1850. Elizabeth, 
 daughter of 
 John, King of Saxony, 
 d. s. m. 1855. 
 
 b. 1844. 
 Humbert, 
 Prince Royal of Sardinia. 
 
 b. 1845. 
 Amadeus, 
 Duke of Aosta. 
 
 b. 1846. 
 Otho, 
 Duke of Montferrat. 
 
 b. 1843. 
 Clotilda. 
 
 b. 1847 
 ■ Mary. 
 
 The Archduke Charles of Austria, born 1771, 
 married, 1815, Henrietta, Princess of Nassau- Weil- 
 bourg, and dying 1847, left issue by her : — 
 
 b. 1817. 
 
 Albert, 
 
 m. 1844, 
 Hildegarde, 
 daughter of 
 
 Louis, 
 King of Bavaria. 
 Has issue. 
 
 b. 1818. • 
 Charles 
 Ferdinand, 
 m. 1854. 
 his cousin 
 Elizabeth, 
 daughter of 
 Archduke 
 Joseph, 
 and widow of 
 Archduke 
 
 Victor 
 of Modena. 
 
 b. 1827. 
 — William. 
 
 b. 1830. 
 ■ Frederick, 
 d. 3. p. 1847. 
 
 b. 1816. 
 Theresa, 
 m. 1837, 
 Ferdinand IL, 
 King of the 
 Two Sicilies, 
 s. m. 
 
 b. 1825. 
 
 Carohne, 
 
 m. 1852, 
 her cousin 
 
 Regnier, 
 
 son of 
 Archduke 
 
 Regnier. 
 
 b. 1845 
 Mary Theresa. — 
 
 b. 1849. 
 Matilda. 
 
OF THE STUARTS. 
 
 253 
 
 The Archduke Joseph of Austria, born 1776, 
 married, firstly, Alexandrina, daughter of the Em- 
 peror Paul of Russia, by whom he had no issue ; 
 secondly, 1815, Herminia of Anhalt-Berbourgh 
 Schaumbourg, by whom he had a son, Etienne; 
 thirdly, 1819, Mary Dorothy, daughter of Louis, 
 Duke of Wirtemburg, by whom he had a son and 
 two daughters. The Archduke Joseph died 184j7> 
 leaving: issue : — 
 
 _1 \ 
 
 ■ I I 
 
 b. 1817. b. 1833. 
 
 Etienue. — Joseph. — 
 
 b. 1831. 
 Ehzabeth, 
 m. Istly, 1847, Victor, 
 son of 
 
 Francis IV., Duke of Modena ; 
 2ndly, 1854, her cousin, 
 Charles Ferdinand, 
 son of 
 
 Archduke Charles of Austria. 
 
 b. 1836. 
 Mary, 
 m. 1853, Leopold, 
 Duke of Brabant, 
 heir-apparent to the 
 throne of Belgium. 
 
 The Archduke Regnier of Austria, born 1783, 
 married, 1820, Elizabeth, sister of Charles Albert, 
 King of Sardinia; and dying 1853, left issue by her: — 
 
 b. 1823. b. 1824. b. 1826. b. 1827. b. 1828. b. 1822. 
 
 Leopold. — Ernest. — Sigismoud. — Regnier, — Henry. — Adelaide, 
 
 m. 1852, his cousin m. 1842, 
 
 Caroline, Victor 
 daughter of Emanuel II., 
 
 Archduke Charles, King of Sardinia, 
 
 s. m. d. s. m. 1855. 
 
 Clementina, born 1777, third daughter of the 
 Emperor Leopold II., married Erancis I., King of 
 the Two Sicilies ; and dying 1801, left issue an only 
 daughter, Caroline, born 1798, who married, 1816, 
 Charles, Due de Berri, son of Charles X., King of 
 Erance; and whose succession merges in that of 
 her husband. 
 
254 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 Caroline, born 1752, sixth daughter of the Empress 
 Mary Theresa ; married, 1768, Ferdinand I., King 
 of the Two Sicilies. She died 1814, leaving issue: — 
 
 b. 1777. b. 1790. b. 1772. 
 
 Francis I., — Leopold, — Mary Theresa, — 
 
 King of the Two Sicilies, Prince of Salerno, m. Francis II., 
 
 m. Istly, Clementina, m. Mary, Emperor of Austria, 
 
 daughter of daughter of d.. s. m. 1807. 
 
 Leopold II., Francis II., of Austria, 
 
 Emperor of Germany; d. s. m. 1851. 
 
 2ndly, Isabella, 
 daughter of 
 Charles IV., King of Spain, 
 d. s. m. 1830. 
 
 b. 1773. b. 1779. b. 1782. b. 1784. 
 
 Amelia, — Christina, — Mary Amelia, — Mary Antoinette, 
 
 m. Ferdinand III., m. Charles Felix I., m. Louis Philip, m. Ferdinand VII,, 
 Duke of Tuscany, King of Sardinia, Ex-King King of Spain, 
 
 d. s. m. 1802. d. s. p. 1849. of the French, d. s. p. 1806. 
 
 s. m. 
 
 The following are the Descendants of Elizabeth 
 Charlotte, Duchess of Orleans, arranged in order of 
 succession. They include the Royal Eamilies of 
 Austria and Belgium, the Ducal Eamily of Tuscany, 
 and the ex-dynasty of Erance. 
 
 The Dynasty of Orleans. 
 
 1. Louis Philip, Comte de Paris, b. 1838. 
 
 2. Robert, Due de Chartres, b. 1840. 
 
 3. Louis, Due de Nemours, b. 1814. 
 
 4. Francis, Prince de Joinville, b. 1818, s. ra. 
 
 5. Henry, Due d'Aumale, b. 1822. 
 
 6. Anthony, Due de Montpensier, b. 1824, s. m. 
 
 The Royal Family of Belgium. 
 
 7. Leopold, Duke of Brabant, b. 1835. 
 
 8. Philip, Count of Flanders, b. 1837. 
 
 9. Charlotte, Princess of Belgium, b. 1840. 
 
 10. Duke Philip of Wirtemburg, b. 1838. 
 
OF THE STUARTS. 
 
 255 
 
 11. Clementine, Duchess of Saxe-Coburg Gotha, b. 1817. 
 
 12. The Archduke Maximilian of Modena, b. 1782, s. p. 
 
 The Royal Family of Austria. 
 
 13. Ferdinand I,, Ex-Emperor of Austria, b. 1793, s. p- 
 
 14. The Archduke Francis Charles, b. 1802. 
 
 15. Mary, Princess of Salerno, nee Archduchess of Austria, b. 1798. 
 
 16. The Archduchess Anne, Abbess of Prague, b. 1804, s. p. 
 
 The Ducal Family of Tuscany. 
 
 17. Leopold, Grand Duke of Tuscany, b. 1797, s. m. 
 
 18. Louisa, Princess of Tuscany, b. 1798. 
 
 The Royal Family of Sardinia. 
 
 19. Victor Emanuel II., King of Sardinia. 
 
 The Royal Family of Austria. 
 
 20. The Archduke Albert, b. 1817. 
 
 21. The Archduke Charles Ferdinand, b. 1818. 
 
 22. The Archduke William, b. 1827. 
 
 23. Theresa, Queen of the Two Sicilies, nee Archduchess of Austria, 
 
 b. 1816, s. m. 
 
 24. Caroline, Archduchess of Austria, b. 1825. 
 
 25. The Archduke Etienne, b. 1817. 
 
 26. The Archduke Joseph, b. 1833. 
 
 27. Elizabeth, Archduchess of Austria, b. 1831, s. m. 
 
 28. Mary, Duchess of Brabant, nee Archduchess of Austria, b. 1836, s. m. 
 
 29. The Archduke John, b. 1782, s. p. 
 
 30. The Archduke Leopold, b. 1823. 
 
 31. The Archduke Ernest, b. 1824. 
 
 32. The Archduke Sigismond, b. 1826. 
 
 33. The Archduke Regnier, b. 1827, s. m. 
 
 34. The Archduke Henry, b. 1828. 
 
 35. The Archduke Louis, b. 1784, s. p. 
 
 36. Caroline, Duchesse de Berri, nee Princess of the Two Sicilies, b. 1798. 
 
 37. Mary Amelia, Ex-Queen of the French, nee Princess of the Two 
 
 Sicilies, b. 1782, s. m. 
 
256 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
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OF THE STUARTS. 
 
 257 
 
 VI. 
 
 LOUISA, 
 PRINCESS OF SALMS. 
 
 Louisa, the eldest daughter of Louisa, Princess 
 of Salms, was born 13th of March, 1672. She 
 entered a convent at Nancy, in Prance, where she 
 died, succession perishing a.d. 1707. 
 
 VII. 
 
 ELEANORA, 
 PRINCESS OF SALMS. 
 
 Eleanora Christina, the second daughter of Louisa, 
 Princess of Salms, died, succession perishing. 
 
 s 
 
25S 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 VIII. 
 
 AXXE, 
 PRINCESS OF CONDE, 
 Nee Princess Palatine. 
 
 The life of Anne, Princess of Conde, dangliter-in- 
 law of the Great Conde, is one that has never been 
 written; for the simple reason, that the part this 
 ladv enacted in the di^ama of life was not sufSicientlv 
 striking or prominent to entitle her to such a dis- 
 tinction : for only to her position as a Catholic 
 Stuartj excluded the throne of England on account 
 of her faith, does Anne owe her importance as an 
 historical personage. Let us fii'st devote a few 
 words to the parents of this princess, who were 
 allied on all sides to a kingly race.* 
 
 The father of Anne, Prince Edward Palatine, 
 simple, guileless, and imassimiing,t was wedded to 
 a wife of no ordinarv abilities : and one who bv the 
 force of her genius and political talent has rendered 
 her name famous to posterity. Anne de Gonzague, 
 the mother of our heroine, for it is of her we are 
 speaking, was the second of the three daughters of 
 the Duke of Xevers and Mantua, a petty Italian 
 potentate, whose children were excluded their 
 
 * The familv of Anne de Gonza^e descended from the Paleologuses, 
 Emperors of Constantinople. 
 
 t Prince Edward's career and ancestry has been previously narrated. 
 
OF THE STUARTS. 
 
 259 
 
 father's heritage by virtue of the Salic law which 
 handed down the duchy to male heirs only. Anne 
 and her sisters, Mary and Benedicta, were brought 
 up with religious strictness at the convent of Pare 
 Montier, * under the care of its pious Abbess, M5re 
 Prances de la Chatre; the death of their mother, 
 Catherine de Lorraine, during their infancy, almost 
 necessitating such a measure. 
 
 Anne's eldest sister, the Princess Mary, had con- 
 ceived the idea, in accordance with the custom of 
 all great Houses, that her younger sisters were to 
 be rendered entirely subservient to her own advance- 
 ment ; and with this notion, which her astonishing 
 beauty and rare talents may have first contributed to 
 raise in her, Anne was early destined for a religious 
 life. The very means, however, which Mary took 
 to ensure her object were destined most effectually 
 to prevent it; for Anne was so indignant at the 
 compulsion sought to be placed upon her, that she 
 imbibed a mortal hatred to Pare Montier, and 
 positively refused to embrace the conventual vows.f 
 Taking counsel with her sister Benedicta, Abbess 
 of Avenai, who fully sympathised with her feel- 
 ings, she resolved on bidding an eternal adieu to 
 Pare Montier, and taking refuge at Val d'Or; a 
 step she accordingly effected ; and by so doing dis- 
 appointed the sordid views and interested calcu- 
 
 * In the Diocese of Meaux, in France. 
 
 t Bossuet's Oraison Funebre d'Anne de Gonzague de Cleves, Princesse 
 Palatine, 
 
 s 2 
 
260 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 lations of those who sought to sacrifice her for their 
 ovra aggrandizement. At Val d'Or everything bore 
 a different aspect in Anne's eves from that which 
 presented itself at Fare Montier ; for Benedicta, who 
 was really a model of every ^^rtue, and who never 
 suffered an aspiration to stray beyond her prison 
 walls, was contented and happy in her seclusion. 
 ''Her sweet conversation," says Bossuet, "reesta- 
 blislied in the heart of her sister those old associations 
 which more latent ideas had served to banish ; she 
 listened anew to the voice of God, who seemed to 
 call her bv the force of so manv powerful attractions 
 to dedicate her life to His ser\-ice, and the asylum 
 she had chosen to secure her liberty became the 
 innocent means of capturing it. As in Anne, so 
 in her sister, was discerned the same nobility of 
 sentiment, the same mutual agreement, and if it 
 may be permitted thus to speak, the same insinuating 
 manners ; in both were apparent the same desuTs, 
 the same graces, and never were sisters united 
 together by sweeter or more powerful ties. Their 
 lives would have been happy in their eternal union, 
 and Anne aspired only to be an humble imitator of 
 a sister, in whose character was developed every 
 virtue."* Precisely at this epoch, and just as she 
 was about solemnly to pledge herseK to a religious 
 life, her father died ; and the settlement of his affairs 
 calling his daughters to court, Benedicta, as the 
 
 Bossuet. 
 
OF THE STUARTS. 
 
 261 
 
 least worldly, and perhaps the most suitable of the 
 three, was chosen to adjust then* different interests. 
 " Mais, 6 coup funeste poiu^ la Princesse Anne ! the 
 pious Abbess was cut off suddenly in the midst of 
 her labours and in the flower of her age, having 
 barely attained her twentieth year. Truly her 
 portion was in heaven ! " On Anne's grief at a 
 loss so affecting and irreparable, we need not dwell. 
 But this was not all. Left alone in her twenty-first 
 year, young, high-born, and beautiful, in the midst 
 of the most splendid, if not the most dissolute Court 
 in Europe, she soon saw how greatly she pleased ; 
 and we need not assert how the subtle poison of 
 vanity, distilling itself into her heart, banished every 
 good thought, and that all spiritual desires were 
 forgotten. With Benedicta, her fondly loved sister, 
 perished all ideas of a religious life. 
 
 On the next phase in the existence of the Princess 
 Anne, charity would induce us to be silent. It is 
 evident, from the relation of Bossuet, that she 
 became involved in a round of dissipation and carnal 
 pleasures which quickly eradicated all remembrance 
 of the pious lessons she had imbibed at Avenai and 
 Pare Montier. Her first affai7'e de cceur was with 
 Henry of Guise, who, though named to the arch- 
 bishopric of Bheims, had not taken holy orders, " a 
 man whose whole conduct," according to madame 
 de Motteville, showed such a want of prudence 
 and so much fickleness, even in lawful amours, that 
 it was not possible for a woman to speak well of 
 
262 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 him without disrespect to her own sex."* But of 
 this, his real character, Anne was profoundly 
 ignorant. He made her a promise of marriage, 
 duly signed in WTiting, and when she, relying on his 
 word, and even calling herself madame de Guise, 
 foolishly set out to join him at Brussels, she found 
 he had already married the Countess de Bossu. 
 Nothing daunted by her ill-fortune, Anne retraced 
 her steps to Paris, where her beauty and charming 
 sense rendered it no difficult matter to find another 
 partner. " Whilsther many perfections," says Bossuet, 
 " fixed upon her the admiration of Europe, she was 
 courted and won by Prince Edward, fifth son of 
 Erederick V., Elector Palatine, a young prince who 
 had taken refuge in Erance, in consequence of the 
 misfortunes of his family. She preferred to the 
 greatest wealth the virtues of this prince ; and an 
 alliance whereon on all sides were only to be found 
 kings. She became his religious instructress, when 
 he soon perceived the errors into which the last of 
 his fathers, deserters of the ancient faith, had 
 plunged him." His happy marriage to the Princess 
 Anne was the means of achieving his conversion; 
 Edward having at the time attained his twenty-first 
 and Anne her twenty-ninth year.t 
 
 The same year brought about, after many delusive 
 negotiations, the marriage of Anne's sister, the 
 Princess Mary, an event which, from her continued 
 
 * Madame de Motteville's Memoirs of Anne of Austria, 
 f Bossuet. 
 
OF THE STUARTS. 
 
 263 
 
 misfortunes, had begun to be looked upon as an 
 impossibility. From the memoirs of madame de 
 Motteville, we glean a curious recital of the secret 
 motives and clandestine intrigues which led to 
 this match. That lady says, The King of Poland, 
 Ladislas IV., ^ a king by election, and lawful heir 
 to the crown of Sweden, being desirous to marry, 
 caused Mademoiselle t to be privately sifted whether 
 she had a mind to be queen. She received the 
 proposal with great contempt ; for the prince's old 
 age, his goutiness, and the barbarity of his country 
 made her refuse it in such a manner as plainly 
 showed she did not think him good enough for 
 her. The king had likewise some inclination for 
 the Duchess de Guise, but this princess was not 
 then in favour, because she had friends who 
 were not in Cardinal Mazarin's good graces; and 
 although she had virtue, merit, and likewise some 
 remains of her pristine beauty, the marriage could 
 not be brought about, because the queen-mother { 
 was opposed to it, and Madame de Guise evinced no 
 inclination to hasten it. The old king, therefore, 
 stuck to the Princess Mary, who had been proposed 
 to him as well as the others, and she had both 
 goodness and merit to recommend her. She had 
 been on the point of marrying him some years pre- 
 
 * Ladislas IV. was the King of Poland who, some years previously, 
 had unsuccessfully wooed Anne de Gonzague's sister-in-law, the Princess 
 Elizabeth. 
 
 t La Grande Mademoiselle. 
 
 I Anne of Austria. 
 
264 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 viously, during her father's lifetime, so that when 
 the afPair came to be again mooted, it was soon 
 settled by the persons principally concerned. The 
 Princess Mary had originally been very handsome 
 and agreeable, and she was still so in a great 
 measure, although she had passed those youthful 
 days which have the special privilege of setting off 
 all ladies."^ Monsieur, t the king's brother, had 
 once been in love with her, and would have married 
 her but for his mother's I interference, who im- 
 prisoned Mary at the Chateau de Vincennes on 
 the very day Gaston had appointed to meet and 
 run away with her from Prance. Monsieur, who 
 at first was outrageous at his disappointment, was 
 eventually attracted by a new object, and Marguerite 
 de Lorraine, daughter of the duke of Lorraine, 
 and whom he afterwards married, effectually 
 banished all remembrance of Mary de Gonzague. 
 "When a hero puts a period to his love at the 
 first unlucky adventure that befalls him, it is 
 natural to suppose that the heroine cannot be best 
 pleased with him, and that the remembrance of it 
 cannot be very agreeable to her. This passion of 
 Monsieur's, which at first made a great noise, and 
 which undoubtedly had an impression on Mary's 
 heart, was not long-lived ; but the remembrance of 
 it was bitter when she saw herself neglected, and 
 
 * Madame de Motteville's Memoires d'Anne d'Autriche. Mary was 
 then thirty-one years of age. 
 t Gaston, Duke of Orleans. 
 X Mary de Medici. 
 
OF THE STUARTS. 
 
 265 
 
 ever after her imprisonment she implacably hated 
 the Duke of Orleans. It was after this that they 
 talked of marrying her to the King of Poland ; but 
 as affairs of this sort do not always succeed at first, 
 he married a German princess in her stead, who, 
 however, did not long survive, and, at her decease, 
 left him only a daughter. Mary's father, the Duke 
 of Mantua, dying very shortly after this abortive 
 negotiation, she took up her residence at Paris, 
 where she lived very agreeably with her friends, 
 only seeking to divert herself and enjoy the pleasures 
 of good society. Yet in this apparently happy 
 situation she was not free from troubles, for she 
 had but a small estate, and few husbands at her 
 service. Her affairs, in short, grew so much worse 
 that the Marquis des Cinq-mars, master of the 
 horse, dared to aspire to her hand, and she received 
 his advances not unfavourably. Her passion pleasing 
 him, led him to form great designs, which ulti- 
 mately proved his ruin; for, engaging in criminal 
 practices against his country and Cardinal de 
 Richelieu, that minister gained intelligence of his 
 projects, and caused him to lose his life on the 
 scaffold. This catastrophe afiBlicted the Princess 
 Mary, and proved not at all to her credit, for it 
 put her into a world of confusion, and made her 
 passion everywhere manifest. After the disgrace 
 she suffered by this unlucky adventure, which 
 seemed very much to diminish the noble pride 
 which attaches itself to persons of her birth, she 
 
266 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 might well have concluded there was no more 
 happiness in life for her, and that all things would 
 go against her. It happened otherwise, however, 
 for the Princess of Conde, who had a particular 
 aflPection for her, espoused her interests with zeal, 
 and did all she could to facilitate the Polish match ; 
 she spoke to the Queen Mother and Cardinal 
 Mazarin, and got the Due d'Enghien, her son, and 
 the whole cabal to act in her favour : at length she 
 inclined the queen to prefer her before the Duchess 
 de Guise ; and Cardinal Mazarin, thinking that 
 Mary, from being poor and depressed with misfor- 
 tunes, would be grateful, was also agreeable." * All 
 these reasons combined induced him to send Briegi 
 into Poland to negotiate the marriage, who suc- 
 ceeded so skilfully in his management that Ladislas 
 determined on sending ambassadors to Prance to 
 demand her hand. The Duke of Orleans, who had 
 suffered without pity, was now happy without envy, 
 or if he really bestowed any thoughts upon her, 
 they partook more of the character of hatred than 
 love. The Palatine of Posen and the Bishop of 
 Warmia were deputed by Ladislas to espouse Mary 
 on his behalf, and on the day appointed she was 
 married by proxy at the Chapel Royal. t " I went," 
 says Madame de Motteville, "to see how she rigged 
 herself for the ceremony. She looked very hand- 
 some, and as I thought, fairer than usual, though 
 she was always very fair ; but ladies on these oc- 
 
 * Madame de Motteville. t Ibid. 
 
OF THE STUARTS. 
 
 267 
 
 casions are never contented with what nature has 
 given them. She was of tall stature, and at that 
 time in pretty good case. She had fine black eyes, 
 and hair of the same colour, a handsome set of 
 teeth, and her features were not disagreeable, so 
 that taking her altogether, she had the beauty and 
 majestic air becoming a queen. She seemed de- 
 serving not only of what she had so nearly come to 
 by marrying the Duke of Orleans, but of what she 
 was going to be by marrying a king." Although 
 the ceremony was performed very quietly in conse- 
 quence of the disputes that arose among the Prench 
 princes about precedency, and which it was found 
 impossible satisfactorily to adjust, Mary was at- 
 tired with great magnificence for the occasion. 
 Her wedding clothes were a pair of stays and a 
 petticoat of white linen, embroidered with silver, 
 over which she had intended to wear the E^oyal Polish 
 mantle, which was white, covered with flames of 
 gold ; but this she did not do, in consequence of 
 the alterations necessitated from the ceremony being 
 in private. She was adorned with the pearls and 
 diamonds of the crown which the queen had herself 
 matched together for her ; and besides those she had 
 a close crown, studded with diamonds and pearls of 
 great value. When she was dressed she went to 
 wait on the queen in her chamber, and after having 
 thanked her for all favours conferred, she addressed 
 herself to Cardinal Mazarin, who had always shown 
 her much kindness, and told him, She had come 
 
268 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 to let him see whether the crown he was going to 
 place on her head became her well." The queen 
 then led her through the gallery into the Chapel, 
 where the only members of the royal family present 
 were the king (Louis XIY.), the Due d'Anjou (Mon- 
 sieur), and the Duke of Orleans, Mary's old lover. 
 The princess knelt down on a floor-cloth in the 
 middle of the chapel, the king being on the right 
 and the queen on the left of her. Monsieur, the 
 king's brother, and the Duke of Orleans, his uncle, 
 were on their knees below her, and consequently 
 the latter was on that day her inferior. Seeing her- 
 self raised above her treacherous lover, and even 
 above the queen, to whom she had been subject 
 before her father was a sovereign, it must, without 
 doubt, have been the most glorious day to her in 
 her life. The Bishop of Warmia celebrated mass, 
 and the Palatine of Posen espoused his queen in 
 the name of his master, while mesdames de Senecey 
 and Champagne set the crown on her head. After 
 the ceremony was completed, the queen-mother 
 gave a grand dinner, at which she placed the new 
 queen before her, and as soon as it was over, they 
 retired into the great cabinet, Anne of Austria, as 
 before, yielding Mary the right hand. She was 
 next conducted to her palace at Nevers, where 
 all the courtiers stayed to salute her, when a 
 trait, highly characteristic of her disposition, ap- 
 peared in the answer she made the Abbe de la 
 Riviere, a favourite of the Duke of Orleans. The 
 
OF THE STUARTS. 
 
 269 
 
 Abbe, in paying her his compliments, told her, " It 
 would have been better for her to have lived in 
 Prance with the title of Madame" — to which she 
 scornfully responded, " 'Tis your master's fortune 
 to be Monsieur, 'tis mine to be a Queen : I am 
 contented with my destiny."* 
 
 Mary gained golden opinions from the Prench 
 before she took her departure, by the civilities and 
 courtesies she heaped upon them, and the modera- 
 tion she evinced in her new station was considered 
 as pleasing as it was commendable. By her friends 
 in particular she was sincerely lamented, for to 
 them, as heretofore, she was mild and conciliating ; 
 and assumed none of those queenly airs which 
 perhaps her lately depressed state might have jus- 
 tified her in wearing. She was received with great 
 honours in the countries she passed through on her 
 way to Poland ; but all her joy vanished when she 
 saw the husband she had come to wed ; for Ladislas, 
 though gouty and infirm himself, was disappointed 
 with the personal attractions of his youthful bride. 
 He manifested, from the first introduction, great 
 indifference towards her, and scarcely showed her 
 even common marks of civility. Madame de Motte- 
 ville says that, " he actually received her in a chair 
 at church without rising or attempting to do so ; 
 and that when she came near him and fell upon her 
 knees to kiss his hand, he received her salutations 
 without any mark of good humour or kindness, and 
 
 * Madame de Motteville. 
 
270 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 looked very coldly on her without saying a word ; 
 at the same time, turning towards the Ambassador 
 Bregi, he said, loud enough to be heard by the 
 whole Court, ' Is this the famous beauty you have 
 told me so many wonders of ? ' " Poor Mary was 
 so surprised at her ungracious reception that she 
 told the Marchioness de Guebriant, her Prench at- 
 tendant, that she would much rather return to 
 Prance than remain in Poland. This lady was so 
 indignant at the treatment her mistress met with, 
 that she informed Ladislas her sovereign would 
 not be pleased at the slights inflicted on a princess 
 coming from Prance. These expostulations caused 
 Ladislas to live on better terms with his wife, and 
 in process of time they became tolerably reconciled ; 
 Mary contenting herself with the handsome presents, 
 which, according to the custom of the country, the 
 Poles lavished on their new queen : gifts which, 
 during the troubles she was afterwards destined to 
 undergo, proved as useful as they were welcome to 
 her :* but we are anticipating; yet, to avoid again 
 interrupting the continuity of our narrative, we may 
 mention that Mary, on the death of Ladislas, which 
 happened shortly after his marriage, espoused his 
 brother and successor, John Casimir. As queen of 
 this monarch, she was destined to strange reverses 
 of fortune, and had to flee Poland and take refuge 
 in Silicia: the fortitude she evinced in her mis- 
 fortunes acquiring for her the admiration of all 
 
 * Madame de Motteville. 
 
OF THE STUARTS. 
 
 271 
 
 Europe : nor was her sister Anne less deserving of 
 praise, for directly she heard of Mary's troubles, 
 she stripped herself of everything she could divest 
 herself of in order to send succour and assistance to 
 a sister who had never loved her.* Touchingly does 
 the Baroness de Bury, quoting from the admirable 
 discourse of Bossuet, remark on this, that " what- 
 ever might be the faults and failings of the Princess 
 Anne, and, alas, they were but too numerous ! want 
 of elevation and generosity could not be reckoned 
 among them, for this her conduct to her sister 
 Mary would alone suffice to prove, as when, by the 
 invasion of Poland, under Charles Gustavus of 
 Sweden, J ohn Casimir and his wife were reduced to 
 the direst extremities, the first manifestation of 
 sympathy, the first sign of assistance came from 
 Anne, who, in the midst of her own difficulties, 
 sold nearly all she could dispose of to send a 
 hundred thousand livres to a sister she had never 
 loved, and whose desire had been wholly to seclude 
 her from the world." t 
 
 Into the political intrigues of the day, in which 
 Anne, as the famed Princess Palatine of the days of 
 Mazarin and the Pronde, plunged so conspicuously, 
 we need not enter ; some mention of her adroit- 
 ness and unrivalled skill in political combinations 
 having been made in the notice of her husband; 
 the eulogium passed on her by that consummate 
 
 * Bossuet. 
 
 t Baroness de Bury's Princess Palatine. 
 
272 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 politician Frondeur, the Cardinal de Retz, forms 
 the best test of her matchless abilities. Return we 
 now to our heroine. 
 
 Anne Henrietta Julia, .the second daughter of 
 Prince Edward Palatine and Anne de Gonzague, 
 was born at Paris, on the twenty-third day of July, 
 1648. She was named after her mother, although 
 adopted from infancy by her aunt, Mary, queen of 
 Poland, whose special favourite she was ; a circum- 
 stance not to be wondered at when we reflect that 
 Anne inherited to a surprising extent all the sprightly 
 qualities and endearing attributes characteristic of 
 her vivacious mother. With Louis XIV., in par- 
 ticular, she was a great favourite ; as the Memoirs 
 both of the Due de St. Simon and of the Duchess 
 of Orleans inform us, that she, of all the members 
 of his family, was honoured with his special regard, 
 and oftenest admitted to his private entertainments. 
 Under these cii^cumstances it may be imagined, that 
 Louis viewed with no ordinary feelings of pleasure 
 her alliance with a member of the blood royal, 
 Henry Julius, Due d'Enghien, son of that Prince 
 of Conde, surnamed the Great ; an union which 
 was not less pleasing to the Prince than to Anne's 
 mother, who had long been the best of friends, and 
 who ardently desired their children's marriage. On 
 this auspicious occasion, the renowned warrior and 
 the female politician, emerging from their retii-e- 
 ment in the country, came up to Paris to attend 
 their children's espousals : Anne de Gonzague 
 
or THE STUARTS. 
 
 273 
 
 having only left it a few months previously, on 
 the death of her husband, which had occurred in 
 the spring of the year. 
 
 It was on the eleventh of December, 1663, when 
 Anne, a bride of sunny fifteen, espoused Henry 
 Julius, due D'Enghien. The marriage was celebrated 
 with unparalleled magnificence; indeed, so great was 
 the display, that it excited the jealousy of the 
 Grande Mademoiselle, whose pride was wounded 
 from the fact, that the coaches and equipages used 
 on the occasion far exceeded her own in elegance 
 and number.* 
 
 Of the husband of Anne, nothing very favourable 
 can be recorded. He seems to have been an un- 
 worthy son of a great father, and but too loving 
 mother. His conduct to this latter parent, whose 
 strenuous exertions on behalf of her husband and 
 son constitute her one of the heroines of history, 
 is alone sufl&cient to render him contemptible. 
 Claire Clemence de Maille, Princess of Conde, Henry 
 Julius's mother, was no ordinary character ; a niece 
 of E^ichelieu's, and wedded by his powerful influence 
 to the first prince of the blood, Louis de Conde, 
 Clemence trembled before the husband who sullenly 
 and from compulsion only had wedded her. To a 
 great mind, the defect in Clemence's birth would have 
 been forgotten in the remembrance of her famous 
 actions ; for, of all the incidents recorded in history, 
 none surpass in boldness and tender daring those 
 of Claire Clemence de Maille, on behalf of her hus- 
 
 * Memoirs of Mademoiselle de Montpensier. 
 
 T 
 
274 
 
 THE Descendants 
 
 band and infant son. But with poor Clemence all 
 was destined to be in vain ; neither her devotion, 
 her tenderness, her bravery, nor her skilful diplomacy, 
 could obliterate from the mind of her husband the 
 remembrance of her lowly origin and lack of royal 
 blood; and on pretences as flimsy as they were 
 weakly disguised, he seized the opportunity of im- 
 prisoning her for life. This was bad enough ; but 
 what can be said in favour of a son who not only 
 approved, but even abetted his mother's captivity, 
 for the sake of the pecuniary benefits accruing to 
 himself from her detention ? Yet to such ignoble 
 depths did Henry J ulius descend ! Therefore, and 
 if on no other account, we cannot consider him a 
 character worthy of admiration. The Due de St. 
 Simon confirms this impression of him, by saying 
 that he was one of the worst and most fawning of the 
 courtiers.* Bossuet's testimony is more favourable; 
 but it must be remembered that, in his funeral oration 
 on the father, this celebrated orator was addressing 
 the son, the veritable Henry Julius himself, f That he 
 was not a better husband than a son is evident from 
 the Due de Simon's memoirs, who says, Anne was 
 the continual victim of her husband's caprices. She 
 was equally plain, virtuous, and foolish, though her 
 sweetness and submission were never sufiicient to 
 shield her from his frequent insults, nor blows of his 
 foot or fist, which were by no means rare." J 
 
 * Due de St. Simon. 
 
 t Bossuet's Oraison Funebre de Louis le Grand, Prince de Conde. 
 X Due de St. Simon. 
 
OF THE STUARTS. 
 
 275 
 
 Besides a son, who, in the annals of his House, is 
 known as Louis III., of Cond^, Anne had issue four 
 daughters, named respectively, Mary Theresa, Anne, 
 Louisa, and Mary Anne. In personal appearance, these 
 princesses were nearly dwarfs, though not deficient 
 in intellectual qualifications. The Prince of Cond6, 
 who was himself tall, used pleasantly to remark, 
 that if his race thus continued to dwindle, it would 
 at last come to nothing,* Louis III., in particular, 
 though he had a face more like a gnome than a 
 man,t had good parts, a noble air, and wanted 
 neither sense, bravery, nor polite breeding. He 
 had, moreover, a noble deportment, possessed many 
 praiseworthy qualities, and had consequently many 
 friends. His mind had been formed under the dis- 
 cipline of his grandfather, who took especial pains 
 with his mental cultivation. He had the gratifica- 
 tion of seeing him married, in 1685, to the king's 
 daughter. Mademoiselle de Nantes, his eldest by 
 Madame de Montespan. As the Duke was only 
 seventeen, and his juvenile bride but twelve at the 
 time of their espousals, they were separated until they 
 should become of age. The king was very liberal to 
 his daughter on the occasion; besides settling on 
 her a pension of one hundred thousand francs per 
 annum, he presented her with a million in ready 
 money, and a set of pearls, diamonds, and emeralds 
 worth at least a hundred thousand crowns. J 
 
 Only a year after her marriage, the youthful 
 
 * Lord Mahon's Life of Louis, Prince de Condo. 
 t Souvenirs de Madame de Caylus. I Dangeau. 
 
 T 2 
 
276 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 duchess was seized with small-pox ; a disease which, 
 though not fatal to herself, was destined to prove so 
 to her grandfather ; for Conde, who was then at 
 Chantilly, on heing informed of her illness, deter- 
 mined at all risks on coming to attend on her ; a 
 task which the great age and increasing infirmities 
 of the veteran warrior rendered him unequal to ac- 
 complish. In vain did his grandson (the duchess's 
 husband), who met him on the road, journeying to 
 Pontainehleau, endeavour to persuade him to return ; 
 Conde was inexorable, and continued his way ; but 
 the agitation of seeing his grand-daughter reduced 
 to such a state — for, when he was admitted into her 
 presence, even her mother had left her, thinking her 
 dead — was too much for him. Pinding himself rapidly 
 sinking, he expressed a desire to return to Paris ; but 
 it was too late: he was about to break the bonds, which 
 united him to earth, and to take, as he expressed it, 
 a longer journey. He wrote a last letter to the 
 king, entreating him to pardon his nephew, the 
 Prince de Conti, who was in disgrace; and on receiv- 
 ing a gracious answer in reply, he dictated a few 
 lines to his majesty, thanking him for his condescen- 
 sion, and commending his family to his protection ; 
 after which, taking a last farewell of his son and 
 daughter, he expired with perfect tranquillity, on the 
 evening of the eleventh day of December, 1686.* 
 
 The Prince de Conde was sincerely mourned by all 
 ranks and classes ; and the king, to testify the respect 
 and affection he entertained for the departed hero, 
 
 * Dangeau. 
 
OF THE STUARTS. 
 
 277 
 
 ordered that the Court mourninfi: used on the occa- 
 sion should be worn fifteen, instead of ten days, the 
 time usually allotted to princes of the blood. His 
 funeral oration, which was pronounced in the presence 
 of his son and daughter (by his death become Prince 
 and Princess of Conde,) by Bossuet, Bishop of 
 Meaux, is considered the great masterpiece of that 
 celebrated orator. The Duchess de Bourbon, the 
 innocent cause of Conde's death, was convalescent, 
 and made her appearance at Court, within a f ortnight 
 of his decease. 
 
 Anne's eldest daughter, Mary Theresa, was con- 
 sidered by the Duchess of Orleans the most amiable 
 of that princess's family, and the one who most 
 closely resembled her mother. She was not A^ery 
 happily married; for her husband, that Francis 
 Louis, Prince of Conti, who by election became 
 King of Poland, was "jealous as a fiend " of her, 
 although without the slightest cause. He would 
 never let her know where she was to pass the night, 
 for if she made arrangements to sleep at Versailles, 
 he would take her to Paris or Chantilly ; and when 
 she supposed she was going to sleep there, then he 
 would oblige her to set out for Versailles. He 
 tormented her in all possible ways, and was in ap- 
 pearance just like a little ape. Mary Theresa lost 
 her husband in 1709 ; and if we mav believe the 
 testimony of the duchess of Orleans, she sincerely 
 lamented her odious persecutor ; for that lady says, 
 " Notwithstanding all the Princess of Conti suffered, 
 she daily regretted the loss of her husband. I was 
 
278 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 often quite angry to see her bewailing her widow- 
 hood, instead of enjoying the repose it afforded her ; 
 she used to wish that her husband was alive again, 
 even although he would torment her as much as 
 before."* Madame de Maintenon, on the contrary, 
 says the princess seemed to lament him very little, 
 and that she soon got over her loss.-j- Mary Theresa 
 had originally been delighted with her marriage 
 to her cousin, as it entailed her residence at the 
 Erench court; and when there was some talk of 
 marrying her to the King of Portugal, who made 
 proposals for her, she used all her influence with 
 her father and grandfather to induce their rejection 
 of them : her fears were ultimately set at rest by the 
 king's espousal of a daughter of the Elector Pala- 
 tine, though probably Mary Theresa might have 
 led a happier life had she married this dreaded 
 royal suitor. 
 
 The second daughter of the Princess de Conde, 
 Anne, Mademoiselle de Conde, never married, 
 although she was the handsomest of her family: 
 she died at Asnieres, near Paris, whither her 
 mother had her conveyed for the benefit of her 
 health, a.d. 1700, in the twenty-sixth year of her 
 age. The poor Princess of Conde, who was warmly 
 attached to her children, although she met with little 
 return of gratitude from them, attended her to the 
 last ; only leaving her chamber when her case was 
 declared hopeless. 
 
 The next daughter of the Princess of Conde, 
 
 * Duchess of Orleans. f Correspondence of Mad. de Maintenon. 
 
OF THE STUARTS. 
 
 279 
 
 Louisa, was the most accomplished of the sisters : 
 she was celebrated for her wit, genius, and taste in 
 the fine arts ; and though very short, her advantage 
 of them in stature by an inch, caused her selection 
 as the bride of the Due du Maine. Her mother 
 and father were much gratified by this marriage, 
 which inducted her as a member of the royal 
 family; for unlike the Duchess of Orleans, they 
 minded not the illegitimacy of M. du Maine. This 
 marriage was celebrated with some magnificence, 
 March 19th, 1692. The King of England, James II., 
 was present at the ceremony, although his poor 
 Queen, Mary Beatrice, was absent, on account of her 
 advanced pregnancy with the princess Louisa Stuart, 
 whose birth took place the ensuing month. 
 
 The youngest daughter of the Princess of Conde, 
 Mary Anne, was not married until after her father's 
 death : she wedded the Due de Yendome, an illegiti- 
 mate descendant of Henri Quatre. Her father had 
 always opposed the match, and would never allow 
 the subject to be mentioned to him ; not that he 
 objected to M. de Yendome's rank, but he considered 
 that he had not treated him with sufiicient respect. 
 After his death, however, the Duke and Duchess of 
 Maine, who warmly interested themselves in pro- 
 moting it, gained the king's consent, and they were 
 married from Sceaux. M. de Yendome did not long 
 survive his union, as he died whilst travelling in 
 Spain, two years afterwards. 
 
 In the summer of 1684 the Princess of Conde 
 lost her pious mother. Her end edified every 
 
280 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 one who beheld it; the closing incidents of 
 it partaking as much of the marvellous and ro- 
 mantic as her whole career. " This woman," says 
 one of her biographers, gifted with so strong 
 a mind, and with such a masculine understanding, 
 and whose religious opinions were marked with in- 
 credulity, nevertheless believed in dreams." She 
 who had said that the greatest miracle of Christi- 
 anity would be her own conversion to the faith, was 
 visited by a dream which produced an extraordinary 
 effect upon her. She dreamed she was in a forest, 
 and that she met a blind man who spoke to her of 
 the glories of the sun ; she expressed surprise at his 
 appreciation of an object he had never seen, to 
 which he answered, that although he had never be- 
 held the sun, yet he firmly believed it to be all that 
 he had said, and therefore knew it was so. ' My 
 example,' he then added, with an air of authority, 
 ' should teach you that many are the admirable 
 and excellent things which escape our sight, and 
 which are not the less true because we can neither 
 comprehend nor even imagine them.' When she 
 awoke, Anne de Gonzague was an altered person, and 
 it is her own assertion, that she was henceforward 
 animated by a belief as firm in the truths she could 
 neither touch nor see, as her incredulity had hither- 
 to been inflexible. Prom this hour her life was 
 really edifying, and she affronted bravely the enemy 
 most difficult to encounter in the world in which 
 she lived — ridicule — without flinching, and without 
 allowing the equanimity of her temper to be dis- 
 
OF THE STUARTS. 
 
 281 
 
 turbed thereby. During twelve years, and until the 
 moment of her death, the Princess Anne was re- 
 markable for the simplicity of her attire, the digni- 
 fied modesty of her deportment, and the immutable 
 regularity of the pious practices to which herself 
 and her entire household were subjected, from which 
 not even illness could dispense, and wherein she 
 seemed to find her sole consolation for so many 
 wasted years. Solitude and silence appeared now 
 best to please her, whose early life had been all 
 business and tumult ; not a word more of bitterness 
 or scandal on those lips which were once unscrupu- 
 lous when an enemy was in the case; no vanity 
 there, where all had been self-glorification ; and in 
 place of her former pride and ambitious desires, an 
 humble active charity, that seemed never to find 
 veils enough to hide its workings, or the statio» of 
 its object of sufficient lowliness." Truly in her was 
 fulfilled the assertion that " Miracles believed are 
 miracles achieved. ""^ After her conversion, the 
 princess made a last appearance at Court before 
 bidding it a final farewell. She did so that those 
 who had seen her immersed in the pleasures of life, 
 seeking only its joys and gratifications, might wit- 
 ness the reality of the change effected in her; and 
 verily it was a change, a period of twelve years 
 affording her the opportunity of proving its per- 
 sistency. Her death, which took place on the sixth 
 of July, 1684, is thus noticed by that courtly his- 
 toriographer, the marquis de Dangeau : " Madame 
 
 * Madame dc Sevigne and her ('otemporarie». 
 
282 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 la Princesse Palatine," he says, " died about three 
 o'clock this morning (July 6th) ; Monsieur (the 
 Duke of Orleans) appears deeply afflicted ; he says 
 that for twenty-two years he has not had a thought 
 but what he has confided to her, and that the queen 
 (his mother) had assured him she had never met 
 any one so faithful, and who was so worthy of the 
 most implicit confidence. She died very devoutly, 
 after a severe penitence of twelve years, and was 
 buried at Yal de Grace, of which place her sister, 
 the Queen of Poland, was Abbess. 
 
 The latter years of the Princess de Conde were 
 passed amid some turmoil and vexation. In 1709 
 she lost her husband, whom, little as he deserved it, 
 she unfeignedly regretted, as some time after his 
 death we find Madame de Maintenon recurring to 
 her# unabated sorrow ;t and hardly had she began 
 to recover her loss when she saw her son also sink 
 into the tomb. These were severe trials ; yet was 
 the life of the amiable princess still further embit- 
 tered by the constant dissensions of her children, 
 who were always quarrelling with her, or with one 
 another. Even the Princess de Conti, her eldest 
 daughter, and the most affectionate of them, was, as 
 well as the Duchess du Maine, engaged in constant 
 litigation with her. During the lifetime of le Grand 
 Monarque these disputes were partially adjusted by 
 his interference, but on his death they broke out 
 anew with greater virulence than ever ; nor did they 
 receive a final settlement till the twentieth of 
 
 * Dangeau. f Correspondence of Madame de Maintenon. 
 
OF THE STUARTS. 
 
 283 
 
 August, 1720, when the Princess de Conti was 
 nonsuited, and judgment was given in favour of 
 Madame la Princesse."*^ 
 
 Another source of vexation to the Princess of 
 Conde arose from the troubles in which the Duchess 
 du Maine became involved. This spirited little 
 lady, on the death of Louis XIV., became the head 
 of that party in France which advocated the policy 
 of the deceased monarch; whilst the Duke of 
 Orleans, as is notorious, inaugurated an entirely 
 new policy. This change was witnessed with great 
 discontent by some of the Prench ; and by none 
 more so than by the Duchess du Maine, whose pas- 
 sions were further exasperated by the withdrawal of 
 her husband's privileges as Prince of the Blood ; for 
 Orleans, in concert with the Duke de Bourbon and 
 Prince de Conti, had deprived the prince of the rank 
 conferred upon him by his father. 
 
 Philip Y., King of Spain, the only surviving 
 grandson of Louis XIV., was equally annoyed with 
 the alterations effected in the foreign relations of 
 Prance ; and although he had solemnly renounced 
 the crown of that country on accepting that of Spain, 
 he still secretly viewed it as his legitimate appanage, 
 and could ill brook the idea of its passing to the 
 junior dynasty of Orleans. Uniting himself with 
 the party in Prance who w^ere admirers of Vancien 
 regime, and the old policy of Louis XIV., he formed 
 a close alliance w^ith the Duchess du Maine. The 
 object of this intrigue was to seize the Hegent 
 
 * Duchess of Orleans, Dangcau. 
 
284 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 Orleans and imprison him for life, whilst the Due 
 du Maine was to vault into his seat ; provision being 
 made, that on the death of Louis XY. without 
 heirs, Philip V., King of Spain, and not the Due 
 d' Orleans, was to be his successor. 
 
 This conspiracy, which was conducted under the 
 auspices of the Duchess du Maine, at her country 
 seat of Sceaux, was betrayed to the Eegent before 
 it could be put into execution. The Spanish am- 
 bassador, the Prince de Cellamare, who had been 
 the channel of communication between the various 
 parties, as also several of the nobility, were seized 
 and imprisoned. The Duchess of Maine, who was 
 at the time at Sceaux, and the duke, her husband, 
 who was at Paris, were also arrested. Brittany, that 
 ancient province of Prance which has always been 
 foremost in the crusade of legitimacy, broke into 
 insurrection ; but the revolt was suppressed, though 
 not without bloodshed. The regent, who was an 
 easy, good-tempered man, and whom the due de 
 St. Simon familiarly christened le Debonnair, dealt 
 leniently vdth the principal offenders. The Duke 
 of Maine, who had been incarcerated at Dourlens, 
 whilst the Duchess, his wife, was confined separately 
 at Dijon, were liberated on the intercession of their 
 relatives ; foremost among whom was Orleans's wife. 
 This lady, who was the sister of the Due du Maine, 
 and infijiitely more attached to him than to her 
 husband, rendered it difficult for the regent to pro- 
 ceed to extremities with his brother-in-law. 
 
 AVhen in imprisonment the duke and duchess 
 
OF THE STUARTS. 
 
 285 
 
 had each affected to he personally innocent, and 
 thrown the hlame of their accusation on each other. 
 The duke had even written to his sister that they 
 ought to have stripped him and put him into petti- 
 coats for having been led by his wife : so that when 
 they were freed from captivity, the first task of the 
 Princess of Cond^ was to endeavour to reconcile 
 the acrimonious pair. This she at last effected by 
 bringing her daughter by appointment to Vauri- 
 gard, and introducing her to her husband; when 
 taking her by the hand, and leading her up to the 
 duke, she said, " I bring you a lady who will be very 
 glad to see you;" her husband at the same time 
 advancing, received the penitent cordially, they 
 conversed together for some time ; and then their 
 reconciliation was effected.* 
 
 This was the last public action of the good Princess 
 de Conde. She died at Asnieres, near Paris, where 
 her eldest daughter also had breathed her last, on the 
 twenty-third day of Pebruary, 1723, in the seventy- 
 fifth year of her age; having been previously preceded 
 to the tomb by her youngest daughter, the Duchess 
 de Vendome. 
 
 The character of Anne needs little comment. 
 Though plain in person, and devoid of those outward 
 charms which graced her celebrated mother, she 
 gained no small share of admiration at Court, on 
 account of her highly cultivated understanding; 
 by no one being her literary powers more esteemed 
 
 * Duchess of Orleans. Dangeau. St. Simon. 
 
286 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 than by the Grand Monarque. Nor were these her 
 least attractions. Pious, amiable, chaste, confiding, 
 and unassuming ; as a wife, Anne always reverenced 
 and loved, if she could not esteem, the husband who 
 neglected, if he did not maltreat her : nor was her 
 conduct as a mother less estimable. With high- 
 spirited and quarrelsome daughters, and a son who 
 displayed little affection for her, she yet con- 
 ducted herself towards them as if they had heen 
 all that she could have desired ; nor suffered their 
 neglect and unkind treatment of her to lessen her 
 attachment for them. Repaid by constant ingrati- 
 tude, she was ever ready, on any fresh occasion of 
 offence, to sacrifice her own pleasure for their 
 aggrandizement ; her conduct as a wife or a mother 
 challenging the severest investigation. In the midst 
 of a Court torn by rivalries and dissensions, where 
 each sought his own good, unmindful of the hap- 
 piness of those around him, Anne presented a noble 
 example of modesty, disinterestedness and decorum. 
 If any one required a good office to be done for them, 
 it was to Madame la Princesse application was in- 
 variably made: her heart, which felt for the sorrows 
 of others, ever inducing her to espouse the appli- 
 cant's interests. And as she had lived, so she died ; in 
 the profession of every Christian virtue, loved and 
 honoured by those who surrounded her, Anne tran- 
 quilly and unfearingly met the approach of the king 
 of terrors. In a good old age, and surrounded by 
 children and grand- children, she breathed her last. 
 Like her mother, and her mother-in-law, her amiable 
 
OF THE STUARTS. 
 
 287 
 
 qualities seemed to atone for the vices which dis- 
 graced the male princes of the House of Cond6, Alas ! 
 that all the relatives of this amiable princess should 
 now be numbered among the dead ; for with Louis, 
 Due d'Enghien, her great-great grandson (who was 
 so barbarously murdered by Napoleon), perished the 
 last descendant of the illustrious Condes ; perished, 
 we say, for although the father and grandfather of 
 the ill-starred prince actually survived him, they 
 never held up their heads after this fatal event : 
 the Duke of Bourbon, his father, who was one of 
 the emigres, never assumed the title of Prince de 
 Conde, but, heart-broken, died a miserable and 
 suspicious death just after the Eevolution of 
 1830: a revolution which gave the Prench crown 
 to the treacherous family of Orleans, as well as 
 the glorious domains of the House of Conde, 
 which accrued to them on the death of the Duke de 
 Bourbon, who bequeathed them to Louis Philip's 
 fourth son, Henry, Due d'Aumale. May those 
 princely estates and splendid Chantilly, which have 
 always owned, as possessors, the loyal Condes, 
 never be stained under a new dynasty (in the 
 person of the Due d'Aumale's son, who has assumed 
 the title of Prince of Conde), with the disloyalty 
 proverbially appertaining to that faithless House ; 
 and may the new Prince de Conde redeem by the 
 noble name, which, in compliment to his valorous 
 relatives, he now bears, the vices and faults of his 
 predecessors ! May he be, as the Condes have ever 
 been, the faithful servant of his king and his country ! 
 
288 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
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OF THE STUARTS. 
 
 289 
 
 Louisa, born 1695, who married Louis Armand, 
 Prince of Conti, had issue : — 
 
 \ ■ 
 
 I I 
 
 b. 1717. b. 1726. b. 1722. 
 
 Louis Francis, — Loiiisa, — Charles, 
 
 m. Elizabeth, m. Louis Philip L, Count de la Marche, 
 
 daughter of Duke of Orleans, d. s. p. 
 
 Philip IIL. d. s. m. 1759. 
 
 Duke of Orleans, 
 d. s. m. 1776. 
 
 Mary Theresa, born 1666, who married Prancis 
 Louis, Prince of Conti, by election King of Poland, 
 had issue : — 
 
 b. 1695. b. 1689. b. 1696. 
 
 Louis Armand, — Mary, — Louisa, 
 
 Prince of Conti, m. Louis IV., Mademoiselle Roche Sur Yon, 
 
 m. Louisa of Cond^, Prince of Cond6, d. s. p. 1750. 
 
 d. s. m. 1727. d, s. m. 1720. 
 
 Anne, born 1675, who married the Duke of 
 Maine, had issue : — 
 
 b. 1700, b. 1701. b. 1707. 
 
 Louis Augustus, — Charles, — Louisa, 
 
 Prince of Dombes, Count of Eu, Mademoiselle du Maine, 
 
 d. s. p. 1755. d. s. p. d. s. p. 
 
 The Descendants of Anne, Princess of Cond^, are 
 now extinct. 
 
 V 
 
290 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 IX. 
 
 BENEDICTA, 
 
 DUCHESS OF HANOVER, 
 Nee Princess Palatine. 
 
 Benedicta Henrietta Philippa, third daughter of 
 Prince Edward Palatine, and younger sister of 
 Anne, Princess of Conde, was born in 1652. She 
 married, 1668, John Erederick, Duke of Hanover, 
 elder brother and predecessor of that Ernest Au- 
 gustus, more familiar to English readers as the 
 father of our George I. This prince, who was the 
 last Catholic who reigned over Hanover, had not 
 been reared in that faith, but had embraced it 
 during his travels in Italy, in 1657. As a Romanist, 
 and attached to the Erench party in Germany, he 
 was considered by Louis XIV. a desirable suitor for 
 the hand of the Princess Benedicta. They were 
 married on the twentieth of November, 1668 ; but as 
 their union was unblessed with male issue, the duchy 
 descended, on the duke's decease, to his younger 
 brother, Ernest Augustus. Duke John, finding that 
 his profession of Catholicism rendered him unpopular 
 with his subjects, determined on going to reside 
 with his family in Italy ; but on his way thither, 
 being suddenly attacked with illness, he expired 
 
OF THE STUARTS. 
 
 291 
 
 at Augsburg, on the eighteenth of December, 1679. 
 This sad event necessitated a change in Benedicta's 
 arrangements, and instead of taking up her resi- 
 dence in Italy, as she had previously intended, she 
 returned to Prance, where she occupied herself with 
 the education of her family. Unfortunately she was 
 not left in very affluent circumstances ; notwith- 
 standing which she formed the most lofty alliances 
 for her children. She had set her heart on marry- 
 ing her eldest daughter to the Due du Maine, son 
 of Louis XIV., but unluckily that monarch preferred 
 a niece of Benedicta's, the Princess de Conde. Of 
 her four daughters, two died young, leaving Char- 
 lotte Pelicita, who married the Duke of Modena, and 
 Wilhelmina, who espoused the Emperor Joseph I. of 
 Germany. This latter princess, by the same fatality 
 that attended her mother and grandmother, had 
 no male issue; so that by a continued failure 
 of male princes, the Palatinate, Hanover, and 
 Austria all passed away from the ill-fated House 
 of Simmeren. A detailed history of Benedicta 
 of Hanover, would involve the reader in the mazy 
 field of German politics ; and as the part she enacted 
 in them was neither a prominent nor important one, 
 we will spare them a tedious recapitulation. 
 Benedicta, who, after her husband's death, con- 
 tinuously resided in Prance, died there at the 
 age of seventy-eight, at Asnieres, her sister's resi- 
 dence, August, 1730. 
 
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THE DESCENDANTS 
 
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 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 X. 
 
 THE PEINCESS PALATINE LOIJISA. 
 
 Louisa HoUandina, the second daughter of Ered- 
 erick V., and Elizabeth, Queen of Bohemia, was born 
 in Holland on the eighteenth day of April, 1622. She 
 was excluded from the British throne, as a Roman 
 Catholic, by the passing of the Act of Succession ; al- 
 though never actually denuded of her rights, as she died 
 before her cousin Queen Anne, after whom alone she 
 could have ascended it. Louisa was celebrated no less 
 for her beauty, which stood instantaneously revealed 
 to all beholders, than for her proficiency in the fine 
 arts, and under the guidance of Gerard Honthorst 
 her paintings attained such excellence as to rank 
 her among the artists of the age, even if they did not 
 excel the productions of the great master himself. 
 
 It had been originally intended to match Louisa 
 with her cousin, Erederick William of Prussia, and 
 for some time there appeared every prospect of 
 the desired alliance taking place. The young 
 Prince, who was afterwards known as Erederick 
 "William the Great, visited his cousin at the Hague, 
 and was much smitten with the beauty of the bloom- 
 ing girl of seventeen. Unfortunately, Erederick 
 William's father, instigated by his ministers, who 
 represented the poverty and lack of influence of 
 Louisa's family as insuperable obstacles to the 
 match, determined to withdraw his consent, and 
 
OF THE STUARTS. 
 
 295 
 
 sent his son peremptory orders to return to Berlin. 
 A first summons was disregarded ; but, on a second, 
 Prederiek William was reluctantly compelled to 
 yield, protesting nevertheless that he would yet 
 return to the Hague to claim his lovely cousin for 
 his bride. Writers disagree on the partiality which » 
 this Princess is said to have exhibited for her suitor, 
 for whilst Mrs. Green* says that the attachment was 
 mutual, the Baroness de Bury,t on the contrary, 
 affirms that she manifested great indifference towards 
 him; and that Frederick William, far from being in 
 love with her, only sought an alliance with her sister 
 Elizabeth : at all events, and by whatever motives 
 actuated, Prederick William never married his 
 cousin, as a few years afterwards he espoused her 
 namesake, Louisa of Orange, and so ended the only 
 reasonable prospect which ever presented itself of 
 the Princess Louisa entering the married estate. 
 
 Louisa, who was decidedly her mother's favourite, 
 remained at the poverty-stricken court of the 
 Hague long after her other children had deserted 
 her ; but a time was to arrive when she, who should 
 have been her parent's solace, was doomed to 
 inflict upon her the severest, blow she had yet 
 received. On the motives which led Louisa to 
 desert her ancestors' faith and embrace the tenets 
 of the Church of Rome, we will not pronounce an 
 opinion. God alone, the reader of all hearts, can 
 
 * Green's Princesses of England, vol. vi. 
 t Baroness de Bury's Princess Palatine. 
 
296 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 determine how far her convictions were sincere, and 
 to what extent she was actuated by worldly motives ; 
 but from what can be gathered of her proceedings, 
 coupled with her romantic and poetical tempera- 
 ment, we should be inclined to give her credit for 
 sincerity; and if such were the case she scarcely 
 merits condemnation for her course of procedm^e. 
 The fact is, that even from childhood Louisa's 
 mind had been vividly impressed by the gorgeous 
 ceremonies of the Romish church : she had often 
 attended its service with her aunt, Queen Hem'iQtta 
 Maria, and this practice, most deleterious in its 
 tendencies to one of so susceptible a nature, had been 
 continued unknown to her mother. The consequences 
 might have been foreseen. On the evening of the 
 ninth of December, 1657, with the cognizance only 
 of a female friend, Louisa left the maternal roof, 
 and getting into a boat, which was lying in readiness 
 for her, proceeded to Delftshaven ; from whence she 
 journeyed to Bergen op Zoom (the residence of 
 her friend the Princess of Hohenzollern) en route 
 for Antwerp, where she entered a CarmeKte nunnery. 
 For her mother, as the only intimation of her 
 departure, and the motives which instigated it, she 
 left the following letter : — 
 
 " Madam, — The respect which I have for your majesty is too great 
 to permit me to do anything purposely to displease you, and God 
 knows that no impulse, except that of his Spirit, could ever have 
 induced me to undertake any action, however reasonable, without 
 having first communicated it to you; but in this contingency, the 
 affaii- being one of heaven, and not of this world, and one in which I 
 
OF THE STUARTS. 
 
 297 
 
 should doubtless have found your majesty opposed to the guidings of 
 Divine Providence in my behalf, I could not act otherwise, and all my 
 duty consisted in advertising you of my resolution by the means which 
 I now employ. 
 
 " I must tell you, then, Madam, that the Christmas festivals being so 
 near, I have been obliged to withdraw from your majesty, from fear 
 of being wished to receive the sacrament against my conscience, since 
 at length it has pleased God to discover to me the surest way of salva- 
 tion, and to give me to know that the Catholic religion is the only way, 
 out of which there can be no other. As to the reasons and instructions 
 which have thus persuaded me, I shall take the liberty to inform your 
 majesty further when I am arrived at the place, whither I am going 
 solemnly to embrace this belief; but yet, Madam, I trust you will 
 pardon me for a course which is inspired by a power which the powers 
 of earth vainly resist, and which I have only resolved to adopt from the 
 pure motive of assuring the repose of my soul, protesting to your 
 majesty that you shall discover, by the results of this enterprise, that 
 I have no other aim than that of securing a tranquil retreat, where I 
 may have full leisure for the service of God, and to testify to you in all 
 things that I am, and wish to remain all my life. Madam, your 
 majesty's most humble and most obedient servant, 
 
 " Louise." 
 
 " The mh December, 1657."* 
 
 The distress into which the Queen of Bohemia 
 was thrown, when this missive was placed in her 
 hands, may be better imagined than described, as 
 nncognizant of where Louisa had taken refuge, she 
 felt only the agonizing conviction that she had 
 deserted her. The mystery, however, was soon 
 unravelled, for on searching Louisa's cabinet, a 
 letter was found from the Princess of HohenzoUern, 
 detailing the manner in which she was to effect her 
 escape, instructions which it appeared had been impli- 
 citly followed. Armed with this epistle the Bohemian 
 queen reproached the Princess of HohenzoUern, 
 
 * Green's Princesses of England. 
 
298 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 who was her friend also, for her treachery; but 
 the Princess defended herself from her reproaches 
 by the plea, that her conscience precluded her 
 from refusing to assist a fellow-creature, who 
 appealed to her for aid under such circum- 
 stances, and who was desirous of embracing, what 
 she considered, the true faith. More indignant 
 than ever at these excuses, which she viewed 
 as only shuffling and evasive, Elizabeth next 
 appealed to the States-General for redress; and 
 here she was more successful, as the States, taking 
 her petition into consideration, determined on 
 punishing the Princess of Hohenzollern, by de- 
 priving her of certain privileges which she enjoyed 
 in the appointment of the magistracy of Bergen op 
 Zoom. This so irritated the Princess, that she 
 threw out some tolerably plain hints that Louisa's 
 conversion was attributable to any but the motives 
 she had assigned for it; a statement which only 
 served to widen the breach between herself and the 
 Palatine family. The Queen of Bohemia, the 
 Elector Palatine, and Prince Rupert, were all in 
 arms to defend Louisa's honour, until finding the 
 Princess was determined on substantiating her asser- 
 tions by written proofs, they wisely desisted from 
 further provoking her. Throughout this controversy 
 it seems strange to find Louisa herself, as well as her 
 brother Edward, openly defending the Hohenzollern 
 Princess, and if, as that lady alleged, her only fault 
 consisted in having rendered Louisa assistance 
 when appealed to for it, her conduct does not 
 
OF THE STUARTS. 
 
 299 
 
 seem to have been so very censurable, or deserv- 
 ing of such intense indignation; at all events, if 
 she were to blame, Prince Edward was equally cul- 
 pable. 
 
 Whilst Louisa was at Antwerp she was visited 
 by her cousins. King Charles II., the Duke of 
 York, and the Princess of Orange. The Queen of 
 Bohemia in a letter to Prince Eupert, thus alludes 
 to the interview : " The king and my niece and my 
 other nephew were at Antwerp, and went to see 
 Louisa in the monastery. They wrote to me before 
 they saw her to know if I would be content for 
 them to see her, which I told them would be too 
 much honour for her, though as the Princess of 
 HohenzoUern had told such base lies, they would 
 do a good action to see her and justify her in- 
 nocence. The Princess of HohenzoUern went to 
 Antwerp twice, and conversed with Louisa. I have 
 not yet the particulars, but Louisa writes they 
 parted on ill terms. The Princess made many 
 believe on her return she brought me letters from 
 the king, my niece, and Louisa, to justify her, and 
 talked two hours with me, which is a most impudent 
 lie. I forgot to say that the king and my niece 
 chided Louisa for her change of religion, and leaving 
 me so unhandsomely : she answered that she was 
 very well satisfied with her change, but very sorry 
 that she had displeased me. Just now the Prench 
 
 letters have come to hand. writes to me that 
 
 the Bishop of Antwerp has written a letter to your 
 brother Edward, where he clears Louisa of that 
 
300 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 base calumny, yet Ned is so wilful he excuses the 
 Princess of Hohenzollern."* 
 
 Louisa did not long continue at Antwerp. Her 
 ulterior destination had always been Prance, and 
 thither accordingly she wended her steps, after 
 having made a formal renunciation of Protestantism 
 at Antwerp. Arrived there she entered the convent 
 of Chaillot, patronised so extensively, it may be 
 recollected, by her illustrious relatives, Queens 
 Henrietta and Mary Beatrice of England, and 
 there she was treated with marked distinction, and 
 caressed and rejoiced over by the E^oyal Pamily, 
 who gloried in this princely convert from the 
 Protestant creed. In the March of 1660, in the 
 midst of a royal and illustrious assemblage, Louisa 
 took the veil at the Abbey of Maubisson, and in 
 1664 she was elected its abbess. Over her behaviour 
 in this, her exalted station, charity would induce us 
 to cast a veil, as we fear there is little doubt but that 
 her niece, the Duchess of Orleans's insinuations, bear 
 upon them the impress of truth, j- That this Princess 
 was actuated by no ill feelings towards her aunt in 
 recording them is evident, for she says, "The 
 Princess Maubisson was astonishingly pleasant and 
 amiable. I was always delighted to visit her, and 
 never felt myself tired in her society. I soon found 
 myseK in much greater favour than any other of 
 
 * Benger's Queen of Bohemia. 
 
 f The Duchess of Orleans says, she used commonly to swear by her 
 body, which had borne no less than fourteen children. — Memoirs of the 
 Duchess of Orleans. 
 
OF THE STUARTS. 
 
 301 
 
 her nieces, because I could converse with her about 
 ahnost everybody she had known in the whole 
 course of her life, which the others could not. She 
 used frequently to talk German with me, which she 
 knew very well, and she told me all her adventures. 
 I asked her how she could accustom herself to the 
 monastic life. She laughed and said, 'I never 
 speak to the nuns but to give orders.' She had a 
 deaf nun with her, in her own chamber, that she 
 might not feel any desire to speak. She told me 
 that she had always been fond of a country life, 
 and that she still could fancy herself a country 
 girl. 'But,' I asked her, 'how do you like 
 getting up and going to church in the middle of 
 the night?' She replied, that she did as the 
 painters do, who increase the splendour of their 
 light, by the introduction of deep shadows. She 
 had in general the faculty of giving to all things a 
 turn which deprived them of their absurdity."* 
 
 In her latter years, however, Louisa undoubtedly 
 became more religious, and laboured zealously to 
 reclaim her sister Sophia to her adopted creed ; but 
 this Princess, too principled, or too wary, refused to 
 embrace a faith which would have proved so detri- 
 mental to her temporal interests. Whilst Louisa 
 openly expressed her wish that the son of James II. 
 would supplant her (Sophia) in the possession of the 
 British throne, Sophia, with equal frankness, conde- 
 scended to argue the point with her, nor felt offended 
 by her avowal of ultra-Stuartism. It is pleasing to 
 
 * Duchess of Orleans. 
 
302 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS 
 
 find these two sisters, in their old age, when the other 
 members of their family had been laid nearly half a 
 century in the dust, reverting, with increasing 
 tenderness, to each other's society; and so cor- 
 dially united to each other notwithstanding their 
 opposing sentiments and interests; corresponding, 
 moreover, on subjects so tender of approach as 
 political ones — without acrimony — and without ill 
 feeling. Louisa, who was the elder, was first 
 destined to succumb to the destroyer. She died at 
 Maubisson, after a reign of forty-four years there 
 as its abbess, on the eleventh day of February, 
 1709, in the eighty-seventh year of her age. 
 Bos suet pronounced her funeral oration, which is, 
 perhaps, the most destitute of truth of any deli- 
 vered by that great orator. His eulogy on her vir- 
 tue is certainly as misplaced as it is uncalled-for; 
 for certainly, were his portraiture of her truthful, 
 she ought at least to have been canonized as a 
 saint. Certain little delinquencies of a moral 
 nature were, however, too notorious to be ignored, 
 although Bossuet, by his admirable power of oratory, 
 has managed tolerably successfully to gloss them over. 
 Contrary to the custom of the Prench court, which 
 never donned sable attire for those who had adopted 
 a religious life, a general mourning was ordered for 
 this Princess, a circumstance which, from its being 
 unprecedented, created some little sensation at the 
 time. Thus died in a foreign land, and was 
 honourably mourned, the last of the Ten Excluded 
 Stuarts ! 
 
OF THE STUARTS. 
 
 303 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS OE SOPHIA, DUCHESS 
 OE HANOVER. 
 
 The following are the Descendants of Sophia, 
 Duchess of Hanover, mother of George I., who alone 
 are eligible to succeed to the throne of England, in 
 consonance with the Act of Succession passed 13th 
 William III. : an act which renders it imperative 
 that they join in communion with the Church of 
 England. After her most gracious Majesty the 
 Queen, and her family ; they stand thus in order of 
 succession : — 
 
 1. The King of Hanover, b. 1819. 
 
 2. The Duke of Cambridge, b. 1819. 
 
 3. Augusta, wife of Prince Frederick of Mecklenburg Strelitz, b. 
 
 1822. 
 
 4. The Princess Mary of Cambridge, b. 1833. 
 
 5. Charles, ci-devant Duke of Brunswick, b. 1804. 
 
 6. The Duke of Brunswick, b. 1806. 
 
 7. The King of Wirtemburg, b. 1781. 
 
 8. Prince Frederick of Wirtemburg, b. 1808. 
 
 9. Prince Augustus of Wirtemburg, b. 1813. 
 
 10. Charlotte, widow of the late Grand Duke Michael of Kussia, b. 
 
 1807. 
 
 11. Paulina, Duchess Dowager of Nassau, b. 1810. 
 
 12. Prince Napoleon of France, b. 1822. 
 
 13. The Princess Matilda, wife of Count Demidoff, b. 1820. 
 
 14. Caroline, wife of Ferdinand, Hereditary Prince of Denmark, b. 
 
 1793- 
 
 15. Wilhelmina, Ex-Queen of Denmark, b. 1808. 
 
 16. The Duke of Holstein, b. 1798. 
 
 17. Prince Frederick of Holstein, b. 1800. 
 
 18. Caroline, Queen Dowager of Denmark, b. 1796. 
 
 19. The King of Holland, b. 1817. 
 
304 THE DESCENDANTS OF THE STUARTS. 
 
 20. Prince Henry of Holland, b. 1820. 
 
 21. The Grand Duchess of Saxe Weimar Eisenach, b. 1824. 
 
 22. Prince Frederick of Holland, b. 1797. 
 
 23. Marianne, wife of Prince Albert of Prussia, b. 1810, 
 
 24. The Duke of Nassau, b. 1817. 
 
 25. Theresa, wife of Prince Peter of Oldenburg, b. 1815. 
 
 26. The Princess Mary of Wied, b. 1825. 
 
 27. Henrietta, widow of Duke Alexander of Wirtemburg, b. 1780. 
 
 28. The Elector of Hesse-Cassel, b. 1799. 
 
 29. The Princess Caroline of Hesse-Cassel, b. 1799. 
 
 30. The Duchess of Saxe Meiningen Heldbourghausen, b. 1804. 
 
 31. Juliana, Abbess of Itzehoe, b. 1773. 
 
 32. The Duchess Dowager of Schleswig-Holstein Glucksberg, b. 1789. 
 
 33. Prince William of Hesse-Cassel, b. 1787. 
 
 34. Prince Frederick of Hesse-Cassel, b. 1790. 
 
 35. Prince George of Hesse-Cassel, b. 1793. 
 
 36. The Countess of Decken, b. 1794. 
 
 37. The Grand Duchess of Mecklenburg Strelitz, b. 1796. 
 
 38. The Duchess of Cambridge, b. 1797. 
 
 39. Prince Gustavus of Sweden, b. 1T99. 
 
 40. The Duchess Dowager of Baden, b. 1801. 
 
 41. Duke Elimar of Oldenburg, b. 1844. 
 
 42. The King of Prussia, b. 1795. 
 
 43. The Prince of Prussia, b. 1797. 
 
 44. Prince Charles of Prussia, b. 1801. 
 
 45. Prince Albert of Prussia, b. 1809. 
 
 46. The Empress Dowager of Russia, b. 1798. 
 
 47. The Duchess Dowager of Mecklenburg Schwerin, b. 1803. 
 
 48. Louisa, wife of Prince Frederick of Holland, b. 1808. 
 
 49. Prince Frederick of Prussia, b. 1794. 
 
 50. Prince Adalbert of Prussia, b. 1811. 
 
 51. Elizabeth, wife of Prince Charles of Hesse, b. 1815. 
 
 52. The Queen of Bavaria, b. 1825. 
 
 REED AND PARDON, PRINTERS, PATERNOSTIR ROW, LONDON. 
 
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