James Francis Edward, the Old Chevalier (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated.1907 Excerpt: ... 1 1 PREFACE During the collection of material for a life of Queen Mary of Modena, so much that was interesting came to light with regard to her son as to suggest an attempt "to write his life, as a sequel to that of the Queen. The purpose was strengthened by the discovery, that much as had been written--and generally to his detriment--during the hundred and forty years which had elapsed since his death, no connected biography of Prince James Francis Edward had yet been published. The chief source of information respecting the prince, his character and his career, lay in the vast collection of Stuart MSS. at Windsor Castle; but their publication by the Historical Manuscript Commission had not proceded beyond the year 1716, and I owe to the permission of H.M. the King the great privilege of access to the original documents. The study of these documents showed how distorted was the picture which the exigencies of party, the prejudices of political and religious animosity, had presented of the last Stuart king crowned in Scotland, of the man who held so marked a place in the history of the eighteenth century. It was of absorbing interest to find how large a share Jacobitism held in the life of England during the seventyeight years between the downfall of James II. and the death of his son; and how great a mistake it is to regard the insurrections of 1715 and '45 as isolated occurrences; they were but the overflowing of a persistent current, which it required all the power and skill of William III. and the two first Georges and their Ministers, and of the Whigs and Hanoverians in the time of Anne, to stem and to suppress. William III., in the remarkable letter he wrote to Pope Innocent XII. in 1693, for the purpose of obtaining the recognition of his sovereignty...