The Prince of Waldeck leads me to give you an Account of those unfortunate Princes who are here call’d the King and Queen of England. Perhaps you will not dislike to know what they are doing, and on what Foot they stand here. That unfortunate Prince, which is a Title I think no body can envy him, lives a very melancholy Life; and I question whether the Pension which the Pope allows him of 12000 Crowns, is enough to make
him easy under his Afflictions: He lodges in the Palace of the Marquis Monti, and has a great Number of Domestics, but few in his Service that are Persons of Quality. My Lord Dunbar is the chief Man at his Court, since Mr. Hayes, to whom the Pretender gave the Title of my Lord Inverness, retir’d to Avignon: This Gentleman is intrusted with the Education of the young Princes, who are here styl’d the Prince of Wales, and the Duke of York, and as lovely Children they both are as one shall see.
The King, or the Pretender, it matters not, is complimented with the Style of Majesty by the Pope, and by all that have Access to him. He never goes to an Audience of the Holy Father in public, but always by the Back-stairs; and the Pope not only gives him an Arm-chair, but all the Honours are paid to him that are due to a King who keeps incognito. When the Cardinals visit him, he gives them the Tabouret, or little Stool; but the Imperial Cardinals never go to see him, nor did they think fit to do it, even at the Time when the Emperor seem’d to be more embroil’d with the King of Great Britain than ever; whereas the French Cardinals go to him every Day, and are always with him, notwithstanding the strict Alliance between the King their Master, and the King of Great Britain. When the eldest Prince, who is here styl’d the Prince of Wales, goes to wait on the Pope, he is treated as the presumptive Heir of a Crown; he has a Chair set for him with a Back to it, and takes Place of the Cardinals. As to the younger Son, the pretended Duke of York, his Rank is not yet settled, nor has he yet made a Visit to the Pope.
The Pretender is of a middling Stature, but a mere Skeleton; and if I may venture to say it, has nothing in his Looks of an Impostor: He is prodigiously
like the Pictures I have seen of the late King James II. his Father, only his Aspect is something more melancholy; but he is so far from it in his natural Temper, that he is a Lover of Pleasures, and would indulge himself in Gallantry, if he was not so strictly watch’d by the Priests; for if the scandalous Chronicle does not belye him, Mrs. Hayes, alias Lady Inverness, had, for a while, the Honour of obliging him. If one may guess at the Heart by external Appearances, he is sincerely attach’d to the Religion which he professes, yet without being such a Bigot as some will have him to be; for he causes his Children to be educated by Protestants, and every Sunday a Church of England Minister preaches in English in the Protestant Chapel of his Palace: He is extremely reserv’d at first to those with whom he is not acquainted, but it wears off by Degrees; and when once he knows People, he is very courteous and civil to them. I have the Honour to be often at his Table, and I am bound to acknowledge his Favours to me.
His Table, which is commonly laid for a dozen Guests, is serv’d with what is grand and delicate. The Queen eats at her own little Table. People are seated at the King’s Table without any Distinction of Rank, and he sits himself between the two Princes his Sons: He talks a great deal at his Meals, but the Tone of his Voice is not the most agreeable: His Conversation runs generally upon common Topicks, and falls very naturally upon his Misfortunes. All this Prince’s Time is regularly divided; he rises early, devotes the Morning to his Business, hears Mass before Noon, when he goes to Dinner, and after sitting an Hour and half, or two Hours at Table, takes a Nap; and then, unless it be a Saint’s Day, when he goes to Vespers, he walks out for the Air in some Garden
or other without Rome, where he exercises himself on Horseback, or else diverts himself at Mall with his Sons, and his Gentlemen. In the Evening he returns to his Palace, and receives Visits from the Cardinals; at Ten o’Clock he goes to Supper, and at Midnight to Bed. During the Carnival he was almost every Day at the Opera, where his Box being very large, he used to sup with the Gentlemen and Ladies of his Court.
The Queen his Wife is a Princess, who deserves in reality to be a Queen; and tho’ not a sparkling Beauty, it may be said that her Person is infinitely charming; she has indeed the Character of a most accomplish’d Lady, and never was there a better natur’d Person with more Humility; she is friendly, compassionate, charitable; her Piety is exemplary, and in Truth, she leads the Life of a Saint, without affecting the Shew of ceremonial Devotion; for she has nothing more at heart than to do good, and her Love of one sublime Virtue is incredible; for tho’ she is heartily attach’d to her own Religion, she has no Rancour against those who differ from her in Opinion, but would fain reclaim them by her good Example and good Nature. Were she Mistress of a Kingdom, she would certainly make it her Rule to discharge the Duties of her Rank as became it; and indeed, Nature has given her great Advantages to acquit herself worthily in such a Sphere; for she has a wonderful quick Comprehension, an admirable Memory, and she speaks Polish, High-Dutch, French, Italian, and English so well, that ’tis not easy to distinguish which of those Languages is most familiar to her. I own to you, that of all the Princesses whom ever I had the Honour to approach, I don’t know one more deserving of the Veneration of the Public. I should be glad to see her happy; and if that Respect and Duty, from which I shall never depart, did not
bind me so strongly to the King and Queen of Great Britain, I could wish to see her wear the Crown of the three Kingdoms.
You know that this Princess is Daughter to Prince James Sobieski, and by consequence Cousin German to the Emperor, and the Queen of Spain, and Niece to the Elector Palatine, and the Queen of Spain, Widow of Charles II. Yet all this did not protect her from being arrested at Inspruck, when she pass’d that Way to Italy, to be married to the Pretender; she was kept in very close Custody, and the Manner of her Deliverance shews the Superiority of her Genius. The Pretender sent Mr. Gaydon, then a Major in the Service of France, to try if he could procure her Liberty; the said Officer went to Inspruck, accompany’d by Mr. Wogan, an English Gentleman, and one Misset, an Irishman, who carry’d his Wife with him. They arriv’d accordingly at Inspruck with a great Retinue, and there they pass’d for People of Consequence: They contriv’d so that their Coach Wheels broke at the Gate of the City, to give them a Pretence for staying in the Town till their Coach was repair’d: They introduc’d themselves into all Assemblies, and found out a Nun whom they brib’d to deliver Letters to the Princess. Having fix’d on the Day for carrying her off, and even appointed the Hour, which was Eleven at Night, they got a young Woman of the Princess’s Stature to pass thro’ the Guards in the Antichamber, and to lie in the Prisoner’s Bed, who for two Days had pretended to be sick. The Princess put on the Girl’s Cloaths, and in that Disguise went out of her Apartment, pass’d thro’ her Guards, and made up towards Misset, who gave a Whistle opposite to the Convent, as had been agreed on beforehand, that she might know whom to apply to. The Princess was conducted to an Inn, and as it had snow’d a