This precious pair of charlatans pretended that in 1773 a son was born of the marriage of Charles Edward with the Princess Louisa of Stolberg-Gedern; that the birth was kept secret, and the babe privately conveyed on board an English frigate and consigned to the care of a naval officer named Allen, who brought him up as his own son. This mysterious child, it was further said, when grown to manhood, married an English lady in 1790, and in the following year the "Chevalier Charles Edward" was born.
John Wilson Croker in vol. 81 of the Quarterly Review (pp. 57-85), while reviewing Vestiarum Scoticum, by John Sobieski Stuart, and Tales of the Century, by John Sobieski and Charles Edward Stuart, ruthlessly demolishes this pedigree, pointing out that if the Pretender had had an heir, it was his interest to publish and not to conceal it; that in his will he only recognized one child, his natural daughter, the Countess of Albany; that his brother, Cardinal York, considered that he was King of England; and finally proved that these two adventurers were none other than John and Thomas Allen, the sons of Admiral Allen.
"John Sobieski" died in February, 1872, and there is a biographical notice of him in the Times of February 17th, 1872, but more may be read about these brothers in the Edinburgh Review of July, 1861, and the St. James's Magazine of January, 1872.
The Oxford and Cambridge boat race, as we know it, did not commence until 1845,[19] but there were inter-university struggles before that date, as we see by the Times of June 20th.
"The Cutter match between the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge.
"The long-expected match between the gentlemen of the Universities came off on Friday (June 17th). The sum to be rowed for was £400, or, as others say, £1000. The weather was most unpropitious, and those who ventured forth on Friday must have possessed more than ordinary 'game.' Betting had been two and three to one on the Oxonians, and there were plenty of takers. At four o'clock the competitors were at their posts, and, the signal having been given, they were off. The gentlemen of Cambridge took the lead, but the Oxonians were right on them. Nothing could have been finer than the exertions displayed by each party, but Cambridge still maintained the lead, nor did they, throughout, ever forfeit that advantage. Cambridge won by four lengths, and did not exhibit any symptoms of distress."
The boats were eight-oared as now.
"The course was the then Champion Metropolitan Course, from Westminster to Putney. It was in this race that Cambridge first adopted light blue as their colour, and that apparently by accident. They were on the point of pushing off from Searle's yard at Westminster, when somebody remarked that the boat had no colour in the bow. One person suggested one colour, and one another. At the last moment, Mr. R. N. Philips, of Christ's, a well-known oarsman in those days, ran over to a haberdasher's close by, and asked for a piece of Eton blue ribbon or silk. This was produced, and the crew adopted it con amore. Since those days Cambridge has worn light blue; while Oxford, for the sake of contrast, have rather deepened their shade of the same colour. The jerseys of Cambridge were white, and those of Oxford blue and white stripes." "Record of the University Boat Race, 1829-1883," by G. G. T. Treherne and J. H. D. Goldie, p. 12. London, 1884.
CHAPTER XXI.
1836.
Report on the British Museum — The King and the Duchess of Kent; a scene — Inauguration of George III.'s Statue at Charing Cross — Poetry at the police court — The trip of the Nassau balloon.