Lord Marischal had a very bad opinion of this unfortunate prince; and thought there was no vice so mean or atrocious of which he was not capable; of which he gave me several instances. My lord, though a man of great honour, may be thought a discontented courtier; but what quite confounded me in the idea of that prince, was a conversation I had with Helvétius at Paris, which, I believe, I have told you. In case I have not, I shall mention a few particulars. That gentleman told me, that he had no acquaintance with the Pretender; but, some time after that prince was chased out of France, "a letter," said he, "was brought me from him, in which he told me that the necessity of his affairs obliged him to be at Paris; and, as he knew me, by character, to be a man of the greatest probity and honour in France, he would trust himself to me, if I would promise to conceal and protect him. I own," added Helvétius to me, "although I knew the danger to be greater of harbouring him at Paris than at London; and although I thought the family of Hanover not only the lawful sovereigns in England, but the only lawful sovereigns in Europe, as having the full and free consent of the people; yet was I such a dupe to his flattery, that I invited him to my house; concealed him there, going and coming, near two years; had all his correspondence pass through my hands; met with his partisans upon Pont Neuf; and found, at last, that I had incurred all this danger and trouble for the most unworthy of all mortals; insomuch that I have been assured, when he went down to Nantz, to embark on his expedition to Scotland, he took fright and refused to go on board; and his attendants, thinking the matter gone too far, and that they would be affronted for his cowardice, carried him, in the night time, into the ship, pieds et mains liés." I asked him, if he meant literally? "Yes," said he, "literally. They tied him and carried him by main force." What think you now of this hero and conqueror?
Both Lord Marischal and Helvétius agree, that with all this strange character, he was no bigot; but rather had learned, from the philosophers at Paris, to affect a contempt of all religion. You must know that both these persons thought they were ascribing to him an excellent quality. Indeed, both of them used to laugh at me for my narrow way of thinking in these particulars.[465:1] However, my dear Sir John, I hope you will do me the justice to acquit me.
I doubt not but these circumstances will appear curious to Lord Hardwicke, to whom you will please to present my respects. I suppose his lordship will think this unaccountable mixture of temerity and timidity, in the same character, not a little singular. I am yours very sincerely.[465:2]
If there should be any doubts of the genuineness of this letter, from its having first appeared, unauthenticated, in a periodical work, they will be removed by the perusal of the following answer by Sir John Pringle, printed from the original manuscript.
Sir John Pringle to Hume.
London, 5th November, 1773.
Dear Sir,—I was much obliged to you for your letter of the 10th ult., as it furnished me with sufficient means for maintaining my credit with Lord Hardwicke, a person I have not the honour to be well known to; and I had the more occasion for such a testimony as yours, as the other earl, mentioned in your letter, has thought proper, (I presume since he has once more become a courtier,) to deny his knowing any thing of the story, when one of the company, (where I told the anecdote to Lord Hardwicke,) inquired of him about it.
Lord Hardwicke, not being in town when yours came to hand, I charged his intimate friend, Mr. Wray, who was going to visit him, with it. Yesterday, that gentleman returned, and, with the letter, sent me a line, expressing his lordship's great satisfaction in the communication; and with
many thanks to us both for it. I understand he is very curious in picking up such historical facts; and, if so, he certainly never met with any thing of that kind more suited to his genius. The most extraordinary circumstance is, that of the pied et poing liés; and yet your authority seems to be unexceptionable. What could be expected from an adventurer whom they had been obliged to treat in that humiliating manner? and whose timidity, they must believe, was every now and then to recur, to affront those that set him upon the enterprise? I know that our people were at great pains to decry his courage, after the battle of Culloden; but that I considered always as done upon a political, rather than an historical principle. I had good evidence for believing that, at Derby, he was, of the council of war, the person who stood longest out against the motion for returning, and not advancing to London. Again, he was for standing at the Spey; and, lastly, he did not retire from Culloden till his whole band was put to flight. It is true he never advanced nearer than the corps de réserve; but which corresponded to our second line, in which the Duke of Cumberland placed himself. I may add, that both of us have been informed, that he betrayed no unmanly concern, when he skulked so long with his female heroine; and then, surely, he was daily in the greatest danger of his life; had he been taken he would have met with no quarter. But, after all, these testimonies, in favour of his courage, must yield to such proofs as you bring to the contrary.[466:1]
Hume to Adam Smith.