France, in 1744, declared war against England, and the house of Austria; and soon after this declaration, a great project was taken in hand: overtures were made to Prince Edward, the Pretender’s son, for recovering the throne of his ancestors.
He was a spirited, bold, courageous young man, quite tired of leading an indolent life at Rome, and impatient to signalize himself.
The house of Stuart is so unfortunate, that I question, whether it would be in the power of all Europe joined, to restore it to its antient rights. There seems something of a fatality annexed to that name.
France made all the preparatives in his favour, and gave him all the assistance which the posture of affairs could admit of; but the whole design miscarried. A long time after, I, one day, asked the King, whether it had been his real intention, to place the Pretender on the throne of Great Britain? his answer was, that neither he nor his council ever thought it practicable; that this restoration depended on a multitude of second causes, the course of which was no longer under any political direction. The Marshal de Noailles one day said to him in my hearing, Sir, if your Majesty would have had mass said in London, you should have sent an army of three hundred thousand men to officiate at it.
In the mean time, young Edward, eager of doing something to be talked of, put to sea, and had a distant view of the kingdom, the possession of which both fate and policy denied to him. A tempest disappointed his landing, and scattered his fleet; yet the ardent Pretender would, in spight of the wind, make his landing good, and fight alone against all England. Versailles had received the most particular assurances, that he had a very strong party at London, and it was on this plan that the expedition had been formed.
It is not very long since I happened to be at the Marshal Bellisle’s; as he was looking for some writings in his closet, he put a paper into my hand, saying, There, Madam, there is something for you to read; that letter has cost us a great many millions, which are gone to the bottom of the sea; it was directed to the court of France, by a party of Jacobites, as they are called in England. The words of it were these.
“The tabernacle is ready, the holy sacrament need but appear, and we will go and meet it with the cross. The procession will be numerous, but the people here being very hard of belief, soldiers and arms will be necessary; for it is only by powder and ball, that the system of transubstantiation can be made to go down in England. Depend on it, that we will do every thing to the utmost of our power; and we can before hand assure you, that the landing once made, our party will have nothing to do but to pronounce these words: ite, Missa est.”
In this letter were mentioned twenty-two persons, several of whom now hold a considerable rank in England. Sometime after, he showed me another, the tenor of which is this.
“Whatever people say, the expedition is not difficult: a landing may easily be made; every tiring favours the revolution; the advantages religion gives us, will be greatly strengthed by political motives. The Hanoverian is hated, he is continually oppressing the nation, aiming both at absolute power, and draining the peoples substance.”
The attempt on England failing, fresh efforts were made in Italy for settling Don Philip; but this the King of Sardinia, who has the key of the Alps, opposed; and the Prince of Conti engaged to make his way through them. This was in some measure warring against God, who has separated the two states by inaccessible mountains. I have had several times read to me in my apartment, the transactions of that Prince in those impracticable climates; the taking Chateau Dauphin, and his other successes amidst those rocks and precipices: and the Prince of Conti in this expedition appears to me greater than many heroes whose fame is high; but great men have not always justice done them.