From the turn which the affair of the invasion had now taken, and the time when it was expected to take place being allowed to elapse without any preparations on the part of France, a suspicion began to be entertained by the members of the Concert, that the cardinal never had any intention to invade Scotland, and that the whole was a scheme of Drummond’s to keep alive the spirit of party in Scotland, and to make himself pass for useful in the eyes of his employers. To ascertain the real state of the case, Murray of Broughton, at the suggestion of Lord Traquair, was sent to Paris in the month of January, 1743. He took London on his way, but before he reached the capital, he heard of the death of Cardinal Fleury. After staying a short time in London, Murray went privately to Paris, where he met Drummond and Sempil, who managed the Chevalier’s affairs in France. They stated to him, that in all probability the scheme of invasion would have been carried into effect, had not the army of Marshal Maillebois been sent towards Hanover instead of the coast of Flanders, as at first intended; and that from the interest taken by the cardinal in the affairs of the Stuarts, he had put all the papers relating to them into the hands of Monsieur Amelot, the secretary for foreign affairs.[787]
At an audience which Murray afterwards had with Monsieur Amelot at Versailles, the foreign secretary told him that, on being made acquainted by Sempil with the cause of Murray’s journey, he had informed the King of France of it, and that his majesty had authorised him to assure Mr. Murray that he had the interest of the Stuart family as much at heart as any of the gentlemen who had signed the memorial of association, and that as soon as he had an opportunity he would put the scheme into execution.[788]
Shortly after this interview, Murray left Paris for London, accompanied by Drummond, who came over to obtain the assurances required by the French court from the English Tories and Jacobites. After remaining a few days in London, Murray returned to Edinburgh, to report to his friends the result of his mission. Drummond stopped at London, where he met Mr. Erskine of Grange,[789] but although overtures were then, it is believed, made to Lord Barrymore, Sir John Hynde Cotton, and Sir Watkin Williams Wynne, they declined to give any assurance or promise of support in writing. By desire of Drummond, Lord Traquair met him in London shortly after his arrival to assist him in his negotiations.[790]
At first view it may appear singular, and the circumstances must convey a very sorry idea of the councils of the Chevalier de St. George, that a person of so little weight and influence as Drummond, who was utterly unknown to the English Tories and Jacobites, should have been sent on such an important mission; but when it is considered that some of the leading Jacobites were proscribed and in exile, and that those at home were strictly watched by the government, and were therefore afraid to commit themselves by any overt act, it cannot excite surprise that the Chevalier availed himself of the services of one whom he considered “an honest and sensible man.”[791] Drummond was, however, considered, even by his original employers, as a person unfit to execute the trust reposed in him, and Lord John Drummond, one of the seven who had signed the association, was quite indignant when he found him engaged in the mission to England.[792] Nor was Sempil, between whom and Drummond a close intimacy subsisted, more acceptable to the Scottish Jacobites, some of whom he offended by his forwardness.[793]
During the earlier part of the year 1743, the French ministry were too much occupied with the war in Germany to pay much attention to the affairs of the Stuarts; but towards the close of that year they began to meditate an invasion of Great Britain. The British parliament met in the beginning of December, when a motion was made in the house of peers by the Earl of Sandwich, for an address to the crown to discontinue the Hanoverian troops in British pay, in order to remove the national discontent, which was represented to be so violent, that nothing but their dismission could appease it. The motion was negatived, but renewed in another shape on the army estimates being brought forward, when it shared the same fate. The attention of the French ministry being drawn to these and similar discussions, and to the general dissatisfaction which seemed to pervade the people of Great Britain, by the agents and partizans of the exiled family, backed by the influence of Cardinal Tencin, entered upon the project of an invasion in good earnest. The cardinal, who now had great influence in the councils of France, had, while a resident at Rome, been particularly noticed by the Chevalier de St. George, by whose influence he had been raised to the cardinalate, and he was moved as much by gratitude to his patron as by ambition to bring about the restoration of the Stuarts. The court of Versailles, indeed, required little inducement to engage in an enterprise which, whether it succeeded or not, would at all events operate as a diversion in favour of France in her contest with the house of Austria, whose chief support was Great Britain; but it is not improbable that they at this time contemplated a more serious attempt. In intimating, however, his resolution to undertake the expedition, the King of France notified to the Chevalier de St. George that it was to be kept a profound secret, and that neither the Duke of Ormond nor Lord Marischal should be told, till the enterprise was ready to be put into execution.
The command of the troops designed for this expedition, amounting to 15,000 men, was given to the celebrated Marshal Saxe; and the naval part, consisting of thirteen ships of the line, besides transports, collected at Dunkirk, Calais, and Boulogne, was intrusted to Monsieur de Roquefeuille, an officer of considerable experience and capacity. This force was destined for the coast of Kent, and a smaller force was to be landed in Scotland under the command of Lord Marischal.
While the preparations for the expedition were going on, Cardinal Tencin kept up an active correspondence with the Chevalier de St. George. As James felt rather disinclined to accompany the expedition himself, he proposed that his eldest son, Charles, then in his twenty-third year, should go in his stead; but as it was doubtful whether the prince would arrive in time to join the expedition, the Chevalier sent an express to the Duke of Ormond requesting him to accompany the expedition, and to act as regent, by virtue of a commission of regency formerly granted him, until the prince should arrive. On arriving in England, the duke was directed to advise with the principal friends of the family, among whom he particularly enumerated the Duke of Beaufort, the Earls of Barrymore, Westmoreland, and Orrery, Lord Cobham, and Sirs Watkin Williams Wynne, John Hynde Cotton, and Robert Abdy. Having obtained the consent of the French court to this arrangement, the cardinal, upon the completion of the preparations for the expedition, despatched a messenger to Rome to request the attendance of the young prince at Paris. Accordingly, on the morning of the 9th of January, 1744, Prince Charles, accompanied by his brother Henry and two or three attendants, left Rome before break of day, but they had not proceeded far when they parted, the prince on his route to France and the duke to Cisterna.[794] The former was disguised as a Spanish courier, and took only one servant along with him on his journey. To account for the departure of the two brothers, it was given out at Rome that they had gone to a boar hunt, and so well was the secret of the prince’s real destination kept, that nearly a fortnight elapsed before it was discovered.[795]
Provided with passports furnished by Cardinal Aquaviva, the prince travelled through Tuscany and arrived at Genoa. From Genoa he proceeded to Savona, where he embarked in a felucca, and passing by Monaco arrived at Antibes. From the latter place he proceeded to Paris, where he met Marshal Saxe and other officers belonging to the expedition, and after a private audience of the French king, he set out incognito for the coast of Picardy. The route by Genoa and Antibes was selected as the safest, and, from the season of the year, the most expeditious; but so unfavourable was the weather, that the prince had to stop some days at different places, and when he reached Antibes he was recognised, and information of his arrival there and of his departure for Paris was sent to the British government by persons in its interest. Hitherto the British ministry do not appear to have had any suspicion that the armaments at Brest, Boulogne, and other French ports, were destined for the shores of Britain, but the appearance of the eldest son of the Chevalier de St. George in France opened their eyes to the dangers which now menaced them. At this time the military force in England did not exceed 6,000 men, so that if the threatened invasion had taken place, the result might have been disastrous to the reigning family.[796]
Meanwhile, the French fleet, consisting of 15 ships of the line and 5 frigates, under M. de Roquefeuille, sailed from Brest, and for several days displayed itself in the channel. Knowing the object for which these ships had put to sea, the government was greatly alarmed, and not without cause; for, besides the paucity of troops in the island, they had only six ships of the line at home ready for sea, the grand fleet being then in the Mediterranean. The activity and preparations of the government corresponded with the magnitude of the danger with which it was threatened. Orders were instantly sent to fit out and man all the ships of war in the different ports of the channel. These orders were so promptly obeyed, that in a few days an English fleet of three ships of 100 guns, four of 90, six of 70, and six of 50, was collected at Spithead under the command of Sir John Norris.[797] Several regiments were immediately marched to the southern coast of England; all governors and commanders were ordered to repair forthwith to their respective posts; the forts at the mouth of the Thames and Medway were put in a posture of defence; and the militia of Kent were directed to assemble to defend the coast in case of an invasion. On the 15th of February, the arrival of Prince Charles in France, the preparations along the French coast, and the appearance of the French fleet in the English channel, were announced to parliament in a message from the king. Both houses joined in an address, in which they declared their indignation at the design formed in favour of “a popish pretender,” and assured his majesty they would take measures to frustrate so desperate and insolent an attempt. The city of London, the universities of Oxford and Cambridge,[798] the principal towns in Great Britain, almost all the corporations and communities of the kingdom, the clergy of the establishment, the dissenting ministers, and the Quakers, or Society of Friends, presented similar addresses. A demand was made from the States-general of the 6,000 auxiliaries which by treaty they had engaged to furnish on such occasions; and this force was immediately granted. Forgetful of the wrongs which he had suffered at the hands of the government, the Earl of Stair tendered his services, and was reappointed commander-in-chief of the forces in Great Britain. Several noblemen of the first rank followed his example, among whom was the Duke of Montague, who was permitted to raise a regiment of horse. Orders were sent to bring over the 6,000 British troops from Flanders; and both houses of parliament, in a second address, exhorted the king to augment his forces by sea and land, in such manner as he should think necessary at this dangerous juncture of affairs. The habeas corpus act was suspended for six months; several suspected persons were taken into custody; the usual proclamation was issued for putting the laws in execution against the unfortunate Catholics and nonjurors, who were ordered to retire ten miles from London; and every other precaution, deemed necessary for the preservation of the public tranquillity, was adopted.[799]
Meanwhile the preparations for invasion were proceeding rapidly at Boulogne and Dunkirk, under the eye of Prince Charles. Roquefeuille had in his excursion in the channel come in sight of Spithead; and, as he could perceive no ships there, he imagined that the English ships had retired within their harbours. Judging the opportunity favourable, he detached M. de Barriel with five ships of war to hasten the embarkation at Dunkirk, and to order the transports thereupon to put to sea. Roquefeuille then sailed up the channel with the remainder of his fleet as far as Dungeness, a promontory on the coast of Kent, off which he anchored to await the arrival of the transports. Having received intelligence of Roquefeuille’s arrival from an English frigate which came into the Downs, Sir John Norris left Spithead with the British fleet, and doubling the South Foreland from the Downs, on the 23d of February discovered the French fleet at anchor. Though the wind was against him, Sir John endeavoured, by availing himself of the tide, to come up and engage the French squadron; but the tide failing, he was obliged to anchor when about two leagues from the enemy. He intended to attack them next morning, but M. de Roquefeuille, not judging it advisable to risk an engagement, weighed anchor after sunset, and favoured by a hard gale of wind from the north-east which blew during the night, ran down the channel and got into Brest harbour. So violent was the gale, that all the English fleet (two ships only excepted,) parted with their cables and were driven out to sea, and before they could have returned to their station, the transports, under convoy of the five ships of war despatched by Roquefeuille, might have disembarked the army under Marshal Saxe had the storm not reached the French coast; but the tempest, which merely forced the English ships to quit their moorings, was destructive to the expedition, and utterly disconcerted the design of invading England.