[1338] Authentic Account, p. 63. Anonymous letter to Dr. Meighan, among Stuart Papers.
[1339] Stuart Papers.
[CHAPTER XL.]
A.D. 1748 to Present Time.
BRITISH SOVEREIGNS:—
| George II., 1727–1760. | George III., 1760–1820. |
| George IV., 1820–1830. | William IV., 1830–1837. |
| Victoria, 1837— | |
Departure of Prince Charles from Avignon incognito—Visits London—Proposed marriage with a Princess of Hesse-Darmstadt—Charles’s reported change of religion—Arrest and execution of Doctor Cameron—Negotiations between Charles and his Jacobite friends in England—Result—Negotiations resumed, and finally broken off—Death of the Chevalier—Marriage of Charles—His death—Character—Death of Cardinal York—Descendants of the Stuarts—“Charles Edward and John Sobieski Stuart.”
The city of Avignon, in Provence, which Charles selected for his place of abode, did not at this time form a part of the French dominions, but belonged to the pope. On the death of George I. the Chevalier de St. George had taken up his residence in this city, that he might the better be enabled to correspond with his friends in England; but he was soon obliged to retire across the Alps, in consequence, it is understood, of an application from the British government to the court of Rome. To expel the Stuarts from the French territories, whilst, by a sort of geographical subtlety, they were allowed to reside almost in the heart of France, was certainly an absurdity; and had Charles remained for any length of time at Avignon, it is probable that, as in the case of his father, he would soon have been forced to look out for another asylum; but, to the astonishment of all Europe, he left Avignon incognito, after a residence of about two months, and went whither nobody could tell.
Attended only by Colonel Goring, and one or two unliveried servants, Charles left Avignon in a travelling chaise, and proceeded on the road to Lyons. The prince and Goring passed for French officers, who, on the conclusion of the peace, had obtained leave to visit their friends—Charles taking the name of the Count D’Espoir.[1340] What his motives were for taking this step have not been ascertained; but it is probable that one of his objects was an interview with the Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt, with whose daughter, the Princess Charlotte Louisa, he contemplated a matrimonial alliance.