Pickle the Spy; Or, the Incognito of Prince Charles Part 20

The opening of 1755 found Charles still in concealment, probably at Basle. He could only profess to James his determination 'never to go astray from honour and duty' (March 12, 1755). James pertinently replied, 'Do you rightly understand the extensive sense of honour and duty?' War clouds were gathering. France and England were at issue in America, Africa, and India. Braddock's disaster occurred; he was defeated and slain by an Indian ambush. Both nations were preparing for strife; the occasion seemed good for fis.h.i.+ng in troubled waters.

D'Argenson notes that it is a fair opportunity to make use of Charles. Now we sc.r.a.pe acquaintance with a new spy, Oliver Macallester, an Irish Jacobite adventurer. {286} Macallester, after a long prelude, tells us that his 'private affairs' brought him to Dunkirk in 1755. On returning to London he was apprehended at Sheerness, an ungrateful caitiff having laid information to the effect that our injured hero 'had some connection with the Ministers of the French Court, or was upon some dangerous enterprize.' He was examined at the Secretary of State's Office (Lord Holland's), was released, and returned to Dunkirk, uncompensated for all this disturbance. Here he abode, on his private business, living much in the company of the ranting Lord Clancarty. Lord Clare (Comte de Th.o.m.ond, of the House of Macnamara) was also in Dunkirk at the time, and attached himself to the engaging Macallester, whom he invited to Paris. Our fleet was then unofficially hara.s.sing that of France in America.

Meanwhile, France negotiated the secret treaty with Austria, while Frederick joined hands with England. Dunkirk began to wear a very warlike aspect, in despite of treaties which bound France to keep it dismantled. 'Je savais que nous avions triche avec les Anglais,'

says d'Argenson. The fortifications were being secretly reconstructed. D'Argenson adds that now is the moment to give an asylum to the wandering Prince Charles. 'The d.u.c.h.esse d'Aiguillon, a great friend of the Prince, tells me that some days ago, while she was absent from her house at Ruel, an ill-dressed stranger came, and waited for her till five in the morning. Her servants recognised the Prince.' {287}

The d.u.c.h.esse d'Aiguillon, Walpole says ('Letters,' iv. 390), used to wear a miniature of Prince Charles in a bracelet. On the reverse was a head of Our Lord. People did not understand the connection, so Madame de Rochefort said, 'The same motto serves for both, MY KINGDOM IS NOT OF THIS WORLD.' But Charles had not been 'ill-dressed' in these old days!

As early as April 23, 1755, M. Ruvigny de Cosne, from Paris, wrote to Sir Thomas Robinson to the effect that Charles's proposals to the French Court in case of war with England had been declined. An Abbe Carraccioli was being employed as a spy on the Prince. {288} Pickle also came into play. We offer a report of his information, given in London on April 23, 1755. He knew that Charles had been at Fontainebleau since preparations for war began, and describes his false nose and other disguises. Charles was acquainted with the Marechal de Saxe, and may have got the notion of the nose from that warrior.

Here follows Pickle, as condensed by Mr. Roberts:

Add. 32,854. 'April 24, 1755.

'Mr. Roberts had a meeting last night with the Scotch gentleman, called PICKLE. The Young Pretender, he says, has an admirable Genius for skulking, and is provided with so many disguises, that it is not so much to be wondered at, that he has. .h.i.therto escaped un.o.bserved, sometimes he wears a long false hose, which they call "Nez a la Saxe," because Marshal Saxe used to give such to his Spies, whom he employed. At other times he blackens his eye brows and beard, and wears a black wig, by which alteration his most intimate Acquaintance could scarce know him: and in these dresses he has mixed often in the companies of English Gentlemen travelling thro' Flanders, without being suspected.

'PICKLE promises to discover whatever shall come to his knowledge, that may be worth knowing, he can be most serviceable, he says, by residing in Scotland, for no applications can be made to any of the Jacobites there, from abroad, but he must receive early notice of them, being now, by his Father's death, at the head of a great Clan of his name, but he is ready to cross the Sea, whenever it should be thought it worth the while to send him: which he himself is not otherwise desirous of doing, as he declares that those Journies have cost him hitherto double the money that he has received.

'He hopes to have something given him to make up this deficiency, and, if he could have a fixed yearly Allowance, he will do everything that lies in his power to deserve it. He insists upon an inviolable secrecy, without which his opportunities of sending useful Intelligences will be lost.'

Pickle does not come on the public scene again for a whole year, except in the following undated report, where he speaks of Glengarry (himself) in the third person. His account of an envoy sent to make proposals to Charles, like those made to the Prince of Orange in 1688, is an error. Perhaps Pickle was not trusted. The envoy from Scotland to Charles only proposed, as we shall see, that he should forswear sack, and live cleanly and like a gentleman.

Add. 32,861.

'Dear Sir,--I am hopeful you nor friends will take it ill, that I take the freedom to acquaint you, that my patience is quite worn out by hankering upon the same subject, for these years past, and still remaining in suspence without ever coming to a point.

'I beg leave to a.s.sure you, that you may do it to others--but, let my inclinations be ever so strong, my intentions ever so upright, my situation will not allow me to remain longer upon this precarious footing; and, as I never heard from you in any manner of way, I might readily take umbrage at your long silence, and from thence naturally conclude it was intended to drop me. But, as I am not of a suspicious temper, and judge of others' candour by my own, and that I always have the highest opinion of yours, and to convince you of mine, I shan't hesitate to acquaint you, that I would have wrot sooner, but that I waited the result of a Gentilman's journey, how at this present juncture has the eyes of this part of the Country fixt upon him--I mean, GLENGARY, into whose confidence I have greatly insinuated myself. This Gentilman is returnd home within these few days, from a great tour round several parts of the Highlands, and had concourse of people from several Clans to wait of him. But this you'll hear from Military channels readly before mine, and what follows, take it as I was informed in the greatest confidence by this Gentilman.

'This Country has been twice tampered with since I have been upon this utstation [Invergarry], and I find it was refer'd to GLENGARY, as the Clans thought he had a better motion of French policy, of which they seem to be greatly diffident. The offers being verbal, and the bearer being non of the greatest consequence, it was prorog'd; upon which the greatest anxiety has been since exprest to have GLENGARY t'other side, at a Conference, that he, in the name of the Clans, should demand his owne terms.

'I am for certain inform'd that a Gentilman of distinction from England went over about two months ago with signatures, Credentials, and a.s.surances, much of the same nature as that formerly sent to the Prince of Orange, only the number mentiond by this person did not amount above sixty. I know nothing of the Person's names, but this from good authority I had for certain told me, and that they offer'd to advance a very considerable sum of mony. It was in consequence of this that proposals were made here. Prudence will not admitt of my enlarging further upon this subject, as I am at so great a distance, I must beg leave to drop it . . . '

On May 20, 1755, James wrote to the Prince. He had heard of an interview between Charles and the Duc de Richelieu, 'and that you had not been much pleased with your conversation with him.' James greatly prefers a peaceful Restoration, but, in the event of war, would not decline foreign aid. The conduct of Charles, he complains, makes it impossible for him to treat with friendly Powers. He is left in the dark, and dare not stir for fear of making a false movement. {292a} On July 10, 1755, Ruvigny de Cosne is baffled by Charles's secrecy, and is hunting for traces of Miss Walkinshaw. On July 23, 1755, Ruvigny de Cosne hears that Charles has been with Cluny in Paris. On August 16 he hears of Charles at Parma. Now Charles, on August 15, was really negotiating with his adherents, whose Memorial, written at his request, is in the Stuart Papers.

{292b} They a.s.sure him that he is 'eyed' in his family. If he continues obstinate 'it would but too much confirm the impudent and villainous aspersions of Mr. D's' (James Pawkins), which, it seems, had nearly killed Sir Charles Goring, Henry Goring's brother, 'with real grief.' Dawkins had represented the Prince 'as entirely abandoned to an irregular debauched life, even to excess, which brought his health, and even his life daily in danger,' leaving him 'in some degree devoid of reason,' 'obstinate,' 'ungrateful,'

'unforgiving and revengeful for the very smallest offence.' In brief, Dawkins had described Charles as utterly impossible--'all thoughts of him must be for ever laid aside'--and Dawkins backed his opinion by citing that of Henry Goring. The memorialists therefore adjure Charles to reform. Their candid doc.u.ment is signed 'C.M.P.'

(obviously Cluny MacPherson) and 'H.P.,' probably Sir Hugh Paterson, Clementina Walkinshaw's uncle.

Now there is no reason for disputing this evidence, none for doubting the honesty of Mr. Dawkins in his despairing account of Charles. He was young, wealthy, adventurous, a scholar. In the preface to their joint work on Palmyra, Robert Wood--the well-known archaeologist, author of a book on Homer which drew Wolf on to his more famous theory--speaks of Mr. Dawkins in high terms of praise, he gets the name of 'a good fellow' in Jacobite correspondence as early as 1748.

Writing from Berne on May 28, 1756, Arthur Villettes quotes the Earl Marischal (then Governor of Neufchatel for Frederick) as making strictures like those of Dawkins on the Prince. At this time the Earl was preparing to gain his pardon from George II., and spoke of Charles 'with the utmost horror and detestation.' His life, since 1744, 'had been one continued scene of falsehood, ingrat.i.tude, and villainy, and his father's was little better.' As regards James, this is absurd; his letters are those of a heartbroken but kind and honourable parent and Prince. Villettes then cites the Earl's account of the mission from Scotland (August 1755) urging reform on Charles, through the lips of Cluny. The actual envoy from Scotland cited here is probably not Cluny, but his co-signatory 'H.P.,' and he is said to have met Charles at Basle, and to have been utterly disgusted by his reception. {293}

Now the Earl had a private pique at Charles, ever since he refused to sail to Scotland with the Prince in a herring-boat, in 1744. He had also been estranged by Charles's treatment of Goring in 1754.

Moreover, he was playing for a pardon. We might conceivably discount the Lord Marischal, and Dr. King's censures in his 'Anecdotes,' for the bitterness of renegades is proverbial. But we cannot but listen to Dawkins and the loyal Henry Goring. By 1754 the Prince, it is not to be denied, was impossible.

Honourable men like the old Laird of Gask, Bishop Forbes, Lord Nairne, and Andrew Lumisden (later his secretary) were still true to a Prince no longer true to himself. Even Lumisden he was to drive from him; he could keep n.o.body about him but the unwearied Stuart, a servant of his own name. The play was played out; honour and all was lost. There is, unhappily, no escape from this conclusion.

Charles declined to listen to the deputation headed by Cluny in August 1755. A secretary must have penned his reply; it is well- spelled, and is grammatical. 'Some unworthy people have had the insolence to attack my character. . . . Conscious of my conduct I despise their low malice. . . . I have long desired a churchman at your hands to attend me, but my expectations have hitherto been disappointed.'

Soon he returned to the Ma.s.s, as we learn from Macallester.

He was ill and poor. {294} He finally dismissed his servants, including a companion of his Highland wanderings. He recommends Morrison, his valet, as a good man to shave and coif his father. The poor fellows wandered to Rome, and were sent back to France with money. Here is Sir Horace Mann's letter about these honest lads:

'Florence: December 20, 1755.

' . . . My correspondent at Rome, having given me previous notice of the departure from thence of some Livery Servants belonging to the Pretender's eldest Son, and that they were to pa.s.s through Tuscany, I found means to set two English men to watch for their arrival, who pretending to be their friends, insinuated themselves so well into their company, as to pa.s.s the whole evening with them. They were five in number, and all Scotch. The names of three were Stuart, Mackdonnel, and Mackenzy. They were dressed alike in the Pretender's livery, and said they had been with his Son in Scotland, upon which the people I employed asked where he was. They answered only, that they were going to Avignon, and should soon know, and in their merriment drank "the health of the Boy that is lost and cannot be found," upon which one of them answered that he would soon be found.

Another reproved him, and made signs to him to hold his tongue. They seemed to be in awe of each other.'

There was not much to be got out of the Highlanders, a race of men who can drink and hold their tongues.

On January 30, 1756, Walton, from Florence, reported that Charles was to be taken up by Louis XV., to play un role fort distingue, and--to marry a daughter of France! {296a} On January 31, Mann had the latest French courier's word for it that Charles was in Paris; but Walton added that James denied this. Pickle came to London (April 2, 1756), but only to dun for money. 'Not the smallest artickle has been performed of what was expected and at first promised.' Pickle was useless now in Scotland, and remained unsalaried; so ungrateful are kings. The centre of Jacobite interest now was France. In the 'Testament Politique du Marechal Duc de Belleisle,' (1762) it is a.s.serted that Charles was offered the leaders.h.i.+p of the attack on Minorca (April 1756), and that he declined, saying, 'The English will do me justice, if they think fit, but I will no longer serve as a mere scarecrow' (epouvantail). In January 1756, however, Knyphausen, writing to Frederick from Paris, discredited the idea that France meant to employ the Prince. {296b}

Turn we to Mr. Macallester for more minute indications.

Macallester was now acting as led captain and henchman to the one- eyed Lord Clancarty, who began to rail in good set terms against all and sundry. For his own purposes, 'for just and powerful reasons,'

Macallester kept a journal of these libellous remarks, obviously for use against Clancarty. Living at that n.o.bleman's table, Macallester played his favourite part of spy for the mere love of the profession.

He writes:

'Tuesday, January 11, 1757.--When we had drunk hard after supper he broke out, saying, "By G.o.d! dear Mac, I'll tell you a secret you don't know; there is not a greater scoundrel on the face of the earth than that same Prince; he is in his heart a coward and a poltroon; would rather live in a garret with some Scotch thieves, to drink and smoak, than serve me, or any of those who have lost our estates for his family and himself. . . . He is so great a scoundrel that he will lie even when drunk: a time when all other men's hearts are most open, and will speak the truth, or what they think . . .

'He d.a.m.ned himself if he did not love an Irish drummer better than any of the breed. "The Prince has no more religion," said this pious enthusiast, "than one of my coach-horses." . . . He asked me if I knew Jemmy Dawkins. I said I did not. "He could give you an account of them," said he, "but Lord Marischal has given the true character of the Prince, and certified under his hand to the people of England what a scoundrel he is {297} . . . The Prince had the canaille of Scotland to a.s.sist him, thieves, robbers, and the like. . . "'

The Prince had confided to Clancarty the English Jacobites' desire that he would put away Miss Walkinshaw. 'The Prince, swearing, said he would not put away a cat to please such fellows;' but, as Lord Clancarty never opened his mouth without a curse, his evidence is not valuable. On March 8, hearing that Lochgarry was in the neighbourhood, Clancarty called him a 'thief and a cow-stealer,' and bade the footman lock up the plate! The brave Lochgarry, however, came to dinner, as being unaware of his Lords.h.i.+p's sentiments.

Enough of the elegant conversation of this one-eyed, slovenly Irish n.o.bleman, whom we later find pa.s.sing his Christmas with Prince Charles. {298} Mr. Macallester now made two new friends, the adventurous Dumont and a Mr. Lewis. In July 1757, Lewis and Macallester went to Paris, and were much with Lord Clare (de Th.o.m.ond). In December, Lord Clancarty came hunting for our spy, 'raging like a madman' after Macallester, much to that hero's discomposure, for, being as silly as he was base, he had let out the secret of his 'Clancarty Elegant Extracts.' His Lords.h.i.+p, in fact, accused Macallester of showing all his letters to Lord Clare, whom Clancarty hated. He then gave Macallester the lie, and next apologised; in fact, he behaved like Sir Francis Clavering. Before publis.h.i.+ng his book, Macallester tried to 'blackmail' Clancarty.

'His Lords.h.i.+p is now secretly and fully advertised that this matter is going to the press,' and, indeed, it was matter to make the Irish peer uncomfortable in France, where he had consistently reviled the King.

It is probable that Macallester was now engaged in the French secret police.

He admits that he acted as a mouton, or prison spy, and gives a dreadful account of the horrors of Galbanon, where men lay in the dark and dirt for half a lifetime. Macallester next proses endlessly on the alleged Jesuit connection with Damien's attack on Lous XV., and insists that the Jesuits, n.o.body knows why, meant to a.s.sa.s.sinate Prince Charles. He was in very little danger from Jesuits!

CHAPTER XIII--THE LAST HOPE. 1759

Charles asks Louis for money--Idea of employing him in 1757--Letter from Frederick--Chances in 1759--French friends--Murray and 'the Pills'--Charles at Bouillon--Madame de Pompadour--Charles on Lord George Murray--The night march to Nairn--Manifestoes--Charles will only land in England--Murray wishes to repudiate the National Debt-- Choiseul's promises--Andrew Lumisden--The marshal's old boots-- Clancarty--Internal feuds of Jacobites--Scotch and Irish quarrels-- The five of diamonds--Lord Elibank's views--The expedition starting-- Routed in Quiberon Bay--New hopes--Charles will not land in Scotland or Ireland--'False subjects'--Pickle waits on events--His last letter--His ardent patriotism--Still in touch with the Prince--Offers to sell a regiment of Macdonalds--Spy or colonel?--Signs his real name--'Alexander Macdonnell of Glengarry'--Death of Pickle--His services recognised.

After the fatal 10th of December, 1748, Charles had entertained a bitter hatred of France, though he was always careful to blame the Ministers of Louis, not the King himself. He even refused a French pension, but this was an att.i.tude which he could not maintain. In 1756 (July 1) he actually wrote to Louis, asking for money.

'Monsieur Mon Frere et Cousin,' he said. 'With the whole of Europe I admire your virtues . . . and the benefits with which you daily load your subjects . . . Since 1744, when I left Rome, I have run many risks, encountered many perils, and endured many vicissitudes of fortune, unaided by those from whom I had the right to expect a.s.sistance, unsuccoured even by My Father. In truth such of his subjects as espoused my cause have given me many proofs of zeal, and of good will, but, since open war broke out between France and England, I have not the same support. I know not what Destiny prepares for me, but I shall put it to the touch.'

For this purpose, then, he needs money.