Pickle the Spy; Or, the Incognito of Prince Charles

and the hidden treasure-Where to look for Charles-Cherchez la femme!-Hidden in Lorraine-Plans for entering Paris-Letter to Mrs. Drummond-To the Earl Marischal-Sta

ret hoard-Results of Goring's English mission-Timidity of English Jacobites-Supply of money-Charles a bibliophile-'My big muff'-A patron of art-Quarrels with Madame de Talmond-Arms for a rising-Newton on Cluny-Kindness

which they were seeking. The author of 'L'Esprit des Lois' could have enlightened them, for Charles's mystery was no mystery to Montesquieu, who was friendly with Scottish and English Jacobites. The French Ministers, truly or falsely, always prof

the dynasty. Our intelligence must be extracted from ill-spelled, closely scrawled, and much erased sheets of brown paper, on which Charles has scribbled drafts for letters to his household, to Waters, his banker in Paris, to adherents in Paris or London, and to ladies. The notes are almost, and in places are quite, illegible. The Prince practised a disguised hand, and used pseudonyms instead of names. Many letters have been written in sympathetic ink, and then exposed to fire or the action of acids. However, something can be made out, but not why he concealed his movements even from his banker, even from his household, Oxburgh, Kelly, Harring

fter Culloden at the head of Loch Arkaig. [70a] Of this fatal treasure we shall hear much. A percentage of the coin was found to be false money, a very characteristic circumstance. Moreover, Cluny seems to have held out hopes, always deferred, of a rising in the Highlands. Charles had to be ready in secrecy, to put himself at the head of this movement. There was also to be an English movement, which was frowned on by official Jacobitism. On February 3, 174

resided at the house of one Mittie, physician of the ex-king of Poland), a 'Project for My arrival in Paris. Mr. Benn [himself] must go straight to Dijon, and his companion, Mr. Smith [Goring], to Paris. Mr. Smith will need a chaise, which he must buy at Lunéville. Next he will take up the servant of C. P. [Prince Charles] at Ligny, but on leaving that place Mr. Smith must ride on horseback, and the chaise can go there as if for his return to Paris; the person in it seeming to profit by this opportunity. Mr. Benn [the Prince] must remain for some days, as if he wanted to buy a trunk, and will gi

es in Paris; and the name, to be r

d to enter Paris undetected. Yet he was seen 'entering a gate of Paris in disguise.' Doubtless he had lady allies, but a certain Mademoiselle Ferrand,

he family of Macgregor, called Drummond, of Balhaldie. Charles appears to have had

l 10,

ss of time; the Bearer (he is neither known by you or me), is charged to receive at any time what Letters you want to send me, and you may be shure of their arriving safe. Iff Lord Marishal agrees with my Desier when you give his Packet to yr Bearer,

n Do

for the answer of ye enclosed or an

g secret, and address to me at Venise to the Sig. Ignazio Testori to Mr. de Vi

enrietta

oring for an interview, at some place to be fixed. But the old Lord wa

, interrupted by Charles's too kind reception in 1737. The whole romance, therefore, of Henry Goring's letter, and all the voyages to Stockholm, Berlin, Lithuania, and so forth, are visions. Charles probably saw some friends in Paris, was tolerated in Lorraine (where his father was protected before 1715), and he vainly looked for a home in any secular State of Europe. This was all, or nearly all, that occurred between March and May 1749. Europe was fluttered, secret service money was poured out like

t he had sent Goring ('Mr. Smith') to the Earl; Goring, indeed, had carried his letters of April 10–20. He again proposes a meeting with the Earl Marischal at Venice. He will 'answer for the expenses,' and apologises f

Newton' was to collect

'his surprise and impatience for the delay of the ho

much as possible: id est, of France. I believe to compass that by goin by Ruffach to Pfirt: there to wate for me. The Chese [

scarcely raise money to leave that town. Sir James Harrington was next to meet Charles at Venice. He was to carry a letter for Charles to a Venetian banker. 'Nota bene, that same banquier, though he will deliver to me your letter, knows nothing about m

Bulkeley and the official English Jacobites kept insisting that he should have a man with him who was trusted by the party. Kelly was distrusted, though Bulkeley defends him, and was cashiered in autumn. Charles's friends also kept urging that he must 'appear in public,' but where? Bulkeley suggested Bologna. The Earl Marischal, later (July 5), was for Fribourg. No place was really

rince. On May 26 he

run the least risk of being found out, I depart this very evening, having left a direction to the said Nuntio how to forward my letters for me.' On the same day he wrote to Chi

friend must skulk to the perfect dishonour and glory of his worthy relations, until

nd a right nest? He must flit from b

Ferrara, returned to Paris and his Princess

enge

me to remain to long in P.' He also (June 3) wrote to Montesquieu, from whom (I think) there is an unsigned friendly letter. He sent compliments to the Duchesse d'Aiguillon, a lady much attached to Montesquieu. An unsigned Eng

ill pistols, made by Barber,' and much admired 'on this side.' Charles expresses gratitude for the gift. Newton had been examined by the Duke of Newcastle about the 4

f Catherine the Great. Charles's biographers have overlooked or distrusted Grimm's gossip, but it is confirmed by Charles's accidentally writing two real names, in place of pseudonyms, in his correspondence. The history of his 'nest' was this. After her re

nd its inmates, Grim

wed the ingenious idea of the statue, which he has developed so well in his treatise on "The Sensations." The Princesse de Talmond, with whom Prince Charles was always much in love, inhabited the same house. All day he was shut up in a little garderobe of Madame de Vassé's, whence, by a secret st

e Choiseul, who heard the story several years after the departure of the Prince, could not believe it. When Minister of Foreign Affairs he wrote to Madame de Vassé and asked her for the particulars of the adventure. She told him all, and did not conceal the fact th

ence, but once he lets her real name slip out in a memorandum. Mademoiselle Ferrand's father is apparently described by d'Hozier as 'Ferrand, Ecuyer, Sieur des Marres et de Ronville en Normandie.' Many of Charles's letters are addressed to 'Mademoiselle Luci,' sister of 'La Grandemain.' Now Madame de Vassé seems, from a passage in the Duc de Luynes's 'Mémoires,' to have been the only daughter of her father, M. de Pezé. But once,

, and Staffordshire, was really lurking in a fashionable Parisian convent. Better had he been 'where the wind

, the Prince, still homeless, writes a

manding a regiment in the French service, one of those stationed on the frontier of Flanders. 'You [Mademoiselle Ferrand], who have made a Relation de Cartouche [the famous robber], may consent to be the depositary of my let

Waters with the loss of his head if he would not tell where the Prince was concealed [82]. The banke

impudent, indeed we must be, if we are to earn our bread. . . . I pray you to have some confidence in this handwriting, and to believe that Cartouche, though he be Cartouche, is a true friend. As for his

c girl, as we may suppose Mademoiselle Fer

g pitiful appeals for money from Avig

cuntry that desiers nothing else but to exercise their arbitrary power in dist

ame in, either from English adherents or from the Loc

English adherents. We find the following

Prince

st Jul

t know to such friends as you can see, my situation, and Resolutions; all tending to nothing else but the good and relieve of our Poor Country which ever was, and shall be my only thoughts. Take C

R. For

.-Cy

l. C o n

p t d b

hall be Jo

s. A Frankfort sur Maine,

egard' and the Princesse de Talmond are apparently the same person. With them, or her (she also appears as la tante and la vieille), Charles's relations were stormy. He wearied her, he broke with her, he scolded her, and returned to her again.

to flatter those whose admiration she covets. . . . She thinks herself perfect, says so, and expects to be believed. At this price alone does she yield a semblance of friendship: semblance, I say, for her affections are concentrated on herself . . . She is as jealous as she is vain, and so capricious as to make her at once the most unhappy and the most absurd of women. She never knows what she wants, what she fears, whom she loves, or whom she hates. There is no n

ture like the Prince's, peace and qu

riginal intellect, by her elevated conversation, and her kindness of manner.' [86] She was, according to Gustavus III., 'the living gazette of the Court, the town, the provinces, and the academy.' Voltaire wrote to her rhymed epistles. Says Madame du Deffand, 'Her mouth is fallen in, her nose crooked, her glance wild and bold, and in spite of all this she is beautiful. The brilliance of her complexion ato

at Madame d'Aiguillon's; 'she is original,' he said, and she, with Mada

ame d'Aiguillon, but with Madame de Vassé, 'the Comtesse,' as Goring calls her, though Grimm makes her a Marquise. If Montesquieu's private papers and letters in MS. had been published in full, we should probably know more of this matter. His relations with Bulkeley were old and most intimate. Before he died he confessed to Father Routh, an Irish Jesuit, whom Voltaire denounces in 'Candide.' This Routh must have been connected with Colonel Routh, an Irish Jacobite in French service, husband of Charles's friend, 'la Comtesse de Routh.' Montesquieu himself, though he knew, as we shall show, the Prince's secret, was no conspirator. Unluckily, as we learn from M. Vian's life of th

ds unluckily did not succeed in

ge! He aimed at resembling Charles XII., called 'Dener Bash' by the Turks, for his obstinacy, a nickname also given by Lord Marischa

ers, J

t Augus

to draw upon you, than to remit, and cannot help Reflection on this occasion, on the Misery of that poor Popish Town, and all their Inhabitants not being worth four hundred Louidors. Mr. B. [Bulkeley] Mistakes as to my taking amis anything of him, on the contrary I

ain al

for Stafford and Sh

toral Highlanders. There may have been sheilings near the hiding-places of the Loch Arkaig treasure. On September 30 we find Charles prof

indiscretion in blabbing to Murray of Broughton of their concerns, wherein he could be of no use.' They had summoned Balhaldie, and complained of the influence of Kelly, an adviser bequeathed to Charles by his old tutor, Sir Thomas Sheridan, now dead. 'They saw well that the Insurrection Sir James Harrington was negotiating, to be begun at Litchfield Election

the whole, and to assure friends in England that he would never more see any one of them.' Charles was, therefore, provided by his English friends with 15,000l., and the King's timid party of men with much to lose won a temporary tri

liophile than might be gu

nce, and not far from the capital. The Lieutenant of Police has been heard to say, by a person who informed me, that he knew for certain the Prince had come in secret to Paris, and had been at the house of Monsieur Lally. The King winks at al

copied it out. That Louis XV. winked at his movements is probable enough; secretive as

'avec toute la tendresse possible.' On November 28, 'R. Jackson' writes from England. He saw Dr. King (of St. Mary Hall, Oxford), who had been at Lichfield races, 'and had a list of the 275

is said about a marble bust of the Prince at which Lemoine is working, the original, probably, of the plaster busts sold in autumn in Red Lion Square. 'Newton' (January 28) thinks Cluny wilfully dilatory about sending the Loch Arkaig treasure, and ?neas Macdonald, the banker, one of t

d with Madame de Talmond. He writes,

le amie et alliée, L. P. D. T.; nous retirer aux heures qu'il lui conviendra a la di

to bore the c

in his use of scraps of writing material. One piece bears notes both of Februar

s, and there to execute my

en comes a despatch of June,

hoard of Loch Arkaig,

Newto

h 18,

t it seems they took care of themselves. C. [Cluny] in my opinion is more to be blamed than any of them, for if he had a mind to act the honest part he certainly could have given up the whole long since. They will no doubt represent me not in the most advantageous light at Rome, for attempting

Newton'

-From G. Wat

l 27,

you had in him, and he is the more culpable, as I frequently put it in his power to acquit himself of his duty without reproach of any side. Only Cameron is returned from Rome greatly pleas

ed that Cluny, lurking in many perils on B

h Arkaig treasure to James. He knew nothing about the matter, and what he said will find its proper place when we come to investigate the history of Young Glengarry. The Prince at this time correspon

the lad gets no money from his relations, he may be in need.' Charles, on March 28, w

Pr

28,

en raison qui puis etre. Si vous voules me servire il ne faut pas me soutenire toujours que Blan [blanc] est noire, dans Les Chose Les plus palpable: et jamais Avouer que vous aves tort meme quant vous Le santes. Si vous ne voules pas me se

Lorraine and in Paris. They were, unluckily,

er, probably to Madame

12,

ng qu'ait ete Le Silance que j'ai gardé sur Le Desir que j'ai d'en mériter La Continuation j'espère qu'il ne m'en aura rien fait perdre: j'ose meme presumer Encore asses pour me flater qu'une Longue absence que je projette par raison et par

n May 18, Charles wrote to Mademoiselle Luci, in Paris. She is requested 'de faire avoire une ouvrage de Mr. Fildings, (auteur de Tom Jones) qui s'apel Joseph Andrews, dans sa langue naturelle, et la traduction aussi.' He also wants 'Tom Jones' in French, a

ce on a long journey, really to England, it seems. Newton asked for a delay, on account of fami

mote about a mysterious lad

oj

h King], and even ye original, if she thinks it necessary, but with ye greatest secrecy; apearing to

makes the proposal of coming over assures that he will expose nobody but himself, supposing the worst.' Sir Charles Goring is to send a ship for his brother, Henry Goring, to Antwerp, early in August. 'To visit Mr. P. of D. [unknown] . . . and to agree where the arms &c. may be most conveniently landed,

is effigy, as the English Government came to know, for distribution, and he commanded a miniature of himself, by Le Brun, 'with all the Orders.' This miniature may

ainly makes a large order on Dormer, and it is not probable, though (from the later revelatio

ne

rections you'l set out to join me, in the mean time you will concert with Dormer the properest means of procuring the things ['arms,' erased] I no

mer. Same D

usand Guns, Baionets, Ammunition proportioned, with four thousand sords and Pistols for horces [cavalry] in one ship which is to be ye first, and in ye second six thousand Guns wi

nfin, si vous voulez ma vie, il faut changer de tout.' On June 27, Newton repeated his expressions of suspicio

ated precautions of secrecy. James sent the warrant to be Regent on parchment-it is in the Queen's Library-but he added that Charles was 'a continual heartbreak,' and warned his son not to expect 'friendship and favours from p

James

5, 175

I send you by the bearers two, one on a stone like a ruby, but it is a fine Granata, and H.M.'s hair and the first letters of his name are on the inside of it. The other head is on an emer

Edgar. He is 'sorry that His Majesty is prevented against the most dutiful of sons.' He sends thanks for the engraved stones and the p