No. I.
This letter was addressed by the Rev. Joseph Spence, author of
"Polymetus," and of "Spence's Anecdotes," and prebend of Durham, to his
father, who had forbidden him to enter into the society of the
Chevalier, at Rome.
The Rev. Joseph Spence left this letter, with other MSS. and books, to
the late Mrs. Coltman, mother of Samuel Coltman, Esq., of Darley Dale.
It is not dated, but undoubtedly refers to the Chevalier, James Stuart.
"Sir,
"About a month ago, Mr. ---- and I being in search of some of the
antiquities of your place, we became acquainted with an English
gentleman, very knowing in this kind of learning, and who proved of
great use to us; his name is Dr. Cooper, a priest of the Church of
England, whom we did not suspect to be of the Pretender's retinue,
but took him to be a curious traveller, which opinion created in me
a great liking for his conversation. On Easter eve, he made us the
compliment, that as he supposed us bred in the profession of the
said Church, he thought it incumbent on him to invite us to divine
service, next day being Easter Sunday. Such language, at Rome,
appeared to me a jest. I stared at the Doctor, who added that the
Pretender (whom he called king), had prevailed with the late pope,
to grant licence for having divine service according to the rules
of the Church of England, performed in his palace, for the benefit
of the Protestant gentlemen of his suite, his domestics, and
travellers; and that Dr. Berkley and himself were appointed for the
discharge of this duty; and that prayers were read as ordinarily
here as in London. I should have remained of St. Thomas's belief,
had I not been a witness that this is a matter of fact, and as such,
have noted it down, as one of the greatest wonders of Rome. This was
the occasion of my first entrance into the Pretender's house: I
became acquainted with both the Doctors, who are sensible, well-bred
men. I put several questions to them about the Pretender, and, if
credit can be given them, they assure me he is a moral, upright man,
being far from any sort of bigotry, and most averse to disputes and
distinctions of religion, whereof not a word is admitted in his
family. They described him in person very much to the resemblance of
King Charles II., which they say he approaches more and more every
day, with a great application to business, and a head well turned
that way, having only some clerks, to whom he dictates such letters
as he does not write with his own hand. In some days after, my
friend and I went to take the evening air, in the stately park
called Villa Ludovici, there we met, face to face, on a sudden, with
the Pretender, his Princess, and court; we were so very close before
we understood who they were, that we could not retreat with decency,
common civility obliged us to stand side-ways in the alley, as
others did, to let them pass by. The Pretender was easily
distinguished by his star and garter, as well as by his air of
greatness, which discovered a majesty superior to the rest. I felt
at that instant of his approach, a strange convulsion in body and
mind, such as I never was sensible of before, whether aversion, awe,
or respect occasioned it, I can't tell: I remarked his eyes fixed on
me, which, I confess, I could not bear--I was perfectly stunned, and
not aware of myself, when, pursuant to what the standers-by did, I
made him a salute; he returned it with a smile, which changed the
sedateness of his first aspect into a very graceful countenance; as
he passed by I observed him to be a well-sized, clean-limbed man. I
had but one glimpse of the Princess, which left me a great desire of
seeing her again; however, my friend and I turned off into another
alley, to reason at leisure on our several observations: there we
met Dr. Cooper, and, after making some turns with him, the same
company came again in our way. I was grown somewhat bolder, and
resolved to let them pass as before, in order to take a full view of
the Princess: she is of a middling stature, well-shaped, and has
lovely features: wit, vivacity, and mildness of temper, are painted
in her look. When they came to us, the Pretender stood, and spoke a
word to the Doctor, then looking at us, he asked him whether we were
English gentlemen; he asked us how long we had been in town, and
whether we had any acquaintance in it, then told us he had a house,
where English gentlemen would be very welcome. The Princess, who
stood by, addressing herself to the Doctor in the prettiest English
I think I ever heard, said, 'Pray, Doctor, if these gentlemen be
lovers of music, invite them to my concert, to-night; I charge you
with it;' which she accompanied with a salute in the most gracious
manner. It was a very hard task, sir, to recede from the honour of
such an invitation, given by a princess, who, although married to
the Pretender, deserves so much in regard to her person, her house,
and family. However, we argued the case with the Doctor, and
represented the strict orders we had to the contrary; he replied,
there would be no prohibition to a traveller against music, even at
the ceremonies of the Roman Catholic Church; that if we missed this
occasion of seeing this assembly of the Roman nobility, we might not
recover it while we stayed in Rome; and, that it became persons of
our age and degree to act always the part of gentlemen, without
regard to party humours. These arguments were more forcible than
ours, so we went, and saw a bright assembly of the prime Roman
nobility, the concert composed of the best musicians of Rome, a
plentiful and orderly collation served; but the courteous and
affable manner of our reception was more taking than all the rest.
We had a general invitation given us whilst we stayed in town, and
were desired to use the palace as our house, we were indispensably
obliged to make a visit next day, in order to return thanks for so
many civilities received;--those are things due to a Turk. We were
admitted without ceremony; the Pretender entertained us on the
subject of our families as knowingly as if he had been all his life
in England: he told me some passages of myself and father, and of
his being against the followers of King Charles I. and II., and
added, "that if you, sir, had been of age before my grandfather's
death, to learn his principles, there had been little danger of your
taking party against the rights of a Stuart."
"He then observed how far the prejudices of education and wrong
notions of infancy are apt to carry people from the paths of their
ancestors: he discoursed as pertinently on several of our
neighbouring families as I could do, upon which I told him I was
surprised at his so perfect knowledge of our families in England;
his answer was, that from his infancy he had made it his business to
acquire the knowledge of the laws, customs, and families of his
country, so that he might not be reported a stranger when the
Almighty pleased to call him thither. These and the like discourses
held until word was brought that dinner was served; we endeavoured
all we could to withdraw, but there was no possibility for it after
he had made us this compliment, "I assure you, Gentlemen, I shall
never be for straining man's inclinations; however, our
grandfathers, who were worthy people, dined, and I hope there can be
no fault found that we do the same." There is every day a regular
table of ten or twelve covers well served, unto which some of the
qualified persons of his court, or travellers, are invited: it is
supplied with English and French cooking, French and Italian wines;
but I took notice that the Pretender eat only of the English dishes,
and made his dinner of roast-beef, and what we call Devonshire-pie:
he also prefers our March beer, which he has from Leghorn, to the
best wines: at the dessert, he drinks his glass of champagne very
heartily, and to do him justice, he is as free and cheerful at his
table as any man I know; he spoke much in favour of our English
ladies, and said he was persuaded he had not many enemies among
them; then he carried a health to them. The Princess with a smiling
countenance took up the matter, and said, "I think then, Sir, it
would be but just that I drink to the cavaliers." Sometime after,
the Pretender begun a health to the prosperity of all friends in
England, which he addressed to me. I took the freedom to reply, that
as I presumed he meant his own friends, he would not take it ill
that I meant mine. "I assure you, Sir," said he, "that the friends
you mean can have no great share of prosperity till they become
mine, therefore, here's prosperity to yours and mine." After we had
eat and drank very heartily, the Princess told us we must go see her
son, which could not be refused; he is really a fine promising
child, and is attended by English women, mostly Protestants, which
the Princess observed to us, saying, that as she believed he was to
live and die among Protestants, she thought fit to have him brought
up by their hands; and that in the country where she was born, there
was no other distinction but that of honour and dishonour. These
women, and particularly two Londoners, kept such a racket about us
to make us kiss the young Pretender's hand that to get clear of them
as soon as we could, we were forced to comply: the Princess laughed
very heartily, and told us that she did not question but the day
would come that we should not be sorry to have made so early an
acquaintance with her son. I thought myself under a necessity of
making her the compliment, that being hers, he could not miss being
good and happy. On the next post day, we went, as commonly the
English gentlemen here do, to the Pretender's house for news. He had
received a great many letters, and after perusing them he told us
that there was no great prospect of amendment in the affairs of
England; that the Secret Committee and several other honest men were
taking abundance of pains to find out the cause of the nation's
destruction, which knowledge, when attained to, would avail only to
give the more concern to the public without procuring relief; for
that the authors would find means to be above the reach of the
common course of justice: he bemoaned the misfortune of England
groaning under a load of debts, and the severe hardships contracted
and imposed to support foreign interests: he lamented the
ill-treatment and disregard of the ancient nobility; and said it
gave him great trouble to see the interest of the nation abandoned
to the direction of a new set of people, who must at any rate enrich
themselves by the spoil of their country: "some may imagine,"
continued he, "that these calamities are not displeasing to me,
because they may, in some measure, turn to my advantage; I renounce
all such unworthy thoughts.""[423]