This original letter wrote to Mr. Tho. Cart when at Rome, and
given Him by the Pretender was deliver’d to me by the said Mr.
Tho. Cart Sept. 15th. 1739 together with the Heads &c.
Whilst this correspondence would seem to show that Sir Robert was not
altogether disinclined to enter into secret negotiations with the
Pretender, it must be remembered that up to comparatively recent times
statesmen at the head of affairs were much given to employing secret
agents for the purpose of obtaining information—very often without the
knowledge of the Government over which they presided. Cavour, I believe,
was about the last to employ these methods, and it is said that though
he was very much given to this sort of thing, he never obtained any good
by it, as the agents he employed never reported anything of the
slightest value, most of their communications being absolutely
unreliable and untrue. Mr. Carte, however, appears to have really
enjoyed the confidence of the Pretender, and the whole correspondence is
somewhat interesting as showing the great amount of intrigue and love of
secret negotiation which prevailed at the period of the eighteenth
century when this memorandum was drawn up.
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[2] The site of Sir Robert’s house in Chelsea is now covered by Walpole
Street, which traverses the ground upon which his mansion stood.