Alas for Miss Muffett! she has marvellously diverted us : Little Miss Muffett She sat on a tuffett, Eating of curds and whey: There came a little spider, And frightened Miss Muffett away. Picture to yourself the dark and side-long gait of the smart little spider, scrambling towards the young lady, and taking in most orderly sort his seat beside her! Then for the distress and consternation of little Miss Muffett; how she screams out, leaps up, and shakes her frock as if all the scorpions in Egypt were clinging round it, and then wheels round like a dying peg-top, till, having staggered a few paces onwards, she settles down upon a daisied bank to take breath; and, ten to one, dreams of spiders all the next night! St. Pierre was right when he said that persons usually choose for their companions through life those who differ from them in certain essentials, and this constitutes the grand mystery of conjugal felicity. Take a lesson from Jack Sprat's wife, and choose one whose habits will as happily dove-tail with yours : Honey and locusts were his food, Herod kept in princely state His birth-day. On his throne he sate, After the feast, beholding her Who danced with grace peculiar ; Fair Salome, who did excel All in that land for dancing well. The feastful monarch's heart was fired, And whatso'er thing she desired, Though half his kingdom it should be, He in his pleasure swore that he Would give the graceful Salome. The damsel was Herodias' daughter: She to the queen hastes, and besought her To teach her what great gift to name. Instructed by Herodias, came The damsel back; to Herod said, "Give me John the Baptist's head; "And in a charger let it be "Hither straightway brought to me." Herod her suit would fain deny, But for his cath's sake must comply, When painters would by art express Beauty in unloveliness, "If any thing," says Voltaire, " could justify those who believe in an unavoidable fatality, it would be the series of misfortunes which, for the space of three hundred years, have befallen the House of Stuart." It is affirmed that when Fleance, the son of Banquo, fled into North Wales to shield himself from the power of Macbeth, the tyrant of Scotland, he found a friendly asylum at the court of Griffydth ap Llewellyn, the reigning prince, by whom he was long entertained with the warmest affection; and that becoming enamoured of Nest, the daughter of Griffydth, and violating the laws of hospitality and honor, he formed an illicit intimacy with her, and had by her a son whom they named Walter. Gryffydth, in resentment for so foul an offence, ordered Fleance to be slain, and reduced his daughter to servitude. As her son Walter advanced in years, he excelled in valor and elevation of mind. In a dispute with a companion his birth was reproachfully retorted on him; he slew his antagonist on the spot, and fearing to abide the consequences fled into Scotland, where he attached himself to the English, in the train of Queen Margaret, sister to Edgar Atheling. Walter by by his conduct and ability acquired great esteem; he obtained honorable public employment, and was ultimately appointed High Steward of Scotland, from which office he and his descendants took the name of Stewart, or Stuart. From this root sprung the royal family of Stuart, as well as other branches of illustrious families in Scotland.* Sir Walter Scott, however, alleges that "Early authorities show us no such persons as Banquo and his son Fleance, nor have we reason to think that the latter ever fled further from Macbeth than across the flat scene according to the stage directionneither were Banquo or his son ancestors to the house of Stuart."+ In addition to this, there is a statement of more importance by Sir Walter-"The genealogy of the Stewart family, who acceded to the throne of Scotland, has been the theme of many a fable. But their pedigree has by late antiquarians been distinctly traced to the great Anglo-Norman family of FitzAlan in England: no unworthy descent for a race of monarchs. In David the first's time, Walter Fitz-Alan held the high post of Senechal or high steward of the king's household; and, the dignity becoming hereditary in the family, what was originally a title became a surname." ‡ That the Stuarts themselves believed in their being descended from Banquo, and that one of our Universities also gave credence to it, is a recorded fact-for when James I. (of England) visited the University of Oxford, on passing the gate of St. John's College, his Majesty was saluted by three youths representing the weird sisters (Sibylla) who in Latin hexameters bade the descendant of Banquo hail, as king of Scotland, England, and Ireland. "Ad Regis introitum, e Joanensi Collegio extra portam urbis Borealem sito, tres quasi Sibyllæ, ut e sylva saluta "2. Quem divisa prius colit una Brittannia Salve, "3d. Summe, Monarcha Brittanniæ, Hibernæ, Galliæ, Salve, &c. &c.* Walter Stuart or Stewart, High Steward of Scotland, whose office had given name to his family, was married to Maren jory, the daughter of Robert Bruce, the deliverer of Scotland. Their son, Robert, succeeded to the throne on the death of his uncle David, with whom the male line of Bruce became extinct.* ROBERT II., the first of the Stuarts, came to the throne in right of his mother. He was aged and infirm at his accession, and his reign was neither happy nor tranquil. He was succeeded by his son John,† who, on being crowned, assumed the name and title of ROBERT III. This prince was lame in body and enervated in mind: his reign was unquiet. The wild conduct and cruel murder of his eldest son, David, and the subsequent unjust detention of James, his surviving son, by Henry IV. of England, caused him to die of sorrow. JAMES I., for eighteen years a captive in England, found his country in a greatly disturbed state on his return to it; he fell by the hands of assassins at Perth. JAMES II., constantly in civil wars, basely murdered a Douglas with his own hand, and was killed by the bursting of a cannon at the siege of Roxburgh. JAMES III. was murdered by his rebellious subjects, after a battle with them near Bannockburn. JAMES IV. lost his life in Flodden Field. JAMES V. died of a broken heart, after his defeat at Solway, in the belief that his nobles and generals had been false to him. MARY, his daughter, experienced a life of strange vicissitudes; she was treacherously deceived, and, after languishing many many years in prison, was basely murdered by her kinswoman, Elizabeth.Whether guilty or not of the crimes laid to her charge, will, probably, ever remain a point for doubt; but, as her latest historian remarks, "This may be truly said, * Nichols's Progresses, Processions, &c., of James the first, vol. I. p. 545. ORA † Le Sage's Historical Atlas No, 16; also Hist. of Scotland passim. Scott's History of Scotland, vol. i. that if a life of exile and misery, endured with the most saintly patience, could atone for crimes and errors of the class imputed to her, no such penalty was ever more fully discharged than that of Mary Stuart." * Her son united the twocrowns ENGLAND and SCOTLAND. sad JAMES I. Adversity remitted, during his time only, the persecution of his race; although the early part of his reign, as king of Scotland, was any thing but felicitous. The change of style on this king's accession is said to have fulfilled an old prophecy. "The prophecy," says Bacon, I heard when I was a child, and Queen Elizabeth was in the flower of her years, T was "When HEMPE is spun, 110 30307) Whereby it was generally conceived, that after the princes had reigned which had the principal letters of that word HEMPE, which were Henry, Edward, Mary, Philip, and Elizabeth, England should come to utter confusion, which thanks be to God is verified in the change of name; for that the king's style is now no more England but Britain." + CHARLES I., who deluged his country with his subjects' blood, was dethroned and beheaded. Howel notices a curious error which was made at his proclamation, "King Charles," says he, "was proclaimed at Theobald's Court Gate by Sir Edward Zouch, Knight Marshal, Master Secretary Conway dictating unto him, Whereas it has pleased God to take to his mercy our gracious Sovereign King James, of famous memory, we proclaim Prince Charles his rightful and bitable heir, &c. &c.,' the Knight Marshal mistook, and said, 'his rightful and dubitable heir, but he was rectified by the secretary." CHARLES II. experienced a long series of misfortunes, both in exile and on the throne. During his reign, the Dutch fleet, under De Ruyter, appeared in the Thames, took Sheerness and burnt many ships of war, and almost insulted the A narrative of the dangers to which he was exposed after the Battle of Worcester is published in a little volume entitled "Boscobel," from the name of the house in which he lay concealed. This has been lately reprinted, with other pieces relating to the king's escape. : L capital itself in their predatory incursion." Virtue was depressed and vice and levity countenanced throughout the land. His death was sudden and not without suspicion of poison, although some historians say there is no ground for such belief. + JAMES II., a weak, intolerant, and besotted prince, whose intentions, it was suspected, were to replace the kingdom under the papal jurisdiction; for which, and various acts of despotism, he was deposed, and transmitted to his offspring (male) exile and seclusion from the throne. He died at St. Germains, in 1701. Of his daughters, MARY, married to WILLIAM of ORANGE, with whom she reigned jointly; and ANNE, married to GEORGE OF DENMARK, who reigned in her own name, no further notice need be taken than that they died without issue. In 1714, the crown of Great Britain passed to the House of Hanover. In 1711, the Jacobite party in Scotland made no scruple of avowing their attachment to the pretender, and the duchess of Gordon went so far as to cause medals to be struck with the head of the Chevalier de St. George on one side, and on the other the British Isles, with the motto "Reditte;" these she presented to the faculty of advocates, who passed her a vote of thanks for them. I CHARLES JAMES, more known by the name of the Chevalier de St. George, the first Pretender, was the only son of James H. He might almost be termed a wanderer, from his seeking a home among various powers on the continent, and being occasionally driven from his asylum, through political motives, whilst striving to interest the court so as to render him assistance in his design of gaining possession of the British throne. He died at Rome, 1st Jan. 1766, and left two sonsairs Among the various attempts made by the Stuarts, with the aid of foreign powers, to regain possession of their lost dominions, in two instances only did they wear any thing like a formidable appearance, those in 1715, and 1745, the latter headed by Charles Edward in person, when so many of the Scotch nobility sealed with blood, on the scaffold or in the field, their fealty to him whom they considered as their rightful sovereign.§.. * Temple, vol. iii. Hume's Hist. England. † Smollet's Hist. England. § For a History of these rebellions, see 1. Register of the Rebellion 1715, and The extraordinary perils and escapes of the prince Charles Edward, when every hope in his cause was crushed, in traversing, under various disguises, those realms over which his progenitors had, for upwards of three centuries, swayed the sceptre, seeking for the opportunity of some friendly sail to waft him in security to the opposite shore, wear more the appearance of a tale of romance than of reality. To the immortal honor of the Scottish nation, though a great number of persons of all ranks must, necessarily, have been entrusted with the secret, and though the head of the pretender was "worth its weight in gold," there was not to be found one recreant dastard base enough to betray an unfortunate gentleman for the sake of lucre. I The young prince did at length succeed in quitting the British territories, but it was only to experience fresh vicissitudes, as in a short period afterwards, through the political intrigues of the British court, he was refused an asylum in France. The conduct of Louis XV. towards the prince on this occasion was highly censured, and is thus noticed by Mr. Douglas: -" The fondness of the French for their monarch had been considerably impaired before my arrival in Paris. It was considered as unworthy of a monarch, and an ignominy to the French nation, to abandon the young pretender, and to exclude him from a retreat in France; though the success of the war might have justified the king in making this one of the conditions of peace, and though it had been promised him expressly by treaty. manner, also, in which this prince, the great grandson of Henry the Fourth, was treated when he was arrested, by being pinioned like a felon, awakened a strong feeling of popular displeasure. It was surprising to hear the remarks of the French on this transaction. Paris was in a ferment, sufficient to have produced another affair of the Barricades; every tongue was loud and every pen satyrical; epigrams and verses flew about the streets The and were posted up in the most public places on the occasion, severely reflecting on the conduct of the court. And, though I did not visit the French capital until seven or eight months after, I found this one of the first topics of conversation, and the praises of Prince Edward in every mouth. Louis the XV. is no longer le bien aimé." * The campaign of 1745 proved so decisive that it terminated the struggle, and the Stuarts retired from the contest. "That the present pretender," † says Hume, "was in London in the year 1753, I know with the greatest certainty, because I had it from Lord Marechal, who said it consisted with his certain knowledge. "Two or three days after he gave me this information, he told me that the evening before he had learned several curious particulars from a lady (who I imagined to be the Lady Primrose, though my lord refused to name her). The pretender came to her house in the evening, without giving her any preparatory information, and entered the room where she had a pretty large company with her, and was herself playing at cards. He was announced by the servant under another name: she thought that the cards would have dropped from her hands on seeing him; but she had presence of mind enough to call him by the name he assumed, and asked him when he came to England, and how long he intended to stay. "After he and all the company went away the servants remarked how wonderfully like the strange gentleman was to the prince's picture, which hung on the chimney piece in the very room in which he had entered. My lord added (I think from the authority of the same lady) that he used SO little precaution that he went abroad openly in the day light in his own dress, only laying aside his blue ribbon and star, walked once through St. James's and took a turn in the Mall. "About five years ago I told this story to Lord Holderness, who was Secretary of State of 1753, and I added that I supposed this piece of intelligence had escaped his lordship at the time. By no means,' said he, and who do you think first told me; it was the King himself, who subjoined, and what do you think I * Travels of John Douglas, afterwards Bishop of Salisbury, in the years 1748-9. † Charles Edward. should do with him? Lord Holderness owned that he was puzzled how to reply, for if he declared his real sentiments they might favor of indifference to the royal family. The king perceived his embarrassment and extricated him from it, by adding, 'My lord, I shall just do nothing at all; when he is tired of England he will go abroad again.' "But, what will surprise you more, lord Marechal, a few days after the coronation of the present king, told me that he believed the young pretender was at that time in England, or at least had been so very lately, and had been over to see the show of the coronation, and had actually seen it. I asked my lord the reason for this strange fact, why,' said he, 'a gentleman told me so that saw him there and even spoke to him, and whispered in his ear these words, your royal highness is the last of all mortals whom I should expect to see here. It was curiosity that led me, said the other, but I assure you that the person who is the object of all this pomp and magnificence, is the man I envy least.' You see this story is so near traced from the fountain head as to wear a great face of probability. Query-What if the pretender had taken up Dymock's gauntlet? I find that the pretender's visit to England, in 1753, was known to the Jacobites, and some of them assured me that he took the opportunity of formally renouncing the Roman Catholic religion, under his own name of Charles Stuart, in the church in the Strand, and that this is the reason of the bad treatment he met with at the court of Rome. I own that I am a sceptic with regard to the last particular." * CHARLES EDWARD, or, as he was generally called, Prince Edward, the eldest son of Charles James, died at Rome, 31st Jan., 1788, without issue. In the proclamation for his apprehension when heading the forces in Scotland, in 1745, he is called the "Prince Adventurer."'+ After the death of his father, he also went by the name of the "Pretender." HENRY BENEDICT, the second son of Charles James, as soon as he found the designs of his house rendered abortive from the signal defeat his brother met with in 1745, devoted himself to the church, and in 1747 received the scarlet * David Hume's letter to Sir John Pringle, M. D., dated St. Andrew's-square, Edinburgh, Feb. 10, 1773. † Smollet's Hist. England. |