Memoirs of the Jacobites of 1715 and 1745 | Page 6

alleged by Mr. Murray's champion,
that his feelings and affections, rather than his reason, were quickly

engaged in the cause of the Chevalier, from his opportunities of
knowing intimately the personal qualities of the two royal brothers,
Charles Edward and Henry Benedict. He was, moreover, independent
of circumstances; being in the enjoyment of a fortune of three or four
hundred a year, which was considered a sufficient independence for a
younger brother, and therefore interest, it is alleged, could not have
been an inducement to his actions.
Whether from real admiration, or from a wish to disseminate in
Scotland a favourable impression of the Stuart Princes, it is difficult to
decide; but Mr. Murray, in 1742, dispatched to a lady in Scotland, who
had requested him to describe personages of so great interest to the
Jacobites, the following, perhaps, not exaggerated portrait of what
Charles Edward was in the days of his youth, and before he had left the
mild influence of his father's house.
"Charles Edward, the eldest son of the Chevalier de St. George is tall,
above the common stature; his limbs are cast in the exact mould, his
complexion has in it somewhat of an uncommon delicacy; all his
features are perfectly regular, well turned, and his eyes the finest I ever
saw; but that which shines most in him, and renders him without
exception the most surprisingly handsome person of the age, is the
dignity that accompanies his every gesture; there is, indeed, such an
unspeakable majesty diffused throughout his whole mien and air, as it
is impossible to have any idea of without seeing, and strikes those that
do with such an awe, as will not suffer them to look upon him for any
time, unless he emboldens them to it by his excessive affability.
"Thus much, madam, as to the person of this Prince. His mind, by all I
can judge of it, is no less worthy of admiration; he seems to me, and I
find to all who know him, to have all the good nature of the Stuart
family blended with the spirit of the Sobieskys. He is, at least as far as I
am capable of seeing into men, equally qualified to preside in peace
and war. As for his learning, it is extensive beyond what could be
expected from double the number of his years. He speaks most of the
European languages with the same ease and fluency as if each of them
were the only one he knew; is a perfect master of all the different kinds

of Latin, understands Greek very well, and is not altogether ignorant of
Hebrew; history and philosophy are his darling entertainments, in both
which he is well versed; the one he says will instruct him how to
govern others, and the other how to govern himself, whether in
prosperous or adverse fortune. Then for his courage, that was
sufficiently proved at the siege of Gaità, where though scarcely arrived
at the age of fifteen, he performed such things as in attempting made
his friends and his enemies alike tremble, though for different motives.
What he is ordained for, we must leave to the Almighty, who alone
disposes all; but he appears to be born and endowed for something very
extraordinary."[11]
It was not long before Mr. Murray perceived that, although James
Stuart had given up all hopes of the English crown for himself, he still
cherished a desire of regaining it for his son. Scotland was of course the
object of all future attempts, according to the old proverb:
"He that would England win, Must with Scotland first begin."
The project of an invasion, if not suggested by Murray, as has been
stated, was soon communicated to him; and his credit attained to such
an extent, that he was appointed by the Chevalier, at the request of
Prince Charles, to be secretary for Scottish affairs. At the latter end of
the year 1742 he was sent to Paris, where he found an emissary of the
Stuarts, Mr. Kelly, who was negotiating in their behalf at the Court of
France. Here Murray communicated with Cardinal Tencin, the
successor of Cardinal Fleury, in the management of the affairs of the
Chevalier, and here he met the exiled Marquis of Tullibardine, who,
notwithstanding his losses and misfortunes in the year 1715, was still
sanguine of ultimate success. Here, too, was the unfortunate Charles
Radcliffe, who, with others once opulent, once independent, were now
forced to submit to receive, with many indignities in the payment,
pensions from the French Government. It was easy to inflame the
minds of persons so situated with false hopes; and Murray is said to
have been indefatigable in the prosecution of his scheme. After a delay
of three weeks in Paris, he set off