in itself, was destined to cause him much discomfort for
the rest of his life. Whilst stepping into a coach he gave
himself a bruise on the shin {una stincaturd) that owing to
his advanced years and general state of ill-health refused
to heal, and thus remained an open sore, in course of time
depriving him of the use of his right leg. 1 In spite of
this injury, however, he determined to proceed to
Venice, and crossing the Straits of Messina to Reggio
on the opposite Calabrian coast towards the end of
February, he engaged a Greek merchant-vessel to carry
himself and Cardinals Braschi and Pignatelli to their
destination.
But the Adriatic Sea proved fully as treacherous and
unkind as the Tyrrhene, and after the ship had been
tempest-driven for some days off the coast of Apulia, her
captain was obliged to head for Corfu and run into port.
Happily for the illustrious wanderers, the island had
recently been cleared of its French garrison, and the
harbour of Corfu was now being held by the Turkish and
Russian squadrons, whilst Monsieur Spiridion Foresti,
whose services were highly appreciated by Nelson, was
then acting as British Consul in the town, so that the
1 Diario del Cardinale Duca.
THE ROYAL PENSION 227
Cardinals found themselves amongst friends. Abdul
Cadir Bey, the Ottoman vice-admiral, received the fugitives
with every mark of respect, and assistance was readily
granted. After remaining at Corfu some time, the
Cardinal Duke and his companions re-embarked, and
finally reached Trieste in the early summer without any
further mishap, and from this port they crossed to Venice. 1
Here Henry Stuart, " infirm as well as destitute," and
suffering great pain from the sore in his leg and also from
an attack of inflammation of the eyes, found a temporary
lodging in a private house near the Rialto, which, however,
his poverty soon compelled him to quit, driving him to
seek the hospitality of a neighbouring monastery, where
he remained until such time as he followed his brother
Cardinals to Padua.
Meantime the story of the unhappy Prince's mis-
fortunes, of his compulsory exile, and of the terrible straits
to which he had lately been reduced, had reached
England, where any doubts as to his melancholy plight
were quickly dispelled by a letter that Cardinal Borgia
thought fit to send from Padua to Sir John Hippisley,
whose semi - official mission to the Papal Court and
personal acquaintance with the Cardinal Duke we have
already mentioned. Stefano Borgia, a member of the
Italian branch of the great Spanish House, and one of the
most erudite members of the Sacred College, "a man of
science and literature," had long been on terms of intimacy
with Henry Stuart, whilst he had also gained Sir John's
confidence and respect during the period of his political
negotiations in Rome. He was, therefore, especially fitted
to act as intermediary in such a delicate business as the
1 Ibid.
228 HENRY STUART CARDINAL YORK
obtaining of financial aid from the British Government on
behalf of the grandson and last representative of the
dethroned James II : —
" Padua, September i^i/i, 1799.
"The friendship with which you honoured me in
Rome encourages me to lay before you a case worthy of
your most mature reflection, which is that among the
other Cardinals who have taken refuge in Padua, there is
also the Cardinal Duke ; and it is greatly afflicting to me
to see so great a Personage, the last descendant of his
Royal House, reduced to such distressed Circumstances,
having been barbarously stripped by the French of all his
property ; and if they deprived him not of life also, it was
through the mercy of the Almighty, Who protected him
in his flight both by sea and land, the miseries of which,
nevertheless, greatly injured his health, at the advanced
age of seventy-five, and produced a very grievous sore in
one of his legs.
" Those who are well informed of the most worthy
Cardinal's affairs, have assured me, that since his flight,
having left behind him his rich and magnificent valuables,
which were all sacked and plundered both at Rome and
Frascati, he has been supported by the silver plate which
he had taken with him, and of which he began to dispose
at Messina ; and I understand, that in order to supply his
wants during a few months in Venice, he has sold all that
remained.
" Of the jewels that he possessed very few remain, as
the most valuable had been sacrificed in the well-known
contributions to the French, our destructive plunderers ;
and with respect to his income, having suffered the loss
of 48,000 Roman crowns annually by the French Revolu-
THE ROYAL PENSION 229
tion, the remainder was lost also by the fall of Rome ;
namely, the yearly sum of 10,000 crowns assigned to him
by the Apostolic Chamber, and also his particular funds
in the Roman bank.
" The only income he has left is that of his benefices
in Spain, which amount to 14,000 crowns; but this,
as it is only payable in paper at present, is greatly
reduced by the disadvantage of exchange, and even
that has remained unpaid for more than a year, owing,
perhaps, to the interrupted communication with that
kingdom.
" But here it is necessary that I should add that
the Cardinal is heavily burdened with the annual sum
of 4000 ( ? 6000) crowns for the dowry of the Countess of
Albany, his sister-in-law ; 3000 crowns for the mother of
his deceased niece [Clementina Walkinshaw, Countess
d'Alberstroff], and 1500 for divers annuities of his father
and brother. Nor has he credit to supply the means of
acquitting these obligations.
" This picture, nevertheless, which I present to your
friendship, may well excite the compassion of every one
who will reflect upon the high birth, the elevated dignity,
and the advanced age of the Personage whose situation
I now sketch in the plain language of truth, without
resorting to the aid of eloquence. I will only entreat
you to communicate it to those distinguished persons
who have influence with your Government ; persuaded
as I am that English Magnanimity will not suffer an
illustrious Personage of the same nation to perish in
misery.
" But here I pause, not wishing to offend your natural
delicacy which delights to act from its own generous dis-
230 HENRY STUART CARDINAL YORK
position, rather than from the impulse and urgency of
others. . . . — Your true friend and servitor,
" Stefano, Cardinal Borgia." l
About the same time, Cardinal Borgia, in his anxiety
on behalf of his ill-fated friend, also dispatched another
letter, 2 couched in even stronger terms, to the King of
Spain, in order to induce that monarch to make prompt
payment of the arrears due to the Cardinal Duke from
his Spanish and Mexican benefices ; an effort which
apparently proved fruitless.
On receipt of Cardinal Borgia's gracefully worded and
ingenuous appeal, Sir John Hippisley (who was himself
connected by his marriage with a daughter of Sir John
Stuart of Allanbank with the great royal clan of Scotland)
at once communicated with Mr. Andrew Stuart of Castle-
milk, the celebrated lawyer and author of the Genealogical
History of the Royal Stewarts, who was also acquainted
with the Cardinal Duke; with the result that a formal
memorial was presented to Mr. Dundas, afterwards Lord
Melville. Dundas, in his turn, showed Sir John's and Mr.
Stuart's memorial to King George III, who, after first
consulting with the Duke of Sussex, at once expressed
his approval of Cardinal Borgia's suggestion, and his deep
sympathy with his distant relative. 3 At the same time,
His Majesty gave orders that a draft for £500 should at
once be remitted to Venice, to provide for the immediate
needs of the Illustrious Personage; and he also promised
1 Copies of Letters presented by Sir J. C. Hippisley to the British Museum,
1801.
2 Stuart Papers.
3 The Cardinal Duke was third cousin twice removed to King George III.
THE ROYAL PENSION 231
to provide later an adequate pension for so long as circum-
stances should compel him to require such assistance.
The successful result of Sir John Hippisley's and Mr.
Stuart's endeavours is to be seen in a somewhat mysteri-
ous letter, written in French, to Cardinal Borgia, which is
unsigned, but is dated November 22nd, 1799, with a post-
script added four days later : —
" LOXDRES, 22 Nov. 1799.
" MONSEIGNEUR, — I have been hoping to be able to
give Your Eminence a final account of the success of our
mission, but matters are too confused at this moment to
allow of an immediate settlement. I am, however, per-
suaded that in a few days' time this interesting matter
will be laid before the eyes of the High Personage from
whom flows every grace ; and I do not doubt but that the
impartial sentiments of his high soul will prove propitious
to our desires. I hope meanwhile that Your Eminence
will give all the consolation that is possible to your Illus-
trious Friend, and will try to prevent his being obliged to
despoil himself of the remainder of the precious objects
which have been for so many years in his family, and
which have gained thereby a sentimental value that is
higher than their intrinsic worth. I think I can promise
in eight or ten days to give Your Eminence news that we
shall be able to ward off another similar catastrophe, and
it will perhaps be as well during this interval for us to
despatch under Your Eminence's ?iame a letter of credit
for £500 sterling which will be sent by to-day's courier to
Mr.' Conrad Martens in Venice, and which Your Emin-
ence can acknowledge. I hope that by this arrangement,
though a poor one, Your Eminence will be able to stop
232 HENRY STUART CARDINAL YORK
for the time being the progress of these misfortunes
which have afflicted your high mind for so long a space
of time. Your Eminence will of course understand that
this small sum — so inadequate to its real object — is only
sent per interim, and in a private manner ; but it often
happens that a small sum promptly sent is worth more
than a larger one sent later. Bis qui cito dat. I flatter
myself in any case, Monseigneur, that I can soon give you
news from London of a settlement which will not be un-
worthy of this interesting object, and I have no doubt as
to the discreet and graceful manner whereby such an
arrangement will be notified to the Personage in whose
favour it will be made. Nobody better than Your Emin-
ence can render justice to the true motives which rule in
this case, and nobody better than yourself can make
it acceptable and pleasant to the sensitive soul of your
Illustrious and respectable Colleague.
• ■•••••a
"New. 26.
" I have the satisfaction to inform Your Eminence
that a life-annuity, which will, I trust, be found adequate
by the Personage for whose benefit it is intended, is
shortly to be arranged. Of this Your Eminence will
be informed either through myself, or through another
and a worthier channel. I hope in a few days' time
that .£1000 sterling will be remitted for the same
object, either to Your Eminence, or to your Illustrious
Friend by another hand." l
The letter containing this timely assistance reached
Cardinal Borgia about the close of the year 1799 at
1 Sluart Papers.
THE ROYAL PENSION 233
the precise moment when the thirty-four Cardinals then
assembled in Venice were shut up in a Conclave (which
was destined to prove one of the longest in Papal annals)
in order to choose a successor to the unfortunate Pius VI,
who had died in exile on August 29th. All who know
Venice will recall to mind the great rose-coloured pile
of buildings with the tall campanile and splendidly-
proportioned church, which are usually accounted the
architect Palladio's happiest effort and form so stately
a feature of the Venetian lagoons as seen from the Doge's
Palace; but few visitors on approaching this sea-girt
convent have realised that this beautiful and sequestered
spot was the scene of one of the most momentous events
in the recent history of the Papacy. General opinion
had deemed it next to impossible that the remaining
Cardinals, driven from Rome and scattered in different
directions, would ever be able to collect together so as
to hold the usual ceremonies of the Conclave necessary
to the valid election of another Pontiff. But in the
isolated monastery of San Giorgio the time-honoured
and intricate system of a Papal election was proceeding
in the winter of 1799 as smoothly and earnestly as if it
had been taking place in Rome itself. In spite of his
extreme old age Cardinal Albani, Bishop of Ostia, was
officiating as Dean of the Sacred College on this occa-
sion, and Cardinal Consalvi — afterwards nicknamed by
Napoleon "the Siren of Rome" on account of his
eloquence and diplomatic address — was acting as
Secretary, whilst the Cardinal Duke of York was filling
his usual post of Sub-Dean. The Cardinals assembled
in Conclave at San Giorgio readily admitted the bearer
of this welcome letter with its draft of money for the
234 HENRY STUART CARDINAL YORK
immediate wants of the venerable Henry Stuart ; and
Cardinal Borgia, in acknowledging the receipt of this
remittance, mentions that all the princes of the Church
were deeply interested and gratified to hear of " this
generosity of England towards their illustrious colleague."
Meanwhile the final arrangements for an annual
pension of ,£4000 to be paid half-yearly were being
hurried forward in England, so that on January 20th,
1800, Mr. Thomas Coutts, the royal banker, was able to
write (presumably with the King's knowledge) direct to
the Cardinal Duke at Venice the following interesting
letter, in which he offers his services : —
"... The Cardinal will remember to have seen at
Frascati in 1790 a Mr. Coutts and his wife and three
daughters. The eldest daughter is now married to the
Earl of Guildford, and the second to Sir Francis Burdett,
whose family have been much attached to the House of
Stuart as late as 1745 and since. The third is unmarried
and living with her mother and me, and remembers the
distinguished honour she received at Frascati, when you
put on her finger with your own royal hand the ring
which King Charles wore at his coronation. On my
return to England, giving an account of what I had
seen abroad to His Majesty King George the Third,
I did not omit a particular detail of the honours I
had received at Frascati, and of the uncommon polite-
ness as well as the elegant and princely manner in
which they were conferred. Neither did I fail to notice
the very handsome and most liberal terms in which
your sentiments of his character were expressed. I had
also the honour of showing at that time to his Majesty
THE ROYAL PENSION 235
the silver medal given to me with so much condescension
at Frascati. He questioned me on the likeness, said he
was much pleased to have seen it, and imply'd that few
he supposed would have mentioned the subject to him,
but that they were much mistaken who imagined he did
not very sincerely regard the family of Stuart, who were
worthy of all good men's attention, were it only for their
misfortune. He was so good [as] to receive and accept
from me with his own hand the medal I had the honour
to receive from yours. I have long been acknowledged
his banker, and I have also transacted the business of
all his royal sons. . . . My remaining and only ambition
is to be the hand by which the benevolence of Britain
from the best of men shall be conveyed to the last of
that illustrious line, the rightful former sovereigns of
Scotland, England, and Ireland. It lies with you to
make the choice. . . ." 1
Within three weeks of the receipt of Mr. Coutts'
letter, an official communication from Gilbert Elliot,
Lord Minto, then British Ambassador at Vienna, was
delivered to the Cardinal Duke in person by young
Mr. Charles Oakeley, one of Lord Minto's secretaries,
and the eldest son of Sir Charles Oakeley, a former
distinguished Governor of Madras : —
"Vienna, 9 Fed. 1800.
"My LORD, — I have received the orders of His
Majesty the King of Great Britain to remit to Your
Eminence the sum of £2000 sterling, and to assure
Your Eminence that you will cause him great pleasure
1 Historical MSS. Commission Report.
236 HENRY STUART CARDINAL YORK
by accepting this mark of interest and esteem. I have
at the same time been commanded to communicate
to Your Eminence His Majesty's intention to transmit
from him a like sum of .£2000 sterling in the month
of July, should circumstances continue such as to make
Your Eminence desire it.
" I have therefore the honour to inform you that the
sum of £2000 sterling has been placed at the house
of Messrs. Coutts and Company, bankers, London, at
the disposal of Your Eminence. In carrying out the
commands of the King my Master, I trust that Your
Eminence will believe me to be infinitely alive to the
honour of being the agent for the noble and touching
sentiments that have dictated to His Majesty the mission
on which he has deigned to employ me : sentiments that
have been inspired in him as much by his own virtues
and by the high qualities of the August Personage who
is the object of his bounty, as by his wish to repair in
every way possible the disasters by which the Universal
Scourge of our times seems desirous of destroying by pref-
erence all that is most worthy of veneration and respect.
" I beg Your Eminence to accept the assurance both
of my respectful homage and of the profound Veneration
with which I have the honour to be Your Eminence's
very humble and very obedient Servant,
" MlNTO,
" Env. Ex. & Min. Plen. de S. M. B.
" a la Cour de Vienne." *
This polite and cordial letter (which practically
amounted to an indirect communication from the Kinsr
1 Annual Register, 1807. (Translation of the original in French.)
THE ROYAL PENSION 237
himself to his distant cousin ; from the reigning George III
to the de jure Henry ix), was at once answered by
its illustrious recipient in grateful and dignified, though
quaintly expressed, terms : —
"Venice, February 26th, 1800.
" With the arrival of Mr. Oakeley, who has been this
morning with me, I have received by his discourse, and
much more by your letter, so many Tokens of your
regard, singular Consideration, and attention for my
Person, that oblige me to abandon all sort of ceremony,
and to begin abruptly to assure you, My Dear Lord, that
your letter has been most acceptable to me in all shapes
and regards. I did not in the least doubt of the noble
way of thinking of your generous and beneficent
Sovereign ; but I did not expect to see in writing so
many and so obliging expressions that, well calculated
by the Persons who receive them and understand their
force, impressed in their minds a lively sense of tenderness
and gratitude which, I own to you, obliges me more than
the generosity spontaneously imparted.
" I am in reality at a loss to express in writing all
the sentiments of my heart, and for that reason leave
it entirely to the interest you take in all that regards my
Person to make it known in an energetical and convenient
manner all I fain would say to express my thankfulness
which may easily be by you comprehended after having
perused the contents of this letter.
" I am obliged to you to have indicated to me the
way I may write unto Coutts the Court Banker, and
shall follow your friendly insinuations. In the meantime
I am very desirous that you should be convinced of my
238 HENRY STUART CARDINAL YORK
sentiments of sincere esteem and friendship with which,
My dear lord, with all my heart I embrace you.
" Henry Cardinal." 1
Simultaneously with his reply to Lord Minto, the
Cardinal Duke dispatched a second letter of thanks to
Sir John Hippisley, whose ardent services on his behalf
he was quick to recognise ; for it was patent to him, and
indeed to all concerned in the matter of the pension, that
this " benevolent and munificent act of his Majesty " was
the direct result of Sir John's appeal to the King through
Mr. Dundas : —
"Your letters fully convinced me of the cordial
interest you take in all that regards my Person, and am
happy to acknowledge that principally I owe to your
friendly efforts, and to those of your friends, the succour
generously granted to relieve the extreme necessities
into which I have been driven by the present dismal
circumstances. I cannot sufficiently express how sensible
I am to your good heart : and write these few lines in
the first place to contest to you these my most sincere
and grateful sentiments and then to inform you by means
of Mr. Oakeley, an English Gent n arrived here last
week, I have received a letter from Lord Minto from
Vienna, advising me that he had orders from his Court
to remit to me the sum of .£2000 Sterling, and that in
the month of July I may draw again, if I desire it, for
another equal sum. The letter is written in so extremely
obliging and genteel a manner, and with expressions of
singular regard and consideration for me, that, I assure
1 Annual Register, 1807.
THE ROYAL PENSION 239
you, excited in me most particular and lively sentiments,
not only of satisfaction for the delicacy with which the
affair has been managed,' but also of gratitude for the gener-
osity with which it has been provided for my necessity.
" I have answered Lord Minto's letter, and gave it
Saturday last to Mr. Oakeley, who was to send it by that
evening's post to Vienna, and have written in a manner
that I hope will be to his Lordship's satisfaction. I own
to you that the succour granted to me could not be
more timely, for, without it, it would have been impossible
for me to subsist on account of the absolutely irreparable
loss of all my income, the very funds being also destroyed ;
so that I would otherwise have been reduced during the
short remainder of my life to languish in misery and
indigence. I would not lose a moment's time to apprize
you of all this, and am very certain that your experi-
mented good heart will find proper means to make
known in an energetical and proper manner these
sentiments of my grateful acknowledgments.
" The signal obligations I am under to Mr. Andrew
Stuart for all that he has, with so much cordiality on this
occasion, done to assist me, render it for me indispens-
able to devise, that you may return him my sincere
thanks, assuring him that his health and welfare interest
me extremely : and that I have with great pleasure
received from Gen. Acton the genealogical history of
our family, which he was so kind as to send me ; I hope
that he will, from that gentleman, have already received
my thanks for so valuable a proof of his attention for me.
" In the last place, if you think proper, and an
occasion should offer itself, I beg you make known to
the other gentlemen also who have co-operated my most
240 HENRY STUART CARDINAL YORK
grateful acknowledgments ; with which, my dear Sir
John, with all my heart I embrace you. — Your best of
Friends,
"Henry Cardinal.
"Venice, 26th February, 1800.
" To Sir J. C. Hippisley, Bart.,
"London." 1
Meanwhile the interest and sympathy of all classes
of the British nation had been aroused on behalf of the
suffering and gentle " Pretender," and whilst the Cardinal
Duke was sending his sincere thanks to Lord Minto and
to Sir John Hippisley, the Times, in a leading article of
February 28th, expressed its satisfaction in the warmest
terms at the projected pension, and its deep regret for
the Cardinal Duke's unmerited misfortunes that made
such assistance desirable : —
" The Cardinal of York, the brother of Charles Edward,
early dedicated himself to a life congenial with the habits
of his mind. Placid, humane and temperate, he sought
consolation for the misfortunes of his ancestors in a
scrupulous observance of the duties of his religion,
apparently secured in his retirement from the storms and
vicissitudes but too often attendant upon political life.
The malign influence of the star which had so strongly
marked the fate of so many of his illustrious ancestors
was not exhausted ; and it was peculiarly reserved for the
Cardinal of York to be exposed to the shafts of adversity
at a period of life when least able to struggle with mis-
1 Copies of Letters presented by Sir J. C. Hippisley to the British Museum,
1 801.
THE ROYAL PENSION 241
fortune. At the advanced age of seventy-five he is driven
from his episcopal residence, his house is sacked, his
property confiscated ; and constrained to seek his personal
safety in flight upon the seas under every aggravated