extravagance of the French Cardinal, together with the
sincere love of the poor and the deep religious devotion
that are characteristic of the great Italian saint. It is,
moreover, only right to remember that those whom the
Cardinal Duke preferred to encourage and entertain at
his table were for the most part men of worth and
learning, rather than the frivolous and idle sycophants



BISHOP OF FRASCATI 79

of Roman society (galopini, as they were termed in those
days) who sought meals and amusement at the houses
of the great by means of gossip or flattery. " Although,"
says Atti, " he was not a man of remarkable genius nor of
special erudition, he knew well how to appreciate these
qualities in others. He therefore always kept himself
surrounded by virtuous and learned men, and indefatig-
ably he favoured their studies and generously patronized
science."

Of his many public works carried out at Frascati,
of which it is now necessary to speak, by far the most
important and useful was the founding of the Seminary
that still survives intact as a lasting memorial to the
zeal and bounty of Henry Stuart. On the total sup-
pression of the Society of Jesus by Clement xiv in
1769, the Cardinal Duke, who had always shown a
special interest in education, applied to the reforming
Pope for a grant of the now deserted Jesuit college at
Frascati, with the object of changing it into a seminary
for his diocese, the clergy of which he had apparently
found anything but cultivated or well-disciplined on the
occasion of the Synod of 1763. The Pope readily gave
the desired permission, and by a papal brief — ad futuram
rei memoriam — dated February 12th, 1770, the buildings
were handed over to the Cardinal Duke, who at once
expended the large sum of 12,000 crowns in adapting
them to the required purpose and in making various
additions of outlying property. This newly-founded
Seminary always occupied the first place in his heart,
and its management continued for many years a source
of loving care and anxiety to him, whilst he spared
neither time, trouble, nor money in making his Seminary,



80 HENRY STUART CARDINAL YORK

from the two standpoints of learning and accommodation,
a model establishment of its class.

Besides carrying out many structural improvements,
he also included two more buildings, one to contain a
printing-press and the other a stage, on which were to be
performed dramas, both classical and modern, that might
appeal to the tastes and improve the minds of his pupils
and their professors. But the chief pride of the Seminary
was the great Library, still existing, which was brought
together with care and judgment, and arranged in a fine
chamber enriched with a ceiling-painting in allegorical
designs from the brush of Taddeo Cunnoz, and with a
handsome pavement, in which the eminent mathematician
Calandrelli had been engaged to fix a meridian. To
Frascati was now removed from Rome practically the
whole of the Cardinal Duke's private collection of books,
manuscripts and engravings (including not a few valuable
works that had formerly belonged to James II of England,
to the Chevalier St. George, and to the royal Polish House
of Sobieski) in order to form the nucleus of the projected
library. Friends and suppliants, both great and small,
who were anxious to ingratiate themselves, now began to
present volumes from time to time, so that at the date of
the French invasion of the Papal States the library of the
Seminary of Frascati had probably become one of the
best stocked collections of its kind in Italy. Although
the buildings were pillaged by the French troops at the
close of the eighteenth century, and several of the choicest
treasures were dispersed or destroyed, this library at
Frascati still contains some objects of historical or
artistic interest amongst the general mass of theological
and classical literature. Two specimens at least survive



â– 13 3 * * <3 f










V




<




z

f.



c
rn

o

V.



z



Z
C



*>



BISHOP OF FRASCATI 81

of "the six codices bound in silk and velvet, with clasps
and plates of silver-gilt and with superb illuminations,
that once belonged to King James ill of England " ; l
namely, a Book of Hours, specially inscribed and bound
for Queen Catherina de' Medici of France, and a curious
account of Scottish history with miniature portraits
of all the kings of Scotland from Robert Bruce to
James VIII.

So absorbing was the interest taken by the Cardinal
Duke in forming this library, and so eager his desire to
add rare and valuable works to its contents, that the
sharp-witted Countess of Albany, when anxious to
propitiate her brother-in-law after the sudden arrival of
Count Alfieri in Rome, sent over to Frascati a choice
cditio princeps of Virgil, — the favourite pagan author of
Italian ecclesiastics from time immemorial, — and so
delighted was the recipient of her tactful gift, that he not
only overlooked the annoyance of Alfieri's presence in
Rome, but even condescended to make the acquaint-
ance of the great Piedmontese poet, who by Madame
d'Albany's express instructions had himself brought over
the volume. It was certainly a bold stroke of policy on
the Princess' part, but she had calculated shrewdly
and correctly on the successful results of so welcome a
present.

That the city of Frascati greatly appreciated the

foundation of the Seminary and its library, may be

inferred from the following quotation (a fair specimen

of the flowery and conventional eulogy that was, and is

still, popular in Italy), taken from Mastrofini's funeral

Oration : —

1 Atti.
6



82 HENRY STUART CARDINAL YORK

" What shall I say of thy Seminary, O my beloved
Frascati ? Is not this a sublime result of Henry's vast
favours ? How many fair buildings has he not incorpor-
ated with it ! How many sums has he not collected for
its prosperity ! An abundant and varied Library, in great
part the heirloom of his own ancestors, bears witness to
prove how great was his anxiety to promote public
studies ; hence the rare gift he made to thee of it, my
beloved city ! With this gift thy delights would seem to
be increased, and the pure and sacred air of knowledge is
wafted round thee. And the Spaniard, the Frank, the
Briton, even the Maltese, and the most remote native of
Italy, will hasten to draw learning from thy sources, as at
a new and glorious Athens ; and more frequent will be
thy cry of praise for the bounteous Henry than for thine
illustrious sons of old, the Mamilli and the Catos, who
plucked the laurels of Mars rather than the olive-branch
of peace and preferred to build a fortune for themselves
rather than to signalise their memory by loving and
widespread charity." l

When, in 1803, Henry Stuart was by force of circum-
stances obliged to exchange the see of Frascati for that of
Ostia, a graceful tribute was paid to his past services and
his great generosity by Cardinal Giuseppe Doria, the new
bishop, who placed in a niche of this library a white
marble bust of his predecessor. This bust, which repre-
sents the Cardinal Duke in a wig, and with his famous
pectoral cross of huge diamonds resting on the silken cape
that covers his shoulders, stands on a marble pedestal
bearing a lengthy Latin inscription to the " princeps

1 Mastrofini.



BISHOP OF FRASCATI 83

munificentissimus " who, whilst bishop, gave to Frascati
this Seminary and its fine collection of books. From this
well-executed portrait, perhaps the best likeness extant,
it is not difficult for the interested observer to read the
inner character of the man himself, and to understand the
story of his long career ; for the large prominent eyes, the
heavy mouth, and the general air of repose at once
suggest that Henry Stuart was kindly and generous,
honourable and straightforward in all his dealings, and
sincerely pious, though somewhat narrow-minded in his
mode and views of life ; the features likewise demonstrate
that he was at the same time dull-witted, thoroughly self-
satisfied, not a little open to flattery and a trifle
pompous : a group of attributes not at all consistent
with the usually held characteristics of the royal
Stuarts.

The next principal monument to his energy in his
own cathedral city is to be found in the modernised
episcopal palace of La Rocca, the restoration, or rather
rebuilding, of which was caused by a curious accident of
a type not uncommon in old Italian houses. On the
evening of September 23rd, 1775, while Henry Stuart, at
the conclusion of one of the great Church ceremonies in
which his soul delighted, was entertaining at supper the
Cardinal Orsini, together with a train of distinguished
ecclesiastics, a catastrophe — very similar to that which
once befell Pio Nono in the convent of Sant' Agnese
outside the walls of Rome — suddenly overwhelmed the
whole party. In the midst of the meal, without any
warning, the long heavy beams that supported the
flooring, no doubt weakened by hundreds of years of
service, broke asunder with a crashing noise, and in an



84 HENRY STUART CARDINAL YORK

instant the host, his guests (over fourteen in number), and
the many servants waiting upon them, were all flung
headlong into the vast coach-house below. All was
darkness and confusion, for the thick clouds of dust
caused by the wreckage hindered the many willing
rescuers. Meanwhile the report of the disaster at the
palace had got abroad, and so alarmed the populace that
many of the inhabitants rushed into the building in order
to learn the fate of their beloved bishop and protector.
To the intense relief and joy of all present, the Cardinal
Duke was finally discovered lying on the roof of one of
his own coaches in a fainting condition, but unhurt
beyond receiving a severe shaking and some bruises
which compelled him to keep to his room for a few days.
Cardinal Orsini was likewise rescued almost untouched,
but several of the other guests suffered more or less
seriously from falls or from broken furniture and masonry,
and one unfortunate priest, Dr. Gandolfi, succumbed a
few days later to the effects of his injuries. So great was
the popular rejoicing over this providential escape, that
the inhabitants of Frascati decided to hold a thanksgiving
service on each anniversary of this event in all their
churches, a practice which was continued until their
benefactor's death. After so tragic an ending to a day of
ceremonial and feasting, it is not surprising to learn that
the Cardinal Duke at once decided to restore the
dilapidated old feudal pile that served him for a palace
from its foundations, and during the work of rebuilding
we are told that he " limited his state " by residing in the
Seminary, where he occupied the two rooms that lead to
the organ-chamber of the chapel. The episcopal palace
of Frascati, therefore, as we see it to-day, was built by



BISHOP OF FRASCATI 85

Henry Stuart, and it still retains many memorials of its
former royal occupant. The chapel is in much the same
condition as when he used it, and on the walls of his
favourite apartment subsequent bishops (amongst them
the English Cardinal Howard) have carried on the series
of medallion portraits of bishops of Frascati, which he
himself initiated.

Another important memorial of his episcopate, this
time one that does more credit to his religious zeal than
to his good taste, must now be mentioned : the church
and convent of the Passionists, built in 1788 on the site of
the great temple of the Latin Jove (Jupiter Latiaris) on
the summit of Monte Cavo. It is melancholy to reflect
that so well-meaning and so highly educated a prince of
the Church, who, moreover, affected to reverence the great
classical traditions of the land that was doubly his own
by birth and adoption, should in the name of pastoral
duty have despoiled Italy of one of her most interesting
relics of antiquity. For Henry Stuart certainly decreed
the destruction of the famous ruin on the ancient Via
Triumphalis in order to erect the present commonplace
and superfluous convent out of its abundant material.
Traditionally built by Tarquin in honour of the protect-
ing deity of the Latin Confederacy during the dim and
distant era of the Roman kings, this shrine had come to
rank in popular esteem as second only to the altar of Jove
upon the Capitol, and successful generals returning to
Rome were wont here to make the sacrifice of a sheep
{pvatio) whilst gazing on the great city in the plain below.
According to the artist Piranesi (whose name is familiar
to us from his splendid engravings of the ruins of Rome),
this magnificent work of antiquity measured 240 feet



86 HENRY STUART CARDINAL YORK

long and 120 broad, its length being exactly double
of its breadth, a circumstance which goes to prove its
remote Etruscan origin, in spite of Virgil's distinct
denial —

"Turn neque nomen erat, nee honos, aut gloria monti." 1

But neither its extreme historical value, nor the
grandeur of its lonely and lofty position, nor the multitude
of time-honoured legends that clung to its hoary stones,
could save the great temple from the ecclesiastical
vandalism of the eighteenth century ; whilst there were
not wanting ignorant flatterers ready to extol the
Cardinal Duke's action in " laying on the brow of the
Alban Hills the first stone of a church to the Unspeak-
able Trinity on a site where formerly rose the heathen
shrine of the Jove of Latium." 2 All that escaped the
hand of the destroyer were a few fragments of wall, and
some huge blocks of dressed stone that stand on the
terrace of the present convent. This merciless removal of
the second greatest temple of ancient Rome was perhaps
the last, as it certainly was the worst, instance of the
demolition of classical Roman buildings under Papal
rule ; and it is much to be regretted that the name of
Henry Stuart should be so closely associated with this
particularly flagrant outrage.

After recounting the story of the destruction of the
chief pagan monument in his diocese, it will be only fair
to relate a striking instance of his natural kindness of
heart and sympathy towards his people. When first he
came to Frascati he learned that there existed in an
obscure corner of the district known as the Molara a
1 sEneid, xii. v. 135. " Mastrofini.



BISHOP OF FRASCATI 87

settlement of casual winter labourers with their families
living together in a squalid village of roughly built huts,
at a spot known for this reason as Le Capanne (the
Cabins). These people, not being natives of the Alban
Hills, but strangers drawn from various parts of the
country, were regarded as outcasts and aliens by their
immediate neighbours, who possessed to the full the
strong sentiment of local clannishness that has always
been so marked a feature in Italian peasant life. Clergy
and people had hitherto alike avoided the Capanne and
their rough-mannered occupants, who continued to dwell
in a state of abject misery and want, without so much as
a priest to say Mass for them in the half-ruined chapel
hard by their encampment ; in fact this spot was shunned
by all as a fruitful source of crime and disease. Great
therefore must have been the surprise of these unhappy
human pariahs, when one day they perceived approaching
them a large procession, in the midst of which there
walked the Cardinal Duke in person beneath a canopy of
cloth-of-gold bearing with his own hands the Sacrament.
Vague rumours of the vast wealth, of the royal birth, and
of the splendid state of the "Cardinale degli Organi" had
doubtless penetrated to the hovels of the Molara, so that
the consternation caused by the appearance of this
gorgeous train at the Capanne may well be imagined.
But Henry Stuart was far from being daunted by the
vice and wretchedness of these people, and it is to his
eternal credit that he used every effort to reform these
black sheep of his Tusculan flock, and to better their
condition both socially and morally. For their benefit he
rebuilt and refurnished the little church of Santa Maria
della Molara, sending thither a resident priest to perform



88 HENRY STUART CARDINAL YORK

the necessary services, and to teach the children at the
Capanne. He also added a presbytery, and endowed it
with a fund of three thousand crowns, in order that these
poor people might never in the future lack the presence
of a spiritual adviser in their midst. So continuous, in
fact, were the interest and sympathy in their welfare
shown by him, that in course of time the rude population
of the Capanne grew to love and trust their benefactor,
whilst it became a common saying amongst them that the
magnificent Cardinal Duke would sooner sell the great
diamond cross that he always wore on his breast, rather
than suffer themselves or their children again to endure
starvation and neglect. In the words of Mastrofini, he
certainly " destroyed evil and planted good in the Molara ;
he reopened the healing veins of grace upon this neglected
portion of his diocese " ; and as both his Italian biographers
do not scruple to compare the Cardinal Duke's conduct
with that of Charles Borromeo, it must be frankly
admitted that at least in this instance he closely followed
the glorious example set by the noble and saintly Arch-
bishop of Milan.

Finally, it is necessary to allude to the many com-
memorative tablets in Frascati and its neighbourhood
which were set up by the Cardinal Duke at different
times, and of which Atti gives a full list, mentioning some
twenty-seven in all. This practice of recording all public
events, great or small, is of classical origin, and came into
vogue in Rome under the Emperors, being continued by
their spiritual successors, the Popes, until the time of Pio
Nono, as any visitor to Rome may observe ; indeed, even
at the present day this custom of affixing marble tablets
on all occasions is still very popular throughout Italy, so



BISHOP OF FRASCATI 89

that in thus perpetuating the memory of each event in his
episcopate, the Cardinal Duke was not guilty of any
special acts of ostentation, but was merely pursuing the
time-honoured and usual Italian practice. These many
existing inscriptions bear witness to a variety of public
and private acts: the building of convents or churches,
the founding of schools, the bringing of a water supply to
the palace (where it can be seen to-day, flowing into a fine
antique sarcophagus) ; the funeral services held after the
death of Prince Charles Stuart, and many other occasions.
All these tablets consist of marble slabs inscribed with
Latin sentences in which the words " Henricus — Cardinalis
— Dux — Eboracensis — Episcopus — Tusculanus " invari-
ably occur in slightly varying forms; it is, moreover,
worthy of remark that the expression Rex never once
appears, being even denied to the epitaph on Prince
Charles' tablet, which forms almost the sole object of
historical interest that the Cathedral of Frascati can
boast. As might be expected, the palace of La Rocca
contains not a few of these memorials, the principal of
which recalls the informal visit paid to the Cardinal Duke
in his old age by Pius VII and Charles-Emmanuel, King of
Sardinia, on October 14th, 1802, shortly after the former's
return from Venice. This visit was intended to be in the
nature of an agreeable surprise, for the newly-elected Pope
was anxious, so he himself declared, to bestow some
special mark of honour upon Henry Stuart, as the last
representative of his royal House (" il ultimo rampollo
della nobilissima casa degli Stuardi"); and his guest,
the pious King Charles-Emmanuel, who himself a little
later resigned his crown in order to become a priest, also
expressed a strong desire to congratulate the Bishop of



ao HENRY STUART CARDINAL YORK

Frascati on his escape from a bitter and enforced exile.
Henry Stuart, however, being secretly informed of the
proposed visit, came down with three gala coaches to the
foot of the hillside in order to await the Pope's arrival at
the very spot where, more than forty years before, his own
coming had been so anxiously expected by the good
people of Frascati on the occasion of his first entry into
his cathedral city. On the approach of the Pope, the
aged Cardinal at once came forward on foot to meet him,
but Pius VII immediately insisted on his venerable host
sharing his own chariot and sitting beside him, an extreme
mark of favour and condescension usually only accorded
to crowned heads ; and thus the reigning Pontiff and the
de jure King of Great Britain, France and Ireland together
ascended the hill, and finally alighted at the palace, where
a repast, worthy of the great occasion, was standing ready
prepared. The meal concluded, Henry took his two
illustrious guests to inspect the Cathedral and the
Seminary, and then led them to the villa of his secretary
and chief friend of his old age, Monsignore Cesarini, after
which the two monarchs returned to the Capital after a
warm greeting from the inhabitants of Frascati, who were
delighted at the high compliment paid to their beloved
bishop. Next day, despite his many years and increasing
feebleness, Henry Stuart, to the great concern of Pius VII,
insisted on driving into Rome in order to pay the
usual formal visit of enquiry after entertaining the
Sovereign-Pontiff. 1

This was the last instance of the princely hospitality
of the Cardinal Duke during his long tenure of the see
of Frascati, which he had filled for upwards of forty-

1 Diario di Roma.



BISHOP OF FRASCATI 91

two years ; for in the following September he became,
through the death of his life-long friend, Cardinal Giovanni-
Francesco Albani, Dean of the Sacred College and ipso
facto bishop of Ostia, whilst la diletta Frascati fell to
Cardinal Giuseppe Doria.



CHAPTER V
LAST YEARS OF JAMES THE THIRD. 1747-1766

" Hame, hame, hame, hame, fain wad I be,
O hame, hame, hame, to my ain countrie !
The green leaf o' loyalty's beginning for to fa',
The bonny White Rose it is withering an a' ;
But I'll water it wi' the blude o' usurping tyrannie,
An' green it will grow in my ain countrie."

HAVING in the last two chapters sketched briefly the
Cardinal Duke's career as an Italian ecclesiastic,
we are now free to discuss his personal relations with his
father and brother.

With the utter failure of the Scottish expedition, and
with his younger son's reception into the College of
Cardinals, the name and personality of James Stuart — the
James III of the Legitimists and the Old Pretender of the
Hanoverians — practically disappear from English history,
and there is surely something pathetic in this sudden
eclipse of a prince who for nearly half a century had been
the object of special hope and attachment in one British
political party and of genuine dread in the other. All
idea of a possible restoration, for which in the past he had
worked so assiduously, and even all earthly ambition
seem from this point gradually to fade out of James'
mind, so that we behold a dismal picture of a disheartened,

92



LAST YEARS OF JAMES THE THIRD 93

forlorn and moping invalid sinking by slow degrees into
the obscurity of the tomb, his very existence ignored by
his former enemies and remembered only with compassion
by a dwindling number of friends. For the remaining
eighteen years of his life James was therefore reduced of
necessity to rely upon the services of Henry, though it
was his high-spirited heir rather than the placid Church-
man who ever occupied the foremost place in the dis-
appointed King's affections.

In the very month that followed Henry's elevation to
the Cardinalate the old King, in company with his
younger son, undertook a pilgrimage to the famous
shrine of Loreto in order to fulfil a vow made to the
Madonna conditional upon the safe return of Charles from
Scotland. During their journey the two royal devotees
were closely followed and watched by one of Sir Horace
Mann's spies disguised as a pilgrim, who was thus enabled
to report to his master that James Stuart's movement
owned no political significance, but had for its sole object
the offering in person of " a piece of armour with his
Eldest Son's picture engraved upon it and set with
jewels." 1

But the elder son had now definitely broken with his
father, and though from time to time James made feeble
efforts — notably by the dismissal of the faithful Dunbar
from his service — to entice the Prince back to Rome, the
unforgiving Charles continued to hold aloof. Possibly
the Chevalier's misery and sense of desolation were
rendered the more acute by a deep-seated suspicion that