Bonhams 1793 : STUART (CHARLES EDWARD) Autograph letter unsigned [? to a MacDonald], beginning with the statement 'ye two houses by se or Land', no date

Autograph letter unsigned [? to a MacDonald], beginning with the statement 'ye two houses by se or Land' and then, after apparently indicating his own current pseudonym or that of the Duke of Fitzjames, he alludes to an 'attempt far off', enjoins his correspondent to secrecy, mentions the need for funds and the names Gros, Douns and Ryans, and suggests that Ryans, who will write 'immediately [if it is?] on or off', should come in his person with it and give it to Mr Gordon, one page, 8vo, trace of former guard, headed 'Munday Morning at 10:½', no place or date

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Footnotes

The text reads: 'ye two houses by se or Land ye D. signing present L. D. de F. and only Doun to be Consulted before Making any attempt far off, My saying to Gros and his Brother is trede ye affair enjoining ye Secret as also ye Soverain of ye place; a Renuall of Carignians proposition. ye Economy, as one dose not Even know If Gros will guive funds which wou'd derange me, very much; Ryans writing immediatly on or off, Iff on, wait for all things and what is desiered to be done in as Little time as possible and com[m]e with it himself to guive it in Mr. Gordons hand for a necessary security, and Remain near or at Paris for ye answer.'

This letter probably relates to the negotiations between Charles Edward, the Young Pretender, and the Duke of Fitzjames, who was acting on behalf of the French King, concerning a proposed marriage between Charles and Loiuse Maximiliana Caroline Emmanuel, daughter of Gustave Adolphe, Prince of Stolberg-Gedern, with an accompanying pension of 40,000 crowns. The marriage took place in great secrecy in Paris on 28 March 1772 and Louise and her mother were then conducted to Charles in Italy by Colonel Edmund Ryan, an Irish colonel in the French service who was acting as Charles's agent in this matter. The real wedding took place in Macerata on 17 April.

Charles's correspondent was presumably a MacDonald, the motto of Clan Donald being 'Per mare per terris'. Mr Gordon is possibly John Gordon, Rector of the Scots College in Paris. The phrase 'ye Soverain of ye place' may mean 'the place of your Sovereign.' Could 'Carignians' mean the Carolingians, that is the French?

Category: Books / Books, Maps and Manuscripts

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