The Spottiswoode Miscellany (Volume 1); A Collection of Original Papers and Tracts, Illustrative Chiefly of the Civil and Ecclesiastical History of Sc

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1844. Excerpt: ... LETTER AN ENGLISH TRAVELLER AT ROME to HIS FATHER, OF THE 6in OF MAY 1721 O. S. mums Ik Ike v t R im On the 10th day of June 1688, the birth of a sou gratified the desires of the Roman Catholic supporters of James II., ami depressed the hopes of their opponeuts; but the event, generally deemed most likely to perpetuate the power of the King, accelerated his fall, by causing those, who might have tolerated his rule, in the expectation that his death would remedy the evils of which they complained, to combine in dethroning him, when they saw the certainty that his Crown would devolve on a Unman Catholic successor. At a later period, when the death of the Duke of Gloucester opened the succession to a remote branch, there seems no doubt that Queen Anne would have willingly recognized the claims of her brother; but the uncompromising disposition of her father in matters of faith, by bringing up his son in that form of religion he professed himself, created obstacles which it was almost impossible to overcome, and which would never have arisen, if the inflexible monarch had permitted the Prince to have been educated in that faith, which in England was alone recognised as the national one. James Francis Edward, Prince of Wales, commonly called the Old Pretender, is thus described, when between twelve and thirteen years of age, in a scarce little book, entitled-- A View of Paris and Places Adjoining, with an Account of the Court of France, and of the late King James, &c. Lond. 12mo. 1701: -- The next day I saw the pretended Prince of Wales, who is a handsome sprightly youth. He performs all his exercises to perfection, and is one of the best marksmen in France, He delights so much in shooting, that when he is abroad he will make shift with any sort of victuals...