The Sun.
London, England, 1845-06-09 00:00:00

LITEAATURE.

MEMOIRS OF PRINCE CHARLES STUART.
By C. L. Klose. 2 yds.
Whatever may be the characters or opinions of
men. wheti.er in the fresh dawn of youth, or the calm
serenity of age ; whether glowing with enthusiasm,
or (-hilted by selfish calculation, there are some feel-
ing. 3 wnich find an echo in the hearts of all—which,
exciting common sympathies, proclaim our common
nature. Of these sentiments one of the most uni-
versal is the admiration of heroic deeds—the love of
the marvellous and romantic ; fairy tales are ever the
favourites of childhood, and are able to charm even in
later years, while the cold and the careless cannot
withdraw their attention from the "deeds of high and
chivalrous emprise," or the heart-stiring narrative of
suffering devotion: It' anything can increase the
interest of romance it is truth; tales of fiction may
please the fancy, but truth has a power all its own.
We read the wondrous history with new pleasure;
when we know that all the fearful dangers and mighty
deeds have actually been " dared and done'' by
men with thoughts and feelings like our own. It is
on this account that ancient history is universally
admired; the fabulous chronicles of Greece and
Rome, the legends and traditions of a bygone age,
are all adorned with imagined wonders, yet we are
fain to believe them true. Modern events are too
recent to admit of embellishment,
" 'Tis distance lends enchantment to the view,"
and the enthusiast turns to the ancient records while
we fancy the age of chivalry is past. But the atten-
tive observer of his country's annals will find even in
later times some " glimpses of ancient glory," and no
page shines brighter with romance than that which
chronicles the fortunes of the young Charles Edward.
Now that a hundred years have passed away, and we
can look back without political prejudice, do we not
sympathise with that ha; less prince, the last hope of
a rnyal line, adorned with all the virtues of his ancestors,
but suffering for all their faults ! Though we may
rejoice in the fsilure of the rebellion, though we
grieve not to think the royal Stuarts are no more,
though we glory in our free constitution, in the tri-
umph of the "cause for which Hampden died on the
field and Sydney on the scaffold," yet who is there
can think on the '45 unmoved, or regard the Chevalier
and his Highlanders without admiration and enthu-
siasm ? Careless of political distinction, we look on
the young Stuart as a high-spirited and unfortu-
nate man ; in such a character can we re-
fuse our sympathy ? In the memoirs before
us we have a faithful history of his life ;
we see him in his ardent and adventurous b.:y
h-tod, and his gloomy and heart-broken age; but,
above all, we see him in that eventful year when he
achieved such glory and suffered such distress. The
Scottish expedition was, perhaps, never surpassed in
the boldness of the design, the splendour of its
first success, or its sudden and melancholy downfal.
A. young prince, trusting only in the justice of his
cause, and accompanied but by seven adherents,
lands in an enemy's dominions, for the purpose of
recovering three kingdoms ! Instead of being re-
pulsed and avoided, he is hailed as the "true Prince,"
and received with open arms. He unfurls his father's
standard. amidst the shouts of thousands, tied
marches from victory to victory. It must have
been a gallant sight to have seen the young Chevalier
treading for the first time on his n. Vie mountains,
to have witnessed the loyalty and devotion of the
faithful clansmen, or have seen
" The bonneted chieftains to victory crowd,
Clanranald the dauntless, and Mornay the proud,
All plaided and plumed in their Tartan array."
These memoirs will do more than interest the ro-
mantic—they will afford much valuable information ;
they contain many letters and historical documents,
calculated to exhibit the real character of Charles ;
and, above all, they are written in a straightforward
and impartial style, alike free from panegyric and de-
traction. The author had apparently resolved to
"Nothing extenuate, nor set down aught in malice."
He extols the intrepid conduct of his hero, but he
attempts not to palliate the faults of the Stuarts. The
romantic narrative is not mingled with political con-
troversy; we are not led to admire hereditary tyranny,
but we follow the young Chevalier in his chequered
course, we see him exulting in the hour of victory,
we mourn over his dire misfortune at Culloden, and
we sympathise with his arter sorrows. The account
of the wanderings in the Hebrides is full of thrilling
interest—we there see him, indeed,
" The heir of palaces without a home ;"
chased from place to place by his eager pursuers,
each anxious to gain the reward set on his head; but
not the offer of 30,0001. could tempt the Highlanders
to betray their Prince. Whatever were his sufferings,
his friends were still as faithful as when he had seen
them in the hour of battle—
" True to the last of their blood and their breath,
Like reapers descend to the harvest of death."
Perhaps some may be disappointed t not finding so
great a variety of incidents and anecdotes as they