"Charlie O'er the Water." TO THE EDITOR.

Otago Witness, Issue 2849, 21 October 1908, Page 66

"Charlie O'er the Water." TO THE EDITOR.

Sn», — Readers. of- George Borrows works will remember his "violent tirade against the' cult of Jacobitism, which he scornfully described as "Charlie-o'er-the -water nonsense," invented by Sir Walter Scott for the purpose of foisting Popery on the nation. Were the worthy Mr Borrow aliye to-day he would have even more cause for complaint than when he wrote the above " lines 50 years ago. The nast two decades have witnessed a remarkable and widespread revival of interest in the exiled £).uart line, and although we have no novelist or poet to equal Sir Walter Scott or Lady Nairne, a legion of lea^^ifted persons have rendered their meed of admiration to Prince Charles Edward," and his devoted followers. Considering the comparatively email number of persons who followed the for-" tunes of the Stuart exile, it is remarkablo how many thousands of individuals to-day reverence his memory and cherish any little relic-3 that appertain to his person or his followers. j Mr Andrew Lang, that diligent Jacobite ! student, has clearly proved that at the time . Prince Charlie, was making his triumphant march into England he had the sympathy of nearly, 'half the inhabitants of the king- ■ dom, and yet only a few hundred risked | th*ir lftes .in his cause. Probably, they did not understand the art of warfare, and"* it must-Jiot. be . forgotten .that .-tho "Whig Government of the day took good care tc introduce many thousands^ of foreign mercenaries to overawe the disaffected. As far a3 the history books are concerned, wfrxhear no more of the Stuarts and their- adherents after 1746, but it is now known that there were -many Jacobite " societies in existence as late as 1807, when the Stuart male line became- extincV, and the rights of that family devolved upon the ancestor of Princess Mary of Bavaria. What a contrast is afforded between the fall of the Commonwealth in 1660 and the \ fall of tbs Stuarts in 1688! Immediately ! the Protector died the whole system that " ho had laboriously raised, collapsed, and - fell amidst universal derisiin.. No serious patriot mourned the fall of {hat political system; i+ passed to its eravo unwept, unKonoured. and unsung. Th.T fall of tbe • Stuarts, on the other hand, was accom- " nanied by convulsions, which rent the three kingdoms in twain, and for 60 years threatened the existence of the Revolution Go- . vernment. Brave men sacrificed their lives and fortunes to restore the fallen dynasty. ■ and when the Jacobite Vjauso in its appeal To the sword ceased, thousands mourned . in silenqe the exilo and ruin of their native line of kin«a. . Many hard things have been said of ifce Stuarts, but in spite of all' detraotoi-s; they will bo rememberod as a raco which called , forth some of the noblest qualities of human nature in their behalf, and created a sentiment of admiration, which defies time, proscription, and the axe. and will - not expire so lon# as tho exiled heirs of 1688 remain. — I am, etc.. * C. C. Baguaix. Feilding, October 16.