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Article CHAPTER IX. ← Page 8 of 10 →
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Chapter Ix.
" In the general consternation the safety of the Prince was iminentl y imperilled . The loyalists knew , that could they once lay hold on him their victory was established ; and to this end , accordingly , every effort of their zeal was indefatigably strained . " Charles was not less active to frustrate their endeavours , nor less firm in his determination to put his measures into execution . No sooner ivould they proceed upon any information as to his hiding-place , than he ivould fly
from it in an instant , and , as if by magic foresight , taking shelter at one time in the enemy ' s rear , at another in their front , personating to actuality the character of a Proteus , and baffling the most practised tactitians that ivould explore his haunts . " On one of these occasions an entire regiment of the government tro"ps marched through a little village in the north of England , on their way to a certain locality where they had understood he was secreted . The Chevalier having been apprised of their intended route , at once changed his abode ;
and not content with evading the severity of their vigilance , resolved to fix himself in a position so as to enjoy their disappointment . " He dressed himself , accordingly , in the disguise of an old woman , with a high coul cap and a red flannel petticoat ; and thus secure , he placed himself at the door of a miserable little cabin situated in the very village through which the soldiers had to pass , spinning a wheel , with a child in his lap , and soothing it to rest with the hum ofhis lullaby . " " Upon my word , Father Corney , if that be as you assert , the story of Achilles concealed amongst the daughters of Lycomedes , or of Hercules flogged by Omphale as he carded her wool , sink into insignificance compared with this of your knight-errant . Aud when we take into
consideration the different motives by which the three were actuated , Achilles skulking to evade a war to which he had been pledged by all the laws of honour , Hercules debasing the prerogative of nature ' s standard by a truckling subserviency to whining lewdness , and Charles Stuart encountering all the horrors of blood and carnage , courting difficulties in the struggle in every step and in every shape , exercising upon his person privations of every description , as well physical as otherwise ; and doing all from a highwrought and ennobling devotetlness to justice and legitimacy , there is
nothing wanting , in my opinion , so far as manhood and courage are concerned , to constitute the Christian chief a hero of romance incomparabl y superior to either of his pagan rivals l " " Well said , O'Neil , I always thought there was in you a latent spark of warmth which required but the application of a suitable match to make it ignite into a blaze . I am not much disposed to superstition , yet cannot I conceal it from myself as an incident of unusual surprise , that in the course of a dream which flitted through my fancy on the night preceding the conflict
which blasted the hopes of our ill-omened enterprise , my thoughts should have run along the same mournful channel which the patriotic Claragh once pursued , and immortalised afterwards in the spirit-stirring accents of his pictorial plaintiveness . You do not remember his words , O'Neil ? "
" I do not . " " Then I shall repeat them for you . "—And so he did , in all the mellifluous intonation of his native raciness . I had hesitated whether I should not display my Irishy by inserting here , at full length , the very words of the original as now quoted by O'Sullivan . But as it would be so much labour thrown away on the great mass of general readers , I have judged it better to substitute a translation ofthe passage extracted from Hardiman ' s Irish Minstrelsy .
" 'Twas night and buried in deep sleep I lay , Strong visions rose before me , and my thoughts Played wildly through the chambers of my brain , When , lo ! who sits beside my couch and smiles
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Chapter Ix.
" In the general consternation the safety of the Prince was iminentl y imperilled . The loyalists knew , that could they once lay hold on him their victory was established ; and to this end , accordingly , every effort of their zeal was indefatigably strained . " Charles was not less active to frustrate their endeavours , nor less firm in his determination to put his measures into execution . No sooner ivould they proceed upon any information as to his hiding-place , than he ivould fly
from it in an instant , and , as if by magic foresight , taking shelter at one time in the enemy ' s rear , at another in their front , personating to actuality the character of a Proteus , and baffling the most practised tactitians that ivould explore his haunts . " On one of these occasions an entire regiment of the government tro"ps marched through a little village in the north of England , on their way to a certain locality where they had understood he was secreted . The Chevalier having been apprised of their intended route , at once changed his abode ;
and not content with evading the severity of their vigilance , resolved to fix himself in a position so as to enjoy their disappointment . " He dressed himself , accordingly , in the disguise of an old woman , with a high coul cap and a red flannel petticoat ; and thus secure , he placed himself at the door of a miserable little cabin situated in the very village through which the soldiers had to pass , spinning a wheel , with a child in his lap , and soothing it to rest with the hum ofhis lullaby . " " Upon my word , Father Corney , if that be as you assert , the story of Achilles concealed amongst the daughters of Lycomedes , or of Hercules flogged by Omphale as he carded her wool , sink into insignificance compared with this of your knight-errant . Aud when we take into
consideration the different motives by which the three were actuated , Achilles skulking to evade a war to which he had been pledged by all the laws of honour , Hercules debasing the prerogative of nature ' s standard by a truckling subserviency to whining lewdness , and Charles Stuart encountering all the horrors of blood and carnage , courting difficulties in the struggle in every step and in every shape , exercising upon his person privations of every description , as well physical as otherwise ; and doing all from a highwrought and ennobling devotetlness to justice and legitimacy , there is
nothing wanting , in my opinion , so far as manhood and courage are concerned , to constitute the Christian chief a hero of romance incomparabl y superior to either of his pagan rivals l " " Well said , O'Neil , I always thought there was in you a latent spark of warmth which required but the application of a suitable match to make it ignite into a blaze . I am not much disposed to superstition , yet cannot I conceal it from myself as an incident of unusual surprise , that in the course of a dream which flitted through my fancy on the night preceding the conflict
which blasted the hopes of our ill-omened enterprise , my thoughts should have run along the same mournful channel which the patriotic Claragh once pursued , and immortalised afterwards in the spirit-stirring accents of his pictorial plaintiveness . You do not remember his words , O'Neil ? "
" I do not . " " Then I shall repeat them for you . "—And so he did , in all the mellifluous intonation of his native raciness . I had hesitated whether I should not display my Irishy by inserting here , at full length , the very words of the original as now quoted by O'Sullivan . But as it would be so much labour thrown away on the great mass of general readers , I have judged it better to substitute a translation ofthe passage extracted from Hardiman ' s Irish Minstrelsy .
" 'Twas night and buried in deep sleep I lay , Strong visions rose before me , and my thoughts Played wildly through the chambers of my brain , When , lo ! who sits beside my couch and smiles