Jacobite romance in which he is made to do all these things. A
glance should be cast on the pamphlet called 'A Letter from H. G---g,
Esq.' (London, 1750). The editor announces that the letter has been
left in his lodgings by a mistake; it has not been claimed, as the
person for whom it was meant has gone abroad, and so the editor feels
free to gratify 'the curiosity of the town.' The piece, in truth, is
a Jacobite tract, meant to keep up the spirits of the faithful, and
it is probable that the author really had some information, though he
is often either mistaken, or fables by way of a 'blind.' About
February 11, says the scribe (nominally Henry Goring, Charles's
equerry, an ex-officer of the Queen of Hungary), a mysterious
stranger, the 'Chevalier de la Luze,' came to Avignon, and was
received by the Prince 'with extraordinary marks of distinction.'
'He understood not one word of English,' which destroys, if true, the
theory that the Earl Marischal, or Marshal Keith, is intended.
French and Italian he spoke well, but with a foreign accent. Kelly
ventured to question the Prince about the stranger, but was rebuffed.
One day, probably February 24, the stranger received despatches, and
vanished as he had come. The Prince gave a supper (d'Argenson's
'ball'), and, when his guests had retired, summoned Goring into his
study. He told Goring that 'there were spies about him' (the Earl
Marischal, we know, distrusted Kelly); he rallied him on a love-
affair, and said that Goring only should be his confidant. Next
morning, very early, they two started for Lyons, disguised as French
officers. As far as Lyons, indeed, the French police actually traced
them. {49a} But, according to the pamphlet, they did not stop in
Lyons; they rested at a small town two leagues further on, whence the
Prince sent dispatches to Kelly at Avignon. Engaging a new valet,
Charles pushed to Strasbourg, where he again met La Luze, now
described as 'a person whose extraordinary talents had gained him the