Today In 1745 at the Retreat from Derby of Bonny Prince Charlie it is well
to remember his brother, Henry Benedict Maria Clement Stuart Cardinal, Duke
of York, known to the Jacobites as "Henry IX, King of Great Britain, France,
and Ireland. He was born at Rome, 11 March, 1725; he died at Frascati, 13
July, 1807. The second son of James Francis Edward Stuart, the Old
Pretender, the Chevalier de St. George, and Clementina, daughter of Prince
James Sobieski. In 1745 a Stuart restoration hopes were high, Henry visited
France, desiring to lead French troops to aid his brother Charles Edward. He
spent months at Dunkirk waiting. The troops never came. He then returned
to Rome to enter the priestly state. Twenty-two year old Henry in 1747 was
created cardinal, the next year he received Holy Orders, and was ordained
priest on 1 September 1748. He was forthwith made archpriest of the Vatican
Basilica, and immediately afterwards cardinal camerlengo. In November, 1759
at 34 he was consecrated ostensibly Archbishop of Corinth, and on 13 July,
1761, became Cardinal-Bishop of Frascati. Being sincerely pious and ardent,
he was a zealous administrator of his see. Cardinal Stuart reformed the
clergy, and founded a seminary which he endowed with a magnificent library.
The French Revolution and it’s anticlerical bent took away his French
benefices. He sacrificed many of his assets to assist the pope. He was
reduced to poverty by the seizure of his Frascati estate by the French. He
fled to Padua, old and sick, and afterwards to Venice. In true Christian
charity the pope forgot him but his old family enimies the Hanover monarchs
to wit King George III of Great Britian came to his assistance, aiding him
with a life-annuity until he was able to return to Frascati in 1800. In
return for this kindness the cardinal bequeathed to the Prince of Wales,
afterwards George IV, the crown jewels of James II. In September, 1803, he
became Bishop of Ostia and Velletri, and Dean of the Sacred College, though
he still resided at Frascati. At his death the Stuart papers in his
possession were bought by George IV for the Royal library, and others are
now in the British Museum. There are three portraits of him in the National
Portrait Gallery, London, and one at Blairs College, Aberdeen. He is
entombed at St. Peter's, Rome. The only thing the pope gave him and even
that his estate paid for was Canova's monument to keep alive his memory.
Sinclair
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