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should not be opened till they had raised the siege. These Amazons now showed themselves qualified for the duty even of foot soldiers; they stood there till five in the afternoon, without either sustenance or evacuation, every now and then playing volleys of thumps, kicks, and raps, against the door, with so much violence that the speakers in the House were scarce heard. When the Lords were not to be conquered by this, the two Duchesses (very well apprised of the use of stratagem in war) commanded a dead silence of half an hour; and the Chancellor, who thought this a certain proof of their absence (the Commons also being very impatient to enter), gave order for the opening of the door; upon which they all rushed in, pushed aside their competitors, and placed themselves in the front rows of the gallery. They stayed there till after eleven, when the House rose; and during the debate gave applause, and showed marks of dislike, not only by smiles and winks (which have always been allowed in such cases), but by noisy laughs and contempts; which is supposed the true reason why poor Lord Hervey spoke so miserably."

JEMMY DAWSON.

KENNINGTON COMMON was, in the last century, the place of execution for the county of Surrey; at the present day it presents nothing to remind us of its criminal history. It is no longer the place of the gibbet, or has its green turf trodden down by crowds flocking to pugilistic contests, or the orations of political brawlers; but it is now a healthful place of recreation,

with its lawn, its shrubs, and flowers. With the great Chartist gathering in 1848 upon this spot, the political fame of Kennington Common may be said to have ceased.

Still, one of its last century events lingers in the simple tenderness and pathos of one of the songs of Shenstone, which narrates in its homely verse the mournful tale of Captain James Dawson, one of the eight officers of the Manchester regiment of volunteers in the service of the young Chevalier, who were hanged, drawn, and quartered on Kennington Common, in 1746.

Shenstone," whose mind was not very comprehensive, nor his curiosity active," was content to take the event of his song from a narrative first published in the Parrot, of August 2, 1746, as follows:-"Mr. James Dawson was one of those unfortunate gentlemen who suffered on Kennington Common for high treason; and had he either been acquitted or received the Royal mercy after condemnation, the day of his enlargement was to have been the day of his marriage. The following are the particulars of his execution, and the fate of the unfortunate young lady to whom he was sincerely attached :

"On her being informed that Mr. Dawson was to be executed, not all the persuasions of her kindred could prevent her from going to the place of execution; she accordingly followed the sledge in a hackney coach, accompanied by a gentleman nearly related to her, and a female friend. Having arrived at the place of execution, she got near enough to see the fire kindled that was to consume him, and all the other dreadful preparations, without betraying any of those emotions her

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friends apprehended. But when all was over and she found he was no more, she threw her head back in the coach, and ejaculating, My dear, I follow thee! Lord Jesus, receive our souls together!' fell on the neck of her companion, and expired the very moment she had done speaking. Most excessive grief, which the force of her resolution had kept smothered within her breast, is thought to have put a stop to the vital motion, and suffocated at once all the animal spirits." In the Whitehall Evening Post of August 7, 1746, the above narrative is copied, and the remark added, that “ upon enquiry, every circumstance was literally true." The catastrophe is thus reproduced in Shenstone's song:

But though, dear youth, thou shouldst be dragged

To yonder ignominious tree,

Thou shalt not want a faithful friend
To share thy bitter fate with thee.

O then her mourning coach was called,
The sledge moved slowly on before;
Though borne in her triumphal car,
She had not loved her favourite more.

She followed him, prepared to view
The terrible behests of law;

And the last scene of Jemmy's woes
With calm and steadfast eye she saw.

Distorted was that blooming face,

Which she had fondly loved so long;
And stifled was that tuneful breath,
Which in her praise had sweetly sung;

And severed was that beauteous neck,
Round which her arms had fondly closed;
And mangled was that beauteous breast,
On which her love-sick head reposed;

And ravished was that constant heart,
She did to every heart prefer;
For though it would its King forget,

'Twas true and loyal still to her.

Amid those unrelenting flames

She bore this constant heart to see;
And when 'twas mouldered into dust,
Now, now, she cried, I follow thee.

My death, my death alone can show
The pure and lasting love I bore:
Accept, O Heaven! of woes like ours,
And let us, let us weep no more.

The dismal scene was o'er and past,
The lover's mournful hearse retired;
The maid drew back her languid head,

And, sighing forth his name, expired.

SECRET VISITS OF THE YOUNG PRETENDER TO

LONDON.

AT Christmas 1864, the appearance in the Times journal of a letter from the Queen's Librarian at Windsor Castle relating to the Stuart Papers acquired by George IV., when Prince Regent, and deposited in the Royal Library by William IV., led to a revival of the historic doubt as to the Secret Visits of Prince Charles Edward (the young Pretender) to London; and produced the following very interesting evidences, contributed by a painstaking correspondent to the above-named journal.

It seems to be pretty generally taken for granted that Prince Charles Edward paid but one single visit to London; whereas four different occasions have been recorded in which he is said to have risked his liberty, if not his life, by making secret journeys to the British metropolis. The first of these presumed adventures is thus set forth by Forsyth, the accomplished traveller in Italy :

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England was just respiring from the late Rebellion, when in 1748, on the faith of a single gentleman, he (the Prince) set off for London in a hideous disguise, under the name of Smith. On arriving there he was introduced at midnight into a room full of conspirators whom he had never seen. 'Here,' said his conductor, ' is the person you want,' and left him locked up in this mysterious assembly. These were men who imagined themselves equal at that time to treat with him for the throne of England. Dispose of me, gentlemen, as you please,' said Charles. My life is in your power, and I therefore can stipulate for nothing. Yet give me, I entreat you, one solemn promise, that, if your design should succeed, the present family shall be sent safely and honourably home.' For a few days the young adventurer was flattered with the glorious prospect, until difficulties arose on the part of the French Ambassador, whose Court had cooled in the Stuart cause. remained on the rack of suspense for a week in London, where different persons recognised him in the streets, but (such was ever his only good fortune) none betrayed him. He then returned to Paris to encounter cruel indignation, and was there arrested and expelled the kingdom."-Forsyth's Remarks on Italy, p. 436, 4th ed.

Charles

Lord Stanhope, in his History of England (vol. iii. p. 253, note, 2nd ed.), takes it for granted that Forsyth has mistaken the year 1748 for 1750; but, presuming that Forsyth, whose "scrupulous accuracy" Lord Stanhope himself admits, is correct in his data that the visit was made previously to the Prince's arrest and imprisonment by the French Court, in that case it must unquestionably have taken place before the year

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