"1745."

A Tale.

"Follow thee, follow thee, wha wadna follow thee,
King o' the Hieland hearts, bonny Prince Charlie?"

66

JACOBITE SONG,

Kings have no rights divine, until they fall,

And then a generous mind accords them all."

LONDON:

JAMES NISBET AND CO., 21 BERNERS STREET.
1859.

THIS

Little Tale,

WRITTEN MANY YEARS AGO,

IS APPROVED,

IN EIGHTEEN HUNDRED AND FIFTY-NINE,

BY

THE COUNTESS OF PORTSMOUTH,

TO WHOM

IT IS GRATEFULLY DEDICATED.

PREFACE.

It was a bright spring evening, and the streets of London were unusually gay, but the carriages and the foot-passengers were all moving in one direction, for there was to be a grand fancy-ball at Buckingham Palace, and the novelty, combined with the magnificence of the preparations, had excited an extreme interest.

At the open windows of a large house, in one of the squares at the west end of London, stood a group of young people eagerly watching the carriages as they rolled past. Great excitement prevailed when the costumes of the ladies and gentlemen inside the equipages were at all visible;