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Lot 159
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Jacobite printing of the Declaration of "James III," son of King James II
Jacobite printing of the Declaration of "James III," son of King James II
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Royalty - Jacobite printing of the Declaration of "James III," son of King James II (overthrown in 1688), "To His Subjects of England ‰Û_ Asserting Our undoubted Title to the Imperial Crown of these Realms, and of endeavouring to put Ourself into the Possession of that Right‰Û_" - James' sister Queen Anne had just died and a distant cousin in Hanover (Germany) who did not speak English, had been chosen King George I of Great Britain. Rare Broadside Signed "J.R." in type, one page, 12.25" x 15.75" (visible). Our Court at Commercy, October 25, "in the Fiftteenth Year of Our Reign" [1715]. Matted and framed to 16.75" x 20.5". Text beneath heading in two columns. One mid-horizontal fold, three vertical folds. Top half in fine condition. Separated at mid-horizontal fold with loss of a line of text at separation and further loss at the vertical separation in the lower right. In apparent good condition.

Headed: "His Majesty's / Most Gracious / Declaration / to His Subjects of England. / James R. / James III. By the Grace of God, of England, Scotland, France and Ireland / King, Defender of the Faith, &c." Printed across the bottom: "Perth, Reprinted by Mr. Robert Freebairn. MDCCXV."

In part, "To All our Loving Subjects, of what Degree or Quality soever, Greeting. As We are firmly resolved never to omit any Opportunity of Asserting Our undoubted Title to the Imperial Crown of these Realms, and of endeavouring to put Ourself into the Possession of that Right, which is devolved upon Us by the Laws of God and Man; so must We, in Justice to the Sentiments of Our Own Heart, Declare, That nothing in this World can give Us so great Satisfaction, as to owe to the Endeavours of our Loyal Subjects, without the Concurrence of any Foreign Aid, both Our and their Restoration to that happy Settlement, which can alone deliver this Church and Nation from the Calamities which they lie at present under, and from those future Miseries, which must be the Consequences of the present Usurpation. During the Life of Our Dear Sister of Glorious Memory, the Happiness which Our People enjoyed, softened in some Degree the Hardship of Our Own Fate: And We must further confess, that when We reflected on the Goodness of Her Nature, and Her Inclinations to Justice, We could not but persuade Ourself, that She intended to establish and perpetuate the Peace, which She had given to these Kingdoms, by destroying for ever all Competition to the Succession of the Crown, and by securing to Us at last the Enjoyment of that Inheritance, out of which We had been so long kept, which Her Conscience must inform Her was Our Due, and which Her Principles must lead Her to desire that We might obtain.

"But since the Time when it pleased Almighty God to put a Period to Her Life, and not to suffer Us to throw Ourself, as We then fully purposed to have done, upon Our People, We have not been able to look on the present Condition of our Kingdoms, or to consider their future Prospect, without all the Horror and Indignation, which ought to fill the Breast of every Englishman.

"We have beheld a Foreign Family, Aliens to Our Country, distant in Blood, and Strangers even to Our Language, ascend the Throne‰Û_"

Sir Walter Scott, in "A Collection of Scarce and Valuable Tracts on the Most Interesting and Entertaining Subjects‰Û_" (London, 1815), reprints with a few omissions, the text of this "Declaration" of James, referred to as "the Chevalier de St. George" and the "Pretender" by the supporters of the House of Hanover and King George I. Scott has prefaced the text, identifying this "proclamation" as the one "sent forth by the Chevalier de St George, preparatory to the insurrection of his adherents in Scotland, in 1715."

Evidently, Robert Freebairn printed at least two versions. The one here offered is directed "To His Subjects of England" and the first paragraph concludes "We have not been able to look on the present Condition of our Kingdoms, or to consider their future Prospect, without all the Horror and Indignation, which ought to fill the Breast of every Englishman." The text printed by Sir Walter Scott ends "without all the horror and indignation which ought to fill the breast of every Scotsman." The title "To His Subjects of" has not been transcribed by Scott.

In 1689, the Parliament of England offered the throne, replacing Catholic King James II (of England) and VII (of Scotland) who was "deemed to have fled" the country in the Glorious Revolution of 1688, to his nephew William and his daughter Mary (William's wife). Mary died in 1694; William ruled alone. The Act of Settlement 1701, passed by the English Parliament, settled the succession of the English throne on the Protestant House of Hanover; it prohibited Catholics from inheriting the throne. When William died in 1702, Mary's younger sister Anne, baptized into the Anglican faith, succeeded to the throne. The Act of Settlement applied in England and Ireland but not Scotland, where a strong minority wished to preserve the Stuart dynasty of James II and VII, and its right of inheritance to the throne. Under the Act of Union 1707, England and Scotland became one realm, a united kingdom called Great Britain. Queen Anne died in 1714 with no heir. The Elector of Hanover succeeded to the British throne as King George I, a great grandson of King James I and Anne's closest living Protestant relative.

On the death of James II and VII in 1701, his son James declared himself his successor as King James III and VIII and was recognized as such by France (King Louis XIV), Spain, the Papal States and Modena, an Italian state. The Jacobite uprising of 1715 was the attempt by James to regain the British throne. "Jacobus" was the Latin form of James. The rebellion of 1715 started off with a large amount of support, especially in Scotland where the Act of Union 1707 was exceedingly unpopular. The rebellion was led by the Earl of Mar who made his headquarters in Perth. He brought from Aberdeen, Scotland, a printing press and, from Edinburgh, the services of Robert Freebairn, King George's Printer in Scotland. Freebairn came to Perth to superintend the printing of a large number of broadsides and wildly optimistic, albeit not truthful, reports such as "while in and about London, the friends of King James had taken arms in such numbers that King George had been fain to retire out of the country."

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