which the above letters were addressed to him; and the other (Benjamin) three years afterwards-respectively in their twenty-ninth and thirty-first years! To return, however, to the mysterious black-sealed packet - it contained also "a beautiful miniature painting of John of Antrim." "The contents of the parchment packet must, I suppose," continued the son, in writing to his father, "have remained untouched (if it was put up just before the removal to Fairhill) [for] fifty years, which accounts for the admirable state of preservation it is in. The thief never dared break the seals." The prisoner stated in his minute," that these seals were identical with that on a letter which was in evidence, of the Rev. John Alexander (John No. 3): that the impressions of both must have been made with the same seal." * Such were the contents of "the DE PORQUET PACKET," as it may be called, of which the prisoner, when required by the Court on his lodging them in evidence to state how he came by them, solemnly "declared that he never had any knowledge of the existence or contents of these documents until he heard that the packet had been transmitted to Messrs De Porquet, as above mentioned." † It is also right here to apprise the reader, and to remind him to weigh the fact, that Mr Corrie, the solicitor already mentioned, (whose veracity no one attempted to impeach,) distinctly proved, at the trial of the prisoner, that the words, "some of my wife's family papers," on the outside of the packet, were really in the handwriting of the prisoner's father; and that the latter had told him, at Fairhill, in 1796-8, or 1797, that he had lost valuable documents at the time he removed from Digbeth to Fairhill, since called "The Larches." So much for what we may, for distinction's sake, designate No. 1, the English windfall. Let us now proceed to No. II. The French windfall. Here will be found accumulated wonders upon wonders! * Swinton, p. xxxii. The prisoner's wife, it has been seen, had been an intimate friend of Mademoiselle le Normand of Paris since the year 1812; and she kept up her correspondence with that lady (according to the prisoner's statement to the Court) up to the period of the pending investigations before the Scottish Courts. The prisoner had, he said, been frequently advised to prosecute inquiries after evidence in France; and his wife had made application on that subject to Mademoiselle le Normand, (then upwards of seventy years old,) amongst others she having an extensive literary connection, and facilities for acquiring information from public offices. She promised her assistance. The prisoner, having quitted England on the 18th December 1836, arrived at Paris on the 21st of that month. On the 12th of the ensuing July he waited upon her; and she told him "that she had received a document," to quote his own account of the matter, "which might be of importance to him; and, after conversing for some time about his family, she drew from under a heap of papers a packet, and showed to him its contents-an old map of Canada, with a great number of documents written on or pasted against the back of it, "all relating to his family." "Various inquiries were afterwards made by her, for the purpose of tracing the individuals in whose custody the document had been previously preserved, but without effect." She said that this map, in its now state, had come into her possession on the 11th of July 1837, and was accompanied by an anonymous letter in French, dated the 10th of July 1837, of which the following is a translation: "I have just heard, Mademoiselle, that you take a lively interest in the success of an Englishman, who claims, as a descendant of the Earl of Stirling, the inheritance of his ancestor in America. If the autographs which I have the honour of sending you can insure his success, I shall be delighted to have found an opportunity, by rendering him a service, of gratifying you, and at the same time discharging a small portion of the obligations which I owe to you. I regret, however, that the duties of an office which I at present hold do not permit me to make myself known in this affair of Lord Stirling's. You, who know a great deal about it, will feel no surprise that a man in office (qu'un homme en place) should not dare to interfere in it openly. I have already stated that I am under obligations to you. Yes, Mademoiselle, I am, and more than once have I had the advantage of consulting you: even at the time when I was menaced with a signal disgrace, it was you who saved me, by a salutary éclaircissement seasonably given. You have not obliged an ungrateful man. On all occasions, I do justice to your talents; and to you, while I live, I shall be devoted and grateful. You may well imagine that I purchased this old map of Canada solely on account of the autographs, which are very curious. The note on the margin of Mallet's note (in the right corner) is said to be Louis the Fifteenth's. The autographs of Fenelon and Flechier are no less precious; and the dealer, who sold me the map in 1819, assured me that it had belonged to Louis XVI., which is probable enough, from what I have just said of his grandfather's marginal note. The dealer lived, in 1819, on the Quai Voltaire, but since that time many changes have taken place, and his name has escaped me. Receive, Mademoiselle, the homage of the distinguished sentiments which I have vowed to you, and which you so well deserve.-M. Versailles, 10th July, 1837." "I confide this packet to trustworthy persons. They will go to consult you do not be surprised to find it on some table, or chair, in your study." This mysterious "M," equally with the mysterious "Mrs Innes Smyth," has hitherto (as far as we know) remained altogether undiscovered; and the prisoner solemnly declared "that he never knew of the existence, or contents, of the several documents on * Swinton, Appendix, xxxviii. the map of Canada, until he saw the map itself in the hands of Mademoiselle le Normand, in July 1837; that he had never dreamed of seeking in France the document illustrative of his own pedigree; and it was with the greatest surprise that he afterwards learned that those documents, now produced, had been discovered, and were calculated to throw light on that pedigree; and, in fact, no one was more surprised.” * We doubt whether such an extraordinary document, or series of documents, as this map, with its accompaniments, has ever, either before or since, challenged deliberate judicial investigation. "In consequence of the cession," said the prisoner,† "as is alleged, of Nova Scotia to France, by the Treaty of Breda, in 1667, and its subsequent recovery by Great Britain in 1690, and in consequence of the stipulations in regard to it in the Treaty of Ryswick in 1697, everything connected with the possession of that country became a matter of much interest at the Court of France. The grants to the Earl of Stirling thus came to be well known, and the effect of them much canvassed. Influenced by these considerations, he was induced to direct anxious searches to be made in France, for any documents that might throw light on the family of Stirling.‡ It appears from these documents," continued the prisoner, briefly but correctly indicating their general character and tendency, "that a Monsieur Mallet wished to obtain information in England as to the actual state of the descendants of William, Earl of Stirling; but that, having died suddenly, one of his friends-a M. Brossette-applied to FENELON, Archbishop of Cambray, for the wished-for information; and that the Archbishop, knowing the intimacy that subsisted between the Marchioness de Lambert and Mr John Alexander of Antrim, applied to her on the subject: that she accordingly wrote to him, who, in return, sent her a full communication as to the family history that this letter was transmitted to her by the Arch + Ib. p. xxxvi. : + Ib. p. xxxii. bishop, who forwarded it to M. Brossette." Anxions to avail himself of this important new evidence, the prisoner, having previously prevailed on Madle. le Normand to procure attestations of the hand-writings of the different parties, sent over his son, Charles Alexander, from Edinburgh to Paris, for the purpose of receiving the precious documents, and bringing them over in safety to this country. They were delivered to him by Madle. le Normand on the 8th November 1837: on that day he quitted Paris for Scotland, and a week afterwards-viz., on the 15th November 1837-the existence of these documents, as well as of the De Porquet packet, and an outline of the points they were to prove, was formally certified, and they were laid on the table of the Court of Session, at Edinburgh: and a sensation they were well calculated to produce. The map purported to bear date (and it is an all-important one) A. D. 1703, and bore the following printed heading "Carte du Canada, où de la Nouvelle France, par Guillaume Delisle," the most celebrated geographer of his day. With the exception of one of the two documents pasted on the back of the map-that in English - all the remaining indorsements were in French, and every word of them deserves weighing. We shall take them in the order in which they = appeared in the indictment. I. First came the note, or memorandum, signed "Ph. Mallet," dated "Lyons, 4th August, 1706. During my residence in Acadia in 1702, my curiosity was excited by what I was told of an ancient charter, preserved in the archives of that province. It is the Charter of Confirmation, or De novo damus, of date 7th December 1639, by which Charles I. of England renewed, in favour of William, Earl of Stirling, the titles and dignities which he had previously conferred upon him, and all the grants of land which he had made to him from 1621, in Scotland and America. My friend Lacroix gave me a copy of it, which, before my departure, I took the pre caution of having duly attested. From this authentic document I am now about to present some extracts, (translated into French for such as do not understand Latin,) in order that every person who opens this map of our American possessions may form an idea of the vast extent of territory which was granted by the King of England to one of his subjects. If the fate of war, or any other event, should return New France and Acadia under the dominion of the English, the family of Stirling would possess these two provinces, as well as New England, within the boundaries assigned by the charter. The order of succession to this inheritance is as follows:-" and then followed a fuller quotation from the limitations by way of Novo damus, than even those given by Gordon and Hovenden, and certified by Conyers.* The memorandum thus concludes: - "Thus the King of England has given to the Earl, and has secured to his descendants in perpetuity, enough of land to found a powerful empire in America." II. Memorandum subscribed to the above, signed "Caron Saint Estienne," and dated "Lyons, 6th April 1707.” "The above note is precious. I can certify that it gives in few words an extremely correct idea of the wonderful charter in question. As to the copy of it, it is attested by the keeper of the records (l'archiviste) and the Acadian witnesses, and must be in entire conformity with the register of Port Royal. While at Quebec, I had heard of the grants to the Earl of Stirling; but my friend M. Mallet was the first who procured me a perusal of the charter. This extraor dinary document extends over fifty pages of writing, and the Latin anything but classical; still, as a Canadian, somewhat interested in its contents, I am bound to say that I read it from end to end with as much curiosity as satisfaction. The late M. Mallet was a man whose good qualities and rare understanding make us regret a death which snatched him so suddenly from his friends. He had foreseen that the copy would * Ante, p. 470. not make the charter known in France; hence he carried the idea of writing, on one of the beautiful maps of Guillaume Delisle, a note which all the world could read with interest. Had he lived long enough he would have added to this interest: for he wished to obtain information in England as to the then situation of the descendants of the earl who had obtained the charter; and all the information which he might have received respecting them, he would have transferred to this very map. But, after all, with the two documents which he has left to us, no person in France can question the existence of such a charter." III. Memorandum, also subscribed to that of M. Mallet, signed "Esprit, Ev. de Nismes," [i. e., Esprit Flechier, Bishop of Nismes,] and dated Nismes, 3d June 1707. "I read lately, at the house of Monsieur Sartre at Caveirac, the copy of the Earl of Stirling's charter. In it I remarked many curious particulars, mixed up with a great many uninteresting details. I think, therefore, that the greatest obligations are due to M. Mallet, for having, by the above note, enabled the French public to judge of the extent and importance of the grants made to that Scottish nobleman. I also find that he has translated the most essential clauses of the charter; and in translating them into French, he has given them with great fidelity. M. Caron Saint Estienne has asked me to bear this testimony. I do so with the greatest pleasure. IV. Letter from "John Alexander, of Antrim," [John No. 2,] to the Marchioness de Lambert. "Antrim, 27th August 1707. "I cannot express to you, madam, how sensible I am of the honour of your remembrance. My sincere thanks are due also to Monsieur de Cambray, since he, by facilitating the journey of my friend M. Hovenden, was the means of my being so quickly put in possession of your letter, and the copy which you have been good enough to send to me of the note respecting my grandfather's charter. The questions which you ask of me I shall endeavour to answer to the best of my ability. I am not, as you suppose, heir to the family titles. The present head of our family is Henry, fifth Earl of Stirling, descended from the third son of my grandfather. He resides within a few miles of London; has no children; but has brothers, of whom the eldest is heir-presumptive. Of the first son no descendants survive, except the issue of his daughters. The second son died without issue. My father was the fourth son; his first wife was an heiress of the house of Gartmore, in Scotland; my mother, of the Maxwell family, was his second wife. But though he had daughters by his first wife, he never had any sons but me. To complete this family genealogy, I must tell you, madam, that my wife is a cadette of the Hamilton family, a ducal house in Scotland; and that she has borne me a son called John, after my father_and_myself, and two daughters. I have, at present, so little idea of the possibility of the title and estates of Stirling devolving on my children, that I have encouraged my son in his inclination for the ministry of our Church of Scotland; and with that view he is now prosecuting his studies at the university of Leyden, in Holland. "I shall preserve with care the interesting note of M. Mallet. The charter was at one time registered in Scotland, as well as in Acadia; but during the civil war, and under the usurpation of Cromwell, boxes containing a portion of the records of that kingdom were lost duriny a storm at sea; and, according to the ancient tradition of our family, the register in which this charter was recorded was among the number of those that perished. Such, madam, is all that I can say [!] in reply to your questions; for it is impossible, in this country of Ireland, to obtain any other information with regard to the registered charter. I believe that my grandmother [the widow of the first earl] gave the original charter, (which she brought from Scotland when she came to take up her abode in Ireland,) to her son-in-law, Lord Montgomery, in order that he might preserve it carefully in Castle Comber, where he resided. I shall ascertain what this family may have done with it; and I shall have the honour of acquainting you with any discovery which I may make. I shall never forget, madam, your kindness towards me, or the charms of the society which I have always enjoyed at your house. While I live, I shall not cease to be attached to you, by the most respectful devotion. "JOHN ALEXANDER." V. Memorandum authenticating the above, by FENELON, Archbishop of Cambray. "The friends of the late Mr Ph. Mallet will doubtless read with great interest this letter of a grandson of the Earl of Stirling's. M. Cholet, of Lyons, setting out to-day, 16th October 1707, on his way home, will have the honour of delivering it to M. Brossette, on the part of Madame de Lambert. To authenticate it, I have written and signed this marginal note. "FR. AR. DUC DE CAMBRAY." The above letter of "John Alexander of Antrim," with Fenelon's marginal authentication, was pasted on the back of the map; as also was a portion of the envelope of the letter with the seal upon it of the aforesaid John of Antrim. VI. Inscription on the tablet erected to the memory of John of Antrim, (John No. 2.) "Here lieth the body of The only son of the Honourable John Alexander. "He marry'd Mary, Eldest Daughter of the And two daughters, Mary, who survives, and Elizabeth, wife of He was a man of such endowments as added As a father most indulgent: As a friend At Temple Patrick, in the County of Antrim, The above was written in imitation of print, in small capitals, and surrounded by an ornamental etching, or bordering, as if to represent the shape of the tablet. On the margin was written: "This is a faithfull copy of the Inscription to the Memory of John Alexander, Esquire, upon the Tablet over his Tomb, at Newtoun-Ardes, Co. of Down, Ireland "W. C. GORDON, Jun. "Stratford-upon-Avon, "Oct. 6, 1723." This inscription and attestation was pasted on the back of the map; and adjoining it was the following corroborative attestation, forming, VII. Memorandum, written on the back, but without any date or signature. "This inscription has been communicated by Madame de Lambert. Since the death of Mr Alexander in 1712," (John of Antrim,)" this lady has not ceased to bestow on the son of this distinguished man marks of her good-will and friendship. This |