nounced, and arrested. James II. created him an Earl at
St. Germain. Two of his sons had retired to St. Malo and Nantes, and
engaged in commercial speculations, endeavouring thereby to restore the
fortunes of their house. Commerce was strictly forbidden to the Breton
nobles; but, when war or misfortune had reduced their fortunes, they were
allowed to enter into commerce, or any other profession, without
derogating from their rank, provided they first deposited their swords
with the Parliament, to be again claimed when their circumstances were
improved. All will remember the anecdote in the 'Sentimental Journey.' As
a book, called 'The State of Nobility in Brittany,' published in 1681,
sets forth: "When nobles are engaged in commerce, their noble blood
sleeps; but when the derogatory works are over, it revives. It is never
lost but in death." But to return to the Walsh family. One of the brothers
had embarked the remains of his little fortune in the business of
"armateur"--a kind of shipowner, or one who fits out and charters ships,
and sometimes commands them himself--the profession of Jean Bart and Duguay
Trouin.(23) It was to this Anthony Walsh, and a banker of Dunkirk, that
Prince Charles addressed himself to fit out an old worm-eaten seventy-gun
man-of-war, the 'Elizabeth,' they had just obtained from Government for
his expedition. True to the hereditary loyalty of his family, Mr. Walsh
not only devoted all he possessed to the armament of the frigate, but also
fitted out a brig, called the 'Doutelle'--both intended as privateers to
cruise against the English--and took the command of her himself. On the
28th June, 1745, furnished with about 4000l. of money, Charles Edward
embarked on the Loire, in a fisherman's boat, to join the 'Doutelle' at
St. Nazaire, and the 'Elizabeth' at Belle-Isle. He passed for a young
Irish priest, and wore the habit of a student of the Scots' College at
Paris. The ships encountered an English man-of-war, the 'Lion.' At the
sound of the first shot, the Prince rushed on deck and asked for a sword.
Mr. Walsh, by virtue of his authority as captain, took him by the arm and
said to him sternly, "M. Abbe, your place is not here; go below with the
passengers." The Prince obeyed, night separated the combatants, and on the
18th of July he was safely landed in Scotland. On Michaelmas Day, the
following year, the disasters of Culloden again threw him an exile on the
shores of Brittany.

From St. Nazair