His  mental  accomplishments  were  very  likely
overrated.  The  unprejudiced  Debrosses  said  he
was  "  less  cultivated  than  became  a  prince  "  ;
while  ^Eneas  Macdonald,  the  Scots  banker,  who
made  his  acquaintance  in  France  and  got  so
involved  in  the  '45,  wrote  that  "  he  seemed  to
have  been  badly  educated,  and  to  care  for  little
else  than  hunting  and  shooting."  Lord  Elcho,
too,  spoke  disparagingly  of  his  acquirements,
though  it  has  to  be  remembered  that  Elcho  had
lent  him  money  which  the  Prince  could  not  or
would  not  repay.
Whatever  his  education  was,  the  Prince  clearly
proved  himself  something  of  a  worry  to  his  tutors.
Towards  the  end  of  1728,  a  Mr.  Stafford  had  been
engaged  in  that  capacity.  He  remained  attached
to  Charles  for  many  years,  and  aided  his  secret
flight  from  Rome  in  1744.  There  is  nothing  to
show  that  Stafford  had  any  more  success  with  his
mettlesome  young  charge  than  had  his  pre-
decessors. In  truth,  Charles  was  slowly  but  surely
passing  beyond  control.  The  Sobieski  tempera-
ment, no  doubt,  in  part  accounted  for  this.  But
it  is  only  fair  to  him  to  remember  the  circum-
stances which  surrounded  him.  The  wretched
intrigues  of  the  Court  and  the  miserable  bicker-
ings of  his  parents  cannot  have  been  other  than
pernicious  in  their  influence  upon  his  character
and  general  conduct,  while  at  the  same  time  they

6 — (a  005)


74          PRINCE  CHARLES  EDWARD

had  their  effect  in  robbing  him  of  that  parental
affection  and  attention  so  important  in  the
guiding  of  a  young  mind.
