Descendants of the Stuarts

120 THE DESCENDANTS
Oath of Abjuration and limiting its application
to the descendants of James II., when those of
Charles I. should be clearly substituted ; for if this
were done, there would be no incongruity in the
Act. If it be necessary to abjure the Catholic
Stuarts, and there is no reason why it should be
less imperative now than it has ever been, it is
plainly the descendants of Charles I., and not
James II., who should be abjured ; and this simple
alteration in the oath should in equity satisfy those
so seemingly anxious to get rid of it, as well as those
so desirous, at whatever cost, of retaining it in its
present form.
King James II. 's three daughters. Queen Mary,
Queen Anne, and the Princess Louisa, all died
issueless : so that James's issue having failed with
Henry of York, the representation of the Stuarts
became vested in the descendants of Charles I.'s
youngest daughter and eventual Heiress, Henrietta
of Orleans. This princess had only two daughters,
Mary Louisa, and Anne, but the former of these
princesses, one of the most loveable recorded in
history, and who became the bride of the imbecile
Charles II. of Spain, died, succession perishing
(1689) ; so that in her younger sister Anne (who
was the third princess of the Royal Family excluded
the Throne of England for being a Catholic) ulti-
mately vested the sole representation of the House
of Stuart ; and in her descendants accordingly has
it continued, even to this day. In her place in the