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ROYAL INVESTIGATION; 
 
 AVTHENTIC DOCUMENTS 
 
 Containing the Acquittal of H. R. H. the 
 P „ of W s. 
 
 OFFICIALLY COMPILED 
 BY 
 
 A SERJEANT AT LAW. 
 
 Such superior merit 
 Must have a thousand foes, the constant mark 
 Of envy's poison'd darts. 
 
 Franklin. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 Printed by D. N. SHURY, Berwick Street, Soho, 
 
 FOR J. F. HUGHES, WIGMORE STREET, 
 
 CAVENDISH SQUARE. 
 
 1807. 
 
^ >"***••__ ft 
 
 - 
 
 \> *c* 
 
 1 $5f56 
 
 
TO THE MOST NOBLE 
 
 The Marchioness Townshend, 
 
 SCc. flte, S(c. 
 
 Madam, 
 I am illy qualified to write a dedication, being 
 unschooled in flattery; but though (he talent 
 is denied me of sacrificing, with grace, at the 
 Shrine of Vanity, I feel I am not unqualified to 
 make the offerings of truth to the Shrine of 
 Virtue. 
 
 A 3 
 
VI 
 
 To You, therefore. Madam, do I presume to 
 address this little volume. Your long and tried 
 friendship to H. R. H. the Princess of Wales, 
 and the near and dear interest you take in her 
 welfare, leads me to hope you will peruse it with 
 satisfaction. 
 
 I have the honour to be ? 
 Madam, 
 Your Ladyship's most obedient and 
 most humble Servant, 
 
 THE AUTHOR, 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 Audi alteram partem. 
 
 Without leisure to be a politician, 
 or inclination to be a partisan, I have 
 been aroused from my solemn routine 
 of studies, into a compilation of the 
 following pages, by motives that will 
 explain themselves. 
 
V1H PREFACE. 
 
 The charges on which my refutation 
 is grounded, are to be found in an 
 anonymous pamphlet published by my 
 publisher. And as it may appear some- 
 what singular that two w r orks so oppo- 
 site in their notions should issue from 
 the same press, I think it well to tell 
 the public why it has so happened. 
 
 It appeared to me, that the ends of 
 justice could not be better fulfilled than 
 by opposing arguments. I have, there* 
 fore, made the Town my jury ; trans- 
 formed Diogenes into the character of 
 counsel for the plantiff j and hanging 
 my own gown and wig immediately 
 
PREFACE. IX 
 
 before me, undertake the cause of the 
 defendant. 
 
 But I argue without virulence ; and 
 as it is not impossible that the pamphlet 
 in question may stir up other and more 
 merciless opponents, I took the trouble 
 to explain to Mr. Hughes my motives 
 in wishing him to give this volume to 
 the public ; which are, that as he has 
 been the channel of communicating to 
 the public the Accusation, it would 
 be but justice in him to publish the 
 Acquittal ; that both might fall into 
 the same hands. 
 
 He acceded to my request. 
 
X PREFACE. 
 
 Gentle Readers ! 
 
 Peruse this case with candor ; weigh 
 it with impartiality ; decide upon it 
 with justice! 
 
 And when you have done so, I will 
 look up to the expressive eye of beauty, 
 steal confidence from the approving 
 smile that ornaments her lip, and col- 
 lect in dulcet tones, emanating from her 
 guileless heart, the verdict of 
 
 ACQUITTAL- 
 
MOTTO. 
 
 I will be hang'd if some eternal villain, 
 Some busy and insinuating rogue. 
 Some cogging cozening slave, to get some office 
 Hath not devised this slander ...... 
 
 Hell gnaw his bones ! 
 
 Why should he call her — ? — who keeps her 
 
 company ?. 
 
 What place ? — what time ? — what form ?— what 
 likelihood ? 
 
 O, Heaven ! that such companions thoud'st un- 
 fold, 
 
 And put in every honest hand a whip, 
 
 To lash the rascal naked thro' the world, 
 
 Even from the East to the West ! 
 
 Shaxspeare, 
 
ROYAL INVESTIGATION, 
 
 TO vindicate the insulted honor of an 
 unprotected female, and to direct the 
 public indignation where to fall, is a 
 generous and noble uiidertakibg ; but 
 when the mask of humanity is borrowed 
 to disguise calumny or malevolence, the 
 act is diabolical, and our contempt 
 should be proportioned to the infamy 
 of the offence. 
 
 B 
 
2 ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 
 
 I have read various pamphlets de- 
 tailing, as it is called, the monstrous 
 injuries heaped on an illustrious female, 
 
 by and with the consent of her R 1 
 
 consort ; who, if not the original 
 mover, is by some stated to be the 
 aider and abettor 'of her vile calumni- 
 ators ; and by others the least violent, he 
 is accused of an ungenerous apathy and 
 unbecoming disregard to general cen- 
 sure. 
 
 How falsely these gentlemen, who 
 all profess themselves to be uninflu- 
 enced otherwise than by that hones t 
 
ROYAL INVESTIGATION, 3 
 
 freedom which permits an Englishman 
 to arraign, if not to reform the extrava- 
 gances of his superiors — maintain their 
 leading position does not require much 
 discernment to detect ; and we readily 
 feel, that on a subject which has been 
 studiously involved in mystery, no man 
 is enabled clearly to state facts, when no 
 official documents have ever been laid 
 before the public/ 
 
 I know that an eminent bookseller in 
 
 W — — Street was entrusted with a 
 
 manuscript, discovering the official result 
 
 of these investigations, which it was 
 
 b2 
 
4 ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 
 
 thought proper at the instance of Lord 
 
 T- w to make, not into the conduct 
 
 of P ss of W -s, but into the re- 
 ports tending to misrepresent her con- 
 duct, and that the same was printed. 
 
 I say I know this fact, because I am 
 acquainted with a gentleman who pos- 
 sesses the pamphlet ; but how he came 
 by it is another question, as the work 
 was printed with all possible regard to 
 privacy, and the most jealous circum- 
 spection. 
 
 It would be equally hazardous to 
 
ROYAL INVESTIGATION. t> 
 
 state a positive reason for its suppression, 
 as there can be little doubt that the 
 excited minds of the public would 
 eagerly have flown to such a gratification 
 of their curiosity ; possibly it was feared 
 that the publication would have been 
 deemed indelicate, as coming from a 
 professional individual, unsanctioned by 
 the R — 1 parties to whom it alluded ; 
 
 possibly, the change of M y, which 
 
 happened about this time, occasioned 
 the suppression, which might other- 
 wise have militated against the splendid 
 visions this change opened to the view 
 of the (now right honorable) writer. 
 b 3 
 
6 ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 
 
 Be that as it may, the world has been 
 disappointed; and a herd of scribblers, 
 taking advantage of this ungratified 
 curiosity, have filled pamphlets with a 
 series of fiction^ which, under impos- 
 ing titles, and still more imposing 
 prices, they have forced on the infatu- 
 ated multitude* 
 
 It is somewhat singular, however, that 
 in compounding this farrago of imper- 
 tinences, the several artificers have been 
 uniformly guided by the same receipt. 
 
 " Pity for the injuries of the virtuous and 
 
ROYAL INVESTIGATION* 7 
 
 illustrious wife, has been invariably commin- 
 gled with unqualified expressions of con- 
 tempt for the supinely unjust conduct of the 
 august husband" 
 
 It may be natural to enquire, why I 
 have chosen to add another to the pam- 
 phlets written on this occasion, when I 
 admit it to be a subject on which no 
 one is fully qualified to judge. 
 
 To which I shall reply, that some 
 circumstances have met my private ear, 
 with which the world at large are cer- 
 tainly unacquainted ; but I do not pro-' 
 b 4 
 
8 ROYAL INVESTIGATION* 
 
 pose vehemently to insist that I am 
 enabled thereby to prove who is the 
 innocent, who the guilty party. Nor 
 should I ever 3 1 believe, have thought of 
 committing my sentiments to paper, but 
 from the singularity of an occurrence 
 which took place on the last Birth- 
 day. 
 
 I had squeezed myself into the im- 
 mense crowd that lined every purlieu of 
 Saint James's, and was carried with the 
 mob towards the garden-gate — not I 
 will confess without some anxiety to 
 see whethe^the P— — - andP ss of 
 
ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 
 
 \\r s would appear together at the 
 
 drawing room. 
 
 Her H — — was the first to drive 
 up ; it was then uncertain whether the 
 
 P meant to come, and the loud 
 
 plaudits of the crowd fully evinced the 
 party they espoused* 
 
 Being more desirous to witness than 
 to join in what was passing, I stood an 
 inactive gazer on the scene before me, 
 when I was accosted by an elderly gen- 
 tleman: the greetings were theu over, 
 and the crowd dispersing. 
 b 5 
 
10 ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 
 
 " You are not fashionably loyal, sir— 53 
 said the stranger abruptly. 
 
 I looked full into the countenance of 
 my new acquaintance at this singular 
 address, and could read in his manner 
 and appearance strong lineaments of 
 intelligence, fashion, and accomplish- 
 ment, thrown into the back ground by 
 the more prominent features of cynical 
 reserve. 
 
 Finding me silent, he went on* 
 
 " I am no flatterer, sir T 5 
 
ROYAL INVESTIGATION, 11 
 
 ft So I perceive/ 5 — replied I smilingly 
 — cc but why doubt my loyalty ?* 
 
 " Because you do not join in the re- 
 " joicings of the people. You, I sup- 
 " pose — like others — are perfectly con- 
 " viriced that the P — — ss has been 
 " wronged ?" 
 
 The noise of wheels interrupted us at 
 this moment It was the P-~— t 
 
 As soon as the bustle had again sub- 
 sided, I turned towards my singular 
 acquaintance ; he looked in my face 
 b6 
 
12 ROYAL INVESTIGATION, 
 
 ^vith a sort of inquisitiveness that 
 seemed to repeat his question — 
 
 " You, I suppose, like others, are 
 cc perfectly convinced the P — — ss has been 
 " wronged ?" 
 
 > 
 <c Arguing on the grand basis of our 
 constitution," said I, " I do : the laws 
 "admit all to be innocent until they 
 €fi are found guilty/' 
 
 a Certainly, 9 ' he replied j " laws 
 " must have their boundaries; and the 
 " distinction is a good one between the 
 
ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 13 
 
 " culprit standing at the bar of the Old 
 " Bailey, and his jury; but in a court of 
 " honor, sir, it is not enough that the 
 " evidence of guilt is incomplete. In 
 ■f that court, evidence of innocence 
 " should be full and clear. There, no 
 " law quibbles can assuage the wounded 
 " feelings of a husband, nor eloquence 
 "silence, the alarm of suspicion fairly 
 cc awakened/ 5 
 
 We were now in the Mall, and continu- 
 ed our conversation as we slowly paced 
 the gravel walk towards Buckingham 
 Holise, myself so strangely impressed 
 
14 ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 
 
 with the nervous manner of my com- 
 panion^ that while I hesitated to reply* 
 he proceeded* 
 
 " You doubtlessly observed the com- 
 u placent smile and elegant condescension 
 
 " with which the P returned the 
 
 €€ respectful salute of those well-dressed 
 ** persons who stood near the entrance* 
 
 " Sir ! there is witchery in that 
 
 smile. its magic has been felt by 
 
 J s and every other of his H. R. H/s 
 
 * tradesmen. It was felt throughout the 
 f northern tour lately taken by H. R. H. 
 
 *£ 
 
 CC 
 
ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 15 
 
 " He saw himself adored whereever he 
 " presented himself ; and so powerfully 
 " did he appreciate the affections of the 
 " people, that he enthusiastically ex- 
 " claimed before the mayor and corpora- 
 ; < tion of Liverpool, 
 
 " This is the proudest day of my life. 
 u But what says Hamlet ? 
 
 ^- At least 'tis so in Denmark !" 
 
 I would have interrupted him, but 
 he continued j 
 
16 ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 
 
 ct Now mark me well. Even at this 
 " moment when his appearance at court 
 u with the P — — ss will give joy to 
 " every heart ; while the public odium 
 " is beginning to subside with this late 
 " though ostensible proof of his con- 
 " viction in his wife's innocence ; while 
 "his smile is, eargely coveted by the 
 " whole circle of our nobles ; while the 
 " P — — ss is mistaking the affability 
 " with which he addresses her before 
 u the whole court for a proof of re- 
 u turning confidence j he secretly ex- 
 " ults in the d~y of his heart at the 
 " insult he has offered to her feelings. 
 
THE ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 17 
 
 w by forbidding her to dress at W— k 
 
 a house, or to pass through the gardens 
 
 " of C n house." He arose, 
 
 adding, 
 
 " I must now take leave ; but eer 
 " you quit the park, let me exhort you 
 " to return to the court-yard we have 
 " just left ; you will find it littered with 
 a royal equipages, highly varnished and 
 " pompously emblazoned ; liveries glit- 
 " tering with gold 3 and feathered hats 
 
 " waving to the breeze the gor- 
 
 u geous and expensive trappings of 
 " state for which our pockets are ran« 
 
28 ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 
 
 " sacked ; but all others are merely 
 €C gingerbread baubles when com- 
 " pared with the chasteness of design, 
 **■ perfect execution, and magnificent 
 
 a ensemble of the H A 's equi- 
 
 " pages. These and other princely ac- 
 " complishments are the current dross 
 
 " His H exchanges with us fox our 
 
 " Stirling gold, and his smile the Circe 
 " which forbids complaint P* 
 
 " You are cynically severe," I re- 
 plied, " on either party. You blow 
 c < hot and cold in the same breath." 
 
 a 
 
 Not so, 5 ' he rejoined j " I dis- 
 
ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 19 
 
 u claim the character of a rigid philoso- 
 " pher ; I am merely a man of the 
 " world, who cannot persuade himself 
 u that rank is an apology either for female 
 " libertinism, or splendid profligacy" 
 
 With these words, he bowed politely* 
 and passed on down the Bird-cage 
 Walk. 
 
 As to myself, I retired homeward full 
 of my strange adventure, which opened 
 so extensive a field to conjecture, that 
 I was soon lost in the labyrinth of my 
 own reflections. Resolving to reduce 
 
SO RQYAL INVESTIGATION. 
 
 them to some method, I sat down the 
 next morning to my writing table, and 
 pursuing the subject, at length produced 
 the following result, to which I have 
 affixed this prefatory postscript. 
 
royal investigation. 21 
 
 The Argument. 
 
 In the arrangement before me, I do not 
 propose to retrace the youthful foibles 
 of H. R. H. — 'tis an invidious task, 
 u more honoured in the breach than the 
 observance :* 3 much less am I inclined to 
 soil my paper with many strictures on 
 the ingratitude of the self-created gen- 
 tleman, the quondam silversmith of 
 H. R. H. : that subject has too much 
 occupied the public attention, when it 
 ought merely to have provoked the 
 public indignation. 
 
22 F/OYAL INVESTIGATION* 
 
 I shall be brief. 
 
 Mr. J- can only class among the 
 
 lowest of the contemptible. As a 
 tradesman he enjoyed the patronage of 
 
 his R employer. It is certain, he 
 
 thought his fortune made by the dis- 
 tinction ; and his weak head was un- 
 equal to sustain the glare his heated 
 fancy opened in perspective. 
 
 He commenced gentleman by pur- 
 chasing a borough j and giddy, with the 
 condescending affability with which he 
 had always been treated by H. R, H. — 
 
ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 23 
 
 he impudently dared to offer the nomi- 
 nation of his colleague to his R~ be- 
 nefactor. 
 
 But the P — — , with that noble dis- 
 tinction which marks his elevated sta- 
 tion, from that moment discarded his 
 presumptuous servant. To the extent of 
 his promises he had patronised the 
 silversmith ; but nothing less than the 
 prolific brain of this infatuated man 
 could, for a moment, have created hopes 
 that he was to become — in his new 
 character — the friend and companion of 
 the P , 
 
24 ROYAL INVESTIGATION* 
 
 Yet on the failure of his wild-goose 
 
 schemes, when Mr. J , like Icarus, 
 
 fell from ihe height to which he had 
 too daringly aspired; when he found 
 his new gentility was the subject of 
 ridicule instead of admiration, he not 
 only attributes the consequent misfor- 
 tunes of his own folly to the P — , 
 
 but dares, with unparalleled effrontery, 
 to tax him in a scurrilous pamphlet 
 with a forgetfulness of the great obliga- 
 tions the great Mr, J ■ had heaped 
 upon his master. 
 
 In short, when the P ■ ■ 5 s debts 
 
 2 
 
KOYAL INVESTIGATION. 25 
 
 were placed for investigation in the 
 hands of certain commissioners appoint- 
 ed to the office, Mr. J admitted his 
 
 profit to be twenty-five thousand 
 pounds, from which the commissioners 
 deducted six thousand pounds, being a 
 balance profit of nineteen thousand 
 pounds in favor of the claimant. To 
 this oppose the trifling services of Mr. 
 
 J- in having lent the P — — , on an 
 
 emergency certainly, between fifteen 
 and sixteen hundred pounds at one 
 time, and four hundred and twenty 
 pounds at another ; and the reader will 
 exactly see the account current of obli« 
 
26 ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 
 
 gation between the master and the 
 man. 
 
 Good Mr. J ! had you not strayed 
 
 beyond your capital ; had you not lived 
 beyond your income ; had you not 
 formed parliamentary speculations with- 
 out either the talent or the purse to 
 support their fulfilment — you might 
 
 still have been good Mr. J the 
 
 silversmith, a thriving mechanic, an 
 useful citizen, and a respectable man ! 
 
 If it be true though, that Mr. J 
 
 has cleared two thousand pounds by the 
 sale of a pamphlet for which he de- 
 
 i 
 
ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 27 
 
 served chastisement instead of reward, 
 we must admit, that his wits have 
 befriended him at last, and that although 
 he could not apply them advantageously 
 in the H — — of C — — — , he knew ex- 
 actly how to feel the pulses of his com* 
 peers, and turn their mania to his own 
 account* 
 
 On the stale grounds of the P — — ?s 
 amours, it would be ridiculous to ex- 
 patiate. Princes are men, however dig- 
 nified by birth ; and education, by re- 
 fining the sensibilities of the heart, ex- 
 poses them more than the common 
 c2 
 
28 ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 
 
 orders of society to the fatalities of 
 love. 
 
 Who lost Mark Anthony the world ? 
 
 % 
 
 Woman. 
 
 Who occasioned Troy a ten years* 
 seige ? 
 
 Woman* 
 
 Who chained Hercules to the distaff? 
 
 Woman. 
 
ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 2Q 
 
 But to be more modern in my appli- 
 cation ; one of the most celebrated 
 among kings, one of the most distin- 
 guished among soldiers, was one of the 
 most weak among women. 
 
 The glory of his nation, the terror 
 of his enemies ; wise in council, un- 
 daunted in the field j Henry the 
 Fourth of France ; was the slave, the 
 plaything of a woman. And I will 
 venture to assert that there never was 
 a great or good man, who did not more 
 or less subject himself to the capricious 
 bondage of some lovely tyrant. 
 c3 
 
30 ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 
 
 But does it follow, because the wan- 
 derings of the heart have led his H, R.H. 
 into certain peccadillos which would die 
 unnoticed in persons of less elevated rank, 
 that his heart should be so conveniently 
 moulded as to be susceptible of any im- 
 pression the policy of the kingdom may 
 deem it expedient to imprint thereon ? 
 
 It has indeed been argued, that, "un« 
 fortunately for the comfort and do- 
 " mestic happiness of princes and prin- 
 " cesses, policy has proscribed their 
 " marrying with any but of their own 
 
 « 
 
ROYAL INVESTIGATION* 31 
 
 * 5 high rank ; and generally without 
 u any previous knowledge of each other. 
 H A policy which is one of the greatest 
 " drawbacks upon the happiness of their 
 " high station. 
 
 "" But it is a circumstance to com- 
 u miserate : we have often seen the bad 
 " effects of that policy upon the morality 
 " of the lives of princes, and sometimes 
 " even of princesses, which should teach 
 " us, that it is rather the effect of their 
 M situation than of any particular immo- 
 " rality in the particular persons who 
 " have been guilty of such indiscretions." 
 c 4 
 

 32 ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 
 
 If this position be admitted, and it 
 is certainly rational, must not every 
 well thinking mind shudder at the 
 following pictures of the relative situa- 
 tions described. They are drawn by An 
 Englishman j and I hold them up to 
 public reprobation, 
 
 " It is possible that the next heir 
 K; apparent may be a prince inoculated 
 # (for through your Royal Highness, 
 u he wall not have such qualities natu- 
 " rally) w r ith the true spirit of dissolute- 
 " ness; filled with base and bad passions, 
 <c unmindful of the duties of his high 
 
ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 33 
 
 " rank, and low, and corrupt, and de- 
 " bauched in all his pleasures : let us 
 " suppose him with a pulpy bloated 
 " person, at once the voluptuary and the 
 " sot ; he sees a theatrical female, who 
 " shall have been the delight and ad- 
 " miration of the town as a singer and 
 " actress too, but whose sweet voice is- 
 " broken by perpetually and copiously 
 " drinking, and whose elegant and beau- 
 " tiful person is destroyed by the ruin- 
 " ous effects of strong liquors, with a 
 " polluted stomach and a tainted breath - 9 
 " such an actress your Royal Highness 
 u may remember lately died. The next 
 c S 
 
u 
 
 u 
 
 u 
 
 u 
 
 34 ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 
 
 heir apparent, inflamed by appetites 
 grossly indulged, conceives what he 
 may call a freak for such a woman. 
 The bargain is struck, they meet, they 
 " gormandize, they get drunk ; all is 
 * c wild licence and rank obscenity : the 
 u choicest wines no longer stimulate ; 
 " noyeau succeeds; brandy next; till the 
 <c overgorged beasts wallow unwieldy 
 *' on the floor, and nature, over-charged, 
 " labours under the load of abominable 
 " excess, till she relieves herself, 
 
 " Noisome as this picture is, it may 
 " happen ; and if such a Prince should 
 
ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 35 
 
 " have a jeweller to credit him, a present 
 " in diamonds, in value near 6,000l, at 
 " the end of ten days may terminate 
 " the disgusting and foul connection. 
 
 " But imagine, that during the con- 
 " tinuance mere instinct, goaded by 
 " such intestine heat, should claim her 
 " share of gratification, and a child were 
 a the calamitous result ; lost as such a 
 " father had been to the burnings of all 
 f shame, so deeply sunk in infamy, yet 
 " if the child lived and the public be- 
 u came anxious to know the legitimacy 
 " of its birth, would he dare the ven- 
 c 6 
 
36 ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 
 
 " geance and indignation of the public,* 
 " by persisting that all communication 
 " should be withheld ? I should think no 
 " such unadvised refusal would take 
 " place. 5 ' 
 
 It would be an ill compliment to the 
 head and heart of the writer of the 
 foregoing paragraph were I to deprive 
 it of a single infamy by detailing it 
 otherwise than verbatim. The applica- 
 tion is not to be misunderstood. It is 
 
 clearly meant as a libel on the P . 
 
 It is, I believe, a libel, although neither 
 true nor analogous ; but whatever his 
 
ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 37 
 
 views may be, God forbid he should 
 succeed in whitening one character by 
 blackening the other, I hope to shew 
 
 that the P ss has been wronged, 
 
 sorely wronged ; and to do so without 
 
 attaching more blame to the P than 
 
 the nature of his offence, and that is 
 quite bad enough, absolutely incurs. 
 
 The circumstances under which the 
 
 fatal marriage of the P and P- ss 
 
 of W s was brought about, are w r ell 
 
 known to every one. On the part of 
 H. R. H. convenience was certainly the 
 ground-work of consent. The P ss 
 
38 ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 
 
 might have been urged by warmer sen- 
 timents. The splendid levees of the 
 
 P — — of W , previously held with 
 
 all the magnificence appropriate to His 
 R — 1 descent, had afforded repeated op- 
 portunities to ambassadors and foreign- 
 ers of distinction to admire the elegance, 
 suavity, and dignified graces of H. R.H/s 
 manners. The continent echoed with 
 his praises, merited as they were general. 
 Nothing, therefore, can be more natural 
 than the supposition that a young and 
 
 blooming P ss would receive with 
 
 almost maddening admiration the ad- 
 vances of this all accomplished P — — ; 
 
ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 39 
 
 but it is painful to relate, that while 
 these sweet emotions were the hopeful 
 companions of her virgin bosom, the 
 
 P was employed most inauspici- 
 
 ously for her future happiness. 
 
 A certain lovely, though not very 
 
 young C , was supposed to have 
 
 won him to her arms ; and when the 
 R — 1 bride arrived, this favorite lady 
 was chosen to arrange her person for 
 her first public appearance. 
 
 " If the P had meant fairly to* 
 
 m wards his intended bride, would he 
 1 
 
40 ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 
 
 " have permitted this adult r ess, reeking 
 " from his bed, to have been her most 
 " immediate attendant ?" 
 
 This is a most pertinent question, 
 .asked by an anonymous writer, to 
 which, in the name of the P— — —, I must 
 f lead guilty. It was an act at which the 
 most humble individual of the kingdom 
 would blush to think on 1 
 
 Such, however, was the commence- 
 ment of their domestic career ; and the 
 event w r hich took place nine months 
 after marriage, instead of cementing 
 
ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 41 
 
 their bond of union, rather accelerated 
 the separation, which, not long after, 
 took place. 
 
 1 mean the birth of the P ss 
 
 Charlotte. 
 
 Separate beds are too fashionable in 
 high life, to be an object of surprise — I, 
 therefore, lament, rather than wonder, 
 that this summary species of divorce was 
 so soon resorted to, by the R— 1 pair $ 
 and still more so, that it was scarcely 
 preparatory to a more serious estrange* 
 ment, and separate establishments, 
 
42 ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 
 
 The P ss retired to Black-heath, 
 
 devoting her youth to retirement, and 
 burying those talents which were culti- 
 vated to adorn society in the solitary 
 domestic amusements of a recluse. 
 
 And here let me proudly say, her 
 virtues have risen superior to her per- 
 secution. 
 
 Ever mindful of the peculiar delicacy 
 of her unhappy lot, H. R. H. studious- 
 ly conducted herself with such amiable, 
 unrepining fortitude, as did and still 
 does claim the sympathy and admira- 
 
ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 43 
 
 tion, not only of the nation, but of the 
 world: yet as our immortal Poet says, 
 
 Be thou as chaste as ice 5 as pure as snow, thou 
 Shalt not escape calumny. 
 
 Slander suddenly invaded her tran- 
 quillity even in this privacy. A calum- 
 ny the most bold, wanton, and unwar* 
 rantable, was circulated to her dishonor, 
 accusing her of repeated infidelities, 
 without, however, adducing one atom of 
 proof in support of these barbarous 
 charges. 
 
 It is, however, in favor of the P ss 
 
44 ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 
 
 —-at least I so view it — that on a ques- 
 tion of so much importance to the na- 
 tion, and during the lengthened period 
 it has agitated the public mind, only one 
 solitary individual from the herd of 
 garretteers who hunt after novelties, 
 
 Watchful as the fowler, when his prey will spring P 
 
 has attempted to urge any thing like fact 
 derogatory to the P s's honor. 
 
 The compiler of these visionary 
 charges shields his person from public 
 detestation, under the assumed name of 
 Diogenes; and although he professes to 
 
ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 45 
 
 be guided by the most disinterested 
 principles, and to act on the true claims 
 of justice ; his anecdotes are envenom- 
 ed and so daringly bold, that, unsup- 
 ported as they are beyond his assertion, 
 and contradicted as they are by public 
 opinion, it is matter of wonder to me 
 how such temerity has been tolerated. 
 
 But it is shameful to relate, that this 
 scandalous production, reprobated as it 
 is by every body, is bought by every 
 body, and that I know a large edition 
 of it was expended in the course of three 
 or four days. 
 
46 ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 
 
 With respect to myself, I confess I 
 have read it with the most marked in- 
 dignation. In the character of a cynic 
 philosopher, he relates stories that no- 
 body ever heard of before — stories, that, 
 like elemental fires, flash before us, and 
 leave us trembling with horror and 
 amazement. 
 
 As these charges become the especial 
 subject of my labors, and as these sup- 
 posed crimes have alone been alleged 
 by this writer, I shall select particular 
 passages from this Tale of Wonder, 
 and reply to them, respectively, as I 
 proceed. 
 
ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 47 
 
 1st. " It happened unfortunately 
 " that Mrs. George 55 — mutate nomine — 
 " had been educated abroad, and im- 
 " bibed all the levity and flippancy of 
 " manners, which are characteristic of 
 " foreign customs, not untinctured with 
 " a certain want of delicacy, to the pos- 
 " session of which English minds are 
 " invariably wedded. 
 
 " It is well known, as the novelty of 
 " beauty wears off in the new made 
 " bride, she steps, progressively, from 
 " the stilts of divinity, and appears the 
 " unadorned emblem of earthly imper- 
 
48 ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 
 
 " fections; — the dying embers of the 
 " hymeneal torch too suddenly expire, 
 " when unfanned by those chaste refine- 
 c; merits, which can alone improve upon 
 " or heighten the pure enjoyments o£ 
 " love. Satiety is often followed by 
 " disgust; and it is an alarming fact, 
 u that the infidelity of the husband will 
 " beget the infidelity of the wife. 
 
 " At all events, twelve months had 
 a scarcely made their evolution, ere the 
 " apostate husband returned to the 
 " welcome arms of a former mistress, 
 " leaving his young wife to the cheer- 
 " less comforts of a solitary bed. " 
 
ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 49 
 
 I believe it to be perfectly understood, 
 that the P -'s reasons for this separa- 
 tion were never exposed to the know- 
 ledge of any unless some very particu- 
 lar friend, who has well preserved the 
 secret entrusted to his charge. 
 
 The P 's manners are confessed* 
 
 ly the most elegantly refined of any 
 man's in Europe, and notwithstanding 
 the infamous portraiture that has been 
 made of his person and excesses, I have 
 no doubt of the perfect delicacy of his 
 sentiments and opinions on all points. 
 But it is possible that H. R. H. having 
 
 D 
 
50 ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 
 
 been compelled to confine his views of 
 men and manners to this kingdom, may 
 have formed those of other countries on 
 the standard of his own. 
 
 All who have travelled must know, 
 that every nation has its peculiar forms, 
 customs, and habits: insomuch, that 
 actions perfectly decorous at one court 
 would be considered unpardonably in- 
 delicate at another. 
 
 Modesty is in the mind: and indigen- 
 cies which grow up with us from the 
 cradle, and which we see practised by 
 
ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 51 
 
 our companions daily, are no infringe- 
 ments on the strictest rules of decorum 
 among ourselves, though, perhaps, re- 
 prehensible among foreigners. 
 
 When Lady Mary Wortley Montague 
 was among the Turks in quality of 
 Ambassadress, her rank and sex afford- 
 ed her opportunities of delineating many 
 of the customs of that jealous people, 
 which had previously been denied to all 
 travellers. 
 
 Among other things, she recounts 
 two curious anecdotes on female modes- 
 d2 
 
52 ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 
 
 ty, which I shall endeavor to give my 
 reader. 
 
 On being admitted to the public 
 baths of Sophia, to which no man can 
 possibly intrude under the forfeiture of 
 his life, she witnessed a scene more vo- 
 luptuous than the most impassioned 
 fancy could pourtray, yet strictly con- 
 formable with instinctive modesty. 
 
 Groupes of females reclined on luxu* 
 riant sofas in every varied attitude, just 
 as they had risen from the bath: those 
 of rank were attended by young slaves 
 
ROYAL INVESTIGATION* S3 
 
 V 
 
 of exquisite beauty, from fifteen t<? 
 eighteen years of age, who were em- 
 ployed, some either in combing the 
 long tresses that wantoned o'er the 
 necks or bosoms of their mistresses ; 
 others, in braiding the hair with pearls; 
 others in forming playful ringlets 
 round their beautifully tapered fingers, 
 each unconscious that the least indeli- 
 cate idea could possibly attach to her 
 situation. 
 
 The limbs are so beautifully polished 
 by the constant use of these baths, that, 
 her ladyship adds, if it were the 
 d 3 
 
64 ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 
 
 fashion to go naked, the face would be 
 the least object of attraction. 
 
 At another time, in Constantinople, 
 when her ladyship was on a visit with a 
 lady of great quality, and whom she 
 describes a$ one of the most amiable 
 women she ever knew, and with whom 
 she afterwards contracted the closest 
 friendship, the following conversation 
 took place. 
 
 ■"■ What libertines- you Christian la- 
 dies ,are!" said the lovely infidel, 
 ■" you are .. permitted to receive visits 
 
ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 5o 
 
 " from as many men as you think pro- 
 " per, and your laws allow you the un- 
 " limited use of love and wine." 
 
 " You are indeed mistaken," replied 
 her ladyship; " with us it is highly cri- 
 " minal to listen to, much less to love, 
 " any other than our husbands." 
 
 " Then," she answered with a smile, 
 " your husbands are great fools to be 
 " content with so precarious a fidelity. 
 " Your necks, your eyes, your hands, 
 " your conversations are all for the 
 u public. What, then, do you pretend 
 d4 
 
56 ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 
 
 " to reserve for your husbands? Par- 
 " don me, my pretty Sultana/ 5 she 
 added, embracing me, " I have a strong 
 * inclination to believe all you tell me, 
 " but you would impose impossibilities 
 " upon me. I know the impurities of 
 " the infidels ; I perceive that you are 
 ** ashamed, and will say no more/' 
 
 In Europe, the voluptuous indigen- 
 cies of an eastern bath are contrary to 
 every sentiment of female purity. Yet 
 each of our fair moralists will unblush- 
 ingly display her bosom at noon-day, 
 impart the charms of her understanding 
 
ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 5? 
 
 to every flatterer around her, and dress 
 at night for the Opera, or other public 
 place, expressly to attract a crowd of 
 coxcombs. 
 
 The ladies of a sister kingdom, I'mean* 
 those of Ireland, are remarkable for the 
 frankness of their manners, their viva* 
 city, and their wit. With an agreeable 
 stranger they are immediately intimate^ 
 and will not sometimes hesitate at trifles 
 that ornament a bon~mot. Yet who are 
 more chaste ? 
 
 A French girl, perfectly well bred 
 d5 
 
38 -ROYAL INVESTIGATION* 
 
 and perfectly virtuous, will tell a gentle- 
 man with the utmost sang-froid, that 
 she finds herself echaufFee, and must 
 retire to take a lavement. 
 
 An English girl would faint at the 
 idea! Yet will she parade Hyde Park 
 in a single muslin petticoat, heedless of 
 the amorous breeze that twines around 
 her finely moulded limbs, and gives their 
 contour to the passing gazer* 
 
 A Spanish female thinks it immodest 
 even to expose her person abroad ; she 
 therefore throws a black silk petticoat 
 
ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 59 
 
 over her dress, and disguises her face 
 and shape under an immense veil of 
 the same impenetrable materials. 
 
 The Chinese bind the feet of their 
 female infants to so small a compass that 
 they are unable to walk when grown 
 up, deeming it improper for a virtuous 
 woman to expose herself in public. 
 
 And lastly, let me record the anec- 
 dote of Sterne and Madame de Ram- 
 bouillet; when he, at the lady's desire, 
 pulled the check-string of the carriage* 
 
 d6 
 
60 Royal investigation. 
 
 and assisted her to alight, while she 
 
 I could trace many, apparent indecen- 
 cies, called accomplishments, which 
 are the fashionable pursuits of our 
 young female nobility. 
 
 Painting, sculpture, botany, are all 
 studies abounding in objects that might 
 vitiate the mind; but when the thought 
 is intuitively pure, the most minute re- 
 searches of a skilful amateur may be 
 pursued in either science without a 
 blusL 2 
 
ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 61 
 
 If, therefore, the P -ss had merely 
 
 indulged notions of delicacy, sanctioned 
 by her education, it was barbarous, on 
 that venial offence, to desert her; and I, 
 among many others, am of opinion, that 
 some reason ought to have been given. 
 
 We cannot command our affections, 
 nor can we resist our prejudices. It 
 would have been manly, more, it would 
 have been p ly to have said, 
 
 " We have both our failings ; I can- 
 iC not help seeing yours in spite of all 
 " your good qualities, I will not, there* 
 
62 ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 
 
 " fore, torment you with my humors. 
 " We will part j and although I cannot 
 " love, I shall always honor you." 
 
 And if it was incumbent on the 
 P e so to have acted in the first in- 
 stance, how much more did it become 
 his bounden duty to have been expli- 
 cit in avowing the real sentiments of 
 his heart, when slander so virulently 
 and so suddenly attacked her fame. 
 
 Hitherto, I contend, the errors of the 
 
 P ss, if any are proved against her, 
 
 have been merely venial. To all who 
 
ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 63 
 
 view them dispassionately (and I may- 
 venture to assert that all includes the 
 respectable majority of the kingdom) 
 they must appear so. 
 
 Has it, then, been found necessary to 
 invent errors, to give them the black- 
 est names, and then endeavour to in- 
 oculate them on this illustrious sufferer? 
 I dare not reply to this appeal. 
 
 2d. " There is one blessing in wed- 
 " ded love, however, which with minds 
 " of sensibility proves a valuable re- 
 i: source against the horrors of seclu- 
 
ft 
 
 64 ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 
 
 sion. Mrs, George was the mother 
 " of a daughter, whose dawning beau- 
 " ties and seraphic smile might have 
 
 * counteracted the malignancy of her 
 " fate; but, alas! the peculiar feelings 
 w of the lady were not susceptible of 
 
 * attachment to a daughter ■;. she hated 
 girls; but concealed her unnatural 
 prejudice under the hypocritical sem- 
 
 S€ blance of maternal tenderness. 
 
 <c Of the father she soon became 
 " equally indifferent.— Pride rapidly 
 " usurped the claims of affection, and 
 " whatever of sensibility might have 
 
 (4 
 
 »t 
 
ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 65 
 
 H been in her nature, yielded to the 
 " voice of vengeance/' 
 
 Nature is no powerful an assertor of 
 her rights over the human heart, that 
 bosoms cold to the general sensibilities 
 of the heart, will glow when heated by 
 maternal fires. 
 
 An unnatural mother is a non-de- 
 script: and the peculiar situation to 
 
 which the P ss was reduced must 
 
 have increased her affection for her in- 
 fant, who was now her only consola- 
 tion. If the testimony of all H. R. H/s 
 
66 ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 
 
 household is deemed insufficient to esta- 
 blish this fact, the affection borne by 
 the P — — ss Charlotte to h?r amiable 
 mother, notwithstanding their separa- 
 tion, is a conclusive proof of the tender- 
 ness with which the child was treated 
 when more immediately under her pa- 
 rental care. 
 
 3d. % Mrs. George now sought 
 ". every opportunity to expose her hus- 
 ic band's delinquency. She appealed 
 ^ publicly to her uncle — his father — 
 a for redress. She drove through the 
 *< most frequented parts of the neigh* 
 
ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 67 
 
 " bourhood in an open landau, with her 
 
 " child, to excite compassion — pretend - 
 
 " ing a tenderness for the infant she 
 
 " was incapable of feeling. She fre- 
 
 " quented the theatre and subscription 
 
 " balls, to make her party strong against 
 
 " her husband, and studied every op- 
 
 " portunity, otherwise, to load him 
 
 " with obloquy, 
 
 " Two parties were immediately 
 " formed in the county. A few were 
 " staunch to their old bottle companion, 
 " but the many espoused the cause of 
 u the deserted bride; insomuch, that 
 
68 EOYAL INVESTIGATION, 
 
 " public huzzaings would often greet 
 u her appearance abroad. 
 
 " The old gentleman, anxious to re- 
 u store if possible his son to his niece, 
 " saw with infinite displeasure that she 
 " had adopted the mode of all others 
 " least calculated to promote, their re- 
 " union. He remonstrated therefor e, 
 " and engaged, on her promising to ob* 
 ■? serve a morejnoderate conduct, to 
 H mediate a reconciliation, 
 
 iC In this laudible pursuit, however, 
 * he was foiled by the inconsistency of 
 
ROYAL INVESTIGATION. OQ 
 
 " the lady, who made and unmade sti- 
 " pulations in proportion as she fancied 
 " she was regaining power ; till at 
 length the young squire refused to be 
 any longer the plaything of a woman's 
 u caprices, and determined to renounce 
 " her for ever. 
 
 >i 
 
 tt 
 
 u 
 
 Separate establishments/' &c. &c. 
 
 However I feel inclined to pity the 
 sufferings of the royal stranger, thus 
 deserted in a foreign country, and bereft 
 of every domestic bliss, I seek only to 
 rescue her fame when it has been abused, 
 
70 ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 
 
 not to veil any error which may have 
 been alleged against her. 
 
 I am 5 therefore, free to confess, that 
 in the first stage of this unhappy busi- 
 ness, when it would have been most 
 amiable as well as most politic; when 
 passive obedience would have been the 
 severest reproach on the part of the 
 P — — ss ; it is notorious that H. R. I L 
 did oppose her popularity to that of the 
 P — — , and that resisting, perhaps with 
 offended pride, the friendly mediation of 
 
 the K 5 who anxiously sought to 
 
 restore family order, she widened to 
 
ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 71 
 
 the utmost stretch the existing breach, 
 
 and engrafted a sentiment on theP 's 
 
 mind too harsh to be named, which has 
 effectually destroyed every hope of 
 future reconciliation. 
 
 But the worm trodden under foot 
 will turn. If H. R. H.'s conduct was 
 impolitic, it was natural. We may de- 
 plore the event ; but cannot severely 
 censure it. 
 
 And after all, really, I incline to think 
 that H. R. H. was justified in continuing 
 to frequent the Opera. She is extrava- 
 1 
 
72 ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 
 
 gantly fond of music. A box at the 
 Opera house is the drawing room of a 
 lady of fashion, where she may admit or 
 reject visitors as she pleases. Etiquette 
 did not permit her to go elsewhere, 
 and there can be no law to condemn 
 her to the penance of a convent in a 
 country where convents are unknown,, 
 merely because it was not the P — <— 5 s 
 whim, caprice, or some worse name, to 
 live in domestic happiness with his 
 wife. 
 
 4th. w About this time, however, an 
 f accident happened which contributed 
 
ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 73 
 
 " not only to lessen Mrs. George in the 
 " good opinion of her husband, but 
 " even to alienate the regard of her 
 f? family, which hitherto had never 
 " forsaken hen 
 
 " A parcel of letters, written in the 
 " fulness, perhaps malignancy of her 
 " heart, were by some accident inter- 
 " cepted and conveyed to the manor 
 " house, which proved the talents of 
 " the fair writer to be of rather a dan* 
 " gerous tendency. Her friends, how- 
 " ever, glossed over the offence, and 
 " with peculiar address removed the 
 
74 ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 
 
 " censure to the Squire on the score of 
 ^ his intriguing with the attendant to 
 iC whom Mrs. George had committed 
 " the parcel, and as an abettor of a 
 cc breach of confidence between a ser- 
 xc vant and her mistress. 
 
 cc 
 
 Thus the tide of obloquy still 
 " pursued the young Squire, and his 
 " neglect of suffering innocence 
 continued to be the theme of general 
 a reprehension : while the fair recluse, 
 cc in the repose of triumph, devoted 
 " herself, as it was said, to works of 
 
 cc 
 
ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 75 
 
 " fancy and other elegant domestic pur- 
 " suits." 
 
 I answer in the language of Shylock, 
 
 Shall I bend low, and in a bondman's key 
 With 'bated breath, and whispering humbleness* 
 Say this — . — 
 
 Fair sir, you spit on me on Wednesday last, 
 You spurn'd me such a day ; — another time 
 You call'd me dog — and for these courtesies 
 I'll lend you thus much monies ? 
 
 Surely it was natural, most natural 3 
 that the Princess, in the agonies of dis- 
 appointed love, 
 
 E 2 
 
76 ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 
 
 u With not a friend to meliorate her doom, 
 " With not a joy to sparkle thro' the gloom ? 
 u Save the fair hope of whom her heart is proud, 
 Ci The youthful idol of the wond'ring croud ; 
 
 Polypus. 
 
 should give vent to their poignancy by 
 complaint. Her husband had deserted 
 her in a foreign land, where her only 
 connections, being his, had taken part 
 against her. She complained in parti- 
 cular of her aunt, from whom she at 
 least expected the soothings of friend- 
 ship. In the neglect of that aunt was 
 comprised the neglect of her lovely 
 
ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 77 
 
 cousins, etiquette forbidding them to 
 have any feelings, but to move automa- 
 tons at a superior's nod ? 
 
 But to whom did she complain ? not 
 to her attendants ; delicacy forbade 
 the communication ; and she obeyed 
 its law. Her complaints w r ere confined 
 to her own family abroad. They were 
 not couched in the language of revenge ; 
 but rather as mournful plaints against 
 her fate. 
 
 " Alas !" she might have said, " you, 
 " my dear parents, would have made 
 e 3 
 
78 ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 
 
 u me happy, and you made me great* 
 u How infinite the distinction* I am 5 
 <c 'tis true, the future Q — n of Eng- 
 " land 3 yet an exile in my own family* 
 
 u I live in a gaudy prison. • • . . . ■ , 
 
 " My companions are chosen for me, • 
 "..... My attendants set over me. . . . 
 " I breathe by rule, and oppose patience 
 S to oppression. , 
 
 You, I, all of us would have done 
 the same. And who is there to say 
 that more than private communication 
 was intended by this indulgence of sup- 
 
ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 79 
 
 pressed grief? The crime was not in the 
 writing such letters ; but in the base 
 confederated minds who dared to vio- 
 late the trust reposed in them j and for 
 purposes most diabolical to expose them 
 to the Q — n. 
 
 It is not, however, true, as alleged 
 by Diogenes, that a packet of letters 
 was by some accident intercepted and 
 conveyed to the Manor house. 
 
 The packet was originally confided 
 to a clergyman of strict honor, then 
 travelling to the court of B-— — n, who 
 e 4 
 
80 ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 
 
 promised to deliver it with his own 
 hand j but by intrigue., artifice, bribery, 
 or blandishment, the packet was pur- 
 loined from his custody he knew not 
 how, and conveyed to court, nobody 
 knew how : but there is a lady still in 
 existence, who at the day of reckoning, 
 and her account is large, will find this 
 black transaction recorded against her 
 in the character of living fire, 
 
 5th, " In the mean time, the infant 
 " Charlotte displaying uncommon ca« 
 " pacity was removed from the nursery, 
 sc and placed under the guardianship of 
 
ROYAL INVESTIGATION, 81 
 
 u proper tutors to embellish her person 
 " and understanding as the important 
 
 * heiress to the family fortunes. 
 
 " Deprived of the beloved society 
 u of this interesting companion, Mrs. 
 H George became sometime after the 
 u fond patroness of a pretty curly headed 
 
 * boy, whom, as she stated, she had 
 " taken from his poor parents to con- 
 " sole her for the loss of her little darl- 
 u rng. 
 
 " Charity is said to cover a multi- 
 u tude of sins, but in this instance it 
 
 £ 5 
 
82 ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 
 
 "-■seemed rather to uncover a multitude 
 u of offences. 
 
 " Certain whisperings aroused certain 
 ^ conjectures j they engendered suspi- 
 u cion j enquiry followed ; and in pro- 
 * c cess of time conviction bid fair to 
 *? develope the parentage of the little 
 ? William*" 
 
 I have conversed with high and low 
 
 at G- h on this subject. William is 
 
 there known to be the offspring of poor 
 parents at Deptford, a pet it is true ; 
 but surely the circumstance is not sin- 
 2 
 
ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 83 
 
 gular. He is at least an innocent com- 
 panion ; and as the affections must have 
 an object, this devotion is praiseworthy. 
 It would be a waste of words to enlarge 
 upon a fact so positive and so notorious. 
 
 6th. " Affairs now assumed a di£ 
 " ferent aspect 
 
 " In the neighbourhood of the lodge 
 " lived a veteran soldier j not a veteran 
 " in years, but service, a veteran whom 
 " it is to be hoped this country will 
 " not easily forget; and whom it is 
 e6 
 
84 ROYAL INVESTIGATION* 
 
 " impossible Buonaparte should ever 
 c * cease to remember. 
 
 " Laurelled by his King, he sought 
 " repose in the arms of beauty, from 
 ^ the toilsome campaigns he had suf- 
 u fered abroad. 
 
 u The object of the gallant soldier's 
 " choice, however, was not so remark- 
 a - able for her personal as her mental 
 44 endowments ; although the former 
 u are, by no means, free from captiva- 
 ** tion. The new wedded pair chose 
 C€ their residence in the neighbourhood 
 
ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 85 
 
 " of the widowed Mrs. George, and 
 " the ladies soon became extremely 
 " intimate. 
 
 " Among the many who hastened 
 " to congratulate Colonel Randolph on 
 " his marriage, was his old friend Cap- 
 55 tain Smythe of the navy: these gen- 
 " tlemen had often been companions in 
 u the heat of battle, and as nothing 
 " associates two noble hearts more firm- 
 " ly than an equal participation of 
 " danger, they loved each other as 
 " brothers. 
 
86 ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 
 
 £S Mrs. Randolph received the Cap- 
 C4 tain with the freedom of an old ac- 
 4C quaintance, and introduced him to 
 44 her friend Mrs. George, where he 
 44 was likewise received on an intimate 
 " footing. 
 
 44 But the Captain, though bred to 
 44 the sea, and a rough sailor in the 
 44 storm, possessed all the politeness of a 
 46 well-bred gentleman in the drawing 
 " room. He was either the votary of 
 i€ - love or war as occasion presented it- 
 " self, and soon distinguished Mrs. 
 
ROYAL INVESTIGATION, 87 
 
 " George as the object of his pointed 
 " gallantry. 
 
 " Another twelve-month passed, 
 <c during which period the Captain made 
 " frequent excursions to his friend's cot- 
 M tage, where he domesticated as he 
 " pleased. Mrs. Randolph became the 
 " happy mother of a girl 5 and he proposed 
 * himself as godfather to the infant, who 
 " was named in compliment Smythe 
 " Randolph. 
 
 * At length Mrs. Randolph, under- 
 w standing from her servants that the 
 
88 ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 
 
 " Captain never slept at home, men- 
 " tioned it with expressions of surprise 
 " to the ColoneL 
 
 u And pray, my dear, what is that to 
 a you W he replied good humoredly j 
 " S my the is my other self, and by G — d 
 " he shall do just as he pleases in my 
 c < house, 
 
 <c This: reproof was quite sufficient to 
 " silence Mrs. Randolph, but the more 
 " secretly the Captain endeavoured to 
 " conduct himself, the more he awaken- 
 ;< ed the curiosity of the servants, till it 
 
ROYAL INVESTIGATION* SQ 
 
 " became the common topic of the 
 " kitchen — c That Captain Smythe left 
 " the cottage every night when he sup- 
 " posed all the family at rest — muffled 
 " in his boat cloak, and, protected by 
 " a concealed hanger, took his course 
 " across the Park/ 
 
 " Suddenly Mrs. George almost drop- 
 " ped her visits at the cottage, and was 
 " much less frequent than usual in her 
 " invitations to the Park. 
 
 " One day the Colonel was strongly 
 " alarmed with the receipt of an anony- 
 
90 ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 
 
 * € mous letter written in a female cha- 
 w racter, and disclosing, as if in friend- 
 " ship to him, that an intrigue was on 
 f foot between his wife and Captain 
 « Smythe. 
 
 « He flew to the chamber of the 
 " latter with the libel in his hand, and 
 " presenting the superscription, demand- 
 " ed of the Captain if he knew the 
 " writing* 
 
 " Perfectly,'* was the reply. 
 
 « And the seal W 
 
ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 91 
 
 * Both are Mrs, George Roy's/' 
 
 " Then read the contents/ 5 
 
 " It is not easy to describe the horror 
 11 and indignation which filled his mind 
 " on the occasion ; but turning to his 
 " friend, and stifling his resentment, he 
 " endeavoured, calmly, to say, 
 
 M We will not, for all this, Randolph*, 
 " cut each other's throats/' 
 
 " No," replied the Colonel grasping 
 the hand that was offered to him, 
 
92 ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 
 
 " we will not," but this is a most diabo- 
 *■* lical plot. We are known to have bled 
 " together, and to be irascible to a 
 
 " fault in points of honour Oh I 
 
 " Smythe, had I not known you as I do, 
 " to what a fatal error might this cursed 
 " scroll have led me ! 
 
 " And your wife," interrupted the 
 Captain, " has she no claims on your 
 " confidence ? Fye, my friend, be more 
 " just to her merit on every occasion, 
 
 " and never yield a degenerate weakness 
 " to your passions at the instigation of 
 " any masked assassin of your future 
 
ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 93 
 
 €C peace and honor. Let us coolly in- 
 " vestigate this business. 
 
 " Without detailing particulars, it 
 "may suffice to state, that the two 
 " friends became assured in their suspk 
 " cion, Mrs. George was the author of 
 " the letter/' 
 
 There cannot be the least doubt as to 
 the fact of an anonymous letter having 
 been received by an officer of distinc- 
 tion, then bearing an untarnished repu- 
 tation, and the respect of his grateful 
 country. 
 
94 ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 
 
 This gentleman and his wife were on 
 
 habits of intimacy with theP ss,and 
 
 resided in a cottage within G park. 
 
 H. R. H. had distinguished them by the 
 most condescending marks of her 
 esteem. 
 
 Does it therefore follow, that they 
 must be the traducers of her honor ? 
 
 That an officer and his lady should 
 have been found so forgetful of their 
 own characters as to asperse that of a 
 superior^ stamping the fact with the 
 impression of their notorious intimacy 
 
ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 95 
 
 with H. R. H. for the base purpose of 
 pampering the diabolical malignities of 
 any human being whatever, would be 
 extraordinary indeed ! 
 
 I contend it is not credible that an 
 honourable soldier should so descend 
 from himself, or that a female, virtuous 
 in herself, should not respect virtue in 
 her sex, particularly when the object 
 was already smarting with the anguish- 
 ed feelings of every domestic sorrow. 
 
 Who then is traduced ? 
 
96 ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 
 
 The P ss, or her accusers? Either 
 
 party previous to this question, has stood 
 on the basis of honor so firmly, that the 
 decision should not be lightly given • 
 
 The anonymous letter, however, is 
 
 here positively attributed to the P- ss, 
 
 as if it were possible that any gentlewo- 
 man could have been the author of so in- 
 famous a production. 
 
 This letter does not contain any dis- 
 closure it was intended to convey in 
 language* It envelloped an hieroglyphic 
 
ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 9? 
 
 so expressive as not to be mistaken by 
 any* who could bear to look upon if. 
 
 In a letter before me addressed to the 
 
 P , I find the following appropriate 
 
 passage. 
 
 " The origin of the odious insinua- 
 " tions that gave rise to the late delicate 
 enquiry (as it has been most inaptly 
 called) is reported to have been a letter 
 signed by a gallant Baronet and his 
 lady, in which the virtue of your 
 august wife was most scandalously 
 " traduced. That such a letter was 
 
 <c 
 
 u 
 
98 ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 
 
 " written no one has ventured to deny; 
 " but that any persons should have the 
 " effrontery to place their signature 
 " thereto, almost startles credibility j 
 " and yet it is equally incredible that the 
 " peace of an irreproachable princess 
 " should be doomed to experience an 
 " additional pang, and the purity of 
 " royal succession called in question 
 " upon no other foundation than a 
 vile anonymous libel." 
 
 cc 
 
 This appeal to H. R. H/s feelings is 
 manly, but not wholly correct. A 
 letter certainly was written, which after- 
 
ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 99 
 
 wards became the ground-work of a 
 commission to be noticed in its proper 
 place ; but it is not true that any one 
 was hardy enough to affix his signature 
 thereto. 
 
 These assertions are So little like evi- 
 dence, and so much like malevolence, 
 that the cloven foot must be apparent 
 to every one. 
 
 7th. " Acts of ostentatious charity 
 
 " had hitheto established Mrs. George's 
 
 u reputation as the paragon of all earth- 
 
 " ly goodness. Her servants were re- 
 
 f2 
 
100 UOYAL INVESTIGATION. 
 
 ? markable for preserving their places $ 
 " and had she been less beloved, it might 
 " have been observed by village gos- 
 " sips,that they were remarkably profuse 
 u and elegant in their expences. Be 
 <c that as it may, the Colonel was pleased 
 " to give a new turn to the village con- 
 s' versation by openly avowing his 
 " opinion of the lady's depravity. 
 
 " It was a bold effort. ..... all the 
 
 " world declaimed loudly against him 
 6C as a monster. ..... the women almost 
 
 " hooted him, and shunned his amiable 
 " wife for the virtues they should have 
 u worshipped. 
 
ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 101 
 
 " The question became serious, the 
 " Manor of Royfield had descended 
 H from father to son in regular succes- 
 " sion, though not exclusively entailed 
 " on issue male : it was too consider- 
 " able to be trifled with. The infant 
 " Charlotte had been considered the 
 " rightful heiress of these proud do- 
 " mains, and Squire George trembled 
 " with an honest pride when he was 
 " told that a bastard son born in marri- 
 " age, might by law supersede her 
 " claim. A thousand passing tales aug- 
 " mented his apprehensions on this 
 J? head. 
 
 F3 
 
102 ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 
 
 * Mrs. George was described to be 
 
 •* immoderately fond of the boy William"; 
 
 M the little cottager had the parade and 
 
 " attendance of a count attached to his 
 
 u nursery j and when the carriage was 
 
 * ordered to air the pretty pet abroad, 
 
 " every care was taken ' that the winds 
 
 " of Heaven should not too rudely 
 
 " wanton o'er his cheek. 5 
 
 " These and other circumstances 
 f- buzzed by report, occasioned the fa- 
 " mily to assemble in debate on the 
 " importance of the future inheritance 
 " to be established in the Manor and 
 " appendages, 
 
ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 10S 
 
 " And here let me excite the admi- 
 " ration of the reader by declaring, that 
 " although the young squire would 
 " have been pleased to have rid himself 
 " of a supernumerary wife, he refused 
 • cc to be a party in these family consul- 
 tations, resolving that the establish- 
 
 «c 
 
 " ment of her guilt or innocence should 
 " not be weighed down by one atom of 
 " personal feeling or resentment. 
 
 " It would be hazardous to attempt 
 " detailing what exactly passed on this 
 cc occasion, because it was never pub- 
 u lished ; but I do not hesitate to aver, 
 
 F 4 
 
104 HOYAL INVESTIGATION. 
 
 " that the enquiry tended to criminate 
 « the lady." 
 
 That the P hss was beloved, is ad- 
 mitted even by her enemy: and, that 
 she is beloved is admitted by the world 
 at large ; beloved, with an encreased 
 affection proportioned to her unmerited 
 sufferings* 
 
 She has been tried without a trial ; 
 is condemned without an accuser ; for 
 if the commission for inquiring into the 
 reports tending to criminate H. R* H. 
 was not, and so I understand it, coun- 
 
ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 105 
 
 tersigned by the K — g, it was a self-no- 
 minated commission, and consequently 
 illegal. Incorrectness and mystery seem 
 to have gone hand in hand, and a cruel 
 delicacy has presided at the mock cere- 
 mony. 
 
 That all these steps have been taken 
 for the good of the nation, without any 
 interference on the part of the P — — , is 
 most true, and however his partizans 
 may attempt to qualify this cruel for- 
 bearance, by what is called an exposition 
 of the relative situation of the parties, 
 and the reasons for commencing 
 
 F.5 
 
v 106 ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 
 
 " The Delicate Inquiry ;" it is all vox et 
 
 preterea nihil. 
 
 " They may stated that it is impos- 
 a sible to say who is the blameable 
 " party for the distressing involvements 
 
 " of the two R — — P whose con- 
 
 * € duct has been so freely the subject 
 " of public conversation j that enough 
 u is not, and never may be before the 
 " public, whereby they may be enabled 
 u to form a correct judgment ; per-- 
 a haps there may be faults on both 
 u sides y perhaps scarcely any on either j 
 
 * Vide Letter to Lord Moin 
 
ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 107 
 
 " but that the contending dispositions 
 " of the royal parties may preclude a 
 " possibility of their living together in 
 " that harmony essential to domestic 
 " happiness • that from hidden causes, 
 
 u their R H.s's were living apart, 
 
 " when reports were circulated origi- 
 " nating in the imprudence of some 
 " unthinking people fond of a little 
 " scandal, that H. R. EL had been 
 " guilty of some levities or improper 
 " indiscretions, when a venerable noble- 
 " man, now just deceased, advised for 
 " the good of posterity and the satisfao 
 " tion of the kingdom in general, as 
 p 6 
 
108 ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 
 
 " well as out of justice to the character 
 " of H. R. H., that some inquiry should 
 " be instituted into the reports of the 
 " conduct of that R P— — ♦ 
 
 " Here every body must see the de~ 
 cc licate situation in which the P-— < — 
 c< was placed, and how difficult it was 
 u to know what to do: if he stirred 
 cc one way, or the other^ in behalf of the 
 
 P — — ss, or against her, he must be 
 
 equally subject to censure. 
 
 (C 
 
 u 
 
 " If he exerted himself for her, the 
 f nation might say, that it was an in- 
 
ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 109 
 
 " quiry instituted to satisfy posterity as 
 " to the succession, and he ought by 
 " no means to interfere : 
 
 u If he moved against her, of course, 
 " many people would say that he was 
 " trying to crush her by his political 
 64 interest without just grounds. 
 
 ** There can be no good reason given 
 <s why H. R. H. ought not, nay, why 
 " he was not imperatively called on to 
 " be neuter. That H. R. H. should, in 
 " the delicate situation he was placed, 
 H be called on to act at all, is an insult 
 
J 10 ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 
 
 €C to common sense, and every man who 
 " sees the least through an unjaundiced 
 " eye must perceive it." 
 
 I have detailed this opinion because it 
 appears to be founded in reason ; but, 
 my friends, if it be the truth, it is. not 
 the whole truth. 
 
 I have no objection to the correctness 
 of instituting an inquiry ; nor do I con- 
 demn the neutrality of the P— — pend- 
 ing that inquiry. But I maintain that, 
 the commission closed, the P— — was 
 
 BOUND TO GIVE THE NATION, WHOSE 
 
ROYAL INVESTIGATION* 111 
 
 KiaHT IT IS TO DEMAND, AN UNEQUI- 
 
 VOCAL REPORT OF THEIR PROCEED- 
 INGS. 
 
 It was not even enough, considering 
 
 the question of succession, if the P 
 
 had said, " I entirely acquit the 
 
 " P ss." The people had a right to 
 
 know why she was accused, by whom 
 accused, and how guiltless,. 
 
 As to the accusers, whoever they may 
 be, the commissioners have adjudged 
 the case referred to them ; and if the 
 gallant officer and his lady had written 
 
112 ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 
 
 the accusation scandalously ascribed to 
 them j they would have been punishable 
 for the libel; and it would be ridicu- 
 lous to suppose they were protected by 
 the P . He could not protect them. 
 
 8th. " He who has been admitted to 
 cc a secret will always find some dear 
 lc friend or other to whose confidence 
 ** he anxiously imparts the trust : hence 
 w the grounds on which I aver as fol- 
 f lows: 
 
 * That Mrs. George had notorious 
 * conveniences purposely erected to 
 
ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 113 
 
 M favor intrigue, and that her finances 
 " were considerably impaired in bribing 
 H her domestics to secrecy." 
 
 When the D of K— — waited 
 
 on H. R. H. with an intimation of the 
 inquiry about to take place; and that 
 it would be necessary to examine her 
 servants ; it is a fact, admitted even by 
 Diogenes, that she nobly exclaimed, 
 
 " From this moment I discharge all 
 " my household." 
 
 An order to this effect was given 
 
114 ROYAL INVESTIGATIONS 
 
 on the instant ; there was no time 
 for bribery, and even if there had, 
 and bribery had been practised, will 
 any one believe, that out of the many 
 persons necessary to the establishment 
 
 of a P ss, no one should be found 
 
 unmindful of his trust. 
 
 On the contrary, I insist that the very 
 mystery in which the affair has been 
 involved would have set every tongue 
 in motion. 
 
 There is a degree of self importance 
 attached to the discovery of a secret 
 
ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 115 
 
 that little- minds cannot resist ; nay, if 
 there had been secrets, they might have 
 been sold at a high price ; but no such 
 tales were ever whispered among them. 
 H. R. H.'s character stands as high as 
 ever in the neighbourhood she orna- 
 ments. 
 
 9th. " That a certain officer of his 
 " Majesty's navy was the reputed father 
 ct of the darling William by his chaste 
 " patroness. 
 
 ? That a certain miniature painter 
 " had been detected one evening locked 
 
116 ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 
 
 " up in the eating parlor with her, 
 " when the hours ilew swiftly on the 
 u soft pinions of love, and the enrap- 
 " tured pair forgot that it was supper 
 " time. 
 
 " As to Captain Smythe, it came out 
 " that the lady had cast off all reserve 
 " with him j kissing him as he took 
 " leave in her carriage, adjusting his 
 " frill in the drawing room, patting his 
 .." cheek, and other innocent liberties, at 
 " which English modesty would certainly 
 " blush; but which are perhaps very 
 " reconcileable with the indulgence of 
 " foreign customs" 
 
ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 117 
 
 These assertions contradict them- 
 selves. They contain a positive accusa- 
 tion of infidelity against H. R. H. ; and 
 although the commissioners appointed 
 to inquire into reports had no power to 
 try H. R. H. they had the power to 
 state the evidence on which a trial 
 might and would have been appointed. 
 It was their duty, and we must either 
 believe they failed in such duty, or that 
 no accusation, or shadow of accusa- 
 tion, came before them. 
 
 10th. " It is worthy of remark, that 
 " during the fashion' ,e separation 
 
118 ROYAL INVESTIGATION, 
 
 * 4 originally existing between Squire 
 a George and his wife, when they po- 
 " litely visited each other occasionally 
 " at their meals, and as politely retired 
 * to separate beds, the brutal Squire as 
 " he one day caressed his lovely infant, 
 " of whom he was doatingly fond, took 
 "occasion to find fault with the exu- 
 " berant curls that floated o'er her 
 u shoulders, and committed a rape upon 
 " the auburn locks. This was set down 
 " by Mrs. George as a direct insult to 
 u her, who wished every body to be- 
 " lieve she took infinite pleasure in 
 " studying to improve her daughter's 
 " beauty/ 1 
 
ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 1 19 
 
 The most dangerous way of telling a 
 story is so to mix truth with falsehood, 
 that those who listen, knowing part of 
 your tale to be correct, will readily 
 give you credit for the whole. 
 
 The fact is as follows: 
 
 4 
 
 One morning as the P caressed 
 
 the lovely infant on his knee, he could 
 not avoid noticing the extreme beauty 
 
 of her hair, and thanked Lady E 
 
 for bestowing such uncommon pains in 
 curling it to advantage. 
 
120 ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 
 
 " Your R. H. will thank the P— ss," 
 replied Lady E — — • " She takes pe- 
 " culiar pleasure in the arrangement you 
 " so much admire, and always performs 
 " the office with her own hand/' 
 
 I could willingly conceal what folio ws„ 
 
 The P sullenly borrowed Lady 
 
 E- > ■ 's scissars, and cut offthe admired 
 lock. 
 
 11th. " At another time— -when the 
 <€ chief residence of Mrs. George was 
 6C removed to the Lodge, and she only 
 
ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 121 
 
 " occupied her apartment at the Squire's 
 " occasionally ; the latter, on his driv- 
 u ing into the court-yard one morning, 
 " sent for an upholsterer to take down 
 " her bed. 
 
 " This was a new brutality that drew 
 " fresh odium on the Squire, who good- 
 %c humoredly suffered malice to expend 
 u itself in invective, without even trou- 
 <c bling the world with his motives. 
 
 " But it has since appeared, when the 
 - lady's levity subjected her conduct to 
 ;i inquiry, that she had compelled him 
 
122 ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 
 
 <c to the act, by the situation in which 
 
 " she stood with the boy William ; and 
 
 cc that he was forbidden in future — by 
 
 " counsel learned in the law — to suffer 
 
 " his wife to sleep in the same house 
 
 " with him ; and the more so, as Mrs, 
 
 * c George contrived to lure the Squire 
 
 iC into her apartment one night, when 
 
 " he was too much intoxicated to be 
 
 " aware of the folly he committed." 
 
 It was observed by my Lord Chester- 
 field, " that some men could deny a 
 " favor with a better grace, than others 
 i% granted them/' H. R. H. of all men 
 
ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 123 
 
 breathing could best substantiate this 
 reasoning; and yet, forgetful of the 
 common rules of politeness, he has per- 
 mitted himself to commit, an ungracious 
 act, wkh a want of decency that will ever 
 reflect upon his character. 
 
 If it be true that counsel learned in the 
 law forbade their residence under the 
 same roof, it is also true, that such ad- 
 vice could only have arisen from the im- 
 proper conduct of H. R. H.; who, so far 
 from having been lured into the apart- 
 ment of the P ss, forced his passage 
 
 thither, at a moment frenzied by Cham- 
 g2 
 
124 ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 
 
 paigne, and treated the affair so much 
 like a midnight adventure *, that his love 
 evaporated with his wine, and he un- 
 ceremoniously left her apartment when 
 he awoke — never to return! 
 
 This violation of her privacy, the 
 
 P« ss next morning communicated, 
 
 by letter, to the Q , and there the 
 
 affair dropped. 
 
 It will be admitted, I presume, that 
 nothing could be more correct, or 
 passive, than the P — ss's conduct un- 
 der this outrageous insult to common 
 decency. 
 
ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 125 
 
 12th. " Whatever might have been 
 u the private wishes of the family in 
 " thus calling a meeting of its relatives 
 " to confirm, or disannul, the reports in 
 " circulation, so seriously implicating 
 " the virtue of Mrs. George — it was 
 " found impossible to give concealment 
 " to that .meeting; and as the particu- 
 " lars were — as I have stated— with- 
 " held from the public, gossip eagerly 
 
 supplied the deficit. 
 
 4C 
 
 " Rumors, reports, and fairy tales, 
 " all calculated to inflame the public 
 " mind against the young Squire, were 
 G3 
 
126 BOYAL INVESTIGATION. 
 
 " most ingeniously fabricated through- 
 " out the neighbourhood; stating — 
 u among other things— that he, the 
 " Squire, with the aid and abetment of 
 " his friends, intimates, and depend- 
 " ents, did scandalously and maliciously 
 tc enter into, and contrive, a most gross, 
 " vile, and scandalous conspiracy, tend- 
 u ing to vilify, and to distort, by fio 
 " tion, the innocent liberties which Mrs. 
 €6 George had indulged during her re- 
 " tirement- — the which were found to be 
 c; perfectly correct, and correspondent 
 " with her mode of education—as well 
 u as to establish, ultimately — by perjury 
 
ROYAL INVESTIGATION* 127 
 
 " and subornation of perjury — high 
 " crimes, and misdemeanors against the 
 " Lady/' 
 
 If rumors, reports, and fairy tales, 
 grossly charging H. R. H. with conspi- 
 racy against his wife, have been fabri- 
 cated, and afterwards circulated, who 
 is to blame? 
 
 Not the P ss; for she has entered 
 
 into no conspiracy against her husband; 
 
 but the P , for suffering doubt to 
 
 exist on a question that ought to be as 
 
 public as the sun at mid day. And al- 
 
 g 4 
 
123 ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 
 
 though no well-thinking persons can for 
 an instant suppose H. R. H. has used 
 indirect means, much less subornation, 
 to criminate the P — > — ss; yet detraction 
 will bait him, till silenced by facts that 
 can admit only of one construction. 
 
 That the result of this secret investi- 
 gation has been favorable to the P — ss 
 every body does and will believe, al- 
 though she may have indulged a free- 
 dom of manners "found to be perfectly 
 " correct, and correspondent with her 
 
 " mode of education." If the P — 
 
 thinks otherwise; let official reports 
 
ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 12Q 
 
 sanction the opinion; the public are not 
 bigoted, but humane, in their judge- 
 ments. Convince them that their opi- 
 nion is ill founded, and humanity will 
 change sides. 
 
 13th. " Meanwhile the little Wil- 
 " Ham became an object — if possible — 
 u of increased interest with his tender- 
 " hearted patroness, who would kiss 
 " him rapturously, as they gambolled 
 " together on the carpet, and assure 
 " him, he would some day or other 
 " make a great noise in .Westminster 
 « Hall." 
 
 g 5 
 
130 ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 
 
 While the wickedness of invention 
 was at work, I do not see that any in- 
 cident more appropriate could have been 
 well devised; but I should really be glad 
 to know what the son of a poor woman 
 at Deptford could have to do with this 
 
 prediction j unless it is theP ss's in- 
 
 tention to bring up the boy to the bar, 
 convinced, from experience, that to 
 whomever the upper and the under 
 shells may be adjudged, the oyster al- 
 ways falls to the share of the lawyer. 
 
 14th. " Charlotte had now attained 
 '* her eleventh year, and was the admi- 
 
ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 131 
 
 " ration of every body. Her profici* 
 a ency in music, dancing, and drawing, 
 €€ was the theme of universal panegyric j 
 " but her studies were, by no means, 
 ce confined to these outward, though 
 cc elegant, accomplishments. Her mind 
 " was richly stored with literature, and 
 " the Graces seemed to have marked 
 " her for their own* She was a great 
 " favorite with all the family; but par- 
 u ticularly so with her grandfather. 
 
 " The squire was proud in the pos- 
 * session of this beauteous treasure, and 
 f* his family, more urgendy than ever, 
 g6 
 
232 ROYAL INVESTIGATION* 
 
 u 
 
 u 
 
 sought how they could best preserve 
 her birthright from future perplexi- 
 « ties, 
 
 " Another family meeting was con- 
 " vened, and the ablest law opinions 
 "■ taken as to the steps they should — in 
 a duty to this lovely child — pursue," 
 
 I venture to assert, without the least 
 hesitation, that there can be but one opi- 
 nion on the question of succession. 
 There never has been a doubt on the 
 subject till Diogenes was pleased to raise 
 it; and God forbid there ever should 
 be! 
 
ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 133 
 
 15th. " It may appear surprising 
 " that no satisfactory information had 
 " hitherto been obtained from the ser- 
 " vants employed about the person of 
 " Mrs. George; who must have known 
 " how things went on; but if Mrs. 
 " George paid them better for holding 
 " their tongues, than others offered to 
 " pay them for talking, that surprise is 
 " easily removed. 
 
 ;c But — as will be seen— there were 
 " engines at work as well to restore, 
 u as to preserve the lady's reputation; 
 " and it was contrived, by the following 
 
134 ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 
 
 means, to smuggle her, once more, into 
 the apparent protection of the family* 
 
 
 " Several meetings had taken place 
 " respecting Mrs. George's conduct, 
 " when the Squire was one morning 
 " very suddenly informed by the secre- 
 # tary, that the lawyers had given their 
 u final opinion on the case, and begging 
 " to know when he would be at leisure 
 " to receive the proceedings. 
 
 " The Squire was at his town resi- 
 " dence, and replied, c Immediately/ 
 
THE ROYAL INVESTIGATION* 135 
 
 The new m y actuated by the 
 
 noblest sentiments, resolved to remove 
 the unfavorable impressions that im- 
 properly hung over the P ss. They 
 
 accordingly procured a revival of the 
 whole circumstances to be laid before 
 
 the P : C — — , expediting their 
 
 opinion thereon. 
 
 That opinion was given conclusive- 
 
 ly and favourably to the P ss. 
 
 It was referred to the P by my 
 
 Lord H ; and the P not hav- 
 ing made any objection thereto, probably 
 because he could not, my Lord H re- 
 
136 BOYAL INVESTIGATION-. 
 
 peated to H — • M at W— — that 
 
 the P — - — had not made any objection, 
 and intimated, that as all doubt was 
 removed, the P — — ss was entitled to re- 
 appear at court, and that such re-appear- 
 ance would be most grateful to the 
 nation at large. 
 
 The K thereupon, signified H. R. 
 
 pleasure that the P- — — ss be received at 
 St. J . 
 
 15th. " On delivery of these pa- 
 ic pers, the secretary pressed to know 
 *; when he might have the honor to 
 " call for the Squire's decision. 
 
ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 137 
 
 u « That/ said the Squire c cannot be 
 u so readily determined.' 
 
 " The secretary bowed and took 
 " leave. 
 
 w The urgency of this demand will 
 " appear to have been founded in good 
 " policy, and that Mrs. George had 
 " found the way to make the secretary 
 " her friend. • 
 
 " An annual festival was soon to 
 " take place, at which it was the custom 
 " of the Manor to throw open its doors 
 
138 ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 
 
 " to visitors : Mrs. George had em- 
 " ployed every possible female artifice 
 Cl to force herself into this party, con- 
 " fiding in the popularity she still 
 '* maintained in the neighbourhood, 
 " and feeling assured if her presence 
 cc were ence so sanctioned by the family^ 
 " she might snap her fingers at the 
 " Squire, and set him and his lawyers 
 " at defiance. 5 * 
 
 It is certain that the P — — refused 
 
 his decision to my Lord H ; the 
 
 only alternative, therefore, vested in his 
 Lordship was, to report the fact, " that 
 
ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 139 
 
 H. R. H. had not made any objections 
 thereto/' 
 
 H — * M being thus released from 
 
 every point of delicacy towards his son, 
 argued as an honest man, thus, 
 
 The P — — C having denied that 
 
 the charges brought against the P— ss 
 
 are of a nature to subject H. R. H/s 
 conduct to a more severe investigation ; 
 and having dismissed the same as frivol- 
 ous and vexatious ; and the P see- 
 ing no fair reason to object to this con- 
 clusion, I command that H. R. H. the 
 
 1 
 
140 ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 
 
 P — — - of W be informed that her 
 
 presence will be acceptable at C — t. 
 
 All this is a simple, official, transac- 
 tion, as sudden as it was just, and par- 
 takes too much of both to have been 
 the effect of any private influence. 
 
 That this restoration of H. R. H. 
 to unsullied fame was dear to the 
 people, their united and repeated accla- 
 mations fully testified. Even the anti- 
 rooms, crouded by nobility, echoed in 
 defiance of C — t etiquette, with the cor- 
 
ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 14l 
 
 dial plaudits of the company as the R — 1 
 stranger passed to the drawing room. 
 
 And what were the P ss's feelings 
 
 on this occasion ? — Not those of tri- 
 umph, but of gratitude. 
 
 Gratitude to a nation who supported 
 an unprotected alien with its counten- 
 ance in the hour of trial, and hailed her 
 with rapture at the hour of acquittal S 
 
 16th. " And now the opportunity 
 " was offered to her constant and zeal- 
 " ous defenders to announce to the 
 
142 ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 
 
 P world a confirmation of Mrs. 
 " George's innocence. Indeed, these 
 " obliging scribblers had often restored 
 " her reputation by newspaper fiction ; 
 " but now, c Oh the thing was beyond 
 " all doubt/ 
 
 " To this latter sentence I subscribe 
 " most heartily. It is beyond all 
 " doubt y and I would advise the lady's 
 " best friends to remember the fallacy 
 " of appearances, and the language of 
 " the Poet, 
 
 " Nor all that glisters gold.' 7 
 
ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 143 
 
 " For notwithstanding the public 
 " enthusiasm follows the doubtful 
 * stream, there may be found among 
 " the crowd some cold blooded mora- 
 " list, who, surveying the subject with 
 " the eye of reason, and detailing it 
 " with candour may exclaim, 
 
 ct Where was the squire ? Where his 
 " younger brother ? Where's Mrs. Fre- 
 " derick ? on this momentous occasion. 
 
 " Would not a convinced husband 
 -" proudly partake the restoration of a 
 " wife's honour ? Would not his rela- 
 
144 ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 
 
 " tives eagerly flock aroijnd an injured 
 " female to cheer her with their con- 
 " gratulations, and ornament her tii- 
 " umph with their presence ? 
 
 " Yet the warmest advocates of Mrs. 
 " George will surely find it very singu- 
 " lar that the Squire should chuse this 
 " particular , day to drive to a neigh- 
 " bouring race course ; and that all his 
 " brothers except the one noticed as 
 " the lady's champion should also find 
 " particular enjoyments to prevent their 
 f Q partaking in this grand and national 
 " mental festival. Even the mild, ami- 
 
ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 145 
 
 " able, and humane Mrs. Frederick, who 
 
 " gives the tear of pity and the alms 
 
 " of benevolence to all suffering huma- 
 
 " nity, has felt herself in propriety com- 
 
 " pelled to stay at home on this occa- 
 
 " sion." 
 
 If any argument were wanting to 
 convince the world of the injustice 
 which has so long been done to this 
 
 amiable and oppressed P ss, it will 
 
 be found here. 
 
 We see private pique exerting all its 
 influence to cloud the brilliant triumph 
 of H* Rr H. We see every individual 
 
146 ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 
 
 of the P — — 's family who could be, 
 was kept away j but although this 
 marked contempt shews great inhu- 
 manity, it also serves to prove that if 
 influence could have prevented the 
 P — — ss's return to C—t, it would. 
 
 It proves that she was received in 
 opposition to the individual and collective 
 hatreds of the family; and it proves 
 that this public acknowledgement of her 
 innocence on the part of the Q — 1 in 
 the presence of all her nobles, was an 
 extorted compliment which the supe- 
 rior MAJESTY OF JUSTICE COMMANDED 
 TO TAKE PL4CE. 
 
ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 147 
 
 17th. "In all large families birth-days 
 " are frequent. It so happened, then, 
 " that within the month the birth-day 
 " of Mrs. Roy claimed the annual 
 " tributes cf filial respect from her 
 "children; on which occasion all the 
 " family was accustomed to assemble 
 ? and pass their evening in private 
 " cheerful mirth. 
 
 " Was it not then to be expected 
 " that the blackamoor washed white 
 " would be invited to the party ? 
 
 " 'Tis a comprehensive question; and 
 " when I add that her husband and her 
 H 2 
 
148 ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 
 
 " daughter, his brothers and his sisters, 
 " were all assembled in commemora- 
 " tion of a beloved parent's birth, the 
 u marked absence of Mrs. George, stu- 
 " diously uninvited, speaks volumes to 
 u her disgrace/' 
 
 To whose disgrace I will ask ? — Not 
 that certainly of the persecuted inno- 
 cent; but if disgrace must be the atten- 
 dant of this insult, I incline to think 
 most of my readers will attach it to an 
 higher personage. 
 
 Was this a moment for the Q — n to 
 remember the adventure of the inter- 
 
ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 149 
 
 cepted letters ? Let others decide 
 
 on the question, I feel I should reply 
 to it harshly* 
 
 18th. " Afflictions of a domestic 
 " nature also, about this time called, if 
 " it had been possible to have attended 
 " to the call, on the warmest consola- 
 " tions from the family. Mrs. George 
 " had recently lost her father." 
 
 The death of the D — of B — - — was 
 a national calamity. Every Englishman 
 deplored the event, and if the sympa- 
 thies of millions could have communi- 
 H 3 
 
150 ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 
 
 cated consolation to the P — — ss 3 she 
 would have been consoled. 
 
 „ This was impossible. The friendly 
 task devolved upon her family connec- 
 tions in this country ; who contented 
 themselves with mourning for the dead, 
 without attempting to soften the dis- 
 tresses of the living. 
 
 Such are c- — y sensibilities ! ! ! 
 
 !9th. " On this melancholy occasion 
 u it became the wish of her widowed 
 " mother to return to England. She 
 u expressed these wishes to her brother 3 
 
ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 151 
 
 " and apartments were actually in pre- 
 " paration for her reception, but it 
 " would have been a severe addition to 
 " her domestic sorrows to have wit- 
 " nessed the disgrace of a fallen daugh- 
 " ter; she therefore deferred her re- 
 " turn, 3 ' 
 
 This is a most unmanly perversion 
 
 of facts. The D ss of B has 
 
 not given up her intention of revisiting 
 her native country. Some private ar- 
 rangements indeed have protracted her 
 return, but her arrival is daily expected, 
 and when she does come, it will be 
 like a Roman Matron to bless the gods, 
 h 4 
 
152 ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 
 
 and to weep with joy over the triumphs 
 of her child. 
 
 20th. " Her mourning habit on the 
 
 a day she visited the family mansion," 
 
 * her liveries, hammercloth, and trap- 
 
 " pings of the same sable hue, aided by 
 
 " certain well-assumed despondency of 
 
 " manner, were little aids w r ell calculated 
 
 " to fill up the measure of her popula- 
 
 " rity. . 
 
 " Let us now canvas the spirit of 
 " this popularity j what says the fashion- 
 " able harbinger of scandal in behalf of 
 " its favorite protegee ? 
 
ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 153 
 
 The Morning Post, with a constancy 
 truly honourable to the feelings of the 
 Editor stated, on this occasion. 
 
 " That IT R. H. the P ss of W— s 
 
 " had appeared at the drawing room, 
 
 cc attended by her faithful friend Lady 
 
 " T — d ? who had been remarkable in 
 
 " her attachment to her R friend 
 
 " froiri her arrival in this country ; and 
 
 " more particularly so during her late 
 
 " sufferings. 
 
 « That H. R. H. the D— of C- 
 
 " awaited the arrival of his R — 1 rela- 
 M tion, whom he handed into the draw- 
 
 H 5 
 
154 ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 
 
 " ing room, and presented to the 
 * Q— n. 
 
 " That the P -ss's arrival at the 
 
 " garden gate was marked with gene- 
 " ral and cordial demonstrations of joy ; 
 Ci her reception was truly flattering, and 
 u the most distinguished among the 
 " nobility awaited in the anti-rooms to 
 46 testify their heartfelt congratulations 
 " as H. R. H retired from the presence. 
 
 u That the attentions^ of the B — of 
 " C— — • in persevering to mark his dis~ 
 u belief of the whole infamous fabrica- 
 u tion, did equal honor to him as a 
 
ROYAL INVESTIGATION, 155 
 
 " p , a brother, and a man. The 
 
 " attachment of Lady T d though 
 
 " more humble, is not less exemplary. 
 
 " May these honors be lasting as they 
 
 " are just ! — Such will ever be the wish 
 
 u of all who resent the calumnies which 
 
 " have been permitted to obscure the 
 
 " fair fame of the lovely stranger 5 
 
 " and it will be equally their task to 
 
 " exert themselves in dispelling the 
 
 " clouds with which her exalted worth 
 
 " has been so arfully overcast. 
 
 4< What a triumph to the P ss ! 
 
 h 6 
 
156 ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 
 
 " What an humiliation to her ene~ 
 " mies !" 
 
 To which I say — amen! 
 
 21. " The unexpected appearance of 
 " Mrs. George, still on the arm of her 
 " amiable brother in law, at the theatre 
 " in the evening, afforded the Editor of 
 " the same publication a new subject 
 "for his sublime admiration. 
 
 " He dwells most feelingly on the uni- 
 u versal raptures which the lady's 
 " presence communicated to every in- 
 1 
 
ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 157 
 
 f dividual bosom. He describes the 
 
 " public marks of cordial approbation 
 
 " that greeted her arrival, the impres- 
 
 " sive return made by Mrs. George who 
 
 " was much affected with their good- 
 
 " ness in oppressing her with such flat- 
 
 " tering marks of general esteem so 
 
 " UNANIMOUSLY BESTOWED ! and 
 
 " concludes with assuring us, that al- 
 " though her dress was ornamented 
 u with a rich display of brilliant orna- 
 " ments, the lustre of restored ho- 
 " nor beamed round her person with 
 " a splendor exceeding all the pomp of 
 4i outward decoration, and wholly eclips- 
 u ing the dazling blaze of her jewels. 
 
158 ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 
 
 " What a pity it is that Mrs, George 
 u could not likewise get herself smug- 
 cc gled by hook or by crook to the 
 " entertainment given in B— -shire in 
 " honor of Mrs. Roy's birth day! It 
 " would have made so pretty a para- 
 " graph 3 and would, I have no doubt, 
 " have been inserted as gratuitously 
 " as all the former puffing paragraphs 
 " so industriously and so loudly trum- 
 peting forth her praise." 
 
 CC 
 
 What a shame, rather, let it be said, 
 that the unfeeling conduct of her R — 1 
 relations has given this opportunity to 
 a distempered mind so to descant on 
 
ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 159 
 
 the misfortunes of an amiable and de- 
 serted P ss ! 
 
 When the page of history shall record 
 this event to after-ages; when party 
 spirit and unnatural hatreds shall have 
 no influence on the reader, and candor 
 alone shall appreciate the act ; how 
 fallen will their characters appear in 
 public estimation who thus deliberately 
 could heap insult on injury, and mock 
 the agonies they inflicted ! 
 
 22. " Is the Squire dead to all feel- 
 M ing it may be asked, or above all 
 " praise, that he so supinely bears these 
 
160 ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 
 
 CQ indirect censures on himself, and for- 
 
 " bears when chastisement more direct 
 
 " is levelled at him by the united ma- 
 
 " lignancies of a host of anonymous 
 
 " writers? 
 
 " Neither! — content in the conscious 
 
 " rectitude of his conduct, he disdains 
 
 " either to purchase the praise or avert 
 
 " the scurrility of any venal scribbler : 
 
 " he leaves to time the developement 
 
 cc of circumstances, which by the bye 
 
 " have been as mysteriously withheld 
 
 " from public adjudication by either 
 
 " party. 
 
ROYAL INVESTIGATION, 161 
 
 " An official copy of the whole pro- 
 " ceedings was sent to Mrs. George ; 
 * not very respectfully indeed, as the 
 " lawyer, whose office it was, most un« 
 " gallantly dispatched a livery servant 
 " with the sealed packet j when it is 
 " believed the lady thought it would 
 " have became him to have presented 
 " it in person." 
 
 Of the P 's conscience, no one 
 
 can so ably judge as himself. 'Tis a 
 consoling monitor when speaking the 
 language of approbation, but a fiend- 
 like tormentor when it would awaken 
 
162 ROYVL INVESTIGATION. 
 
 the soul to compunction. Time will 
 solve all doubts. 
 
 If it be true that the then L — H- 
 
 C of England has suffered the 
 
 dignity of his situation to be tarnished 
 by the littleness of servility ; if grati- 
 tude to his R — 1 patron has made him 
 forgetful of the decorum due to the sex, 
 as well as the exalted character of the 
 Personage thus insulted, it is well that 
 his power has ceased. 
 
 I do not, however, credit the posi- 
 tion, l 
 
ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 163 
 
 An event almost as ungracious took 
 place during the ministry of Lord North. 
 
 On the division of the house on a 
 question relative to the commitment of 
 Mr. Woodfall the printer for a libel, Mr. 
 Fox, then at the Treasury Board, op- 
 posed the minister, who however car- 
 ried the original motion with a great 
 majority. 
 
 My Lord North was highly incensed 
 at this dereliction of a member of his 
 own board ; a trifling explanation en- 
 sued, but an open rupture was the con- 
 sequence; when the minister with power* 
 
164 ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 
 
 ful rudeness wrote the following note, 
 which was delivered by a door keeper 
 of the House to Mr, Fox in his place 
 on the Treasury Bench. 
 
 " His Majesty has thought proper to 
 order a new Commission of the Trea- 
 sury to be made out, in which I do not 
 perceive your name." 
 
 To the Hon. C. J. Fox. North. 
 
 Still the object was not a lady ! 
 
 23. " The packet, however, was 
 " delivered. Give me leave then, dis- 
 " passionate keadek! for to none 
 
ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 165 
 
 " other do I address myself, to ask this 
 " simple question — 
 
 " Is there any law, usage, or custom 
 " in Great Britain, so blessed in its 
 " constitution ! to prevent a female of 
 " whatever rank, whose conduct has 
 " become the subject of legal inquiry, 
 " from laying before the public the 
 " official result of that inquiry ? 
 
 " I believe not ; and when such is 
 " favourable to the party supposed to be 
 " aggrieved, I rather think I may ven- 
 " ture to assert she would publish 
 
 " IT." 
 
166 ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 
 
 In private life, perhaps, this argument 
 would hold. The liberty of the press 
 affords the humblest individual an op- 
 portunity of exposing its wrongs, and 
 appealing to the high tribunal of public 
 justice in vindication of a wantonly in- 
 suited reputation ; but P — * — are guid- 
 ed by forms j and it would have been 
 
 indelicate in the P ss to publish 
 
 minutes of an inquiry which neither the 
 K— , the P— — , nor the P— — C — — 
 have thought it -necessary to expose to the 
 world. 
 
 That the latter respectable reference 
 are satisfied in the irreproachability .of 
 
ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 10*7 
 
 H. R. H/s conduct, stands confessed by 
 
 their intimation to H — M that it 
 
 was her privilege to appear at court ; a 
 privilege not to be done away otherwise 
 than by indecorous conduct, of which 
 they fiilly acquitted the R — — P . 
 
 How, then, could the ? ss order 
 
 the minutes to be printed ? It would 
 tacitly argue a doubt as to ihe justice of 
 the nation which has so humanely sup- 
 ported her against every envenomed 
 slanderer. 
 
 The doubt is with ourselves. 
 
168 ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 
 
 24. " Economy is no apology for 
 " withholding it, as any bookseller 
 " would do well to give a thousand 
 " guineas, perhaps two for such a 
 w manuscript." 
 
 Every body will certainly smile at the 
 ridiculous point of view in which this 
 
 last paragraph is placed. The P ss 
 
 of W — — s driving through Paternoster 
 Row, offering her Justification to the 
 liberality of the trade, or setting the 
 w T hole Row by the ears while knocking 
 it down to the best bidder ! 
 
 Diogenes proceeds to exculpate the 
 
ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 169 
 
 P — : — from the odium this mysterious 
 Investigation has gathered round him, 
 and sums up his own motives in the 
 following singular words : 
 
 " I have learnt to think for myself, 
 4C and despise the prevalent machine! / 
 " by which persons of fashion are 
 " moved, as to action and opinion, like 
 " the puppets of a fantoccini, by any 
 " eccentric idiot of rank who has just 
 
 genius enough to new-model a cap or 
 
 " a trinket; and arrogates from thence, 
 
 u the supremacy of Showman to the 
 
 " fashionable croud, pointing at whom 
 
 i 
 
 <£ 
 
'170 ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 
 
 "it shall be lawful to admire, whom 
 u condemn. 55 
 
 I confess that those circles which are 
 called haut-ton, are altogether beyond 
 my migrations, My researches are more 
 immediately connected with little- 
 ton, and my acquaintance more con- 
 fined to the srloom of mv chambers, than 
 the splendors of a fashionable gala ; but 
 persons of rank seek my advice, although 
 careless of my company, and I have 
 been accustomed to find good sense not 
 incompatible with title. 
 
 That follies characterise a certain de- 
 scription of persons is most true ; and 
 
.ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 171 
 
 when those persons are of rank, they 
 excite our ridicule. But the misfortune 
 is, they pervade other orders of society, 
 whom they make Contemptible, ■ 
 
 No citizen is independant of public 
 good opinion : it is the sinew of trade : 
 the bond of confidence. 
 
 In a P it is more ; it conciliates 
 
 the esteem of a brave and generous 
 people, without which, R — — y is little 
 more than a stalking horse. 
 
 I shall now say a few words on a 
 postscript that has been added to the 
 i 2 
 
172 ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 
 
 second edition of the above work, and 
 conclude with general observations. 
 
 " Now the simple fact is, that on the 
 " morning of the day alluded to, the 
 " Squire breakfasted with his father, 
 " mother, and sisters, who were joined 
 by all the rest of the family, except- 
 ing the invalid} and Mrs* George, who 
 cc was not invited to the party. 
 
 a 
 
 u 
 
 cc 
 
 The Squire was attended on his 
 ** return home to dress by all these 
 " brothers, excepting Mr. Ernestus, the 
 u former champion of Mrs, George 5 
 
ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 173 
 
 u from whence he returned at so unusu- 
 " ally early an hour as a little past one 
 " to join his mother in her drawing 
 " room, continuing at her side till near 
 " three ; when the expected arrival of 
 " Mrs. George hurried him from his 
 " post ; so that he positively left the 
 " house without seeing, and conse- 
 " quently without conversing with his 
 " wife, who had been obliged to borrow 
 <c a room to dress from her friend Mrs. 
 " ShefFelde, pending the arrangement of 
 " apartments in the neighbourhood of 
 « K- n. 
 
 " The deductions from the foregoing 
 i 3 
 
174 ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 
 
 u statement are so simple and positive*, 
 " that no argument is necessary to 
 *? their elucidation. 
 
 ^ The Squire would not suffer any 
 t$ circumstance to prevent his paying 
 " those respectful attentions to his 
 " father which the clay claimed. He 
 "■ therefore, as did his brothers, obeyed 
 €c the grateful feelings of his heart, as 
 * 4 well publicly as privately ; but did so 
 ■* c in a manner which should have pre- 
 " eluded all possibility of its being supposed 
 iC that he approved the visit of his wife on 
 a the same occasion. Yet the town talk 
 " has stated the reverse of this fact j 
 
ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 1?5 
 
 u and ladies of distinction, even, who 
 " were present on the occasion have 
 " corroborated these false statements, 
 " by declaring they saw and heard the 
 " Squire and his wife converse together.' 5 
 
 I have taken very particular pains to 
 be assured on the subject of these latter 
 remarks, and believe, knowing my 
 
 opinion to be general, that the P 
 
 an d P -ss were both at court at the 
 
 same time, and that they conversed 
 together. 
 
 At all events the reception afforded 
 to H. R. H. by the Q — n, the affability 
 i 4 
 
276 ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 
 
 with which she was acknowledged by 
 
 the P- ses, and the unparallelled 
 
 enthusiasm of the c— t j are evidence 
 
 combined with the decision of the P 
 
 C -, not to be controverted by the 
 
 eloquence of an E or the effrontery 
 
 of a G— * — s they are evidence as 
 powerful as the seal on Shylock's bond* 
 which I hold up to Diogenes : 
 
 ** Till thou cans't rail the seal fromi>ff my.bond, 
 ** Tku but offends't thy lungs to speak so loud." 
 
 If it be true that the P — <*— ss was 
 forbidden at W« — house, and denied a 
 passage through the court yard of 
 C ■ house, and it is certain that she 
 
ROYAL INVESTIGATION, 37^ 
 
 dressed at Lady S d's, it argues a 
 
 wantonness in the oppressor at which 
 humanity must shudder j it shews a 
 bitterness of mind at which a P must 
 blush within the retirement of liis closet y 
 it betrays a want of justice, which an 
 honourable people must impeach with 
 their voices and detest in their hearts*- 
 
 Whether this mysterious Investiga* 
 tion will ever be suffered to appear 
 more circumstantially before the public, 
 is a doubt beyond my casuistry. 
 
 But if it does not, all the continent of 
 Europe will feel the act to be an infring- 
 i-5> 
 
1^8 ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 
 
 ment on the sacred laws of a country, 
 whose constitution has hitherto been 
 the general theme of envy and admira- 
 tion among all polished nations. 
 
 They will feel that civil, or moral 
 wrong may be tried in England without 
 an open court and free discussion : they 
 will feel that a subject may be arraigned 
 without being either condemned or ac- 
 quitted ; they will feel that slander may 
 heap injuries on the innocent, without 
 being amenable to chastisement ! 
 
 " Our ancestors*, as an infallible 
 
 * Sir Matthew Hale Hist Com, Law. Eng, 
 p. 169, note E ft p. 148. 
 
ROYAL, INVESTIGATION.- 17® 
 
 method of discovering truth and of 
 guarding against deception, appealed to 
 Heaven 5 and referred every point in 
 dispute to be determined, as they ima- 
 gined, by the decisions of unerring 
 wisdom and impartial justice, 
 
 " The person accused, in order to 
 prove his innocence, submitted in some 
 cases to trial, by plunging his arm in 
 boiling water j by lifting a red hot 
 iron with his naked hand ; by walking 
 barefoot over burning ploughshares ; or 
 by other experiments equally perilous 
 and formidable. 
 
 i6 
 
ISO ROYAL INVESTIGATION, 
 
 " On other occasions he challenged 
 Ms accuser to fight him in single com- 
 bat, All these various forms of trial 
 were conducted with many devout 
 ceremonies 5 the ministers of religion 
 were employed,the Almighty was called 
 upon ta interpose for the manifestation 
 of guilt and for the protection of inno- 
 cence; and whoever escaped unhurt or 
 came off victorious, was pronounced 
 to be acquitted by the judgment of 
 God*. 
 
 * Murat Dissertatio de JudicHs Dei Antiq* 
 Ital. vol. 3, p, 12, 
 
ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 182 
 
 " Among all the whimsical and absurd 
 institutions which owe their existence to 
 the weakness of human reason j this, 
 which submitted questions that affected 
 the property, the reputation, and the lives 
 of men to the determination of chance, 
 or of bodily strength and address, ap- 
 pears to be the most extravagant and 
 preposterous. 
 
 " There were circumstances, how- 
 ever, which led the nations of ^Europe 
 to consider this equivocal mode of 
 deciding every point in contest as a 
 direct appeal to Heaven, and a certain 
 method of discovering its. will. 
 
182 ROYAL INVESTIGATION* 
 
 €i As men are unable to comprehend 
 the manner in which the Almighty 
 carries on the government of the uni- 
 verse, by equal, fixed, and general laws, 
 they are apt to imagine, that in every 
 case which their passions or interest 
 render important in their own eyes, the 
 Supreme Ruler of all ought visibly to 
 display his power, in vindicating inno- 
 cence and punishing vice. \ 
 
 cc It requires no inconsiderable degree 
 of science and philosophy to correct this 
 popular error. But the sentiments 
 prevalent in Europe during the dark 
 
ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 183 
 
 ages, instead of correcting, strengthened 
 it. 
 
 " Religion for several centuries con- 
 sisted chiefly in believing the legendary- 
 history of those saints whose names 
 croud and disgrace the Roman kalendar. 
 The fabulous tales concerning their 
 miracles had been declared authentic by 
 the bulls of Popes and the decrees or 
 councils; they made the great subject 
 of the instructions which the^ clergy 
 offered to the people, and were received 
 by them with implicit credulity and 
 admiration. 
 
184 ROYAL INVESTIGATIONS 
 
 " By these, men were accustomed to 
 believe that the established laws of 
 nature might be violated on the most 
 frivolous occasions j and were taught ta 
 look rather for particular and extraor- 
 dinary acts of power under the Divine 
 administration, than to contemplate the 
 regular progress and execution of a: 
 general plan. 
 
 f* One superstition prepared the way 
 for another j and whoever believed that 
 the Supreme Being had interposed 
 miraculously on those trivial occasions 
 mentioned in Legends, could not but 
 
ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 185 
 
 expect his intervention in matters of 
 greater importance, when solemny re- 
 ferred to his decision*. 
 
 " The common law very early de- 
 clared against trial by ordeal, or vulgaris 
 furgatio, as being the fabric of the devilf. 
 Upon this authority, though the ca- 
 nons themselves were of no validity in 
 England, it was thought proper to dis- 
 use and abolish this mode of trial en- 
 
 * Blackstone's Comm. lib. 4. cap. 27. 
 
 + Cum sit contra praeceptum Domini, non 
 tentabis Dominum Deum tuum. Decret. part 2. 
 cant. 2, qu. 5, cTist. 7. Decret. lib. 3, lit. 50, 
 c. 9 ; and Spelni. Gloss. 435. 
 
T86 ROYAL INVESTIGATION.-. 
 
 tirely in our courts of justice by an act> 
 of Parliament]; according to Sir Edward. 
 Goke§, or rather by an order of the 
 King in council }|." 
 
 Such. was the vulgar error and such, 
 the superstitious evidence of our un- 
 lightened ancestors ; but with succeed- 
 ing ages, succeeding forms of govern- 
 ment have established new, and amelio- 
 rated old, regulations to the dignity 
 of the law and the honor of the king- 
 
 + 3 Hen. III. 
 § 9 Rep. 32. 
 
 || 1 Rym. Feed. 228. Spelm. Gloss. 326. 
 2 Pryn. Rec, Append. 20 Eadm, fol, 48. 
 
ROYAL INVESTIGATION. IS? 
 
 dbm. Learning has removed obscurity 
 from our ancient records 5 wfrch 5 as they 
 have passed through improving hands, 
 have acquired a polish as well as value, 
 that proudly ornaments our constitu-^ 
 tional code. 
 
 The fiery ordeal is superseded by a 
 jury of twelve men, peers of the ac* 
 cused, whose united voice condemns or 
 acquits. Every subject is equally amen- 
 able to this glorious test of conscience ; 
 
 in which character the P ss is equally 
 
 exposed to trial with the poorest indi- 
 vidual of the realm. 
 
288 ROYAL INVESTIGATION, 
 
 If then she has erred, why not try 
 
 her by her peers? 
 
 If she be guilty, why not proclaim 
 that guilt ? 
 
 If falsely accused, why not bring to 
 punishment the base assassins of her 
 fame ? 
 
 The honor of the nation, jealous of 
 its future Q , demands the explana- 
 tion ! 
 
 The partizans of the P ■ ■■ ■ jealous 
 of his honor, wish this explanation ! 
 
ROYAL INVESTIGATION. 189 
 
 Humanity weeps, our insulted laws 
 tremble, and public confidence is hasten- 
 ing into exile ! 
 
 THE END, 
 
 SHURT, PRINTER^ BERWICK-STREET^ SOUS. 
 
JUST PUBLISHED, 
 
 BY 
 
 J. F. HUGHES, WIGMORE STREET. 
 
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